HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYBODY!

You see these workouts in the magazines, where they have you work through your heavy sets, say sets of eight to twelve reps, and then they have you finish up with some kind of pump out sets of twenty reps to help end the workout with a pump.

On paper this sounds like a great concept.

After all you are hitting everything in one shot, but to my mind that is exactly the problem with this style of training.

Where is the variety?

You can’t say, go out and do sets of twenty, because you already did those.

You could do sets of five, but still.

I think you would be better served to mix things up.

For example, do a six week cycle of 10×3, that’s ten sets of three reps per set.

Followed by and six week cycle, of the popular 5 x 5 method, that’s five sets of five reps per set, followed by a more traditional bodybuilding style rep range or eight to twelve reps per set, for four sets.

Then you can do a cycle of twenty rep sets.

Everything you would do above would hit the muscles a bit differently and by my count you would have twenty-four weeks before you would go back to the 10 x 3 method.

Of course, you could also add super-sets to the mix.

A super set for those of you who are new to bodybuilding is basically doing two exercises back to back with little to no rest, think just as long as it takes you to start the second exercise.

A typical super set would be barbell curls super setted with triceps push downs.

You would do one super set and then rest for say one minute and repeat for your desired number of sets.

A COUPLE OF POINTS

I know some of you might take issue with the sets of twenty reps.

But to me one of the things that separates a muscle that grows well, from one that does not, is the ability to get a good pump in the muscle.

By doing sets of twenty you will help to really pump up the muscle you’re working, and to me this is never a bad thing.

The other thing about doing cycles like these is that you will never get bored, because just when you are looking to try something different your six week cycle will be up and you will be able to move on to another style of training.

I realize that you do not have to switch it up at strictly six weeks, you can use whatever timetable you want.

If you get bored easily, switch up every two weeks, if you don’t get bored that easy, you can stick with one style until your gains stall out, if that is two months or three or even longer that’s cool.

CONCLUSION

They say variety is the spice of life, and I see no reason why it cannot be the spice of your training as well.

So why do everything in one workout?

When you can switch back-and-forth between styles, to not only keep your body guessing, but your mind fresh as well.

Until Next Time

THINK VARIETY

One sports figure that I really admire is Tiger Woods, to be honest I don’t admire him because he is a golfer I admire him because of the way he plays.

Let me explain.

I think Tiger has pretty much nailed it down so that even if he were to retire today he would go down as one of the greatest golfers in history.

Plus he has enough money to live the rest of his life the way he wants to.

But, he still wants to win more tournaments, get more trophies.

Wouldn’t you think it would be easy for him to wake up and say, well, I’ve done enough I really don’t need to do much more.

But he doesn’t, and that is what separates him for all the others.

Same goes for training, yes, you just gained ten pounds—six months ago.

Of course after an all out training blitz you do need a break, but not six months.

Or are you simply living off you past gains, and not really motivated anymore to train as hard as you need in order to make another ten pound weight gain.

To illustrate what I am talking about, I want to bring something up that I read by Ron Harris in the current issue of Iron Man Magazine.

He said that he got put through a biceps workout by six time Mr. O Dorian Yates and he realized that he really wasn’t putting out as much effort as he thought he was, in his own training.

Sorry Mr. Harris if I missed quoted you a bit, but I was writing the above from memory.

SOME POINTS

The thing to remember is, are you really putting in a great workout, or are you satisfied with just going through the motions.

Another thing to consider is your eating and sleeping habits.

What I mean by this is, if you are chronically tired from lack of sleep or really do not take in enough quality calories to make gains, you may think you are training hard, but the reality of the situation is that you probably are not.
So make sure you have all your bases covered, as it is easy especially for veteran lifters to think that they have it all under control, when if fact they have been slipping up little by little, like staying up later than they used to, or missing meals.

All the while thinking that they are doing everything right, but wondering why their gains have slowed.

CONCLUSION

The next time you find yourself loafing between sets; re commit yourself to working at a quicker pace and really giving it your all—on every rep and every set.

Same goes for your eating habits.

Examine them and make sure you are really getting in six to eight quality meals per day or have you been slipping up and have been too tired to get those last couple of meals in.

Over time those kinds of things can make the difference between making gains and making none or losing fat and losing none.

It doesn’t take much to get into the groove again, and one other thing you can try is sitting back one day and thinking back to why you got into this sport of bodybuilding in the first place—not to mention flipping through an old muscle magazine as this can bring the memories flooding back, and along with it your old zeal and excitement for training.

Until Next Time

KEEP WORKING

Dynamic or explosive lifts like the power clean and high pull are terrific exercises—however for some reason people have a problem with them.

I’ve read in a popular muscle magazine (just recently in fact) about how dangerous explosive lifts are.

And it really bugs me.

The person who said this was and is a respected member of the bodybuilding community.

The trouble is this comment has no substance to it.

Why?

Simple.

Any lift can be dangerous if it is done with improper form—no question about it.

But what about the man or woman who reads about the power clean—again for example—and wants to try it, but goes about it the right way.

Let’s say he or she asks around and finds a competent teacher of the lift and learns how to do it right—from the beginning.

Will our imaginary lifter have any problems?

Chances are they would not, and here is the kicker—they will have just learned a new exercise that they can add into their program—for variety, whenever they want.

Of course, the opposite is also true.

If our imaginary lifter does not take the time to ACTUALLY learn to do the power clean right—and ignores the advice of more experience people who KNOW how to do the lift.

Then yes, chances are he or she will get hurt and then complain about how horrible the dynamic lifts are.

SOME POINTS

When most people here the word dynamic or explosive along with the word lifting I feel they automatically assume that this means that you will be jerking the weight around and or doing something unsafe.

I feel THIS is where the negative aspect comes from—however anyone who has done or who has at least studied lifts like the power clean KNOWS that you are not cheating or jerking the weight.

Also, as stated above, if you have never done any dynamic lifting before, take the time to learn how to do lifts like the power clean CORRECTLY from the beginning.

CONCLUSION

Explosive lifts like the power clean or high pulls are wonderful exercises—but they need to be learned and you must respect the lift just like you do any other exercise—otherwise you could get hurt.

So please, if you ever read or here about such-and-such exercise being dangerous, take the time to investigate the claim and see if it has any merit or if it is just a bunch of hooey.

If you don’t you may be missing out on something that you might benefit from.

Until Next Time

ALWAYS TRY

When you flip through the magazines or read the online forums you always see articles or posts about building your chest or arms—but what about the forearms.

I haven’t read too many articles that talked about improving your grip strength.

And this is a shame because your forearms are involved in just about everything—so it would make sense to make sure your forearms were not holding you back.

I know people will say—I train hard and heavy—don’t you think my forearms get enough work.

Maybe, but as with anything, why take the chance that your grip is solid enough to hold onto that new PR in the dead lift?

SOMETHING OLD SOMETHING NEW

We have all seen (and have probably used) those sporting goods store grippers—you know the kind that you squeeze shut—and honestly most of them were probably not very good.

But.

I can without hesitation recommend THE CAPTIANS OF CRUSH HAND GRIPPERS for those who are serious about beefing up their grip strength.

I’ve owned them for years and I mean those things can take anything.

If you are serious about working your forearms and are up to the challenge head on over to www.captainsofcrushgrippers.com and check them out—you will be seriously glad you did.

Also, while we are at it check out the place that started it all www.ironmind.com

They have some of the best equipment you can buy—you won’t be disappointed.

OTHER METHODS

Now you don’t have to go with the captains of crush grippers—you can try the tried and true method of crumpling up a piece of newspaper with one hand—a very solid technique.

Or you can try towel chin-ups; basically you hang two towels over a chin-up bar and pull yourself up.

Sounds easy I know, but it is brutal—leave this exercise out of your forearm building routine if you can barley do one chin/pull-up.

Take your time and build up to being able to do at least one solid set of twelve reps of each before trying the towel method.

If towel chins don’t appeal to you give finger tip push-ups a try—do them like you would a normal push-up except that you stay up on your finger tips instead of keeping your palms flat-on-the-floor.

Another thing you can try is, doing hammer curls with dumbbells; these are done like a normal curl except that you use the same grip you would use if you were swinging a hammer (meaning that your palms are facing in).

SOME POINTS

While I feel forearm training is very important—please start off slowly with the above exercises and work your way into them nice and slow.

Little by little your forearm strength will improve—just don’t push it.

CONCLUSION

Unfortunately, not everyone (including me) can have forearms like bowling pins, but that does not mean each of us cannot increase the strength of our forearms.

So the next time you’re gunning for a new PR in the dead lift, at least you’ll know that you won’t have to worry about your grip giving out.

Until Next Time

TRAIN SMART