Category Archives: Workout
Building the Biceps
I want to build my bicep...just maybe not that much...
I’m not a big fan of single muscle group movements (Brian on the other hand is…especially bicep curls). I don’t like doing bicep curls or tricep extensions or even overhead presses.
And many trainers will tell you there really isn’t ever a need to do these movements. For one, most compound movements work your arms enough to gain general strength. And two, it is more important for most clients to move their entire bodies and burn more calories, which means that compound movements are much more efficient.
And I do in general agree with those two statements. I rarely have my clients do single muscle group movements.
BUT I do think single muscle group movements are super important if the client trains numerous times a week and if they are really focused on upping their lifts numbers.
That is why I’ve started personally doing more single muscle group movements especially with my upper body.
And not surprisingly, my bench numbers, have gone up.
Just yesterday I repped out 5 at 105 after already completing 4 sets. Considering that just about a month ago that was my max at the competition, I’d say my numbers have definitely gone up!
So sometimes you do just need to work on building those biceps…or triceps or shoulders. It can really make a difference!
Accountability
Of course New Years resolutions are a hot topic right now. And everyone is giving advice about how best to achieve them.
In my opinion, the most important thing to develop when trying to achieve any goal is accountability.
Not only holding yourself accountable but also having other people to hold you to your goal.
When I first started on my fitness journey, I started a blog (not Man Bicep, but another blog…which now no longer exists). It had only one follower (Ryan), but the fact that it was public and that anyone could read it helped me remain dedicated to my goals. Having to keep a public log of my progress was enough to hold me accountable.
Also, sharing my goals with my family and friends helps. If other people know what you are doing, you are less likely to cheat on your diet or exercise plan because they are holding you accountable. You don’t want to disappoint them do you? No one ever wants to have people know they failed at something!
I’ve also run into the situation where friends and family try to be bad influences on you when they know you are on a diet. I take it as a challenge. I just think, “HA! Just watch me stick to my goals!” 🙂
And now I’ve also found that hanging a calendar on the refrigerator mapping out my goals helps me stick to them. It is a way for me to hold myself accountable. I don’t want to deviate from what that calendar says. So anytime I go to the fridge and think, “What’s just one little piece of cheese!?” I see that calendar telling me that it isn’t on my diet for today. That stops me.
That one little piece of cheese isn’t worth the shame and guilt I would feel for cheating on my diet.
If you find you have trouble holding yourself accountable, try making your goals more public. And hang reminders of your goals in places where you need the most encouragement!
Resistance to Change
I have never seen so many people so unhappy about having a renovated club with all brand-spanking new equipment!
They are just so set in their routines that they don’t like having to adjust to the new versions of machines or find the new placement of equipment. They don’t like change!
It actually made me sad that people were so unwilling to try something new. It’s like they haven’t varied up their routine in the six bazillion years they’ve been members here!
You should vary up your routine like every 4-6 weeks. Not every 4-6 decades!!!!
Variety is key! If you aren’t varying up your routine, you probably aren’t getting the results you want…Did you just have an AH HA! moment?
Did you just realize why you’ve probably been stuck on the same plateau for the last 5 months?
AH! Come on people! Spice it up! Add some variety!
Ok that is my rant for today. But seriously, if you need help adding some variety to your program, email me at manbiceps@gmail.com. I mean…do you really like being stuck on that plateau?
Favorite New Moves
So today I did my first leg workout of the new year with Candy. It was a high rep day so we did a couple of new moves and some plyometric exercises.
We, of course, did heavy back squats (I always have to include a big lift!!) and then did some plyo moves, including box jumps, split squat jumps AND my new FAVORITE plyometric move – the “walking” plyo front lunge (ok it needs a better name but I haven’t come up with one yet!)!
Today Candy and I were super tired by the time we got to the “walking” plyo lunges so we didn’t use a weight vest like we usually do. It was still killer.
To perform the move:
1. Start in a lunge.
2. As you jump up out of the lunge to land in a lunge on the other side (like a split squat jump), you also move forward. (So like a walking lunge, you are moving forward each time you lunge on the other side.)
3. You keep switching sides as you move forward, completing about 15 lunges on each side.
I find that my legs burn so bad after completing these because of the effort it takes to jump up AND forward! Anyone else find these to be absolute torture….and love them because of it!?!
AND another move that I decided today was one of my FAVORITES is the TRX preacher squat with dumbbells. Doing it in the TRX made the normal preacher squat (balance lunge, Bulgarian split squat, pitcher squat…whatever name you use..) even HARDER! YAY! 🙂
To do the move:
1. Carefully place one foot back into the TRX strap. Jump forward and pick up the dumbbells.
2. Bend the front knee and squat down. Make sure as you lunge, you don’t let your front knee pass beyond your front toe.
3. Push through your heel to stand back up.
Add weights!!!
All your stabilizer muscles definitely work with these!!! It is hard to balance with one foot hooked into the TRX!
Anyway, try these two moves!!!
Give it 3 months
I have a love-hate relationship with January.
Be honest...Does this sound like you?
On the one hand, January means lots of new members and clients (YAY!). It is also a great time to rethink your goals and plan out new strategies to reach them. It is usually a time when you are most gung-ho about your goals so it is a great time to start working hard!
On the other hand, January means a crowded gym and goals that are never achieved by the majority of the population. It means a lot of frustration for me as a trainer and fitness enthusiast because I see person after person quickly give up on their fitness goals.
How are some people just happy about signing up for a gym membership? I mean literally we have people come in during January who sign up for a membership and never come in after signing up. Why waste your money? I mean if you aren’t going to use it – if you aren’t going to follow through on this resolution – why even set it?
Don’t be one of those people!!! I can deal with a crowded gym but I can’t deal with the people who don’t even give their resolutions a fair chance.
Making a commitment to your health and fitness isn’t easy. There are even times that fanatics like me falter…like these last two weeks…and trust me I feel so crappy I can’t wait to not see bad food or the couch for a while. (Actually my body is screaming out to me, “VEGETABLES!!! VEGETABLES!!!”)
Anyway, committing to a healthy diet and fitness program isn’t easy. You don’t just say to yourself, “I want to be healthy” and it instantly happens.
No! There are cravings for bad food. There are days when you feel sore and tired and just don’t want to workout. There are friends and family who can act as bad influences!
It isn’t easy. No one ever said it would be.
BUT if you give yourself a chance to really settle into a ROUTINE, it will get EASIER!!! You may always still crave certain foods, and there may be times you skip workouts, but you will feel committed and CRAVE your healthy lifestyle if you stray from it for a few days.
How long does it take before you actually feel committed? I tell my clients that if they can push through the initial struggle and stick with their resolutions for 3 months, they will find that it gets like 100 times easier to stick to their goals after that. It takes about 3 months to make working out and eating well a HABIT. Once you’ve made a habit out of enacting your goals, you are way less likely to give up on them.
So don’t be one of those people who only crowd up the gym in January or sign up and never come!
Join a gym, set some goals and push through the first three months. It will be worth it. Trust me.
P.S. If you need help staying committed for those first three months, hire a trainer! I always tell my clients that my job is to help them make working out and lifting weights a habit so that they can do it on their own!
I cuddle with my foam roller
I LOVE my foam roller. I even miss it when I travel. Actually I miss it so much that I’ve even been tempted to try to pack it in my suitcase!
I can't believe someone else made this picture!!!!
A little weird? Probably…but I don’t care! I LOVE MY FOAM ROLLER!
Why am I obsessed? Because my body feels better when I foam roll every day, which means I get more out of my workout!
However, not everyone loves the foam roller…actually I’ve found that most of my clients hate it. And I can’t blame them. Foam rolling or, self-myofascial release, can be painful especially if you are super tight.
It is essentially a deep tissue massage, which releases tension in your muscles through autogenic inhibition and improves your flexibility, function, performance all while reducing your risk of injury!
Sounds great right!?! Yes!!!
Just so you don’t get scared away by how painful it may be the first time you do it…remember these WONDERFUL benefits of foam rolling!!!
- Reduce muscle soreness
- Correct muscle imbalances
- Increase joint range of motion
- Relieve joint stress
- Maintain normal functional muscular length
When you foam roll, make sure you do your back, butt (specifically your piriformis), hamstrings, quads, adductors and IT bands. I’ve found that the IT bands are the most painful for most of my clients. To lessen the pressure when you roll your IT bands, don’t stack your feet but instead place the foot of your top leg in front of you. To add more pressure, stack your feet!
Here is a link with some good descriptions and diagrams to help you get started foam rolling!!!
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The 10 Best Exercises you can do anywhere!
So our gym is closed until January 1st for reconstruction. Numerous members were upset because they wouldn’t be able to workout for an entire week.
This got me to thinking about workouts you could do at home.
If you are like me, you have dumbbells, resistance bands, pull up bars, push up stands, yoga mats and a foam roller.
If you are the average person, you probably have walls, chairs, floors, towels and other household furniture and supplies.
But the average person, who doesn’t own even a single piece of equipment, can get in a great home workout just by doing these 10 moves! (The following are in no particular order…they are all awesome…ok but Burpees are definitely the best!)
1. Burpee – If you doubt why this move is on the list, than you’ve never done a burpee. This cardiovascular move is sure to make you feel out of breath and work up a sweat.
2. Push Ups (handstand, decline, one foot off the ground) – Be it the basic push up or something as crazy as a handstand push up, this move is one of the best upper body exercises out there! It will also work your abs!
3. 1 leg squats (to bench) – If you don’t have weights, isolating one leg can make your lower body work harder than it would if you did a simple body weight squat. You can start with a squat to chair and then work up to a pistol squat.
4. Dips from chair (with feet up) – If you put your feet up, you will make a bench chair dip more difficult. This is a great way to work your triceps and can even be done right off of the couch!
5. Balance lunges – Again you are isolating one leg and forcing yourself to use your abs more to balance. Just find something to put your back leg up on and lunge, making sure your front knee doesn’t go beyond your front toe.
6. Climbers (decline or one foot off the ground) – Decline climbers in my opinion are like the best shoulder exercise if you don’t have weights. Your feet are up on a chair or couch and you start on your forearms. Then pushing up you climb up to your hands and then back down. Keep your abs tight and your butt down. Climbers is also a great exercise for your abs!
7. Plank crawl – On your forearms and toes, crawl forward keeping your butt down. Once you crawl across the room, move backwards. You will need to take small steps. Really this is a great exercise for your full body!!! And it definitely kills the shoulders and abs!
8. Jump Squats – Plyometrics of any kind are a great way to get in some cardio and really work the legs!! Plus they don’t require anything but your own body weight. Just make sure to land softly if you live in an apartment!
9. Wall sit – You can read a book or even freaking watch TV while you do this move. All you need is a wall so you can do this about anywhere. To make it more intense, do a 1 leg wall sit.
10. Mountain Climbers – Another great way to get in some cardio, work your abs and burn out your shoulders. When my legs are tired, I also really feel it in my quads.
Runners up: Cocktail lunges, sit ups, jumping jacks, split squat jumps, planks (front and side), glute bridge, supermans,
Post vacation workouts
Riding 17 miles and going for a long run weren’t enough to keep me from struggling through my first two workouts after a nice long, relaxing vacation.
Nope. Those first two workouts back always suck.
You don’t feel as strong AND you feel way more sore than you should the next day.
Yesterday, I decided to push through a back and chest workout. Why bench is definitely not my favorite thing, the worst exercises were definitely the decline push ups, TRX back flyes and decline climbers.
Barbell Flat Bench 5 sets of 3 reps
paired with
Pull ups 5 sets of 5
Decline Push Ups 3 sets of 15
paired with
1 arm dumbbell row 3 sets of 10 each side
DB Chest Flyes 3 sets of 10
paired with
TRX Back Flyes 3 sets of 10
Decline climbers 3 sets of 10
supersetted with
Front to side raises 3 sets of 10
and
TRX Inverted Rows 3 sets of 10
Tricep pushdown 3 sets of 15
paired with
Isolated Bicep curl 3 sets of 10 each side
Cable curl 3 sets of 15
paired with
Ab roller 3 sets of 10
So after yesterday I definitely wanted to avoid upper body today. So instead we murdered our legs.
Heavy Back Squats 5 sets of 3
Conventional Deadlift 5 sets of 10
paired with
Box Jumps 5 sets of 10
Cocktail Lunges 3 sets of 5 each side
paired with
KB Single Leg Squats 3 sets of 8 each side
Romanian Deadlift 3 sets of 10
paired with
Sumo Squat 3 sets of 10
And to finish the workout we did plank holds (front plank, side planks and glute bridges).
All in all two very intense first workouts back. Hey might as well dive right back into it right!?!
Why is there so much crap out there?
Seriously, why is there so much crap out there? Why do people make being in shape more difficult than it actually is?
In a span of like five minutes I saw two ridiculous infomercials. One was for the Brazil Butt Lift Workout and the other was for Sensa.
Cocaine in a box?
First off, if you want a nice butt you don’t have to do some ridiculous dog-peeing-on-hydrant move. Just do a freaking deadlift. Trust me, deadlifts will give you a nice, firm, toned butt.
You don’t need to do ridiculous workouts like this. There is no “secret” to a great butt. This video isn’t anything revolutionary (actually half of these moves have been stolen from Jane Fonda workouts…)
Yep see there is no new “secret” move. It’s just the same old stuff re-packaged. It’s just another company trying to sell you something instead of telling you, “Hey, having a nice ass is easy. Do deadlifts and squats and use heavy weights and you will have the tight firm ass of your dreams in no time!”
AND SENSA!?! A magic powder that makes you lose weight without dieting…I think Candy’s statement was spot on…”What is it? Cocaine!?!”
I mean if you read how it works…it does kind of sound like an illegal drug…
And you always see these testimonials saying the product works, but does anyone ever know the people? I’ve never had a friend or even a friend of a friend be one of those people….Is it possible they are just actors! :-0
The Primal Powerlifter
This past Sunday I competed in my first powerlifting event and I still can’t believe I actually did it. I was so proud of myself for even just showing up at the event. Also, I want to say a big “THANK YOU” to both Brian and Ryan for coming with me. Ryan was great moral support and Brian coached me to success!
The entire week before I was nervous and stressed. I was trying to make it through a long week of work while also making sure that I had everything I needed for the event (unisuit, t-shirt, shoes, socks…all conforming to their standards).
I also had to lose some weight to be able to compete in the 123 weight class (because of traveling and Thanksgiving I had packed on a few pounds haha). I stuck to Primal, eating only meat, veggies and protein powder (even though numerous people told me I should be eating carbs…like bread…). I ate pulled pork, ribs, oxtail…all nice fatty meats that made me feel full and content.
And over the week everything came together and before I knew it Sunday was here (of course Saturday morning I was so nervous that Ryan said I was shaking the couch enough to make him nauseated).
I had all of my equipment, and lots of Primal snacks, including potatoes, protein powder, macadamia nuts, and apples. I was also well within my weight class, weighing in at 118lbs. The intermittent fasting and Primal diet had paid off! And my energy level was high despite the week of weight loss because of all the fatty meats (and a few potatoes on Saturday) that I had consumed.
Even though I was ready, I wasn’t any less nervous. Even most of the girls who were competing for the first time had spent about the last year training while I had only really spent the last two months even considering entering.
That fact was a bit intimidating. I’m usually the over-prepared person…not let’s-do-this-at-the-last-moment-on-a-whim person.
But, hey, I had spent the last two months training so why waste all that hard work? Even if I didn’t do well, it would be a great experience!!!
But I did do well…despite the fact that conventional wisdom would have told you that I had absolutely no chance, between my low carb, intermittent fasting diet, inconsistent workout routine and lack of a weight lifting belt (Ryan thought the fact that I was one of the few without a belt was pretty “bad-ass” haha).
Anyway, the point is I was nervous and not fully prepared especially by conventional standards. I’d never squatted or benched on command and I’d always had a mirror in which to watch myself deadlift and squat. I was super worried I wouldn’t go low enough on my squats and that I would fail on all three attempts and be out of the competition in the first lift. (A bit pessimistic but this thought kept running through my head…so much so that I was literally revising my numbers in my sleep.)
Anyway, because I was so nervous for squats (and we wanted me to feel good for deadlifts, which were the third lift of the day), we set my numbers super low…I attempted 150 then 160 then 170. In practice I’d hit 200lbs numerous times, and had almost even gotten 205lbs, so all three lifts ended up being super easy. On my first squat, I was so worried about going low enough that I almost dropped my butt all the way to the ground.
But the three successful squats, while too easy, did make me relax and feel more confident.
After about a two-hour break while all the men’s flights went, was bench…my least favorite lift probably because it is my weakest.
In practice, I had hit a PR of 120, but it wasn’t with a pause (I got close 125lbs but it was such a freaking ugly lift to get it up that it definitely doesn’t actually count). So we decided that my attempts should be 90lbs, 105lbs and 115lbs. I had no problem pausing on my first two attempts. But on the third, 115 just wouldn’t go up. Looking back on the lift, I wish I had taken more time to set up because I think it would have gone up if I’d planted my feet more and gotten a bit more arch in my back. But hey, hindsight is 20/20.
Anyway, 105, while a slight bit disappointing still wasn’t too shabby.
Then again we had another long break before we finished the day with deadlifts. While I’d felt more relaxed for bench, probably because I didn’t expect too much, I was super nervous for deadlift. Deadlift is my best lift and I definitely wanted to impress!
In training, my PR for deadlift was 280 and the Mass. State record was 275lbs. I thought I had a good chance of tying it at least!
So we set my first two attempts at 245lbs, 260lbs and figured we would see how those went before deciding if I would attempt 275 or 280. The first two lifts were super easy although my form definitely wasn’t perfect…I was nervous and worn out from a very long day.
We decided that my last attempt should be 275 to tie the record. Again looking back, I wish I had taken more time to get psyched up and set for the lift before I attempted it. I think it would have made a big difference. But despite the fact that I’ve hit 275 almost every time recently when I’ve trained, I just couldn’t make it budge on Sunday.
I was super bummed. My last lift of the day and my strongest and I couldn’t hit a number that I’d just easily pulled that Monday before.
Not the way I’d wanted to end the day. But I was still proud that I’d at least managed to pull over double my bodyweight and hey…I’d made it through my first competition!
A little upset by my last lift and super worn out from the stress of the long day (it is amazingly hard to get revved up for an event then cool down only to have to get revved up two hours later to compete again!), we decided to stay for the awards ceremony just in case I won something.
I’m definitely glad we did! I ended up winning both my weight class and the Best Lifter award for the Women’s Raw Division. The Best Lifter award is a relative strength measurement. They take everyone in the raw division from every weight class and figure out who lifted the most weight in relation to their body weight.
So in the end I left proud and happy even though I still wish I’d made those two lifts.
Overall, a very successful meet. And one of the things that makes me most proud is that I did it my way. While everyone else was drinking Gatorade and eating bread and protein bars, I was eating my Primal snacks.
Although I do have to admit…I’d train a bit differently before my next competition. I would definitely create a schedule and a more consistent program than the one I did these past few months! haha
Anyway, Ryan made a video of the meet. Right now it is just on Facebook, but I’ll upload it to YouTube later today!
It was a great experience and if you are into powerlifting, I would recommend you enter at least one competition!
P.S. Sorry for the super long post…I’m just super excited!!!
Man Bicep 