Category Archives: Man Biceps
Can’t open the pickles? She can.
Candy found this video this morning and I LOVE IT! We deem Lindsey Smith an honorary Man Bicep Sister!!!
After seeing this video, one of our Man Bicep Sisters said, “That’s awesome. Just like my house 🙂 (don’t tell my husband I said that…).”
So true. Ryan even sometimes hands me jars to open when he can’t. Sorry to throw you under the bus Ryan…but it’s true! 😉
The Perfect Body
What do you consider to be the perfect body? One with six-pack abs? A bubble butt? Being so strong you can lift a car? Maybe all of the above?
The perfect body means so many different things. Some people want to look shredded – lean muscles and six-pack abs. Some people don’t care what they look like but want to be able to lift 3 times their body weight. Some people just want to have a body that can run and play with their grandkids.
I really started thinking about what it means to have “the perfect body” when I was looking through ESPN the Magazine’s Body Issue. I looked through it once with Ryan and then with Candy. Both times we looked at each of the athletes and discussed which bodies we liked or wanted. We all had slightly different opinions about which bodies were our favorites.
But that got me to thinking…All of these bodies are, in fact, perfect. All of the athletes’ bodies in the magazine are perfect in that they made each of them highly successful in their sport. It reminded me that “perfection” can mean so many different things.
It also reminded me of a situation in college. It was my freshman year, and I was introduced to lifting by a new strength and conditioning coach at Boston University. The girls on my team had been used to getting away with murder and slacking on their weights. But this new coach wasn’t going to have it.
She pushed us to lift heavy. We did heavy front squats and heavy bench. We worked on hang cleans, deadlifts and pull ups.
And the girls didn’t like it.
They were afraid they were going to look manly. Or have huge traps. They were afraid they wouldn’t look feminine. (Really they were afraid of working hard!!)
Of course this was a load of bull crap and our trainer told us so (our trainer was actually a very pretty blond who lifted heavy weights and still looked very feminine). But the girls wouldn’t listen. They were more worried about their bodies looking “perfect” by society’s standards than their bodies being “perfect” for their sport.
This I didn’t understand. First off…I felt that my body would look perfect if I lifted. Secondly…if you really want to be a twig with no muscle, you have the rest of your life to accomplish this. Right now you are on scholarship to play TENNIS; therefore, your body should be made PERFECT FOR TENNIS!
But they didn’t see it that way. Their body wasn’t perfect if it didn’t look a certain way, which in my opinion kept them from reaching their full potential in tennis.
Which raises a question for me…do I have conflicting images of what I want my perfect body to be? On the one hand, I want to develop six-pack abs while on the other hand I want to be able to lift enough to win a powerlifting competition…Usually the two don’t go hand in hand. I’ve actually even been told numerous times by Brian that I can’t worry about gaining weight while we are training. But at the same time…I don’t want to gain unnecessary fat.
Can I really accomplish both? Can I not gain fat while gaining strength? Can I even lower my body fat percentage while adding strength and muscle? There are people out there who say, “no you can’t” while there are others out there who claim to have done just that.
We will see who is right!
Man Bicep on Mark’s Daily Apple!
Check out our Primal Fitness video – Primal on the Playground on Mark’s Daily Apple! Once voting starts, vote for our video!!!!
How’s that working out for you?
Maybe it’s just that I have a mean streak, but don’t you ever just want to ask someone “How’s that working out for you?”
Like don’t you just want to ask when someone (who is clearly out of shape) orders a non-fat skinny soy chi tea latte with 7 pumps, thinking they are being extremely healthy? I must admit, even if you don’t want to…I DO!
I want to ask people who all the time.
Like when a man with a beer belly walks into the gym to sign up. And I ask, “Would you like to set up one of your complimentary training sessions today? And he says, “No. I already have a program. I’m all set.”
I just want to look down at his belly and ask, “How’s that working out for you?”
How do these people think that what they are doing is working? How do they not see that they aren’t getting results?
My theory is that they just BELIEVE what they are doing SHOULD be working. Conventional wisdom – magazines, TV, radio, internet – have all told them that it should work. Low-fat diets are SUPPOSED to lower your cholesterol and make you healthier. Non-fat milk is SUPPOSED to be better for you (I mean it has fewer calories right!?!).
People ignore the obvious fact that they still haven’t reached their goals because they are doing what is SUPPOSED to work.
These people really should be taking a look at themselves and asking, “How is this working out for me?” I bet you a lot of them would want to reassess their diet and exercise programs afterwards.
So if you aren’t seeing the results you want, stop assuming that because the magazine or some celebrity said the diet works that it works. Because it probably doesn’t.
For example…the workouts in Muscle and Fitness. Those workouts, with some huge guy posing next to them, only work for that guy because he is taking STEROIDS. Just like in Muscle and Fitness most of the popular diet out there have some hidden stipulation that you probably aren’t doing.
Do some research. Experiment. Try different things and let the results speak for themselves.
Please don’t be that person walking down the street following the newest diet trend that makes me want to ask, “How’s that working out for you?”!!!!
Personal Records
We all constantly compare ourselves to others. I know I definitely do it.
And it is good to have people who you compete with. Working out with Candy means I always push myself. It has helped me reach two personal records this week!
On Monday, we deadlifted. And we decided to try 275lbs, which would be a new personal best for each of us. I was going to attempt the weight first. Of course, I wanted to do it since it would be a new PR, but I also wanted to do it because what if Candy picked up the weight after me!?! I couldn’t let her lift more, could I!?! 😉
No I couldn’t! So that extra incentive motivated me to push to lift that 275lbs. It pushed me again to bench 120lbs on Tuesday (and I think it helped Candy hit a new PR of 130 in bench as well).
Competition can be good. And it can push you. But comparing yourself too much to others can hinder your development and make you very, very unhappy!
If you constantly compare yourself to others, you can start to focus less on success and more on not failing…which may sound like the same things, but entails two totally different attitudes. If you are always trying not to fail, you have a negative outlook. You are too worried about “winning” and not focused enough on development. Working toward success on the other hand is positive. It means you enjoy working toward a goal as well as accomplishing it.
Also, everyone is TOTALLY DIFFERENT! You simply can’t compare yourself to anyone else and their successes because they have different strengths and weaknesses than you do!
So let competition motivate you, but don’t let it consume you! Set your own personal records and work your butt off to achieve them!
Oh Conventional Wisdom – How I hate you
Every day I hear the lies of conventional wisdom perpetuated and sometimes I just want to scream. Here are some things that I’ve heard recently that go along with conventional wisdom that are complete and utter BULLSHIT.
Piece of Conventional Wisdom: Women shouldn’t lift weights because heavy lifting will make them bulky.
Conversation (about six months ago):
Me: So what diet, or how much protein, do you think someone needs to add more muscle if they are lifting heavy?
Nutritionist: Why are you lifting heavy?
Me: Because I want more muscle and I want to be stronger. (I think I had an expression of “That is such a dumb question! DUH to get strong and add more muscle!”
Nutritionist: But you don’t want to get bulky do you? If you lift too heavy, you may get bulky especially if you are taking in a ton of protein.
Me: Uhmm…I still have chicken legs and I eat a ton of protein and have been lifting heavy for a while. I want to get rid of my chicken legs…
Nutritionist: Well I wouldn’t lift heavy as a woman. I do lots of cardio.
Me: (I left the room.) End of conversation.
REASONS THIS IS BULLSHIT: Let’s get one thing straight right now…LIFTING HEAVY WON’T MAKE YOU BULKY! If you can’t accept this…you are on the wrong website. I’m not even going to take the time to list all the reasons why this is incorrect. If you need me to refute this piece of conventional wisdom just read about any other post on this blog. Or just take a look at this picture…Is this a big bulky woman? I’d hope your answer is no….
Piece of Conventional Wisdom: You need to eat breakfast and you should eat 3-5 small meals a day. And you definitely can’t work out on an empty stomach.
Conversation:
I tried intermittent fasting a few months ago and really liked it. I told people about it. The common reaction I got was: “You won’t be able to lift as much on an empty stomach or you will run out of gas. Your workouts will be hurt because you haven’t eaten.”
Lots of people also said there was no way they could do it. They said they NEED breakfast. They DON’T NEED breakfast. They are just conditioned to want it.
REASONS THIS IS BULLSHIT: To date, I’ve had some of my best lifting days and workouts on days when I’ve fasted till after I workout. If you want more proof that intermittent fasting works, visit LeanGains.
Piece of Conventional Wisdom: 45-65% of your daily calories should come from carbs.
Conversation (When people find out that the only carbs I eat on occasion other than cheat days are fruits, vegetables, and potatoes.)
Person: I could never give up bread! And I need carbs to get through my workouts and to refuel afterwards.
Me: But on most diets you have to give up something. With other diets you’ve managed to give up “bad” foods like fatty meats. If simple carbs, like white bread, is bad and bacon isn’t, why can’t you just switch what you give up.
Person: But you need carbs to function. The food pyramid has carbs on it.
REASONS THIS IS BULLSHIT: Ok for one, most people aren’t working out hard enough to really NEED carbs. And if you are doing crossfit intensity workouts, add in potatoes and such and you will be more than fine.
For two, it is never easy living life the healthy way. Of course there are outside temptations, but really you’d rather eat bread than butter and bacon? I don’t know…butter and bacon for bread seems like a pretty good trade-off to me…Plus, doing something that will make you healthier makes sacrificing bread seem very worthwhile.
If you want more information about letting go of carbs and why you DON’T need them, visit Mark’s Daily Apple.
Piece of Conventional Wisdom: Bacon and butter are not good for you. High fat diets will raise your cholesterol higher and that is bad. Use vegetable oil or low-fat substitutes instead.
Conversation: There have been too many conversations about this with everyone around me. But the usual I hear is: “Dude all that saturated fat is so bad for you.” “You know that is going to raise your cholesterol? You really should use margarine instead.” “You cook with duck fat? You should use vegetable oil instead.”
REASONS THIS IS BULLSHIT: Usually when I hear these things, I become speechless because I don’t even know where to begin explaining how wrong they are.
I would just love for one of these people who say this to me to provide me with a study proving I’m wrong (a study that I can’t prove wrong). Of course they never do yet they question me (and I’ve actually done the research not to mention discussed the research with other people, such as Ryan, who’ve done even more research).
I mean I challenge anyone to bring me a study that definitively proves that fat is bad for you and that processed crap like vegetable oil, margarine and low-fat substitutes are better.
Here is my proof that fat is good and all that other CRAP is bad:
Mark’s Daily Apple
Good Calories, Bad Calories
Paleo Diet
Protein Power
Robb Wolff
For a full list of evidence, visit the UCLA Ancestral Health Symposium.
Oh and something that really pissed me off today….Denmark has put a tax on foods with saturated fat. This list of taxed items even includes olive oil. Does anyone else think there is something wrong with this? Check out the Time Magazine article on it.
Top 10 – Brian’s FAVORITE Upper Body Exercises
So Brian’s FAVORITE (and I mean FAVORITE) thing to work is his chest…and upper body in general. These are his 10 FAVORITE upper body exercises.
1. Bench – Ok who doesn’t love bench!?! Barbell Flat Bench is by far Brian’s favorite. It is a GREAT compound exercise. And as Lisa mentioned, “Strengthening your “man pecs” helps keep the twins perky!” The bench press works your pecs, triceps, shoulders and abs among other things! Here is an article about the flat bench press. You can also vary up your bench press by doing incline barbell or dumbbell variations. There are also other tortuous variations such as pause bench…but that is an exercise for another day.
2. Push ups – Brian thinks push ups are easy…I don’t exactly agree but I do think they are awesome for you! Push ups are one of those exercises that you need to actually DO to get better at. Doing bench and such will help, but to truly get good at push ups…you need to DO push ups. Girls don’t just do push ups from your knees because you are girls!!! Channel your inner man and bust them out from your toes or even attempt a decline push up or two (or 10).
3. Dips – You can do these off a bench or from a dip machine, but DO THEM. I find the ones off the bench much easier than full dips, but both can be good. I feel that the ones on the bench pretty much only tire out my triceps while the full dips from the bars work my chest, lower traps, triceps and my anterior deltoid (the front of your shoulder).
Full, off the bars dips.
4. Wide grip pull ups – I happen to agree with Brian about these….I LOVE PULL UPS! THEY ARE AWESOME! Wide grip are especially awesome because they are hard and they isolate your lats. Regular pull ups tend to use a lot of bicep so these are great to mix in to just work your back!
5. Dumbbell 1 arm row – Brian loves this one because as he said, “You can use heavy weight and it is a good way to build strength and size.” That’s what us Man Bicepers love! 🙂
6. Seated DB Military Press – If you want to improve your bench and push ups, you need to strengthen your shoulders. Military press is a great way to do that. Using dumbbells engages more stabilizer muscles in your core and shoulders. Doing the military press seated instead of standing can also be safer if you aren’t as sure of form – just make sure your back is fully pressed into the back of the seat.
7. Front to Side Raises – Shoulder murder. 1 rep is a front raise and then a side raise.
8. Posterior Deltoid Flyes (with a resistance band) – Brian loves this one because no one works on their posterior deltoids. He says, “They are neglected. People focus on the anterior and medial deltoid.” (Brian also mentioned the fact that Candy has what we jokingly call “monster anterior deltoids.”) Choose a resistance band that you can stretch all the way out while having your hands about shoulder width apart.
9. Straight Bar Bicep Curl – This hits every aspect of the bicep. Don’t cheat – go all the way down and all the way up and DON’T SWING! Stagger the feet if you need to. BUT DON’T CHEAT!
10. Skull Crushers – Please don’t crush your face when you do these. Grab dumbbells and lay flat on a bench or floor. Bending at the elbows and keeping your triceps perpendicular to your body, lower the weights down toward your head. Try to keep your elbows in. Stop before you hit your face and straighten the arms back up without any flexion of the shoulder.
Some others that Candy and I love that weren’t on Brian’s list: Dumbbell pullovers and Iron Cross. Iron cross is also shoulder murder and DB pullovers are a great exercise to work your chest, back and triceps all at the same time! If you do a pullover while holding a glute bridge, you get the added bonus of working your core, glutes and hamstrings.
Some that we hate:
Candy hates pull ups.
I hate Overhead Tricep Extensions…UGH!
We both hate manual tricep pushdowns (which almost made Brian’s list).
Do I nauseate you?
The answer seems to be…yes.
Candy told me last night that the workout I designed (which ended with Medball Burpee Slams and Sumo Deadlift High Pulls) made her want to barf.
This morning a new client also told me that she felt nauseated. She said she’d never felt like that before during a workout.
So what is it about me and my workouts that make people want to barf?
The workouts are fast paced. The workouts cram as much stuff into as short a time as possible. You usually have very little rest. And I try to incorporate as many full-body exercises as possible so that I fatigue each and every muscle as much as possible. I also love to push you by adding in challenging weights. And I try to add in burpees as often as possible (or as one of my clients calls them…barfies).
Plus I’m always looking to add in more reps and sets than you would normal push yourself to do.
So that is how I make people want to barf. Because I push them to do way more than they would usually do. I force them to challenge their bodies. And because their bodies aren’t used to the challenge (or in Candy and my case because we push ourselves to the point of no return), they feel like they are going to barf…or at least they get light-headed.
Do I take pride in making people want to barf? No…unless it is Candy or me. But I do take pride in the fact that I force people to work hard and even make them enjoy the challenge….at least I figure they like the challenge since they keep purchasing more sessions….
Does all of this make me and anyone else that loves working out till they feel sick a little sadistic? Yes, probably so.
And the Push Ups Continue…
Thank you Nancy for your push up in our lobby!
Look at that decline push up!
Man Bicep 