Category: 2012

In recent articles I have talked about training less each workout so I could train more often to increase my gains in the gym.  A month before the NABBA-WFF Nationals I decided to take this concept further and came up with the nine to five workout.  “Nine to Five” means I only do nine sets in total for large body parts like upper legs, chest, back and shoulders and only 5 sets for smaller body parts like biceps, triceps, forearms and calves.

Why did I set these limits? I have always found that before a show I want to add in new exercises to make sure I cover all the bases- this can often mean my workouts are longer and I end up being in an over trained state.  The other considerations were that smaller body parts like arms are always worked indirectly during all other upper body sessions and I wanted to focus on quality rather than quantity.  I went back to using predominately rest pause training (Google DC training online for more information) where I set a rep goal for each exercise, choose a weight; and attempt to beat the rep goal over the designated number of sets with only 30 seconds rest between each set.  I also went to a two day on one day off split.

Day 1 Quads & Calves

Day 2 Chest & Back

Day 3 Day off

Day 4 Hams & Calves

Day 5 Shoulders & arms

Day 6  Day off

Day 7 Repeat cycle

This split allows me to train legs twice over a six day period and my upper body muscles twice too, albeit through a direct and indirect hit (My Shoulders & Arms get hit indirectly on chest & back day and my Back and Chest are indirectly hit during my Shoulders and Arms workout.)

Here is a sample of my workouts leading up to the show this year.

Legs(Quad emphasis) & Calves & Forearms.

1. Leg ext             120pd              17,8,6=31        rep goal=15

I then super-set front squats with squats.

2. Front squats 100kg              8          5          5
3. DXO Squats* 100kg              5          3          3
4. Calf raises 310pd              13,10,7=30 + burns or x-rep sets for 2 sets.
5. Cable f-arm curls 150pd              15,12,10,7,5    rep goal=50

Chest & Back

1. Chin ups                   20 kg                8,4,2=14          rep goal =15
2. Incline DB Bench 5 kg             10,5,3=18        rep goal =15    Use 41.5 kg next w/out.
3. Machine rows       210 pds            10,7,4=21        rep goal =15    Use 225 pds next w/out.
4. Decline Bench     90 kg                9,5,3=17          rep goal =15    Use 92.5kg next w/out.
5. Prone DB row      28kg                10,7,5=22        rep goal =15    Use 30kg next w/out.
6. DB flat fly               28kg                10,6,3=19        rep goal =15    Use 30kg next w/out.

Legs(Hamstring emphasis) & Calves & Forearms

1. Deadlifts 150 kg=8          Rep goal=10
2. Standing leg curl           80pd                12,9,8=31        rep goal=29
3. Leg press (Feet high on platform) 120 15, 160kg 15, 200kg 15, 240kg 15, 280kg 12
4. Leg press calf press   210kg 12,10,7 + speed set =35
5. Seated Calf raise(1-leg) 105pd=14 Rep goal=15
6. Cable f-arm curls         150pd              20,15,10,7,5

Shoulders & Arms

1. SS raise                        28kg    15,11,7             Rep goal=30
2. Shoulder press stack              8,4,2              Rep goal=15
3. Leaning face pull     5kg       15,12,8            Rep goal=15    Use 18kg next w/out
4. Concentration curl 22kg     10,7                  Rep goal=15      Use 24kg next w/out
5. Db curl                          20kg       8                      Rep goal=10
6. Reverse curl 90pds              8,6                     Rep goal=15
7. Close grip bench 70kg        13,8                   Rep goal=15    Use 75kg next w/out
8. Tricep pushdown 75pd       12,6                   Rep goal=15    Use 90pds next w/out
9. DB pullover ext 35kg                 8                    Rep goal=10

My goal is to have a total workout time of no more than 30 minutes.  To be honest the workouts have been challenging, growth and strength producing without fatiguing my central nervous system or hurting my joints and were perfect before the show.  In fact I have found the workouts so effective I have continued with them after the show and will do so until the gains stop.

So if you have got a bit stale with your old training routine give my Nine to Five workout a try and you should honestly see some new strength and muscle gains ASAP!

 

 

 

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A lot of women shy away from weight training because they think they will get excessive muscle mass and start looking like men.  This myth is often perpetuated by the media sensationalising women’s and men’s bodybuilding and focussing in on the drugs. The thing is the vast majority of people (both men and women) who go to the gym and lift weights do not take drugs or have excessive muscle mass; and in the case of women who train naturally there is no chance you will ever look like men. Why? There are several reasons:

• Women produce far less testosterone (the primary hormone that helps men build muscle) than men and as a result they can’t develop excessive muscle mass.
• Women do not try and consume excessive quantities of food which is needed to gain lots of extra muscle. Let’s face it- it is hard enough for men to put on a lot of muscle while overeating at the best of times.
• Weight training will not bulk up or shorten the appearance of your muscles- in fact it can be used to lengthen and shape your muscles to make your body look more feminine.

So why does weight training work for women?  I personally think weight training is by far the fastest and best way to stay healthy, lose weight, change your body shape and maintain it.  Here’s why:

Just like other forms of exercise- weight training boosts your metabolism during your work out. However, when you train with weights you cause small micro tears in the muscle which requires your body to use more energy to repair it long after your training session has ended.

Also the small amount of muscle you develop means you will have more active tissue- one study showed that the average woman who does weights two to three times per week over a two month period could gain around a kilo of muscle and lose almost two kilos of fat. More active tissue means more calories burnt per day (around 80-100 calories a day). Consider that if you maintained your normal eating and maintained that extra one kilo of muscle that would translate to burning an extra 36500 calories in a year which is equal to almost five kilos of fat!

You will gain strength (as much as 30 to 50 percent) without excessive muscle mass and this can be useful in everyday jobs. Also strengthening your postural muscles with weights can make you look taller, feel better and avoid injuries like lower back pain.

Instead of gaining excessive muscle mass a gain of one or two kilos of muscle will make you look more toned and defined. You can even build muscle in the right places so that your proportions look more pleasing to the eye. In fact all of the women you see on infomercials selling the latest fitness gizmos primarily lift weights to look the way they do!  Believe it!

It keeps your bones stronger by increasing bone density which can be a great preventative against osteoporosis. It can also strengthen joints and their stability.

If you are involved in any physical activity weight training can make you a better athlete physically and mentally with the added benefit of making your body more resistant to getting injuries.

It can reduce health problems like diabetes and heart disease.

Weight training has a positive effect on your mood; in fact a Harvard study showed that only ten weeks of weight training was more successful at reducing the symptoms of depression than standard counselling.

Weight training is one of the greatest ways to stay young! Imagine being in your sixties and being just as strong as when you were thirty or forty years old.  Your quality of life will be so much better and the best thing about weight training is you can start at any age and the benefits are the same whether you are twenty or sixty.  Also the progress you see motivates you to want to eat more healthy, use healthy supplements and avoid habits that are detrimental to your gains.  This alone can keep you looking and feeling younger.

So ladies, if you want the best way to improve your well-being, lose weight and change your body shape, give weight training a go and be amazed at how well it works for you!

 

I remember when I first started lifting weights; my training split was chest and arms 3-4 times a week and the rest of the body 2-3 times a week.  I was so motivated I trained pretty much every day and loved it.  Only problem was that my gains were not great (I was obviously over trained).  Then I began reading muscle magazines in the late 80’s and they were saying you needed to train 6 days a week (Being naïve I didn’t realise these athletes were all on steroids at that stage) so for the next couple of years I persevered with this high volume/ frequency approach with little to show for it.  Then when I was 15 I was introduced to some police officers who were into powerlifting.  I’d like to thank these two guys, Ray Bloomingfield and Barry Dawson as they gave me my first beneficial training split; they espoused a 3 day a week programme focusing on the 3 big lifts, Bench on Monday, Squats on Wednesday and Dead-lifts on Fridays with auxiliary work after each of these lifts.  Finally I began to see some results for the effort I was putting in and I stayed on this split for about 6 years.

Once gains seemed to plateau and I became more interested in bodybuilding I changed my training split:  Monday-Chest & Back, Wednesday- Legs, and Friday-Shoulders & Arms.  This made sense to me as I still got plenty of recovery and most body parts got a direct hit once a week and an indirect hit once a week too.  (Shoulders and arms got hit indirectly on chest & back day and since I dead lifted on Mondays legs got an indirect hit too).  This split was effective for me and I used this for the next 15 years with very little variation.

About a year ago I felt that my gains were not where I wanted them to be so I sat down and wrote all the factors I thought I needed to consider.

• I needed a day off after each training session. I have never been able to train two days in a row without feeling fatigued; nervous system fatigue (So that meant training 3-4 days a week at most).
• I wanted to train my body parts twice a week but avoid the aforementioned nervous system fatigue. (I have found that my nervous system requires about a week to recover after heavy training a lot of the time, but individual muscle groups seem to be ready to go again after 3-4 days. Some research has suggested that even after 6 days muscles can begin to atrophy due to being in a detrained state).
• I wanted to train for 45-50 minutes max per session (so no full body workouts).
• I wanted to do a greater variety of exercises over the week for each body part (I could do this if I was training each body part twice a week).
• Incorporate (P.O.F) positions of flexion over 2 workouts.
• Utilise 4X, x-reps, Rest pause, longer TUT (time under tension) & accentuated negatives.

So I settled on a two day split; Back, Chest and Shoulders one day and Legs and Arms the other day with two variations for each workout. This meant that I would train each body part every fourth day.  On paper this seemed to meet all my needs so away I went.

Here was my training split near the end of 2011; using 4X one workout and alternating that with rest pause for the other.

Back, chest and shoulders (workout A)               Back, chest and shoulders (workout B)

1. Deadlift 1 x max                             Chin ups
2. Incline DB Bench                                    DB Bench press
3. DB row/BB row   Straight arm pull down
4. DB incline fly   DB Neutral grip fly press
5. Omni DB shoulder row   Omni DB shoulder row
6. DB lean raise   Incline bench side raise
7. Cable forearm curl   BB forearm curl.

Legs (Quad focus) & Arms (A)                           Legs (Hammy focus) & Arms (B)

1. Leg extension   1-leg curl
2. BB Hack squat   DB stiff legged deadlift
3. Squat   Leg press calf raise
4. Calf-raise   Seated calf raise
5. DB curls   Dip
6. Triceps pushdowns   Spider curl
7. Reverse curl   DB pull over ext.

This training split worked wonders and in the first 4 months I made some really good gains. My deadlift went from 140kg for 12 in Dec 2011 to a PB of 160kg for 11 by April 2012 which was cool.  Over 2012 I have stuck with this split with only minor adjustments and am presently using training protocols like 4X variations, POF, 5×5 (which I will talk about at a later date) and x-reps to augment it.  I have to be honest I have really enjoyed these workouts!  If you have been struggling to make gains on the training split you are currently using, make some adjustments by considering your own unique needs and genetic predispositions so you can devise the best training split for you.