Category Archives: Man Biceps
Personal Training – Accountability, Results, But Most Importantly LEARNING
I actually got asked the other day by a client, “Aren’t you scared your clients are going to leave you because they’ve learned how to train themselves?”
I gave the client a look and said, “Well are you going to?”
His answer was, “No.”
But my client did raise a great question, “What are you supposed to get out of personal training?”
A great workout program?
DEFINITELY!
Accountability and support?
YUP!
Results?
HECK YES!
But most importantly, you should LEARN.
You shouldn’t become more dependent training with a personal trainer – you should become more INDEPENDENT.
We are here to help. To motivate. To guide. TO TEACH.
I don’t want my clients coming back to me because they don’t know anything, because they are scared to workout on their own.
I want to empower my clients. I want them to be able to help me teach and guide the next wave of people coming into the gym.
Your personal trainer should be a teacher. They should empower you both inside and outside of the gym.
They should help you realize your own strength.
They aren’t making you successful – THEY ARE HELPING YOU MAKE YOURSELF SUCCESSFUL.
So why am I telling you this?
Because I want to encourage you to feel empowered and to ask WHY – to question and to LEARN.
Don’t feel like you have to just accept everything we say.
Ask questions!
Learning and understand why our program is the way it is can help you stay dedicated even when your results slow for a bit or life gets difficult.
Learning will make you more independent. It will make you stronger and more confident.
And if your coach doesn’t empower you to learn…If your coach doesn’t like when you question them….
Maybe they aren’t the right coach for you.
And for all you coaches out there, remember you aren’t just churning out workouts – You are empowering people.
You are TEACHING people and helping them GROW!
P.S. There are a few of you right now that I’m so proud to work with. You have learned and grown so much and inspired me in return. I’ve been so honored to be a part of your journey! XOXO
NOTE: And if you are interested in learning more about push ups and developing core strength – Check out my latest email! (Want to receive these emails, subscribe here!)
Why We Need To Consider Our Desk Job When Working Out
With the increased popularity of Olympic lifting and the fact that Crossfit has brought it to the masses, now more than ever, we need to consider how our day job affects our bodies and may actually be at odds with the exercises and workouts we may want to do.
We may want to do Olympic lifts. We may want to do gnarly, cool exercises.
Heck we may even technically be strong enough to do them.
But before we can, we have to make sure our body is mobile and ready to truly move through the range of motion.
Because if our body can’t truly do the motion, we are going to compensate and end up getting injured.
Designing Your Workout Program
This past Sunday, I went to a great Bodyweight workshop led by Max Shank (Which was amazing! Check out his stuff!)
I went with one of our interns at the gym.
I’d forgotten what it was like to attend your first workshop.
There is an overload of new information and you feel like almost everything you’ve been doing just isn’t right.
You feel like you have to switch up everything you’ve been doing and now follow this new program.
I saw it in his eyes when we were there.
I saw the “Oh crap. I need to do things this exact way to get results and rewrite my entire program.”
I remember that feeling the first couple of workshops. You would learn a new way of doing something and you would instantly jump into the new program, putting aside anything you’d been doing up to that point.
However, after a couple of great workshops, you realize that everyone has their own way of doing something.
There are a billion workout routines out there (many of them even are good) that people have found work for them…
Glute Training – Why I’m obsessed with butt workouts
For those of you on my email list, you’ve probably already realized that I love glute training since EVERY email this month has been about butt exercises and butt workouts!
So why am I so obsessed with glute training?
It All Starts With The Mind-Body Connection
Want to run faster? Be more agile? Have better coordination? Be stronger?
Then you need to simplify things and work on your mind-body connection.
Balance work, agility ladder and drills, core sequencing exercises, activation exercises…These all need to be done so that you have control over your body and can activate the correct muscles when needed.
Speed, agility, quickness, coordination and frankly even strength don’t just simply come from lifting more or moving faster.
They come from your mind and body being able to communicate more quickly, which comes from everything being in balance.
Hmmm….maybe all those isometric workouts and moves I’ve been posting have even more benefit than simply recovery.
Many of those isometric moves work on your balance. And they correct imbalances as well.
Don’t think this requires a lot of balance and a great mind-body connection? HA!
If you have an injury, the communication between that area of your body and your mind has probably been interrupted. And depending on how good your recovery is, the injury may cause or have caused pain and problems higher up or lower down on your, meaning you may have many areas that aren’t connecting as well with your brain as you should.
Isometric moves work on repairing and correcting those imbalances. They work on mobility. They build stability in the muscles. They make sure the correct muscles are activated.
Isometric moves improve your mind-body connection. They make you focus and THINK about the muscles that should be activated.
Here is a great Isometric Workout to reduce pain and start working on your mind-body connection. It is a basic full body workout to correct many of those imbalances we have from sitting all day.
But isometric moves won’t do it alone. You must also do agility drills.
Many people think agility drills are just for athletes, but they are just as important for the average person especially as we age.
The agility ladder is a great tool, especially for us all to work on our coordination. HOWEVER, often people try to go as fast as possible without focusing on form.
If you want to get the most out of the agility ladder, you need to focus first on getting the move down and THEN on going as fast as possible. And you also need to mix it up. You need to go forward and backward. You need to go sideways and work each side.
Pay attention to which side feels more coordinated and don’t let your dominate side always lead!
Here are a few agility ladder drills to get you started. (I’ll be posting a video soon with my favorites.)
But the agility ladder isn’t the only agility drill you can do. You can set up cones or even use a few basic playing cards and set up points you shuffle, sprint, back pedal and carioca to (or any other locomotion move you want). Move quickly and make the distances super short so it is more about being quick and changing directions than getting up to speed.
Reaction drills are also great to improve the speed at which your mind and body communicate. Instead of using cones, have a friend tell you to shuffle to the left. Then whenever they want they can tell you to sprint forward then shuffle to the right. They can mix it up so you never know what is coming.
They can also do the drill with you and make you “shadow” them. LOVE shadow drills. They make you really focus and have to react.
You can also improve your coordination to get stronger, faster and fitter by doing core sequencing moves. These are moves that get the muscles of your core to work together as they should.
The Turkish Get Up, or its modified variation the Baby Get Up, is a great exercise to get your core to work together.
Here is a great workout to teach you the Turkish Get Up and help you strengthen each part of the lift.
What are you doing to improve your coordination and your mind-body connection? Simply lifting heavier weights and/or running faster aren’t going to be enough!
The 30-Day Home Bodyweight Challenge
Yesterday I mentioned that the easier we make healthy changes, the more likely they are to stick.
And for some people, getting to the gym on a regular basis just isn’t easy. Yes it is an excuse, but it is an excuse that causes many people to fail at reaching their goals.
Which is why I’ve become big into posting home workouts you can do with just bodyweight.
Because I also love butt workouts, today I’m posting a great bodyweight glute workout.
For more workouts like this one, check out The 30-Day Fitness Challenge.
The Home Bodyweight Glute Workout
WARM UP
Stretch and Roll Out:
Calves
Hips
Quads
Hamstrings
Groin
ACTIVATION
Complete 2 rounds of the circuit below. Hold each move for 2-5 seconds at the top so you really feel the muscle begin to work.
CIRCUIT:
12 reps each side Donkey Kicks
12 reps each side Clams
WORKOUT
Do both exercises back to back then rest up to 1 minute between rounds. Between supersets, rest up to 2 minutes.
SUPERSET #1:
10-20 reps each side 3 Count Single Leg Deadlift
10-20 each side Single Leg Glute Bridge (Hold 2-5 seconds at the top.)
SUPERSET #2:
10-15 reps each side Diagonal Lunges (Curtsy to Front Angled. Both lunges equal one rep.)
15-20 reps Reverse Hyper (Hold 2-5 seconds at the top.)
SUPERSET #3:
10-20 reps each side Backward Lunge
10-15 reps each side Fire hydrants (Hold 2-5 seconds at the top.)
COOL DOWN
Stretch and Roll Out:
Calves
Hips
Quads
Hamstrings
Groin
NOTES:
If you have weights at home, you can definitely use them. But slowing down the tempo of each move, or adding in a towel for the back lunge, can also advance the exercise.
EXERCISE DESCRIPTIONS:
Donkey Kicks – Start on your hands and knees with your hands under your shoulders and your knees under your hips. Flex your feet. Drive one foot back and up toward the ceiling, keeping the knee bent to 90 degrees. Make sure to drive the heel up and back. Do not arch the low back. Squeeze the glute as hard as you can at the top of the lift. You should not feel this in your low back at all if you are squeezing your glute and not arching to get the leg higher. Do not let the knee rotate in or out. Hold at the top and then lower the knee down. Repeat all reps on one side before switching. Do not bend your arms as you perform the movement.
Clams – Lie on your side, propping yourself up on your forearm. Place both legs together, one directly on top of the other. Keep your feet together and bend your knees in a bit. To perform the move, lift the top leg open like a clam opening up. Keep the feet together as you open and don’t allow yourself to rock backward. You want to press your hips forward and squeeze your glutes as you open that top leg. When you first do this move, it can be good to do it against a wall so that you don’t rock backward. To apply some resistance, press down on the top leg with your hand or place a mini band around both legs below your knees. Perform all reps on one side before moving to the other side. Below is a picture with the band.
3 Count Single Leg Deadlift – Stand on one foot with the knee of that standing leg slightly bent. Hinge over at your hips, sweeping the other leg back toward the wall behind you. Take 3 seconds to hinge over. Pretend you are driving the heel of that foot straight into the wall behind you. Lean forward with your upper body as you hinge forward, keeping the back nice and flat. Make sure that as you hinge, you are sitting into the heel of your standing leg. Do not lean forward and come up onto the toes of your standing leg. Remember to lower down for a 3 count. To stand back up, drive through the heel of your standing leg and squeeze your glute at the top. Come up quickly. Try not to tap the other foot down at all or at least not till you are fulling standing. Then slowly lower back down, taking 3 seconds to hinge over. Complete all reps on one side before switching to the other leg. You can slow it down to a 5 count if the 3 count becomes easy or you can hold weights in each hand.
Single Leg Glute Bridge (Hold 2-5 seconds at the top.) – Lie on your back with your knees bent. Your feet should be flat on the ground. Try to bring your heels back close enough to your butt that you can just graze your heels with your finger tips. Lift one leg up and bend the knee to 90 degrees. Drive up through your heel on the ground, lifting your hips as high as you can. Keep your core engaged and squeeze your glutes so you don’t feel the move in your low back. Do not let your knees fall together. Your feet should be about hip-width apart. At the top of your glute bridge, you should be driving through your heel and your upper back. Hold at the top of each lift for 2-5s. To advance this move, place your foot up on a table or chair. To regress the move, do a two leg glute bridge from the ground.
Advanced variations
Diagonal Lunges (Curtsy to Front Angled. Both lunges equal one rep.) – Start standing tall with your feet together. Then, starting with the right foot moving, step the right foot across and behind the left leg. Step back toward about “7″ or “8″ on the clock. Do not step too close to the left so that you have space to sink down into a deep lunge. Drop the back knee toward the ground, keeping the front heel on the ground. You should feel the lunge in the outside of your front butt cheek. Then bring the right foot back forward and stand up nice and tall. Beginners will want to pause here while more advanced exercisers will want to go right from the curtsy lunge to the angled front lunge. Step the right foot forward out of the curtsy lunge into a front angled lunge. Move the right foot forward and out to about “1″ on the clock. Both toes should be pointing straight ahead as you bend both knees and sink down toward the ground. Keep your front heel down as you lunge down. Then drive off the front heel to come back to standing. Then go right from the angled lunge back into the curtsy lunge. Repeat until all reps are complete on that side and then switch.
Reverse Hyper (Hold 2-5 seconds at the top.) – Lie face down on a table or bed with your legs hanging off. Make sure your hips are right at the edge. Hold on to something in front of you if you want. Keep your upper body relaxed. Squeeze your legs together and point your toes out. Lift your legs to basically parallel to the ground, keeping your legs straight. Do not hyperextend your back and lift way higher than parallel. You do not want to feel this in your low back. Keep your core tight and really squeeze your glutes as you lift. You can also do this on the ground although it doesn’t give you as big a range of motion.
Backward Lunge – Start standing with your feet together. Step one foot back into as deep a lunge as you can handle, bending the back knee and dropping it toward the ground. Your front knee should bend as well, but your knee shouldn’t go forward over your toe. Make sure to really sit back on that front heel and keep your chest up nice and tall. Then, driving through that front heel, come back to standing. Step that back foot back forward. To make the move harder, place a towel or slider under the foot moving back. Instead of stepping, you will slide the foot back into a deep lunge.
The towel backward lunge variation.
Fire hydrants (Hold 2-5 seconds at the top.) – Start on your hands and knees with your hands under your shoulders and your knees under your hips. Both feet are flexed. Keeping the knee bent to 90, lift the leg straight out to the side like a dog peeing on a fire hydrant. Make sure to keep the knee and ankle at the same height. Your foot shouldn’t be way up in the air and your knee shouldn’t be way above your foot. Your lower leg should be in a nice parallel line from the ground. Do not bend your arms to raise your leg higher off the ground. Also try not to lean into the standing leg. Squeeze the glute and hold at the top, keeping the foot flexed. Then lower down and repeat.
Planning for Success – Making Things Easy
For the first few days after you set a New Years Resolution, you are generally pretty motivated to accomplish it.
But as early as a week later, that initial motivation has already dwindled.
And things that seemed easy to do, like cook meals and eat clean, stop seeming as easy because you aren’t as motivated to do them.
If you don’t have a solid plan in place and haven’t done the proper preparation, you are going to slip back into old habits.
We will find any excuse to not make changes.
Therefore we have to make things as simple, and as idiot proof, as possible for ourselves.
So if you want to make some healthy changes to your diet this New Year, how are you going to make your plan excuse proof?
These tips below may just help….These tips are meant to help us create healthy habits so that we don’t have to think or use as much self-control to stick with the new program.
Because our self-control gets depleted as the day goes on, especially if we’ve had a stressful day. And the more things are in place so that we don’t have to use self-control, the more likely we are to stick with our plan and accomplish our goals!
5 Tips To Make Changing Easier
1. Meal Prep (Make Lots of Leftovers and Cook When You Have Time) – The easiest way to change-up your eating habits is to have healthy foods already cooked when you get home tired from work. The last thing most of us want to do when we are tired and hungry is spend even 10 minutes making food. That is why meal prep is so important. Pick a day when you are around the house anyway. It can even be a day when you are around the house RELAXING because if you pick a few recipes for the oven or crockpot, you don’t even have to stand around and stir them or anything. Find a few recipes that allow you to make meals for a couple of days. For instance, bake a chicken or some chicken breasts. You can simple throw them in the oven and go do something else while they cook. Or make a chili in a crockpot. You can throw in all the ingredients and even go out and do whatever you want all day. You will come back and have numerous meals! Eating clean really doesn’t have to be a horrible chore. Make it easy and make it work for you.
Cooked chicken, eggs, rice, sweet potatoes, dressing and cut up veggies for the next couple of days to make cooking quicker and easier!
2. Don’t Keep Temptations In The House – When we get stressed or upset, we are going to reach for comfort. And if we have those old comfort foods around, we are going to reach for them EVEN if we can resist on a normal day. When you are trying to create new habits, don’t keep things around that may derail those habits. Out of sight, out of mind. Very rarely will you make an effort to go get those unhealthy foods when emotional. And if you do, then accept it and move on. Just make yourself have to really work for it in hopes that it will give you time to reconsider. (Because more often than not, you will simply do what is easy and stick with the clean food you have around.)
3. Don’t Wait Till You Are Starving To Eat – While I do believe in intermittent fasting and that you don’t need to eat a certain amount of meals everyday, you also don’t want to just starve yourself to lose weight or wait to eat till you are super hungry. We tend to make horrible decisions when we get super hungry. We tend to not care what we eat and we tend to eat too much. Listen to your body and recognize when you are getting hungry. Then eat!
4. Always Have Healthy Snacks Around – For one, like I said above, you don’t want to get to the point of starving so that you seek out ANYTHING to eat. Plan and have snacks around for those times when you may need a quick little bit. Also, many people are emotional eaters or eat when they get bored. Most of us are guilty of it at some point at least. And while that is an issue we do need to deal with, a great way to prevent our emotions or boredom from derailing our new healthy habits is to have healthy snacks around so that we don’t munch on something worse. At least then we are reaching for something healthy and not something that may make us feel even worse, which could lead to the binge eating cycle.
5. Know Your Restaurant Options – While yes, often the healthiest option is to eat something homemade, that isn’t always an option. Plan for having to go out. Know the restaurants near your home and work so that if you do WANT to go out or get asked to eat out, you know the healthy options. Prepare yourself with go-to eating out options so you aren’t taken off guard or persuaded to eat something that derails your progress when you don’t want to cheat. I have a few restaurants that are my go-to when I want to eat cleaner but either have to go out to meet people or my meal prep wasn’t perfect and I need a meal in between. (Note: You can also choose not to eat out at all. While often this isn’t something we want to do, you can give yourself permission to join people out and then go back and eat the meal you planned to eat. It is just good to recognize this is an option even if people may make you feel guilty for wanting to stick with your plan.)
BONUS:
SET AN END DATE! I’ve been harping on this a lot with people lately, but even when you are trying to create habits for a healthy lifestyle, you need to set an end date. We don’t mentally do very well with FOREVER. So maybe set up a reward at the end of each month. Maybe you go shopping or do something special with friends and family. Or maybe you simply switch up the recipes you use every 4 weeks. Whatever it is, make there some sort of “end date.” Some time where you can pat yourself on the back for completing what you set out to do. And then at that time, you can adjust your plan a bit for the next month or so to keep you moving forward!
Once healthy habits are in place, you may find you don’t need to be as diligent with these tips because the ideals are engrained. Till then though, make it as easy as possible for yourself to stick to your new habits.
The more you prepare against the excuses, the more likely you are to create habits that LAST!
CONTEST!!! – Let Me Help You Achieve Your New Years Resolutions
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Today I would like to announce the official launch of Man Bicep’s Redefining Strength.
I mentioned yesterday that I’ve run Man Bicep for about 3 years now. And over that time, I’ve seen a number of different trends and run into a ton of different questions from clients and readers.
While I’ve tried to answer all the questions, all the desires on Man Bicep, there is only so much I can do from this platform.
Which is why I launched Redefining Strength. Redefining Strength provides everything I’ve been asked for over the years in one place.
On Redefining Strength, you will find a wealth of new content, including more blogs, The Workout Library, a Trigger Point Video Library, E-Books and even online personal training. (I have even more content to come soon too!)
In The Workout Library, there are 50 workouts. There are workouts you can do at home, at the park or at the gym. There are workouts you can do with bodyweight, sandbags, power wheels and suspension trainers. There are workouts for runners, cyclists, beginners and advanced exercisers.
Want even more workouts? Want 24/7 support to help you modify the workouts?
Then join The Elite Workout Library.
Want workout progressions, nutrition tips, goal setting guides and trigger point guides and videos?
Then check out Redefining Strength.
Want a program specifically designed to meet your needs and goals?
Then check out our Online Training.
Online training that you could get for FREE to help you get started on your New Years goals.
Interested? Check out the contest details below.
THE REDEFINING STRENGTH LAUNCH CONTEST
This contest will run from Jan. 1, 2014 till Jan. 8, 2014. Three winners will receive the prizes below:
The first place prize is 4 weeks of online training for FREE. This is a $200 value that can also be applied to Redefining Strength Products.
The second place prize is $100 off Online Training or any Redefining Strength Products.
And the third place prize is $50 off Online Training or any Redefining Strength Products.
To be entered to win, follow these two instructions:
1. Share RedefiningStrength.com on two social media sites and comment below with the sites you posted it to (Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Google +, Instagram, LinkedIn…)
2. Comment below with your New Years Resolution.
And as an added bonus, during January, I’m offering all Man Bicep readers 25% off all products in my shop (use coupon code RSLAUNCH) as well as 50% off of The Elite Workout Library.
I hope you all check out Redefining Strength and enjoy the new site.
And don’t worry, Man Bicep isn’t going anywhere! You are stuck with me and my ramblings!!
Achieving Your New Years Resolutions – It’s All In the Preparation
The other week I wrote about goal setting so that you can achieving your goals this coming year.
But setting proper goals is only the first step.
The next step is planning out how you are going to achieve your goals. And the more detailed your plan, the more likely you are to succeed.
Most people really skip this part.
They set goals. And then they start working out and eating healthy according to something they read or some vague idea of what they should be doing.
But they don’t really have a PLAN.
They really aren’t sure exactly what they are going to do from day-to-day. They really don’t know what is paying off and what isn’t. They really aren’t consistent enough with one thing to truly track what is working and what isn’t.
And while they may work really hard for a month to try to achieve their goals, they probably aren’t going to stick with it in the long run EVEN if they see progress.
Because at some point their haphazard program isn’t going to get them results. And when they plateau, they won’t know where to go because they will have no idea what worked and what didn’t.
But if they had a plan not only would they have direction to begin with, but they would also know what worked.
They could adjust the plan as they realize what benefits them and what doesn’t. As as they tweak their plan, they would continue to see progress.
Whereas if they had no plan, they would almost have to completely start over to continue getting results. And starting over with no idea of what works….Well that by no means guarantees you results.
Plus a plan is a great way to get you motivated and keep you motivated once you’ve set your goals!
Often we set our goals and those keep us motivated for a week or two.
But once that week or two is up, we lose that initial motivation.
If we’ve done enough to get results in those first couple of weeks, that may provide us with motivation for a few more. But if we haven’t seen great instant results, we may give up.
A plan though would help us stay motivated because we have something clear to follow and accomplish.
Accomplishing and completing the program you lined up, while it might not get you to your ultimate goal, is an achievement in and of itself.
It keeps you motivated to have something clearly laid out in front of you. It is harder to give up on something tangible, something you’ve spent time and energy already to develop, than it is to give up on something that is just a vague goal in your head.
There is something staring you in the face, letting you know you didn’t do it, when you write out a plan.
A PLAN.
That is why programs like P90x get results. They have clearly laid out plans. They have ways to progress and regress the program so that you can adjust it to fit you as you work through it. They even have slightly different variations of the plan to help you reach your specific goals.
You don’t have to play a guessing game to figure out what works.
YOU HAVE A PLAN.
So this year if you want results, create a plan. Set great goals and then map out how you are going to get there.
The next step after creating the plan is to do it and track it. After that, you just can’t be afraid to tweak it!!
NOTE: I’m not telling you to get a program like P90x (although you can if you want!). I’m simply saying that if you want to achieve your goal, the more you can think through all the variables like a program like that does, the more likely you are to achieve your goals!
Isometric Moves – Include Them In Your Workout
I’ve written before about how much I love isometric moves.
Holding an exercise is not only a great way to develop physical stability and strength but also a great way to develop mental toughness.
They can be a great workout on their own or they can be used to help you warm everything up and get the correct muscles activated.
Isometric moves are essential for everyone from the elite athlete to the person stuck at their desk for nine hours a day.
They help create stability and get the correct muscles activated. They can also help us create mobility and flexibility all while making us stronger.
For some great isometric moves and some workouts do to with them, check out the two links below:
10 Isometric Moves and a great Isometric Workout
Also, if you caught my post on Thursday about stretches to alleviate desk job aches and pains, you may also want to check out my post on Redefining Strength about ESSENTIAL isometric moves for anyone with a desk job!
Isometric Moves You NEED To Do If You Have A Desk Job
Isometric moves are also a great way to get in a workout over the holidays if you don’t have any equipment and very little space to work with!
Man Bicep 