Buys or Productive?

Do you like the feeling of constantly doing something?

 

That’s probably a yes, most people do.

 

Well, in a training sense anyway as it gives them that dopamine/adrenaline hit they may be seeking.

 

As such here is a novel way to feel like you’re constantly on the move while actually getting in ample rest to allow for progress to be made.

 

Ax1min +Bx1min +Cx1min & repeat for 30-45min

 

Here is how it works.

 

Set a timer for your desired number of rounds, each lasting one minute, basically an EMOM with a little panache.

 

A – Kettlebell Swing x10

B – Push Up x10

C – Farmers Walk or Loaded Carry x20m

 

(Each set should last about 10-15 seconds or less)

 

Perform you reps, rest the remainder of the minute then proceed to the next movement, repeat until all sets are completed and time is up.

 

Seems easy on paper, and if people find it easy then they have these two options to change that:

 

1 – Utilise CA more (powerful concentric reps)

2 – Heavier loads that requires more force generation

 

I have found over the years that the above is actually best suited to people who are already strong, well trained or actually put in 100% each rep they perform.

 

Weaker people or beginners just don’t get the same effects due to their lack of ability, sounds harsh yet it’s true.

 

The idea of this style of lifting is quality and ample rest while having people still feel/think they’re constantly doing something.

 

Now it’s true that the power/force output will be a tad lower doing this than it would by doing say 10 all out reps of something and then resting for 3min, yet most won’t like that due to feeling like they need to be doing more.

 

Actually that’s worth touching on.

 

Are you someone who needs to feel that way, you know, that you’re always doing something, or leaving a session destroyed is how they all must end or you’ve let yourself down?

 

If that sounds like you I implore you to rethink this.

 

While it seems like a good idea it really isn’t, and while in some cases it will provide a short term gain it will usually come at the cost of longevity.

 

I know many won’t listen to the above, yet those that do will find they get better results than they have before.

 

2-4 days per week of the above will be sufficient for most, sticking with the same movements for say 6-12 weeks, oh yes, the same session each time.

 

^ This is where waviness will need to come into play, you’ll find previous posts on that concept buried on this page somewhere.

 

You should investigate this thoroughly.

 

Enjoy,

Ross

A little time

You might that guessed I’m in quite the pensive mood of late.

 

Today I shall break with that trend and give you something you can use in the gym 🤗

 

It’s called ’25-35-45′

 

This is the length of time you will spend training in minutes.

 

You will cycle through them each session.

 

Why?

 

Because it will stop you faffing about.

 

You might be thinking that you can’t get anything done in 25min.

 

Well you can, in fact you can get quite a lot done however it relies on you pulling your finger out and being productive.

 

The cycling of session time will get you out of the mindset of –

 

“I need to train to feel tired/worked/like you did something”

 

Instead it will get you in the realms of –

 

“What can I do that is productive and not a waste of time?”

 

There might be some trial and error while you find the flow of it all, however once you do you will find that it’s not about the amount of time you spend in the gym, oh no.

 

It’s about the amount of effort, the quality of work and having a purpose that makes all the difference.

 

Don’t believe me?

 

Try to do 10 Thrusters & 5 Pull Ups without rest for 25min solid (wave loads as needed) and tell me you’ve not achieved something notable.

 

Here are a couple of ways you can set up the rotations.

 

1 – Pull/Squat, Hinge/Push, Loaded Carries/Movement

 

This takes 9 sessions before you start the cycle again, meaning each of the above (Pull/SQ etc) gets a 25-35-45min session.

 

2 – 25-35-45 & 1/2/3

 

25min session = 1 lift

35min session = 2 lifts (ideally in superset fashion)

45min session = 3 lifts (tri-set is good)

 

1 lift = pick a big movement that hits the entire body

2 lift = choose 2 solid half body movements

3 lift = 1 big lift, 1 auxiliary lift & 1 isolation/weak-point lift

 

3 – EMOM or AMRAP

 

Pick one or two lifts for an EMOM (ever minute on the minute), or choose as many lifts as you like and complete as many reps/rounds as possible in the given time.

 

4 – 200-300-400

 

The above are rep targets.

 

25min = 200reps

35min = 300 reps

45min = 400 reps

 

You can cycle the days as in option 1, I’d go for a simple Pull-Push-Legs so you might end up with something like this:

 

25min – 200 Presses (a combination of press/dip etc)

35min – 300 Squats (Squats, lunges, step ups etc)

45min – 400 Pulls (Dl, rows, chins, swings etc)

 

It will take 9 sessions to have each movement go through each rep/time set.

 

5 – Recovery, Run & Ramp

 

25min = Recovery work day – foam rolling, stretching etc

35min = Cardio work of your choice

45min = Lifting day where you ramp the weights/volume up

 

There are many options, however the 4 above should be enough to get you started.

 

Take some time to think about how much time you waste in the gym and for what other reason than you just feel like you should be in there for a certain amount of time.

 

Do less better.

 

Enjoy,

Ross

20/20 – Tactical Time Based Training

Having no time to train is rarely an excuse that holds much water these days.

 

Time can always be found for something that is a priority to you.

 

I’m sure you can find 20min per day to invest in your health.

 

To get you started you’ll find 20 sessions below to try.

 

1 – Death by Watt Bike

 

An interval program, 8 seconds work, 12 seconds rest for 20min.

 

Personally I’d advise you do 5min of your 20 on the bike as a W/U, then 10min using the interval protocol the 5min slow peddling in to a couple of cool down stretches.

 

2 – Pull & Hinge to Glory

 

Set a timer for 20min at 1min intervals.

 

Each minute do 3-5 chins and 5 swings until all 20min is done.

 

3 – Push it Real Good

 

Put 20min on countdown, load up a barbell and aim to do 100 thrusters in the time.

 

4 – White Buffalo in the Sky

 

Perform one 500m rowing sprint, rest the time it took you to complete the sprint.

 

Repeat until 20min is up.

 

5 – A Complex Series of Events

 

Grab 2 kettlebells, set you clock for 20min and do the following as many times as you can, ideally without putting the bells down even once.

 

3-5 reps for all: Swings, Cleans, Presses, Squats – repeat

 

6 – A Complex Chain of Events

 

Like the previous one only heavier and you put the bells down after the squats to shake out tension.

 

1 rep for all: Swings, Cleans, Presses, Squats – repeat

 

7 – The Bear Essentials

 

Perform the Bear Complex with a barbell, aim for 3 sets of 8 reps per movement.

 

Increase weight each set, if you do all three before 20min is up then congrats, use more load next time just know that for today you’re done.

 

8 – Walk the Walk

 

Simplicity at its finest.

 

Carry 50-100% of your bodyweight for 20min.

 

9 – Bodyweight Blitz

 

EMOM for 20min do 5 pull ups, 10 press ups & 15 squats.

 

10 – DRAW!

 

Pistol ladder 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,etc up as high as you can go in the 20min, no broke sets – this means if you fail to perform say 7 straight on one leg and instead do 4 you do 4 on your second leg, rest a spell and start the ladder over again at 1.

 

11 – Single Arm Sadist

 

As above just with single arm Press Ups.

 

20 min will seem like a very long time doing this.

 

12 – Everybody do the Worm

 

Have your trust 20min countdown ready and also a kettlebell.

 

Do 15 swings, then inchworm your self out in to a press up position and do 1 press up, inchworm back to the bell and do another 15 swings, then back to the press up position for 2 press ups and repeat this for 20min.

 

As with all ladders once your form goes start again at one, the swings stay the same throughout.

 

13 – Nice Snatch

 

20min of kettlebell Snatch, you can change hands as many times are you choose however you can’t put the bell down,

 

14 – What a Jerk

 

Like the above except you will use 2 kettlebells and perform jerks for 20min without setting the bells down.

 

I like to add in a racked walk once I need rest from the jerks just to keep moving however this isn’t mandatory.

 

15 – Chains & Whips Excite Me

 

Aim for as many rounds as possible in 20min of the following:

 

Overhead Lunge 20 reps holding a chain(s) overhead, run back with said chains still overhead then put them down and grab a battle rope and perform 15-30 explosive whips (double hand slams you may know them as).

 

Repeat until death ensues and then keep going.

 

16 – Limber Timber

 

Pick a yoga or movement flow and do if for 20min.

 

I’d persoanlly aim for one that has a high bias towards mobility and overall movement, check out Max Shank for Idea.

 

17 – Deadlifts & the Diaphragm

 

See how many sets of the following you can complete in 20min.

 

5 Deadlifts (pick a sensible weight), 10 deep breaths with a focus on utilising your diaphragm, repeat and enjoy.

 

18 – Lift, Run, Bang

 

Out of your 20min us 5 to get warm, then for 10 do the following:

 

20 sec of Clean & Press, 20 sec shuttle runs, 20 sec of power ball/bag slams, repeat for 10min solid.

 

Last 5min will be cool down/stretching off.

 

19 – Shoulder of Justice

 

Using an object of 50-100% of your bodyweight take it from the floor to your shoulder (left then right ,etc), repeat for 20min.

 

20 – Sissy that Walk

 

20min of prowler push 20m (liked out arms) followed immediately by dragging it back (bent arms) the same distance, try to make the transitions as quick as possible.

 

The above is nothing spectacular.

 

All of them are based largely off of density programming.

 

You will want to add weight where you can and always aim to keep a record of what you achieve so that you can do better next time.

 

Enjoy,

Ross

Progress Time

I don’t know what it is.

 

You might.

 

Regardless of the answer though, you can’t beat a bit of 90’s classic pop songs to make you smile.

 

They’re even better when you know all the words too.

 

Anyway, it’s time for a little lesson in time.

 

Programming sessions based on Density (work capacity, basically how much you get done in said time) is a great way to work with individual clients or groups.

 

Especially groups to be fair.

 

As a PT you get quite familiar with living your life y the clock.

 

Each second is of vital importance and not to be squandered.

 

A wise policy for life too.

 

Given most sessions are 1hour in length, you need to be optimising them.

 

Personally I love programming.

 

It’s always fascinated me, it’s truly an art to get right.

 

That being said, not all people or clients want to know the numbers unfortunately, they’re just looking for a good time.

 

As such who are we to disappoint them, right?

 

When it comes to progressing either Volume (reps/sets) or Intensity (loading %) you can end up increasing the time of a session.

 

If people can train longer than an hour then these two are the first ports of call for progression and achieving progressive overload, density would be an afterthought and taken in to account last.

 

However when the luxury of time isn’t there, Density rules.

 

Taking away the W/U-CD elements, which would total about 15-20min, we have 40min left to play with to help people achieve results.

 

That my friends is plenty of time when you know what you’re doing with it.

 

Given there are endless options on how you can use this time effectively I can’t go through them all, hopefully 4 will be enough to get you delving further in to the topic.

 

1 – Time Block & Rounds –

 

Typically AMRAP means ‘as many reps as possible’ however it could also mean ‘as many round as possible’, for the purpose of hitting a good stimulus you’ll find using rounds more useful than reps.

 

Example:

 

Reps: 5-10-15 (can be meters)

Movements: Pull Up, Farmers Walk , Med-Ball Slam

Time: 20min

Focus: Posterior Chain

Result: Hot Death

 

How to progress this is easy, you set number of rounds to achieve in time block and if it is hit then you can either change the movements or increase the loads of each of them, if not you just stick with it for as many sessions as is required until the target is hit.

 

2 – Time Block & Wave Loading –

 

A little trickier as you will need to know people strength levels ideally, not a necessity, just an ideal.

 

Example:

 

Reps: 6-6-6 (light load, medium load, heavy load)

Movements: Press Overhead

Time: 20min

Focus: Anterior Chain

Result: Shoulders for days

 

How to progress, you will need to watch the last set of reps and how the land is handled. If it flies up and the timer is at say 19min then you can logically add some load, if the person needs a chunk of rest before lifting it then keep it as it is.

 

Think of it this way. Press = 30kg, 45kg & 60kg, the first two sets are 50/75% of the top weight, they are meant to be easy so that speed/form can be focused on while still getting some work done.

 

The focus is the top set, if the top set can’t be hit then they will go between the 50-75% loads until they feel ready to hit the top one or the rest after the 75% as long as they need to hit the top set.

 

Sounds complex, it’s actually easier to do it.

 

3 – EMOM –

 

Every minute on the minute, a popular CrossFit staple, however by no means created by CF.

 

Ideally your EMOM will last 15-20 seconds in the first round, then slowly end up being longer as it takes the person more time to complete.

 

If you’re EMOM start off in round one at say 30 seconds you’ve gotten the exercise choice/flow very very wrong because it leaves no room for fatigue of any sort.

 

Reps: 3-3-3

Movements: Power Clean, Push Press, Front Squat

Time: 10min

Focus: Whole Body

Result: Kill me now

 

4 – For time, yep it’s a race –

 

As you may have guessed, you simply set out a task to be achieved and set people off, the idea is to finish it as fast as possible, with good form.

 

If you have the time limit of sat 10min and someone does it in 5, well, add load to their movements, if someone doesn’t finish it in the allowed time then they stay as they are.

 

Reps: 800m

Movements: Bear Hug Loaded Carry

Time: 15min

Focus: Posterior Chain & Core

Result: Much harder than expected

 

All in all pretty simple to grasp and when your life is ruled by three hands, this style of programming is invaluable.

 

Enjoy,

Ross

Two Tips for Timed Training

Do you linger in the gym longer than you perhaps should?

How much time do you waste faffing about in the gym?

What ever the answers here are two little gems to help you focus, improve your productivity and perhaps start making progress once again.

1 – Set up a timer for 20-45min, start it the second you step foot in the gym and you will leave once it hits zero.

2 – Pick one or two lifts, sets/reps/load are at your discretion.

Try these pairs:

– Hinge/Push
– Squat/Pull
– Carry/CV
– Crawling/Climbing
– Not 100% set in stone, manipulate the pairs with each other as you see fit.

That’s it.

Working to a time limit in a super set fashion will keep you from dillydallying and might even shift your gears enough to get you closer to your goals.

This is highly focused on the principle of escalating density in your training so get in, get focused and get results.

Enjoy,
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.

Make a Plan & Stick With It!

Morning,

The average persons training is rife with program hopping and constant change, is it any wonder people don’t get the results they desire? No, it’s pretty obvious when you look at it.

You may have read about people that change their workouts every 2 weeks but this is often minor tweaks, not to mention these people are often a lot higher up the ladder and closer to their potential genetic limit which requires a more, shall we say, artistic approach to programming.

When it comes to the large majority of people training they would do well to stay on a program for 3months minimum, ideally longer. There would be subtle tweaks in volume/intensity and some accessory work variations but the bulk of the program would stay the same, with good reason too.

Results are bread from consistency.

I can understand that people want the most optimal program for them that will achieve their goals in record time. It’s human nature to want instant gratification, especially since the world we now live in promises you everything at the snap of your fingers, sadly endeavours such as fat loss or lean muscle gain don’t work that way. Until we find a way to break the genetic code down even more you will need to dig deep and prepare for the long haul.

Do you want to know the program you could stay on for this minimum length of time and get results?

Okay, I will tell you.

Ready….

It’s the program you’re currently doing. Be it optimal or not, you will get some form or results if you stick with it for an extended period of time, provided you’ve got sensible nutrition that aligns with your goal that is.

Before you throw out your current program in search of the shiny new, fancily named one you read about on the internet, give yours a chance.

Enjoy,
Ross

Too Soon!

Morning Guys,

 

If you were to look back at your training programs, how long do they each last?

 

4 weeks? Maybe 6 or even 8?

 

I’m going to tell you something that you might not like… Progress is slow and usually takes a long time to achieve (beginners excluded).

 

4,6 and even 8 week programs are usually you short for making any real progress. If you’re looking to progress a program will be more like 24weeks (roughly 6 months). It is in this time that you will have smaller breakdowns of the loading/progression plan but the overall program will be something that lasts for a long time. If you find that you’re not really getting any solid progress then this is why.

 

Most internet/magazine and Bro programs are too short and not planned properly.

 

You might be thinking that a program that long will become boring, well you’d be right. Progress often is a long and boring road that requires months if not years of grinding away and putting in the effort to reap the rewards.

 

Think of it this way; if a person starts training at 18 and follows solid periodisation and sensible programming where the volume/load is undulated accordingly then in 10 years they would have built an impressive amount of strength and lean muscle tissue (nutrition being adequate obviously). I know 10 years seems like a long time, it is, however it’s a worth investment because you only get one body in this life.

 

Now the realms of programming are very deep and treacherous, to try and give you a cookie cutter program will do no good unless you;re a complete beginner*.

 

*Beginners and even some intermediates, I advise a solid 5×5 as the starting program, you can then use one of the many many variations of this to keep t things fresh and progress, I would just try to stay on each one for at least 6 months. Build the weight up (hitting all 5’s), once it gets too hard to keep progressing in a linear fashion drop the weight back and start again (or drop to 3’s until you hit another stop and go back to your first run at 3’s and turn those in to 5’s), repeat this until that stops working and by then you should be ready for something a little more interesting.

 

Pleas understand that the most important thing in a program is overload, you can’t achieve this without time and effort, now take this advice and stick with something for more than 4 weeks.

 

Enjoy,

Ross

The Busy Persons Guide to Fitness: Nom Nom Nom

Time is the only thing we have, but more often than not it is filled with tedious tasks such as work, family gatherings and sitting in traffic while the light is green because the learner in front of you has stalled.

Not having enough time also effects trying to eat the ‘right’ foods, nay, eat enough food to avoid crashing and heading straight for the coffee and pro plus can also be a challenge for some. Nutrition is clearly just too large a subject to ever be understood for such a busy person.

All of these can get in the way of achieving a rock solid physique, or can they?

In our world of limited time a simple guide is called for to help those who only have perhaps 2 days per week to train…This is that guide.

I will give you some tips and tricks to help you achieve not only a good physique but also strength and fitness too.

In this 4 part mini series I shall cover the following:

– Nutrition
– Programming – Based on 2 Days Per Week
– Recovery Nutriton
– Progress Tracking

Now you know what to expect, lets get your nutrition requirements sorted.

To get your total calories I would suggest multiplying your weight in lbs by 11 & 13 for fat loss and 17-19 for muscle gain.

*For the purpose of this example I have used 17-19, but I would advise you to use 11-13 when working out your needs.

Now we need to get your basic macro nutrients sorted.

The easiest way to find out how much fat you will need in your diet is to take your weight in lbs (Optimally your lean weight – if you know it.) and multiply that number by 0.3-0.6 to give you the amount in grams you will need per day. Multiply by 9 to find out how many calories this is.

I would say to start on the lower number (0.3). The you can workout your required protein by taking your weight (Again ideally lean.) by 0.8-1.2 depending on your activity level. This will give you your grams of protein needed, them multiply this by 4 to get the calories.

Add those two numbers together and then subtract that number from your total required calories for your specific goal. This will give you what calories you need in terms of carbs, then divide that number by 4 for the grams required.

With the amount of carbs your require in grams multiply that by 10 & 15% to get your fibre intake – this is included in your crabs, not added on top.

Example:

Weight – 175lbs x 19 = 3325 calories
Fat – 175 x 0.3 = 52.5g = 472.5 calories
Protein – 175 x 1.2 = 210g = 840 calories
Carbs – 3325 – 472.5 – 840 = 2012.5/4 = 503g
Fibre – 503 x 0.15 & 0.10 = 75g & 50g

So you will have the following:

Protein – 210g
Carbohydrates – 500g
Fat – 52.5g
Fibre – 50-75g

I would also suggest having 1 litre of water per 25kg of total bodyweight. Add in 1 exert litre for each hour of exercise on your chosen workout days too.

If you happen to like a cheeky drink after work to help wind down then you can use this to help you factor the calories from your chosen beverage.

There is 7 calories per 1 gram of alcohol (Just for your information.) but this isn’t really too relevant for the following. Count your alcohol towards your overall carb content (People we often speak to have carbs left over), simply because it’s easier to accept for this way.

To count your alcohol towards your carbs all you need do is take the number of calories in your chosen beverage and divide it by 4. (If you want to count it towards fat divide the calories in the alcohol by 9.)

If this doesn’t make sense so far please bear with us and keep reading.

Here is an example:

An average pint can have 300 calories per pint.

Divide this by 4 = 75. This can be counted as 75g of carbs.

There you have it. You have successfully accounted for alcohol, but be aware you should not actively try and get smashed just because you can count it in to your macros. There is nothing wrong with a little alcohol, just don’t over do it.

Now you have the guidelines to follow I would suggest downloading an app to help your track how well you’re doing form day to day. You can use a book if that suits you, but apps are easier.

*Try to have 80% of your calories coming from whole foods and 20% from what ever indulgences you desire.

There you have it, the first part of the guide all you busy people need to achieve results like never before.

Enjoy
Ross