New is Old

The phrase – “There’s nothing new under the sun.”

It’s quite accurate when it comes to fitness, even when someone says they’ve cerated something new and never before seen, you can bet it has already been done and it’s either been forgotten about or people just don’t utilise it in its original form because it’s not sexy enough for social media.

Given this time where some of you may find yourself with an excess need to fill the void of work or training I have 4 book suggestions for you that will open your eyes and hopefully inspire you to occasionally go against the status quo.

1 – Wrestling Physical Conditioning Encyclopaedia by John Jesse

2 – The Development of Physical Strength by Anthony Ditillo

3 – Building the Gymnastic Body by Christopher Sommer

4 – Staying Supple by John Jerome

Give the above a read and see what is new become old again.

Enjoy,
Ross

1,2,3,4,5,4,3,2,1

Had this little gem fly in to my head on a whim, thought you might enjoy it.

 

Load up 80% for whatever lift you desire.

 

Preform 1 rep, rest 30 seconds.

Preform 2 reps, rest 60 seconds.

Preform 3 reps, rest 90 seconds.

Preform 4 reps, rest 120 seconds.

Preform 5 reps, rest 90 seconds.

Preform 4 reps, rest 60 seconds.

Preform 2 reps, rest 30 seconds.

Perform 1 rep, move on to something else.

 

Keeping the load static in the ascending 5 is a good idea, when you start coming back down towards 1 rep again you can choose to lighten the load or keep it static.

 

This is only 25 reps, however it would be 25 good reps.

 

Once you’ve done this you can do one or two additional movements, I’d set it up like this:

 

Main lift – as above

Secondary lift – 3-6×6-8 – 60 sec rest between sets

Accessory lift – 2-3xfail – 30-60 sec rest between sets

^^ You can of course tweak these for varied goals such as fat loss for example.

 

The secondary lift an antagonist to the first for balance or an agonist to the first for strength, the accessory lift can be a weak point focus and hammered for pump.

 

Nice and simple.

 

Enjoy,

Ross

Too good not to share

I came across this article while browsing through the inter webs for knowledge and it’s too good not to share.

https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-get-ripped-with-4-rep-sets?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=article4844

Christian Thibaudeau is one of my favourite and his knowledge is phenomenal, you’ll enjoy this read.

I will certainly be giving this a go as I am currently short on time in my own training.

Ross

Lift, Lift, LIFT!

“I want to be big and strong”

 

^^ A sentence many a man has said over the years and continues to say to this day.

 

“I want to be lean and strong”

 

^^ Something I’m pleased to announce more women are saying, it seems there has been a shift in them saying ‘I just want to be skinny’ to now learning the benefit of being lean and strong, it’s great to see.

 

While it is only my opinion, I feel everybody should be strong.

 

I’m not talking about record breaking strong, just strong enough to stay healthy and stave off the effects of ageing on the body.

 

These sports all centre around lifting:

 

– Weightlifting (olympic lifting)

– Body Building

– Powerlifting

– Strongman

– CrossFit (some may not like this one)

 

Did you know lifting weights can have the following positive effects on the body:

 

– Improved bone density

– Ligament/tendon health

– Delayed sarcopenia

– Hormonal benefits: Higher testosterone, better insulin regulation, more growth hormone, lower cortisol to name a few

– Lowers body fat (great for improving health)

– A higher TDEE (total daily energy expenditure, more calories burnt in a day)

– Increased strength for sport/daily life

– A boost in confidence

– Looking better naked (the most important benefit, obviously)

 

Those are only some of the benefits, there are numerous more.

 

Personally I’d say the mental improvement is the pivotal one as this can have the biggest impact on a persons life in a very positive way.

 

However….

 

If you’re not an athlete and lift for health/confidence you should do it because you enjoy it, not because you feel you have to, that’s the secret to balance and long term sustainability.

 

Don’t eat yourself up if you miss a session, chalk it up to life and sue it as a rest day, that way you’ll be more motivated when you get to go in, excited to train in fact. Keep this in mind and you’ll find you don’t fall out of love with training.

 

What if lifting isn’t for you?

 

That’s cool, find soothing you do enjoy, here are some other options for improving strength and all achieving all the other benefits mentioned above:

 

– Calisthenics: bodyweight/movement training, loads of fun

– Martial Arts

– Gym Classes

– Track & field

– Kettlebells (sport or hard style)

– Climbing/outdoor sports

 

There are almost endless options.

 

Find something you enjoy, training shouldn’t be a chore.

 

Now go, have fun and make progress.

 

Ross.

Butt Hurt to Commence in, 3…2…1…

Monday, Monday

So good to me

Monday morning

It was all I hoped it would be…

 

That means gym 7-8am, 2 meals already eaten, 2 articles written and a back tweak, yay for me :/.

 

Morning Guys,

 

I trust you all had a productive weekend, if you didn’t, well… shame on you.

 

There is a lot of protection for peoples ego/pride in the modern age and it seems to be having a negative effect because it is making people lazy, more lazy than they have ever been.

 

Obviously there are those who are the other end of the spectrum and are anything but, however those are not the majority, sadly.

 

What ever happened to tough love?

 

You know, people would see you fail in a catastrophic manor, give you a pat on the back with a few words of wisdom and then tell you to crack on and stop wallowing in the mud.

 

These days that approach would be considered insensitive, inconsiderate to peoples feeling, belittling, demotivating and not supportive of people. I’m all for helping people but wrapping them in cotton wool? Nope, not my style, it does nothing for building character or more importantly, resilience.

 

Now that’s a word from the past, resilience.

 

What happened to it?

 

It seems to have been forgotten in the channels of time along with – that’s life, get over it, better luck next time, toughen up and “perhaps you should try knitting”.

 

All joking aside, the kid gloves of the modern world are actually a very dangerous thing, they hold people back and give false expectations or rather, they give people a sense of entitlement and that is a very slippery slope, let me give you an example oh how this relates to fitness.

 

Person A – Works hard, does everything they should be doing to get their desired results, accepts set backs and take on board constructive critique on the chin for what it is (advice to help them grow) to allow progression. The they achieve results because they understand they have to work for them and that nothing ever comes easy. They earn their success. 

 

Person B – Works semi moderate to not really doing anything meaningful, does some of what they should do, feels life is against them and no one ever helps them, rejects critique because it hurts their feelings, stays in the comfort zone but feels they should get the same results as person A because they just should. Sadly results will happen initially then taper off fast, potential regress too and this is obviously not their fault at all… They feel entitled to success (this is not good). 

 

Now these are actually real examples of people, they haven’t been made up I am sorry to say.

 

Many of you know that nothing in life comes easy and chances are for the majority it never will, that’s just life. While I agree we need to be mindful of people and encourage them there also has to be a line where we say “Stop pissing about, the problem is you.” which we seem to be afraid to say nowadays.

 

Maybe it’s my attitude… It’s definitely my attitude, it doesn’t have time to waste on people who feel entitled, yep, that makes me an asshole but hey ho, we can either work hard or not, it’s that easy.

 

Which camp do you fall in to, honestly…

 

Work hard and you will achieve what you deserve in the end, accept life isn’t all sunshine and rainbows, become resilient and earn your success, don’t expect it all to be given to you on a plate, you’re not entitled to success, work for it, earn it, deserve it.

 

Enjoy,

Ross

Almost the same, but not quite.

This week I made my way through a several books, some on philosophy and others training related. Two in particular were the Science & Development of Muscle Hypertrophy, and The Muscle & Strength Training Pyramid, both had good information that covered the same topic from two different view points, with the most interesting part being that they both covered similar studies but their recommendations for achieving optimal hypertrophy were not identical in every aspect.

 

The M&S Pyramid had the following to day:

– Frequency: train each muscle group 2-3xP/W.

– Total volume: 40-70reps per muscle group P/S (80-210P/W).

– Intensity: 1-15RM – 3/4 total volume in 6+ rep range & 1/4 in 1-6 rep range, RPE based.

– Exercise Recommendation: 1-2 compound and 1-3 isolation per muscle group.

– Rest: 90-180seconds rest (90-isolation, 180-compound)

– Tempo: Nothing too fancy, stay controlled and safe but make sure that the tempo doesn’t become too slow that it compromises the weights being lifted and lowers the overall intensity.

 

Some pretty solid recommendations based on a nice blend of science and experience.

 

Here is what the S&D of Muscle Hypertrophy have to say:

 

– Frequency: train each muscle group 2-3xP/W.

– Total volume: 40-70reps P/S (no mention of weekly volume but far more in protein synthesis elevation and how it correlates to growth).

– Intensity: 1-20+ reps with the load determining the rep range, 6RM-12RM most mentioned while also hitting momentary muscle failure.

– Exercise Recommendation: Had a section on muscle actions/mechanics with some examples but nothing specific, basically compound with isolation mixed in.

– Rest: 90-120seconds rest (90-isolation, 120-compound)

– Tempo: 30second minimum TUT per set.

 

All in all pretty similar, all be it with a couple of differences in terms of overall recommendations. This is why it’s worth gathering information from various sources so that you can compare and make your own informed decisions about what you know.

 

Enjoy,

Ross