Category Archives: Workout
Work those major muscle groups!
To look like the bottom girl, do compound exercises!
So I definitely have noticed more women in the weight room recently.
Unfortunately most of these women are doing high reps with very little weight. I’ve also noticed that most of them are only doing single muscle group movements.
The exercises that women seem to love:
- Bicep curls
- Tricep extensions
- Adductor machine
- Abductor machine
While these exercises can be great auxiliary lifts for someone looking to strengthen weak points in their bench, deadlift or squat, these single muscle group movements really are pointless to do otherwise. Plus if you do compound movements, you will work all of those muscles that you are working with those isolated exercises and many more!
Single muscle group movements don’t give you much bang for your buck. You don’t burn very many calories doing them AND you can’t spot reduce problem areas. So while you may be making your bicep stronger, you aren’t specifically removing flab from over the bicep.
Your time would be much better spent doing compound movements because they work the biggest muscles groups in your body, which will help you build strength, burn fat, acquire optimal body function and improve your health.
Lifting weight while using multiple muscle groups elicits a much higher level of positive hormones than training just one muscle group at a time. These hormones include testosterone, insulin-like growth factor 1, and growth hormone. These hormones are what will help you build lean muscles, burn fat, and improve your health.
So not only are you building lean muscles, but you are also more efficiently working your entire body to burn more calories than you would if you did an isolated muscle group movement. You also improve your cardiovascular health and joint stability and muscle balance across your joints by performing compound exercises.
So if you really want to work your bicep, don’t do a curl. Instead perform a pull up or a row. If you want to work your tricep, bench press or do a push up or even a full dip. If you want to work your adductors and abductors, do a squat or lunge or sumo deadlift!
AND if you need a workout with lots of compound exercises, check out the Man Bicep Weekly Workout!
0-60 in less than 1 second
Who doesn’t want to floor the gas pedal and go from 0-60 in less than 1 second?
Who doesn’t see a motivating fitness picture or read a success story and not want to start working out right then and there?
Who wants to take it slow when they first start a new workout program?
NOBODY!
But unfortunately, unlike some of the race cars out there, our bodies aren’t built to go from 0-60 in less than 1 second!
If you try to workout too often and do too much too soon, you aren’t going to see results any quicker. Actually, you will most likely slow your progress or even keep yourself from progressing AT ALL. You also risk getting an injury that will stop you from doing anything for a while.
I’ve seen it happen all too often. Especially around this time of year.
People get all gung-ho about their New Years resolutions. They have their goals and they want to accomplish them right now!
They start up a gym membership and may have never worked out before in their life, but they are now hitting the gym at least 5 times a week. They start logging in millions of miles or jump right into lifting heavy weights.
Their bodies aren’t prepared for either activity. They’ve haven’t taken the time to create an aerobic base or get their bodies ready to handle heavy loads. They haven’t worked on their mobility or form and haven’t really even taken the time to develop a specific program/routine that can be monitored to see if it is working.
They are perpetually sore, but don’t slow down. They may develop some slight pain in their hips or knees or muscles, but rehab and prehab are only given a fleeting thought as something they should be doing, but just don’t have time for now.
And they just keep pushing. They’re up there at 60. And they may have seen results right at the beginning.
But guess what?
They can’t keep up that pace. Their body gives out. Little injuries become chronic pain. Their numbers and miles slowly go down because their body is stalling.
They weren’t patient. And in their rush to achieve their goals, they’ve actually delayed themselves from reaching them.
I know it’s so tempting to start lifting heavy 4 times a week, always trying to hit your max. I know it’s tempting to workout more and more as you see your body become slimmer.
I FULLY understand the desire, the drive, to work as hard as you possibly can to achieve your goals NOW!
But if you really want your goals that bad, you need to rest too. You need to be patient. You need to outline a long-term program and you need to learn to enjoy the ride.
Learn to love the workouts themselves and enjoy each and every part of improving your health, even the rehab/prehab and rest days.
Constantly remind yourself that when your body rests, that is when the muscles are actually growing – that is when you are actually reaping the benefits of all the time you spend in the gym!
Honestly, if you can remind yourself to be patient now, you will reach your goals a million times quicker than if you try to rush to reach them now.
Don’t let your drive to reach your goal (be it a weight lifting competition, marathon or even just weight loss) make you push yourself too far too fast.
It’s all about the ride! Enjoy each and every moment of it!
Walking – Yes it is a good workout!
I love walking outside or going for hikes, but I hate walking on the treadmill. It is such a fun activity to do with friends and family, but such a boring thing to do on your own…inside…
But the health benefits that you get from low-intensity workouts, such as walking on a treadmill, make the boredom worthwhile.
With this low intensity aerobic exercises, your heart and other energy systems have to work a little harder, without being overly stressed, to handle the extra fuel and oxygen delivery demands. This low intensity aerobic exercise also creates specific biochemical signals that produce a number of health and fitness benefits including:
- Improved fat metabolism – Low intensity aerobic activity trains your body to more efficiently utilize free fatty acids as fuel, which benefits you 24/7. It also helps you develop a higher metabolic rate and a preference for fat over glucose…especially if you are eating a low carb diet. Low intensity exercise can also help you balance your blood sugar levels and regulate your appetite.
- Improved cardiovascular function – You will strengthen your heart and improve your capillary network, which is the network of blood vessels that supply your muscles with fuel and oxygen. You will also improve your respiratory system functioning (the oxygen delivery by your lungs to the rest of your body).
- Stronger immune system – You build a stronger, more efficient circulatory system through low-intensity cardio. This combined with the fact that low intensity aerobic exercise stimulates beneficial hormone flow means that your immune system will be stronger!
- Increased energy – You don’t deplete and fatigue your body very much during low-intensity exercise. Usually actually you relax and feel more rejuvenated!
- Improved musculoskeletal system – Aerobic exercise prepares your body for the stress of weight lifting. It strengthens your bones, joints and connective tissues.
And I find that walking is a great thing to do on active rest days! It is a great way to relax. You also burn some extra fat, improve your aerobic base and loosen up your muscles so that you can get in a nice good stretch and foam roll!
So don’t skip the walking, or other low-intensity aerobic activity, just because it is “easy.” It is an essential part of your workout routine! Just like foam rolling and rest, it is necessary to getting great results!
Man Bicep – Weekly Workouts
Recently, I’ve gotten a ton of questions about workout routines. People have asked for advice about what exercises to do, how many reps and sets to perform, how many times a week they should train.
While there is no one workout program that will work for everyone, I can offer guidelines.
And my first suggestion is: STOP OVERTRAINING PEOPLE! Too many of you aren’t giving body parts enough rest especially if you are lifting heavy. Light full body circuits are fine to do 3 times per week. But if you are lifting super heavy that body part is going to need a lot more rest!
Second suggestion: Keep track of your workouts! Don’t just randomly throw together some moves for that day! Plan and record!!
Now my third suggestion is try the Man Bicep workouts of the week! These workouts have helped other people gain strength while getting lean. So they definitely work especially when adjustments are made to your individual goals (if you email me I can suggest adjustments). They are a great starting point for anyone looking to create a program that will help them get strong and lean!
Feel free to keep emailing me all your workout questions! Here is just a little extra weekly supplement to my answers!
Weekly Workout #1
Strength Deadlift and Leg Day
Stretch and perform mobility exercises for hips and such.
Deadlift 5 sets of 2 reps – Perform warm up sets before beginning the 5 rounds. Start heavy. Try to either maintain the same weight throughout or increase as you move through the sets. If your form breaks down, lessen the weight. Rest a couple of minutes between each set.
Auxiliary lifts: Lighter weights should be used, but they should still be challenging!!!
Step ups 3x10ea (hold weights)
paired with
Balance lunges 3x10ea (hold weights)
Kettlebell swings 3×20
paired with
Jumping forward lunges with weight vest 3x10ea (So you move forward by jumping and switching legs.)
Hyper extensions 3×10 with weight
paired with
Bosu abs 3×20 no weight
Stretch and foam roll after walking for 10 minutes.
Check back next week for another workout! In the meantime, try this one and let me know if you have any questions.
The BEST lifting shoes EVER!
Show me yours!
For one, Converse All-Stars are some of the best lifting shoes around…other than my Saucony Hattori for deadlifts. They are great because of their flat soles and lack of padding. The Saucony shoes are only better for deadlifts because they allow you to feel the ground and don’t add any inches whatsoever to your lift!
For two, Candy decked these out for me with cupcakes (because I like to bake…especially when it is a cheat day and I can eat it) and “Show me yours,” one of the Man Bicep slogans!
Plus they have like my three favorite colors on them – blue/green, purple and pink!
I know you all are so jealous! 😉
Front Squats
I haven’t done heavy front squats since college.
I’ve always sort of dreaded them. I traded them in for back squats partly because I like to lift as much weight as possible and my numbers are bigger in back squat and partly just because I hate them.
But front squats are super good for you. They really work your quads AND your core. So I’ve started doing them and hope one day I will love them…
Till today, I’d done front squats as an auxiliary lift. Higher reps with lighter weight usually after a nice heavy round of deadlifts.
But for some reason today I decided it was time to tackle heavy front squats.
5 sets of 5 repetitions of heavy front squats.
I was nervous. 5×5 is usually a killer workout no matter what lift you are doing. And to be doing 5×5 on front squat…Uhm what was I thinking!?!
I was thinking…”Gosh I hope I can even manage to do one rep at my college max of 130!” (And by the way, I do still hold the Boston U. Women’s Tennis front squat record…I’m both proud of this and a bit disappointed that no one has beaten it.)
And today…even though I still hate front squats…I was very happy at the results of my workout (and Candy did super well too! She has a VERY strong core!).
We started with 95lbs for 5 reps. It definitely didn’t feel like a warm up set like it does with back squats. We then put on 115. That wasn’t a picnic either, but it was manageable.
So I decided we should attempt 135lbs. Yep, I decided that we should attempt more than my max in college. I mean 135 is a warm up for back squats so I should be able to easily do it….right?
Uhm…easy? NOPE! Doable? Yes!
I managed 5 very nice deep front squats with 135 although I do think Candy wasn’t sure if I was actually going to make it up on the 5 one.
Candy then repped out 5 with the weight and I was a bit jealous of how easy she made them look. Her core is gnarly!
Of course, what I didn’t consider was the fact that we had two more rounds of 5 reps…sweet….
Both of us stuck with 135 and busted out two more rounds of 5 although my depth was questionable at the end and my core was struggling hard to keep me up straight.
BUT…I DID IT! I repped more than my college max! YAY!
Of course, I then still had to do conventional deadlifts and snatches, but hey…I’d done heavy front squats!
I still don’t like them though.
“I thought it was a man writing this…”
I submitted my Primal powerlifting success story to Mark’s Daily Apple because of Ryan’s encouragement. And yesterday the story was posted on Mark’s site.
I honestly wasn’t sure how people would respond and was a bit nervous to have my story somewhere other than Man Bicep. I thought people would think it was cool or a bit different from the usual success story, but I never thought people would assume I was a man.
Actually I am very amused by how many people first assumed it was a man’s story until they saw the pictures.
It made me think about how conditioned we are to believe that men lift heavy weights, but women don’t.
I mean people even just assumed I spelled “fiance” wrong instead of thinking that I was a woman…and honestly I can’t blame them.
We all view life through a lens – a lens which is developed based on our own experiences and the influence of mainstream media.
And let’s face it, most women don’t lift heavy. And most mainstream media tells us that women shouldn’t even want to lift heavy unless they want to bulk up.
Most media sources tell women to avoid super low reps so that they aren’t training for hypertrophy (to make their muscles bigger). Instead they are supposed to stick with higher reps and use “challenging” weights.
While yes, there are some outlets out there that are trying to change this female phobia of heavy weights, things are changing slowly…very slowly.
I still train women who don’t want to lift too heavy because they don’t want to get bulky. Of course I slowly trick them into lifting heavy, but at first they really refuse.
I even had one client tell me she was getting bulky from doing too many push ups…from her knees!!! WHAT!?!
I try telling them that there is no way that they will bulk up. I even tell them that I’ve tried and it just isn’t possible, but they don’t believe me. Too many mainstream media sources telling them something different.
I’m just hoping more women who lift heavy come forward and share their stories and pictures so that people stop assuming that any story about a heavy lifter is about a man!
Join the Man Bicep movement ladies! Flex those biceps. Invade the weight room floor. And look sexy while doing it!
Cardio I Like? – Tabata Training
So usually when I talk about cardio, it is to rant against it. I HATE long, steady-state cardio.
I do however, really really like sprints. And tabata training falls within the sprint category.
Tabata training is essentially performing as many reps of an exercise as you can for 20 seconds. This can be running, jumping, squatting…anything. After 20 seconds of work, you get 10 seconds of rest. You repeat this process 8 times.
The whole set of 8 rounds is 4 minutes. But boy is it a deadly four minutes. I swear 20 seconds has never felt so long or 10 seconds so short!
In that 20 seconds you work as hard as you can – you give 100% effort. And in the 10 seconds that follow, you barely recover before your right back to work.
Yesterday, Candy and I did a squat jump and burpee mixed tabata. We alternated exercises each round and trust me…our legs and lungs burned. The first round of squat jumps, you feel the burn but you bust out about 1 per second. Then you go into burpees and your legs feel like jello. The 10 seconds of rest feels like nothing when you start jump squats again. Your legs burn after three and the 20 you did the first time seems like an impossible number to reach. But you push on, trying to complete as many reps as you can in that 20 second. And you keep pushing – through all 8 rounds.
After the 8 rounds, we did two minutes of jump rope and then repeated the four minutes of burpee-squat jump hell before two more minutes of jump rope.
12 minutes.
That’s all it took to make our legs and lungs feel like we’d done cardio for an hour…12 minutes. Of course the push up/pull up pyramid we completed before definitely didn’t make us feel any better…but even if we hadn’t…that 12 minutes would have been enough!
And the thing is, you don’t even need 12 minutes to get in plenty of cardio. You just need 4.
On Tuesday after a heavy leg workout, Candy and I did tabata sprints.
We jacked the speed up to 10.5 (which isn’t our fastest but give us a break it was after legs!). We jumped on and sprinted for 20 seconds. The first one wasn’t fun, but it felt doable. We jumped off to the sides and rested for 10 seconds. The second one was ok, but you could tell the last few were going to be a struggle.
After 8 rounds, I was wiped out. Four minutes of sprints…that was all it took to give me a great cardio workout.
4 minutes.
So why are you wasting 60 minutes on a treadmill when you can get great results just doing 4?
You save time by doing tabata workouts. You’ll burn more fat. And unlike long, steady-state cardio, you will not only improve your aerobic system, but also your anaerobic system.
I thought this was a great site for more information on Tabata training! Try it!! I guarantee you’ll get a great workout!
Get off the floor and stop doing crunches
99% of the people you see in the gym at some point do crunches, planks…any sort of ab exercise during their workout.
But only about half of those people ever do some of the BEST exercises for their abs and for that matter their entire bodies (and these exercises AREN’T crunches!)
They are four awesome exercises called the pull up, push up, back squat and deadlift. And to be honest, they are really all you need to have great arms, chest, back, abs, butt, quads, hamstrings and even calves!
So why are you wasting time on crunches? Actually, why are wasting time on a lot of those silly single muscle group movements!?! I mean seriously…those exercises only help the top 1% not the average Jane/Joe.
If you think you don’t have enough time to workout, you should stop wasting it by doing crunches and single muscle group movements and start doing these four exercises!!!
Pull ups:
Let’s face it…we know these are a great exercise because no one ever wants to do them! When no one wants to do an exercise, it generally means it is hard.
Just look at all the muscles used:
- Lats
- Lower sternal fibers of the pec major
- Posterior deltoid
- Teres major muscles
- Lower traps
- Pec minor
- Levator scapulae
- Rhomboid
- Serratus anterior
- Bicep
- Rectus abdominis
- Erector spinae
- Transverse abdominis
- Obliques
All of these muscles are used some more or less depending on which pull up variation you perform. (And if you need to make all of those muscles work harder just hang some weight around your waist or perform repetitions till failure!)
Grip can effect which muscles are used more during the movement. Chin ups and narrow grip pull ups are usually the easiest and engage the most bicep while wider grip pull ups isolate the lats more. For example, with a chin up the biceps brachii are used the most but with a prone or pull up grip the brachialis and brachioradialis (muscles that are part of the bicep) are used more than the biceps brachii.
Even the positioning of your lower half can alter which core muscles are doing more work. Ideally you want a straight position though so you are fully engaging every muscle in your core!
And there are no excuses for not doing pull ups. There is always a pull up assist machine around OR a band you can use to help pull you up. Heck even start with jumping pull ups! There is no excuse to skip these! There is a variation for all fitness levels!
Push Ups:
Again, rarely are women doing push ups in the gym and neither are men actually…Men usually prefer the more illustrious bench press…But push ups are AMAZING! AND there are a bazillion variations of push ups so they will never ever be too easy!
If you need proof of how amazing, here is a list of all the muscles worked:
- Deltoids (anterior, posterior and medial)
- Triceps
- Pecs (both major and minor)
- Rhomboids
- Erector spinae
- Rotator cuff
- Serratus anterior
- Rectus abdominus (ABS!!!)
- Transverse abdominus (Oh and abs again!?!)
- Gluteus maximus
- Quadriceps
You may be thinking, “What?! Push ups work your legs too!?!” YES THEY DO!!!
Your glutes and quads aren’t primary muscle groups in the movement, but they do assist if you do push ups from your toes. They keep your body in a nice straight line!
And like the pull up there are variations that work the muscle groups listed in different ways. There is the narrow push up, which engages more tricep and shoulder (also known as the chaturanga or even the diamond push up) and there is the wide grip push up, which isolates the chest more. There is also the decline push up where you elevate your feet, which not only makes the push up harder but also works your pec major more. AND if you put your hands on unbalanced or uneven surfaces you can work your core more!
I mean there are just a bazillion push up varieties so you will never get bored. AND beginners can’t claim push ups are too advanced! Push ups from the knees are a great modification as well as incline push ups. You can even start by doing push ups by leaning against a wall! There is no excuse why anyone can’t do an incline push up against the wall! 😉
Back Squat:
Ok I love legs so I really love this move. And not only does this move work the biggest muscle group in your body but it also really works your core! (And if you want a great butt….SQUAT!)
A quote from “Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training” stating just my point!
Squats are considered a vital exercise for increasing the strength and sizeof the legs and buttocks, as well as developing core strength. Isometrically, the lower back, the upper back, the abdominals, the trunk muscles, the costal muscles, and the shoulders and arms are all essential to the exercise and thus are trained when squatting with proper form.
So the muscles worked:
- Glutes
- Quads
- Hamstrings
- Transverse Abdominus (abs!!!)
- Erector Spinae
- Abductors
- Adductors
- Soleus (calves)
- Gastrocnemius (calves)
So one thing I haven’t mentioned with the two previous exercises (which is also true for them), but all of these strengthen your lower back, which so many people neglect while doing all of their crunches! And trust me, your back is as much a part of your core as your abs are even if it isn’t something you notice while wearing a bikini.
And there are also a bazillion variations of the squat. I personally have picked the back squat here to highlight because it is the most basic and you can add a ton of weight to it to make it challenging (I like heavy weights!).
Deadlift:
MY FAVORITE EXERCISE EVER!!!
Maybe I love it because it works like everything!! It works everything from your fingers (grip strength!!) to your toes!
It works (and I copied this list because well…the deadlift works everything).
- Torso
- Front
- Abdomen
- Rectus abdominis (under aponeurosis)
- Obliques
- Abdominal external oblique muscle
- Abdominal internal oblique muscle
- Abdomen
- Back
- Iliocostalis
- Intertransversarii laterales lumborum
- Latissimus dorsi
- Levator scapulae
- Longissimus
- Quadratus lumborum
- Rhomboideus major
- Serratus posterior superior
- Serratus posterior inferior
- Splenius cervicis
- Teres Major
- Trapezius muscle
- Front
- Legs
- Quadriceps
- Rectus femoris
- Vastus lateralis
- Vastus intermedius
- Vastus medialis
- Hamstrings
- Biceps femoris muscle
- long head
- short head
- Semitendinosus
- Semimembranosus
- Biceps femoris muscle
- Quadriceps
- Hips
- Gluteal muscles
- Gluteus maximus
- Gluteus minimus
- Piriformis
- Superior gemellus
- Gluteal muscles
- Forearms
- Flexor digitorum profundus
Enough said? haha
I’m 25, but feel 40
I was stunned when I read this on a perspective client’s exercise questionnaire. 25 but feels 40!?!
Aren’t we the society that is trying everything to be 40 and look and feel 25?
When I asked her about the statement she said, “I don’t know how I let it get to this point.”
But so many people do let it get to that point.
It is actually easy to let your physical fitness spiral out of control. You’re too busy, too tired, too injured, too stressed….too anything! The “toos” are so numerous it’s any wonder anyone ever works out!
But the “toos” are just excuses – excuses that will later come back to bite you in the ass. I’m sorry, but they will.
At some point you are going to have to take responsibility for your health. And if you don’t spend the time working out now to prevent diseases, you are probably going to be spending a butt-load of money later to correct all of the injuries and illnesses that have accumulated over the years…and that’s if you are lucky enough to catch everything before things have gone too far…
So start working out people! Not for weight loss or to look good, but for your health!
You want the key to being 40 and looking 25? It isn’t in some bottle of lotion or syringe.
It’s exercise. Exercise is the fountain of youth.
So if you are thinking to yourself now, “Wow that woman who says she is 25, but feels 40 sounds like me” now is the time to stop using the “toos” and get your butt into the gym!!!
Ok…that is my rant.
Man Bicep 