Exercise Instructions and Tips

The Do's And Don'ts Of Weight Training!

By: Matt Danielsson

Sometimes it's hard to see the forest with all the trees blocking your view. In bodybuilding, it is easy to lose sight of the fundamentals and get caught up in the nitty-gritty details you read about in the magazines all the time. Time for a little checklist of do's and don'ts to make sure you're on track!

Do:

• Be consistent. Hit-and-run doesn't work - you have to stick to your program and do your best every single workout. Try to make some kind of improvement every time you go to the gym.
• Stick to the basics. Dead lifts, dumbbell presses, chins, squats, military presses and heavy bicep curls will never go out of style.
• Allow yourself enough time to recover between workouts. Be sure to watch for signs of over training.
• Eat plenty of high-quality food. Your diet should consist primarily of rice, pasta, oatmeal, vegetables, chicken, lean beef, tuna, and other staple foods of bodybuilders.
• Sleep at least 8 hours per night. You need this time to recover as well as benefit from the natural boost of natural growth hormone that occurs during REM-sleep.

Don't:

• Avoid getting stuck in a rut. Doing the same things with the same exercises month after month will not challenge you. The difference between sticking to a program and being stuck in a rut is whether you change things around and make progress or not.
• Substituting good food with supplements is a bad idea. Supplements are great for giving you an edge, and perhaps help you get the nutrition you need when on the go sometimes, but it can never take the place of real food. Plan your diet around solid meals, and use the supplements to cover pick up the slack in-between.
• Never ignore budding injuries or signs of over training. Be sure to rest and/or talk to a doctor if you experience stubborn joint pain or similar symptoms.
• Don't let what you read in the magazines get to you. If some juiced-up pro says he does dozens of sets for biceps, that doesn't mean you have to. If your experience tells you that 6 sets are enough, stick to it. Listen to your body.
• Last but not least, don't lose sight of the big picture. Even if you may be on a plateau and motivation is low right now, there's only one way to beat it - by trying harder and training smarter. The reward will come when you get off the plateau and start making progress again. A positive attitude is everything.
  

Thanks,

Monica Brant's Training Tips!

By: Monica Brant

Everyone knows cardiovascular exercise is important during dieting. I try to work out every day, even when I don't have access to a gym (for example, doing sprints on the beach or running up the stairs at a hotel). Running is definitely a good idea if your knees can handle it. I enjoy interval training. According to conventional wisdom, you should aim for a target heart rate of 138-148 when you're performing cardiovascular exercise. I personally prefer 145-160 instead. When I'm interval training, my heart rate can hit the 180s. And during my routines, my rate is 180 the entire time. That's why conditioning is so important.

If you're trying to lose weight, you need to exercise for at least 20-30 minutes, minimum. What can you do in ten minutes except warm up your muscles? If I'm training legs, I'll get on stationary bike and do interval sprints. Whatever you do, the best time to exercise is in the morning before breakfast or at night after your last meal. I'd also recommend weight training for all women. Twice a week would be awesome. Resistance training definitely makes you feel better and lean mass burns more calories than fat. Besides, weight training is the only way you're going to get that toned look.

Abs
Aside from my gymnastic conditioning routine, I work my abs one to three times a week. I usually do supersets, or I don't take much of a rest between straight sets. The abs recover quickly so keep the fire (burn) hot. I will keep going until this area of my body is exhausted. Two of my favorite exercises are hanging leg raises in which I use "Ab Originals" made by Modern Body Design (In case you want to order your own: 310-392-6887) and crunches on a Swiss Ball. Keep in mind that many of the fitness magazines do articles about me regularly. You will glean many other training tips from them. Also, look for the book "Shape Training" by Bob Kennedy featuring a few other fitness competitors and myself. Highly recommended!

Arms
Generally I like to do biceps and triceps together/ alternating 3-4 exercises each. For biceps I train heavier with reps around 8-12 and triceps I keep reps around 15-20. I usually do a variety of exercises, changing each session. Sometimes I even do workouts from the other competitors in the magazines! It never hurts to try something different!

Back/Rear Delts
I usually work this area once a week. I use heavier weights and keep the reps between 10-15. I really enjoy doing wide grip pull-ups and if I don't have a spot, I will use the gravitron (assisted pull up/dip machine) to start my routine. I will continue to do 4-5 exercises with rear delt supersets! I train the same as back...heavier. I like keeping these together because they all are working in the same area! Also, if you are training in gymnastics the rest of your shoulders will be getting a lot of work and the rear delts won't be hit as much..so you want to make sure and get them in!

Chest
For chest training, I prefer to do a variety of pushups: Place hands higher and wider (hitting some front shoulders and more upper chest) than the normal position Normal ol' push-ups (on toes, not knees) Place hands close and lower (hitting slightly more triceps) Decline push-ups with my upper body on the floor and feet are elevated on a bench or box. For an intense stretch when doing the decline type, place dumbbells upright under your hands (helps if d-bells are flat sided), and go down between them for the stretch! Go slow so you don't pull anything. Pushups help build strength and I usually do them after gymnastics. Even when I am not practicing gymnastics, I still train with the push-ups 2-3 x weekly.

Legs
After doing gymnastics 2-3x weekly and running in the sand (sometimes with interval sprints) 2-5x weekly for cardio training, my legs are slightly (!!) exhausted. So, if I am capable of additional weight training in the gym, I perform 4-6 different exercises with light or no-weight, high reps of 20-50, sometimes 100! I prefer to do as many one- legged exercises as possible, i.e. leg press; lunges; extensions; leg curls; etc. to build each leg equally. Additionally, I like to do exercises as supersets or giant sets (3-4 exercises per set) to improve my heart rate and lung capacity. These sets also save time if I am in a hurry.

Shoulders
After my gymnastic practice, I perform one of my favorite exercises: handstand push-ups. For this my feet are balanced on a wall, legs together and tensed, toes pointed, glutes squeezed. Facing a wall, my hands positioned slightly outside of, or directly under my shoulders, I slowly lower myself as far down as possible and push up doing as many as possible in 3 sets. Challenge yourself and see what you can do! Once or twice a week, I also perform strengthening exercises for my rotator cuffs using lightweights or no weight at all. I also do side lateral raises with cables or dumb bells. Again, keep the weight down; but, focus on high reps. It is very important to always remember that your joints are delicate. Never overload on the weight! If I am not doing gymnastics I train shoulders 1-2 x weekly alternating handstand pushups with regular shoulder presses.

Cardio
I feel that my cardio part of my training is very important! I try to do a 45-60 minute session in the morning, before breakfast. My favorite (and seems to be most beneficial for me) is jogging to the beach and in the soft sand. Second most favorite is after my weight training in the gym on either the Gauntlet (revolving staircase) or a treadmill with the grade as high as possible. During my cardio sessions I wear a Polar Heart Rate Monitor to keep an eye on my heart rate without having to stop and check it by counting, etc. I feel this gives me an accurate and most profitable fat burning session. Sometimes I like to add interval sprinting to my aerobic activity and using the monitor gives me that easy heart rate accessibility!

I keep my low range at 130 bpm and the high at 148 bpm-going up to 180 for the intervals. Other activities I enjoy for cardio are: Jogging on the treadmill, stairmaster, Versa Climber, Precor FX, and occasionally the bike. During contest preparations my cardio is even more important for my overall conditioning. I will do an hour in the morning (4-6x weekly), and depending on my fat loss, physical state, and timing, 30-60 minutes in the evening before bed , after last meal. My tip for the best fat burning affects: Slow and Steady for a longer duration! Enjoy!

Rest
Sleep is very important! Don't sacrifice your rest time! Everyone needs different amounts, so make sure you are getting yours. Especially if you are trying to burn fat and even more importantly if you are trying to gain muscle! So try to get consistent amounts nightly! I personally need 6-8 depending on how busy I am and my workload! Yawn!

Thanks,

Ten Tips To Maximum Intensity!

By: Bryan Locke

You've probably heard people in your local gym talking about workout intensity. Many of these people who constantly flap their gums about this aspect of training have no idea what it really takes to build workout intensity. They are also the ones who aren't growing. Notice how they are performing the same exercises, using the same weight and rep schemes and just give up once the pain sets in? That's called not doing your homework. Knowledge is power in this sport. If you understand how your body responds to weight training, you'll be able to apply techniques that will help you avoid plateaus and keep you growing like a weed.

If you are able to create animal-like intensity in the gym, you are almost guaranteed to make monstrous gains in both muscle mass and strength. On an average day in the gym, I can be considered somewhat of a psycho. I'll do just about anything to bring my muscles closer to the point of total failure. This requires the absolute greatest amount of mental focus and physical energy available, but is well worth it. Since I only train each body part once a week, or 4 times a month, I make sure they receive maximum stimulation by using Maximum Intensity. I contribute my quick gains to sound nutrition, plenty of sleep and extremely high intensity workouts.

Intensity is defined as the degree of effort put into each set of every exercise during a workout. The ability to push past the pain barrier and perform extra reps, will ultimately bring your muscles closer to, or hopefully well beyond the point of failure. Maximum Intensity requires developing your mind-muscle link. One way of developing this valuable link is to have your training partner place his thumb(s) on the muscle(s) you're working, which allows you to concentrate on contracting that muscle. It must be done with total concentration, utilizing every ounce of your mental energy. You may consider yourself to use Maximum Intensity when you are left lying on the floor exhausted and in pain after completing a workout. Now that's HIT.

Now that you have an introduction to Maximum Intensity, I'll help you apply it to your workouts and have you blasting your muscles so hard, you will never hit a plateau. Here's 10 techniques to spike intensity:

1. Supersets: There are two types of supersets. They can be performed on oposing muscle groups such as the biceps and triceps or on a single muscle group such as the back, chest, shoulders or calves. The advantage of supersets is that they force a lot of blood into the target muscle group, causing a much more intense pump.

2. Pre-Exhaustion: Perform a single?joint, isolation-movement before a multi-joint exercise to pre-fatigue the muscle group. This ensures that the target muscle is being totally fatigued and that the set does not end when a supporting muscle burns out. For example, do dumbbell flyes before the bench press. In order for this Techniques to be 100% effective, rest no longer than 30 seconds before moving from the isolation exercise, to the compound movement.

3. Descending Sets (Strip Sets): This technique is most effective if you have two training partners, but still effective otherwise. After you reach muscular failure with a certain weight, immediately strip the weight and continue until failure is reached a second and/or third time. This technique can be dangerous and may be applied to all exercises.

4. Cheating: Cheating is the most effective and most common method of training past the point of failure. Cheating is defined as using the weights momentum with a slight swing of the torso to move the bar past its sticking point. Its important to only swing your torso on the concentric phase of the movement, but slowly lower the bar under control. 2 - 3 cheating reps in each set is plenty.

5. Continuous Tension: Maintain continuous tension on muscles to maximize deep red?fiber involvement. This also ensures that your form stays correct and inhibits momentum from taking over. This causes a very intense burn, and should be applied to all muscles all the time.

6. Forced Reps: Forced reps are similar to cheating reps, but instead of using momentum to get past the sticking point, have a partner assist you move the weight. This ensures that the weight is under total control and allows you to place more stress on the target muscle. This technique can be dangerous, so only perform 3-4 forced reps at the end of a set.

7. Negatives: Eccentric training makes it possible to recruit deeper muscle cells because you can lower about 30% ? 40% more weight than you can lift concentrically. This technique definitely requires two training partners to help raise the weight. Only perform negatives every 3rd or 4th workout since they are so destructive to muscle fibers. Lower the weight very slowly, up to twice as slow as normal.

8. Exercise Variation: Although your routine should be based around classic mass building exercises, a variation in the angle, grip spacing, and body position can be changed to hit these muscles differently and ultimately confusing the target muscle group. Although they are the same exercise, slight variations will yield different results.

9. Backwards Training: This is a very simple technique that's based on muscle confusion. Simply reverse your entire routine. Start with the last exercise, and end with the first exercise. If your routine is designed correctly, it should put the isolation movements before compound movements to shock the muscle and add intensity.

10. Decrease Rest Intervals: This is the biggest deciding factor weather or not your workouts will be completed using Maximum Intensity. Resting a maximum of 60 - 90 seconds between sets is what will cut down on your volume training and in tern jack up the intensity. Stretch during this rest period to relax and promote blood flow to the muscle.

Train safely, effectively and most importantly, keep it natural.

LOCKE