Category: Exercise

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.

The first bodybuilding shows for 2012 are done and dusted with many more to come!  Now is as good a time as any for first time athletes to throw their hat in the ring and get up onstage.  But where do you begin?  Whose advice should you follow?  What should be your expectations?  This all depends on a number of different factors- How long have you been training for? How much muscle and body fat do you have now and how disciplined are you at following through on goals?

I can remember my first show like it was yesterday, it was 1998 and my second year of university; I was lucky enough to have my Uncle Al who was a successful bodybuilder give me some guidance on all aspects of competing.  As I was a poor student my diet for 4 months was canned tuna, mixed vegetables and SHAPE 2000 protein powder (I haven’t eaten tuna since then by the way).  To cut a long story short the training and diet was HARD but it worked.  I managed to lose 10 kg and get in good enough shape to win my first show- the open short Athletic class- I was stoked and hooked on competitive bodybuilding for life!  I have to say that competing has had so many benefits for me- It proved to me that being disciplined, focused and having belief in yourself can pay off, but the biggest thing I realised in relation to bodybuilding was that I would need to keep learning about myself, training, diet and presentation on stage if I was to continue to make improvements.

So I was thinking the other day; what would I tell others if I was in the position to offer advice to someone if it was their first time.  Below are the top 9 things I would encourage them to do.

Be realistic. When I first started competing in 1998 I saw a number of athletes be given false expectations of what they could achieve up onstage.  One guy had only been training for 6 months and still had a bit of a spare tyre around his stomach.  Good on him for losing 15kg of body fat but his personal trainer had not been honest with him.  The guy was dejected to say the least when he came last and saw how far he still had to go to be competitive; he threw in the towel and never competed again.   Make sure you have checked out a few competitions as a spectator first to see for yourself what you should aim to look like.   Be realistic with what you have.  Some people can walk into the gym and after 6 months look like a competitive athlete while others can’t.   I had been doing weights for 10 years before I did my first show. I am also a natural trainer for life with a small bone structure so I will never be a mass monster- but I am realistic about what I can achieve and I am happy with that!

Set your goals well in advance and choose the appropriate competitive arena for you. Select a show far enough away so that you have ample time to lose the body fat slowly so you can maintain all the muscle you have worked so hard to build.  For most natural athletes losing half a kilo a week is a healthy amount of weight loss without affecting your training and muscle size.  For me I keep close to my competitive weight as I have found trying to bulk up to add size never worked for me.  By the time I had dieted down I was never much if at all bigger and felt tired from all the extra work I had to do to lose the weight.  Also make sure you go in the right federation for you, if you want to compete naturally you will need to consider that you may not have enough size to compete in the physique class in some federations.  There are also other options like Athletic and Classic for men as well as figure and shape for the women.

Find out as much as you can about pre-contest dieting and training. I have found the best strategy for me is to train in such a way as to maintain all my strength.  In fact I have found that because I do not have much fat to lose I can aim to keep improving my lifts right until the last week before a show.  My training techniques and style (for me) encourages body fat loss and muscle gain and it involves moderate volume, moderate weight and short rest periods.  Again your training style has to suit your genetics and goals so you will need to learn as much as you can and believe in your training system whatever it is.  You can always make adjustments for the next show if you feel it did not meet your expectations.  Diet again is an individual thing but there are some general rules to start.

• Eat every 2-3 hours or at least 6 times a day with protein at every meal.
• Aim to have at least 1.5-3 grams of protein per kilo of lean body mass.
• Eat a wide range of low glycaemic and nutritious vegetables.
• Make sure you get at least 30-40 grams of fibre a day (made up from a range of vegetables, flax fibre and psyllium husks).
• Get in some form of Omega 3 fatty acids (fish or flax oil)
• Drink 3-4 litres of water a day.
• Get rid of all processed foods. (Yes; bread is processed!)
• Find ways to serve these foods so they taste good and are enjoyable!
• Use natural supplements to augment your dietary needs.

When you get help from someone like a personal trainer make sure they have competed before. Pick someone who has walked the walk and that will provide support right to and on the day of the show.  Apart from the training and dieting there is the preparation required backstage like pumping up and tanning which can make all the difference come contest day.  In general I found that I spend most of my pump up time on my upper body and less on my legs as some of the shape in my legs can be hidden from a pump.  Also I am not a fan of sun beds or applying a base tan.  My tan has always looked its best when my wife has applied Dream Tan on the day of the show.  Also they should be there for you when you aren’t feeling great (just like anything that requires great effort and discipline it will get tough) to provide the right guidance and support.

Learn to pose earlier rather than later. You will need to find someone to help you with the compulsories (these vary slightly from federation to federation so check on their respective web-sites), picking music and putting a posing routine together.  I think you should begin posing when you begin your diet.  Have someone you trust critique your physique and make adjustments to the poses so you look your best.  You want to make yourself look as X-framed as possible making your legs and upper body look their biggest and your waist as small as possible from all angles (front, sides and back).  Learn to hold poses for at least 30 seconds where you can strain the heck out of your muscles while still being able to maintain a relaxed and smiling face.

Learn techniques to stay focused and positive. For me I write my goals for the year in my training diary and often write positive statements or reward myself when I meet set targets.  I also say (in my mind) positive affirmations to myself every chance I get during the day.  These allow me to stay focussed, positive and avoid negative thoughts and self- doubt that creep up on you when you are tired.  Also surround yourself with happy, supportive people as this will help your mood too.  You might also have a particular activity outside of bodybuilding that makes you feel good so make sure whatever it is- do it!

Keep a training and diet log leading up to the show.  I have kept a log of my training since 2004 and began writing down everything I did (training & dietary) since 2006 with information about how I looked and what I ingested right up to when I got on stage.  This has provided invaluable information in terms of what works for me.  I know that with hardly any changes apart from slight water and sodium adjustments my diet stays exactly the same even on the day of the show.  One thing I do which I think is important for all natural athletes is to avoid dehydrating days from a show.  Your muscles are at least 70% water and if you dehydrate you will look flat and feel weak (read my articles on waterworks I and II).  Looking at the last show I competed in I had 5 litres of water Monday to Thursday.  Friday I had 3 litres and on the day of the show I sipped water whenever I was thirsty.  This allowed me to compete with full muscles and I felt good!  Often when people say they were holding too much water it usually means they just weren’t lean enough.

 Do not change anything drastically at the end.  A week out from the show and you look amazing so why would you change anything?  Keep to the programme.  If you are someone who handles carbs well then a carb deplete and load may work for you but make sure it is planned and that someone is there to help you and knows what they are doing and knows how your body reacts to foods.  I think these things should be sorted out well before the show –why would you leave it to chance; you’ve just worked your butt off for the last 12-20 weeks.  Stick to listening to one person and avoid listening to all the experts at the gym.  All it will do is confuse you and make you start to question what you are doing.  You can always make small adjustments for the next show and at least then you will know what worked for you or didn’t.

Have fun.  The whole point of getting up onstage is to show off all the hard work you have put in so enjoy it.  But if you are grumpy and miserable for the whole time you are dieting then competing may not be for you.  You have to love doing it- the training, the diet, the whole lot.  Be courteous and friendly to your competitors and remember, although there are no big pay outs financially at the end of it the experience in its’ self can be rewarding in so many other ways.  So if you are keen to get your trunks on and jump onstage consider some of these ideas and I wish you all the very best for your first show!

My final body part to discuss is the chest.  The chest is one of the most popular areas to train, second only to the biceps.  I remember the first time I saw Pumping Iron (movie on Arnie, Franco and co during the 1975 Mr Universe and Mr Olympia) and thinking “Wow! I want to have a chest like that”.  The favourite exercise for most people is the Bench press and for some it works amazingly well at producing great gains in size and strength, for others it can be more of a shoulder and triceps builder.  There are also others who have suffered shoulder injuries from the Bench press due to: poor technique, overuse of the exercise, muscular imbalance, postural issues, excessive range of motion or maybe even a leverage disadvantage.

I used to love trying to lift as much as possible when benching; however, even with correct technique: rib cage high, scapulae retracted and depressed (shoulders pushed down and back throughout the lift), elbows under the bar, bar lowered all the way to the chest……. and different grips experimented with, I found it was not the best way for me to build a bigger and more balanced looking chest. Below are some ideas for you to consider when you are trying to find what works best for you.

If you perform any exercise and you feel it in the joint instead of the muscle it is generally not worth doing (unless you can make adjustments to it to suit your unique set of muscles, tendons and bone lengths).  Let us imagine two guys, one has a big rib cage, thick muscle bellies, wide shoulders and short arms;(ideal build for benching) he will have a shorter range of motion to move the weight to his chest, have shorter resistance levers requiring less force to move the same amount of weight as someone with longer arms and narrower shoulders.  There is a good chance that he will be able to lift more weight, feel it better in the pectorals throughout most of the range of motion with less stress on his joints. He will derive more benefit from traditional bench pressing than the guy who has narrow shoulders, minimal muscle bulk, a smaller rib cage and long arms.  The second guy would have to move the weight over a greater distance to reach his chest meaning there will probably be a greater range of motion at the shoulder joints, possibly stretching the shoulder joints beyond their capability and making them more susceptible to injury.  Also a good part of that movement will probably involve other supporting muscle groups like the triceps and shoulders.  If you are the second guy you may benefit more from shortening the range of motion.  You can do this by not taking the weight to the chest, using dumbbells or performing decline benches instead.

So how do you find out what is the best range of motion for you? I was always told as a teenager to take the bar to the chest or go as low as possible with dumbbells (however, I would always feel it too much in the shoulder joint).  I decided to try different depths and found if I stopped about ½-1 inch above the chest I felt it way better, got bigger pumps and got awesome soreness in the chest the next day.  With my students at school I get them to perform a light set of flat benches with dumbbells to see where they naturally lower them to and this allows me to determine what would be a good range of motion for them with a bar.  If they have narrow shoulders and long arms it is almost always above the chest.

So what about the upper chest? This area could always do with some extra muscle (I have never seen an upper chest too big to be honest) Inclines make up most of my chest workout- but how do you find the angle that hits your upper chest the best? Your chest is a fan shaped muscle, so different angles will hit different fibres harder.  I experimented with one angle each week and performed 10 sets of 10-20 reps.  I found the best angle by the amount of soreness I felt in the upper chest the next day.  For me this happened to be around 20-30 degrees.  This doesn’t mean I use other incline angles, I do, but this is the angle I do most of my incline bench work with.

I have found using Steve Holman’s P.O.F (positions of flexion) has been instrumental in improving the shape and balance of my chest.  It involves using exercises that emphasises different aspects of the muscle (See x-rep.com for more information).  The mid-range exercises I choose from are Incline BB or DB benches, weighted press ups with my feet up on a bench or weighted dips.  The contracted exercises I choose from are machine bench presses or cable cross overs from a low pulley position.  The stretch position exercises I choose from are Incline flyes and hybrid bench flyes (palms facing at the bottom to palms facing forward at the top of the movement).  That reminds me of an article I was reading recently by Doug Brignole, a successful masters bodybuilder who contributes to Ironman Magazine in the States, he has had great success developing his upper chest performing reverse grip (palms facing toward you) incline DB Bench presses.  Interesting as some recent research has suggested that a reverse grip can in fact activate the upper chest fibres more effectively than a normal pronated grip (just be careful as it can be quite an awkward movement initially).

Your posture can affect your ability to benefit from chest exercises.  If you have a tendency to slouch your head and shoulders forward a little (a combination of a slightly kyphotic spine or a natural tendency to slouch because of: height (tall people look down more), working on a computer a lot, not stretching chest or shoulders after workouts, or not giving your upper back muscles the priority they need). Put less emphasis on chest training and focus on the upper back muscles. A good rule to follow is for every chest exercise; complete at least two exercises for the back. Training like this will improve your posture and ensure you are able to keep the ribcage high, shoulders back and scapulae retracted properly during chest exercises so you can feel and work your chest better for size and strength gains.

Let’s face it you will always want a bigger and better balanced chest.  If you have had trouble building your chest in the past try some of these ideas, keep learning and don’t be afraid to experiment so that you find what works best for you!

 

 

Lately I have been using 4X training (4×10) on most exercises which involves selecting a weight you can normally do 15 reps with and trying to complete 4 sets of 10 with it while only having minimal rest periods (20-40 seconds). I have been alternating it every second workout with rest-pause training.  With rest-pause I again choose a weight I can use for 15 reps but shoot for maximum reps over 3 sets (same rest periods as 4X).  After looking over my training diary I was surprised to find that I was able to do the same if not more reps with the same weight when doing rest-pause for 3 sets than 4×10. So I put my own spin on Steve Holman’s and Jonathan Lawson’s 4X training protocol by combining it with rest-pause (Check out xrep.com for more info).

Basically I choose a weight I can complete 15 reps with and shoot for 20 first set, around 10 reps second set and around 4-6 for sets 3 & 4. So still the same sets and rep goal of 40 reps as 4×10 (and rest periods) but going to failure on Set 1 & 2 (sometimes 3 & 4 also) as opposed to only going to failure on Set 4.

It has been successful so I thought I would go into more detail into why I think it has been effective in improving my strength and muscle gains recently.

Aiming for 20 reps first set means I can maximise T.U.T (T.U.T=Time your muscles are under tension; research has shown that aiming for 40+ seconds T.U.T can be effective at stimulating muscle growth).  It also seems to get me in the right level of activation mentally and physically (in the zone) and provides comparable central nervous system stimulation to when I use deadlifts and squats to start workouts but without the heavy loads (every exercise after that seems “mentally” easier!) I also wonder if this helps to increase testosterone and growth hormone like deadlifts and squats can do too.

Second set is to failure with the goal of getting half the amount of reps as set one (ideally around 10 reps).

Set 3 & 4 can be either to failure or sub failure depending on several factors: how strong I feel, making sure I beat last week’s numbers and how close I am to reaching my 40 rep goal. Some weeks I can reach 40 reps with 2 sets going to failure with the other 2 sets only to sub-failure. Other times I will complete all sets to failure. The rep range for sets 3 & 4 can be from 2-8 (ideally around 4-6)

After reaching (or just passing) 40 reps with a given weight I will add weight and begin to build the numbers back up to 40 again over 4 sets. (Sometimes I have added more weight and completed more reps the following week!)

I have to say 4X has been awesome for several reasons.

My CNS (central nervous system), joints and muscles all recover around about the same time now whereas in the past when I tried to get stronger and bigger through heavy weights and lower reps and sets my joints and nervous system recovered a lot slower than my muscles.

The change in training protocols has meant I can now train muscle groups twice every 8 days compared to once every 7-11 days!

Having 4 sets (or 4 attempts) at beating a rep goal of 40 is easier mentally and physically.  Even getting 1 extra rep over 4 sets is progress!

I get a far better pump!

I get in the zone better.

As a result I have definitely made strength and muscle gains.  The short rest periods between 4X means I don’t have to do any cardio and I am leaner now than I used to be during the off-season too.

However there are 2 exercises I don’t do 4X on and they are squats and deadlifts.  I usually pick a weight after 2 lighter warm up sets and go for 15-20 reps on these exercises.
Here is my latest training split I have been using 4X with.

Legs & Arms (A) Quad focus

1. Leg ext. 4X
2. BB old style hacks 4X
3. Squats 2 warm up sets then 1 set to positive failure 15-20 reps
4. Calf raise 4X
5. Weighted Dips (triceps) 2X + drop set with static hold in semi stretched position.
6. Spider curls 4X
7. DB Pullover extension 4X (cross between a skull crusher and DB pullover) works triceps hard and good muscle synergy with utilising the lats when it gets hard near the end of a set.

Chest, Back & Shoulders (A)

1. Chin ups 4X
2. Bench press 4X
3. BB/Smith machine row 4X
4. Reverse grip low cable cross over press 4X
5. BB Back shrugs 4X (with more emphasis on shoulder extension than scapula elevation) Great contracted exercise for rear delts.
6. Lying incline lateral raise.
7. BB behind back forearm curl.

Legs & Arms (B) Hamstring focus

1. Smith machine Feet forward squats (same rep/sets as squats in (A))
2. Standing 1 leg curl 4X
3. Dumbbell “almost” stiff legged deadlift 4X
4. Leg press calf raise
5. Dumbbell curl 4X
6. Tri push out 4X (like a triceps pushdown except I am more flexed at the hips and elbows are aimed at weight stack not the ground.
7. Reverse cable curl 4 X

Back, Chest & shoulders (B)

1. Deadlift 2 warm up sets. 1 set to positive failure 15-20 reps
2. BB Incline Bench 2X + NA set
3. DB Row 4X
4. DB incline fly press 4X
5. Omni DB Row 4X (1 arm version of Larry Scotts side raise but at different angles)
6. DB lean raises 4X
7. Cable forearm curl 4X

I have really enjoyed this spin on 4X training!  If you are looking for a change and a challenge give this training protocol a try and see if it does the business for you!