New year, New you!

Pop the champagne......It is almost January 1st and you know what means. Every gym across America will be filled with those wannabees....imposters....you know the people who all of a sudden get the rush to workout and change their life. I mean hey that is great and I am all for people bringing fitness into their lives, but if you are going to start please keep with it. The difference between those who get results and those who don't is CONSISTENCY. You are not going to get big, trim down, improve strength by working out January through March. If you commit in January, commit for life. I think the biggest reason people fall off their resolutions is because they either don't achieve success or simply lack motivation as time goes on. The pitfall for lack of success is improper program design.

The first thing you need to do is ask yourself what are your goals. Do you plan to lose weight, add muscle, add strength, or all of the above? Below are sample splits you can use for the different goals I mentioned. Remember these are not the only way to go about things, just a simple suggestion for those who need it.

Weight Loss- Your objective is simple, burn calories and burn some more calories. What you want is the best bang for your buck, you want to take advantage of your gym time. You do not need to split up your training into chest days, back and bicep days or anything like that. Full body workouts that involve everything from head to toe will give you the best calorie burn on each of your workouts.

Split #1-My favorite

MONDAY-Full body Resistance workout ( anywhere from 40-50 minutes is plenty )

TUESDAY-Cardio day ( no longer than 45 minutes )

WEDNESDAY-Full body Resistance workout

THURSDAY-Cardio

FRIDAY-Full body Resistance workout

SATURDAY-Cardio

SUNDAY-Rest!!!!!!!!

Split #2

MONDAY-Upper body

TUESDAY-Lower body

WEDNESDAY-Cardio

THURSDAY-Upper body

FRIDAY-Lower body

SATURDAY-Cardio

SUNDAY-Off

*** Make sure to take into account your fitness level. If you haven't worked out in a long time or never at all you would want to start off with just two days of Resistance training and maybe 1-2 days of cardio and two off days.



Add Muscle- Your main objective is to workout hard and eat! This is when a body part split is best used. Most of you who are trying to bulk up want that muscle mag look. You want your arms to be popping, huge pecs, and a monster of a back. Make sure to look at yourself and find out your weak areas and then make sure you hit those spots more than other body parts. For instance, most guys are anterior dominant, meaning big and strong pecs and shoulders. The problem is that we work our chest all the time and our back not nearly as much therefore creating an imbalance. If this is you, which 90 % of you fall into this category, then you want to do chest just one time a week compared to back two times. I am not a huge fan of direct shoulder work due to the amount of work your delts get from chest work, however if you lack shoulder width or size try and work them directly one or two times week on your chest days.

Split #1-Need back help

MONDAY-Back and biceps

TUESDAY-Legs

WEDNESDAY-Chest and triceps

THURSDAY-Back and biceps

FRIDAY-Legs

WEEKEND-Off

*** this split could be switched by doing triceps on the back days and doing biceps just one time with chest.

Split #2- Need help with arm growth

MONDAY-Arms and back

TUESDAY-Legs

WEDNESDAY-Arms and chest

THURSDAY-Off

FRIDAY-Arms and back

SATURDAY-Legs

SUNDAY-Off

Split # 3-Need a bigger chest

MONDAY-Chest and triceps

TUESDAY-Back and biceps

WEDNESDAY-Legs

THURSDAY-Chest and triceps

FRIDAY-Back and biceps

SATURDAY-Legs & direct shoulder work

SUNDAY-Off

*** You can also do biceps with chest and triceps with back to change this routine up

Add Strength-Weight is critical for you, so push alot of it. Added recovery time might be needed do to the fact that you are using heavy weight. You want to focus on large muscle groups and you can spend less time on things like arms. Of course arm strength is important but you will get some indirect work from your pushes and pulls.

Split

MONDAY-Chest and back

TUESDAY-Legs

WEDNESDAY-Off

THURSDAY-Chest and back

FRIDAY-Legs

SATURDAY-Arms

SUNDAY-Off

Hope this helps you with your initial game plan.

Stud quotes

80 % of success is showing up

- Woody Allen

Exercise timing

When should you workout? Are certain parts of the day better? Day or night? Before even answering this question you must consider your own well being. What time of the day will allow YOU to stay consistent with your workout plan. If you are a morning person than workout in the morning, if not then don't.

Research has shown that late afternoon exercise tends to be the best, somewhere around 2-5pm. This is when your body temperature is at its highest. Muscles tend to perform their best when they are warm making this ideal time to resistance train. Strength output has been shown to be about 5 % higher at mid day as well.

In the end the time of the day is not a huge factor. The biggest and most important thing is that YOU pick a good time for YOU and workout at the highest level possible.

H4 Fat burner-# 6 ( Biceps and Legs )

This routine goes along with my H4 Fat burner # 5 so checkout that post for instructions on format. You can combine these two workouts together or use them separately. Remember every exercise is done without any rest between one another as well as no rest between sets. Each exercise is done for 30 seconds and your goal should be to do as many quality reps as possible. Your weight should not be that heavy since this is a high volume routine.

Dumbbell squat- 30 sec

SUPER SET WITH

Standing dumbbell bicep curl ( both arms together )-30 sec

SUPER SET WITH

Dumbbell alternating front lunge-30 sec

SUPER SET WITH

Sitting wall dumbbell preacher curls ( both arms together )-30 sec

Repeat 3-4 times without rest.

Hamstring blast

Most guys focus on their quads and hence tend to be quad dominant. To help combat this you need to start working our hamstrings and glutes more often. Try this routine to help put on some size to your backside.

Stiff leg deadlift 4 sets of 6-8 reps

Rest 1 minute between sets.

Dumbbell front lunges ( do all one side at a time ) 4 sets of 8-10

*** Make long strides to emphasize the hammies

Rest 1 minute between sets

Lying leg curl- 4 sets of 10-12 reps

Rest 1 minute between sets.

H4 Fat burner-#5 ( Chest and Back )

Time can be a valuable thing when programming your workouts. Often times we change reps, sets or the load but rarely time. Here is a good routine to help you lean up and cut up. Use this as part of another workout or use the other combinations I will post down the road. This routine combines chest and backs super sets which allows each muscle group to rest while you keep an intense pace. Do not use weight that is too heavy else you will fail to quickly. Weight is not the focus but rather volume. Your goal on each exercise is to do the most reps you can while keeping quality form. Move quick and don't let up!

***30 seconds as many reps as you can for all the exercises. Do not take any rest at all until completely finishing all 3-4 rounds. If you are still a beginner I would take a slight rest between rounds like 45 seconds or so.

Dumbbell chest press-30sec

SUPER SET

Dumbbell row- ( both arms at the same time while bent over ) 30 sec

SUPER SET

Pushups-30sec

SUPER SET

Lawn mower dumbbell row- ( stand straight, take a side step with your right leg and bend it. Keep your left leg straight. Take the dumbbell and reach it down to your right foot and then row tight to your body like you were starting a lawn mower) 3o sec each side

Do 3-4 rounds without rest.

Essential exercises for putting on mass

It is true that things are not all created equally. In terms of exercise selection some are truly better than others when it comes to packing on the muscle. Below are a list by muscle group of the best bang for your buck exercises in my opinion to build some serious mass. The exercises are not exclusive, other exercises that are not listed still should be done as well.

Chest- Dumbbell press. Dumbbells give you better range of motion which equals more muscles activated.

Back-Lat pull down for width, row for thickness.

Biceps-barbell curl. Load up the bar and watch those arms grow.

Triceps-Close grip press. Make sure the arms stay tight to the body the whole way through the press. This exercise loads the triceps allowing you to hit all 3 heads.

Legs-Deadlift. Increase the back side of your physique and increase your GH and testosterone levels. Enough said.

Shoulders- Arnold press. Shoulders like the great

Chest drops for size

This routine is best done with a partner like most chest workouts I recommend. Having a partner will help with the time between sets. To begin this routine you do dumbbell chest presses for 2 sets of 6 reps with the same weight on each set. Next you will drop the weight by 10lbs per dumbbell and do 2 sets of 8 reps. You will repeat this process again dropping the weight by 10lbs and do 2 sets of 10 reps. Go until you have finished 2 sets of 12 reps. If you want to make this even harder, after you completed this routine start by going backwards and go from 12 all the way to the 6 reps you started with, but good luck!

Dumbbell chest press-2 sets of 6 reps ( same weight both sets )

* Rest 1 minute between sets

2 sets of 8 reps ( same weight both sets )

* Rest 1 minute between sets

2 sets of 10 reps ( same weight both sets )

* Rest 1 minute between sets

2 sets of 12 reps ( same weight both sets )

* Rest 1 minute between sets

Finished.

Know this....

That you can activate up to 20 % more muscle fibers when you do a tricep extension or close grip press on a decline bench instead of a flat bench. Now I would say that is a reason to give the decline some love.

Q & A

Questions? Email me at h4training@gmail.com

Increasing GH and Testosterone

A simple way to boost your levels of both GH ( growth hormone) and testosterone is to simply do deadlifts and squats. Studies have shown that these two exercises boost levels more than anything else. Both of these hormones are a huge catalyst for muscle growth.

City of big shoulders

I do not train my shoulders solo that much anymore. Maybe one time a week or once every other week will I actually put a whole workout together for pure shoulders. The thing is you get a solid of amount of shoulder work on any push day so direct work is often not needed. However, If you have lagging shoulders or are just getting into lifting then I would suggest spending some extra time on them. Generally shoulders recover quickly, therefore making it easier to train them multiple times a week. Since the muscle fibers of the shoulder run at multiple angles, it is best to train the shoulders at different angles for overall development.

You are going to start the routine with seated dumbbell military presses. Start with a light weight and do 12 reps. Each set after you will go up 5lbs and do 2 less reps. Continue this until you reach just 2 reps. After resting from this routine you will move onto seated dumbbell lateral raises. This time around you will do the opposite. Start with heavy weight and do 2 reps. Each set after you will go down 5lbs and do 2 less reps. Continue this until you hit 12 reps. Enjoy!

Seated dumbbell military press-1 set @ 12 reps, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2

*** Rest 1 minute between sets

Rest 2 minutes after finishing all 6 sets of the military presses

Seated dumbbell lateral raises-1 set @ 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 reps

***Rest 1 minute between sets

6 Pillars

Below are 6 guidelines to follow for your general nutrition needs. Mike Roussell, a known author and expert in the nutrition world came up with these for most people to follow. I give this out to my clients and tell them to post it somewhere they will always see it. Even though these are basic guidelines sometimes we do tend to forget them. Below is a link to his site for more information.

http://nakednutritionnetwork.com/

6 Pillars of Nutrition

1.Eat five to six times a day.

2.Limit your consumption of sugars and processed foods.

3.Eat fruits and vegetables throughout the day.

4.Drink more water and cut out calorie-containing beverages (beer, soda, etc.).

5.Focus on consuming lean proteins throughout the day.

6.Save starch containing foods until after a workout or for breakfast.

1/2 your way to bigger triceps

In a previous post I explained a technique that would help hit your chest even better on the bench press. This time around this technique will help you blast your triceps even more. You will basically be doing the opposite of the chest routine. You will be using the close grip bench press for this with your arms tightly to your sides and a narrow grip on the bar. To begin take the bar off the rack and let it come down half way from the top, stop and then drive the bar all the way up and then all the way completely down. This is 1 rep. The top part of the press is when your triceps are activated the most so you will take advantage of that with this technique. Below is a workout you can use.

Close grip press- 5 sets of 6-8 reps, resting 1 minute between sets.

Use these tips to burn more fat

• Lift!- Building muscle=higher metabolism=burn more calories




• Try and limit your carb intake to the early morning and post workout




• Do exercises like squats, deadlifts, rows, presses, etc. They use more muscle fibers and therefore will burn more calories.




• Use combo type lifts-squat and press or deadlift and row.




• Do full body workouts 3 times a week. Not only do full body workouts take less time but also give you more bang for your buck in terms of overall calorie burn.Use the off days to do your intense cardio.




• Don't just stick to the classic high rep/low weight routine that everyone reads about. make sure to involve heavy weights and low reps as well.




• Keep your body guessing-Bring on a new challenge every workout!




• Eat breakfast like a king-studies have proven this will cause you to eat less throughout the rest of the day.

H4 fat burner-#4

Sometimes I like to incorporate a heavy routine with a high intensity workout all in one for my clients. Going from heavy weights and rest to no rest and very little weight confuses the body and creates a great calorie burn. The heavy weight will promote muscle gain which will equal a higher metabolism. The high intensity limited rest with create a high calorie burn for the now. Here is the workout.

Neutral chest presses are done by lying face up on a bench holding the dumbbells with your palms facing each other. Keep your arms tight to your sides and press straight up.

GROUP A ( heavy weight )

Neutral dumbbell chest press-6 reps

SUPER SET WITH

Narrow grip lat pull down-6 reps

Rest 1 minute and repeat 2 more times. After completing 3 sets go right into GROUP B.

GROUP B

Squat jumps-15 reps

SUPER SET WITH

Medicine ball wood chops- 10 each side

Do not take rest, and repeat 1 more time.

Once finished with 2 rounds of group B rest 3 minutes and then repeat this whole routine starting from GROUP A again. After you complete another full routine move onto the GROUP C.

GROUP C ( heavy weight )

Row-6 reps

SUPER SET WITH

Dips-6 reps

Rest 1 minute and repeat 2 more times. After completing 3 sets go right into GROUP D.

GROUP D

Body weight alternating front lunges- 10 each

SUPER SET WITH

Bicycle crunch-20 seconds

Do not take a rest and repeat 1 more time.

Once done with 2 rounds of GROUP D rest 3 minutes and repeat this whole routine starting from GROUP C again.

Done!

Back fixer

There are numerous back muscles and this routine takes aim at most of them but with a focus on the lats and rear deltoids. The rear delts are located well you guessed it on the back side of the delt. For most it can be tough to really feel the rear delts because the bigger stronger muscles tend to take over. The dumbbell reverse fly is best done by setting up an incline bench and resting your head at the top of the bench while facing the floor. Raise your arms straight out as if someone had a string attached to your elbows and were pulling them up. Don't rush this exercise go slow and feel those rear delts.

Inverted row with wide grip-10 reps

SUPER SET WITH

Wide grip pull up-10 reps

SUPER SET WITH

Bent over dumbbell reverse fly- 12 reps

Rest 2 minutes and repeat 2-3 times.

E.O.M-Overhead tricep rope extension

Decembers exercise of the month happens to be my favorite tricep exercise. The tricep consists of three heads-medial, long and the lateral head. The lateral head generally gets the most love from exercises like push downs and presses, but the long head is mostly left out. The long head is on the inside of tricep closest to your armpit. I like to do this exercise with the rope attachment on the bottom of a pulley cable. Next, I like to place a seat with a back right in front the pulley facing outwards. Sit facing away from pulley keeping your elbows overhead and close to your ears. Lower your forearm behind your upper arm by flexing the elbows. Once lowered raise the rope back up by extending the elbow and twisting the rope at the top. Make sure you get enough depth at the bottom to really hit the triceps!

Below is a sample routine I like to use for this exercise:

Do 5 sets of 8 reps taking 1 minute rest between sets. After finishing the last set drop the weight by 15 lbs and do a burn out set to failure.

Not for the faint-Chest like never before!

This routine is very difficult and I would really suggest doing it with a partner. What makes this routine so tough is the fact that each exercise is done until failure and without rest. Your tricep and grip strength will fatigue pretty hard as well when doing this. Make sure to be careful when doing the chest fly since you will be using heavier weight than you are most likely used to doing. Before you start warm up properly with some light sets of presses and prepare yourself mentally because this is going to hurt! Warning......up to 3-4 days of soreness could follow!

Dumbbell bench press-70 % of your max-reps to failure

SUPER SET WITH

Dumbbell chest fly-70 % of your max-reps to failure

SUPER SET WITH

Barbell bench press-50 % of your max-reps to failure
SUPER SET WITH

Dumbbell chest fly-30 % of your max-reps to failure

Rest 3 minutes and repeat 2-3 more times.

Bicep beatdown

I am normally not a big fan of doing more than 2 -3 exercises per muscle group but this routine is great and therefore I will make an exception. I would recommend doing this routine with a partner not only for the spot but for the motivation. You will be doing one exercise at a time before moving onto the next exercise.

Seated preacher curl-3 sets of 6 reps

Rest 1 minute between sets

REST 1 MINUTE BEFORE MOVING ONTO NEXT EXERCISE

Reverse incline hammer dumbbell curls ( see my older post on how to do this )-4 sets of 8 reps
Rest 1 minute between sets

REST 1 MINUTE BEFORE MOVING ONTO NEXT EXERCISE

Standing cable pulley curls ( both at the same time )-3 sets of 12 reps
Rest 1 minute between sets

REST 1 MINUTE BEFORE MOVING ONTO NEXT EXERCISE

Preacher curl machine ( if you cant find one you can do regular preacher curls )-do 3 drop sets all to failure, dropping the weight by 10 lbs on each drop.

Finally....you are done!!

Backside development-Hamstring and low back focused

Generally most of us are quad dominant. In general people tend to lift more towards the mirror muscles, you know the muscles you can see when you stare at yourself in your bedroom. To be honest we all need some more size and strength in our backside. This routine is great specifically for the low back and hamstrings.

Barbell deadlift-8reps

SUPER SET WITH

Lying leg curls-12 reps

SUPER SET WITH

Back extensions-15 reps

Rest 2 minutes and repeat 2 more times.

Seriously? Don't.

Come into the gym with your magazine, newspaper and work papers and think your going to get a real workout. If you can read while working out on the treadmill or while using the strength equipment......YOUR NOT WORKING HARD ENOUGH! The gym is not a library!. Do yourself a favor and put down the reading material and focus on what the gym is for, improving your health and physique!

Pure lats

I like this routine which really focuses on your lats. The first exercise is the basic lat pull down with a 2 second pause at the bottom of the movement. Take a wide grip on the bar and pull it all the way down, at the bottom hold for 2 seconds while trying to squeeze your shoulder blades down. Try to ease the tension and not grip the bar extremely tight.

Lat pull down with wide grip- 8 reps with 2 second pause at each rep

Rest 1 minute and repeat 3 more times. After completing all 4 rest for 2 minutes and move on to the next combo.

Next will be the straight arm pull down in which you should use a straight bar that you connect to a high pulley cable. The most important thing to keep in mind when doing this exercise is to keep your arms straight to avoid using your triceps. Another key point is to keep your shoulders back and engage your core. Start by doing all 8 reps and then drop the weight by 15 lbs and now try to do 10 more reps but this time only going from the bottom to half way up and back down again. This half way up and down motion really hits the lats with extra focus!

Straight arm pull down-8 reps

SUPER SET WITH

Straight arm pull down ( just bottom half )-10 reps

Rest 90 seconds and repeat 3 more times.

H4 fat burner-#3

Here is another fat burning routine for those of you looking to lean up around the holidays. What is great about this workout is that it can be done just about anywhere. If you are stuck in a hotel or traveling for the holidays this is for you. Equipment is not really needed for this, although I would recommend a resistance band for the rows.

Go through the entire list of exercises before resting.

Pushups-15 reps

Prison squats ( bodyweight squat with the hands behind the head )-20 reps

Bicycle crunch-20 seconds

Front lunge ( alternating legs )-10 each leg

Band rows-15 reps

Jackknives ( burpees )-10 reps

Rest for 3 minutes and repeat 2 more times.

Bicep breaker

Great routine to hit the biceps hard. When doing the standing bicep barbell curls make sure you hold the bar with a shoulder width grip. This routine of lower reps with heavier weight and then light weight with higher reps will lead your muscles into growth.

Standing bicep curl with barbell- 6 reps

SUPER SET WITH

Standing dumbbell hammer curl ( both arms lifted together )-12 reps

Rest 90 seconds and repeat 2-3 more times.

Post turkey fat burner

So you spend all day yesterday sitting around and stuffing your face full of calories. You wake up today feeling fat and bloated. Here is your solution. This workout combines heavy weight low rep super sets which will provide you with the muscle growth you will need to jack up your metabolism and then the high rep high volume super sets for the cardio aspect.

Barbell bench press 6 reps

SUPER SET WITH

Leg press 6 reps

*** These weights should be very heavy so that 6 reps are a struggle

Rest 90 seconds and repeat 2-3 more times.

Lat pulldown 8 reps

SUPER SET WITH

Deadlift 8 reps

***These weight should be very heavy so that 8 reps are a struggle.

Rest 90 seconds and repeat 2-3 more times.

After finishing the last super set from above rest 2 minutes and then do the following:

Medicine ball overhead slams-1o reps

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pt0VLdpEdts

SUPER SET WITH

Floor jumping jacks ( get into pushup position and then keeping you arms extended simply move your legs in and out as fast as you can)-20reps

SUPER SET WITH

Squat jumps-10 reps

Do not rest at all until you have finished 4-5 rounds straight.

6 reasons why your not gaining muscle

1. You are not eating enough-In order to gain muscle you must eat and eat often! I would try and eat 18-20 times your body weight in calories. Remember that foods are created equally so make sure you are taking in quality and not just quantity.


2. Your intensity sucks-If you are going to weight train you better do it hard! Don't come in the gym and read the morning paper while you lift and expect to get huge. Put on some big boy pants, man up and lift hardcore!!


3. Your not eating enough protein-Try and eat anywhere from 1 gram to 1.5 grams of protein per body weight.


4. You don't drink enough water-Remember you must keep muscle tissue hydrated. Muscles are made up of 60-70% water so drink up!


5. You lack consistency-This is big, you must be consistent with your workouts and stay the course with your workouts.


6. Cardio dominates your workouts-If you are always doing cardio its going to be tough to build muscle. I would only do cardio 1x a week at most if you truly want to build serious muscle. You need the calories to go towards building and not towards your cardio workout.

Tuna salad done right!

Tuna is such a great source of protein but sometimes eating it plain just gets old and boring. Traditional tuna salad calls for that gross product know as mayo, I am not a fan. If you want a healthier version try the recipe below.

Healthy tuna salad

• 1/2 an apple peeled



• Honey mustard-3 big spoon fulls



• Balsamic vinegar-1 spoon full



• Your favorite tuna



• Pepper to taste

Finely dice up an apple and put it in a bowl. Mix together the honey mustard and balsamic and add pepper to your taste. Add in the apple and tuna and mix together. Eat it up or spread in onto whole grain bread. To be honest you might want to mix and match the mustard to vinegar amounts to your liking. Enjoy! I am guessing you will not go back to the white mess again!

Metabolic leg burner

This is a quick and easy way to burn some calories and burn out your legs. I would do this tri-set at the end of your workout. Although this routine wont make your legs huge it will shred them.

Squat jumps 20 seconds as many reps possible
SUPER SET WITH
Body weight speed squats 20 seconds as many reps possible
SUPER SET WITH
Squat isometric hold-hold position at the bottom of the squat for 20 seconds

Rest 90 seconds and repeat 2-3 more times.

E.O.M-Reverse incline hammer curls

The exercise of the month for November is the reverse incline hammer curl which is great for those of you who need some new growth for the arms. Just grab a incline bench and put it at a 60 to 70-degree angle. Face the bench and put your chest up against the pad. Allow your arms to hang straight down and then curl the dumbbells all the way up until they touch your shoulders. Make sure you let your arms totally straighten at the bottom! This exercise hits two often neglected muscles the brachialis and the long head of the biceps.

Chocolate milk to the rescue!

After a hard workout most of us reach for a protein shake or sports drink to refuel our bodies. Has the idea of chocolate milk ever crossed your mind? Studies like the one from the International Journal of Sports Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism have shown that the chocolate drink could be better for you. Chocolate milk has calcium, vitamin D and an optimal ratio of carbs to protein. Even better is the milk contains both casein proteins( which digest slow) and whey proteins ( which digest fast ) to give the body the best of both worlds. The best bet is to buy low fat and low sugar brands.

Questions???

Please write me any questions you would like answered or any feedback you have. Thanks for checking out my blog!

h4training@gmail.com

Chaos Training-Chest and Back

Here is a great fat burner and metabolic routine for those looking to lean up.This routine involves the dumbbell bench press and the dumbbell one arm row. I would highly recommend this being done with a partner. First pick a weight you could bench press for 10 reps and a weight you could row for 10 reps. Begin the workout by doing 10 reps of the bench press and then go immediately into 10 reps on each arm for the row. For every round after drop the weight by 5 lbs per dumbbell on both the press and row and go to failure on each. This routine involves no rest; you should go from bench press to row and then repeat this super set until you have finished 6 drop sets. Below is a sample of how this would look for someone starting with 60 lbs.

Dumbbell bench press 60 lbs-10reps
SUPER SET WITH
Dumbbell one arm row 60 lbs-10reps
SUPER SET WITH
Dumbbell bench press 55 lbs-reps to failure
SUPER SET WITH
Dumbbell one arm row 55 lbs- reps to failure
SUPER SET WITH
Dumbbell bench press 50 lbs- reps to failure
SUPER SET WITH
Dumbbell one arm row 50 lbs- reps to failure

Hopefully you get the idea here; this would be continued all the way to 35 lbs which would be the 6th and final drop set.

Bruising Leg Press

Next time you do legs I want you to give this one a try. This workout comes from a friend of mine in Las Vegas. I did this routine with him once and just about cried. You first want to stack a leg press with anywhere from 6-4 45 pound plates on each side depending on your leg strength and experience. Those who are strong and experienced lifters I would use 6, intermediate I would use 5, and everyone else 4. Keep in mind these are suggestions so try it out yourself and make your own adjustments. So with your first weight stacked go ahead and do 6 reps with a 6 second negative on the way down. After you finish 6 reps, lock up the press and remove 1 plate from each side and repeat the 6 reps for 6 second negative. Repeat this process of removing 1 plate per side and doing 6 reps until you have 2-1 plates left on each side. Good luck walking the next day!


Leg press

Sample

6 plates per side- 6 reps with 6 second negative
REMOVE 1 PLATE EACH SIDE
5 plates per side-6 reps with 6 second negative
REMOVE 1 PLATE EACH SIDE
4 plates per side-6 reps with 6 second negative
REMOVE 1 PLATE EACH SIDE
3 plates per side-6 reps with 6 second negative
REMOVE 1 PLATE EACH SIDE
2 plates per side-6 reps with 6 second negative

Finished!

*** You can also try doing this by going in reverse order, so light to heavy.

Guest trainer workout

This workout comes from a fellow trainer and friend of mine Lucas McEmery. I would not recommend this workout for beginners. If you like Crossfit workouts you will like this one. Enjoy!

Do 3-5 rounds as fast as possible.

• 250 M rower machine


• Burpee pull-ups 10 reps


• Bodyweight squats 20 reps


• Full sit-ups 30 reps

** Burpee pull-ups are done by dropping down into a burpee and then jumping up into a pull-up getting your chin past the bar.

NS routine

The goal on this workout is to hit the upper pec as well as the lower pec. The decline weight should be 5-10 lbs less than you would normally use for this rep range. Here is the workout:

Incline barbell bench press 6-8 reps
SUPER SET WITH
Decline dumbbell press 10-12 reps

Rest 90 seconds and repeat 2-4 more times.

** You can also switch this routine for another day and do the decline for 6-8 reps and the incline for 10-12 reps.

Stud quotes

"Absorb what is useful; reject what is useless."
— Bruce Lee

H4 favorites-#2 Chobani yogurt

Chobani is a staple in my diet. It tastes good and has so many benefits in which you can see below.

• No preservatives


• No artificial flavors


• No synthetic growth hormones


• Includes 5 live & active cultures, including 3 probiotics


• Made with real fruit


• Twice the protein of regular yogurts ( this is very good!!!)


• A good source of bone-building calcium


• All natural

My Favorite Bicep routine

This has to be my favorite bicep routine to do because it hits every aspect of your biceps. The wide grip curls will hit your outer head and the narrow grip curls will hit your inner head. Reverse curls will hit the brachioradialis which will help grow your forearms. Start by doing 10 reps of standing barbell curls with a wide grip. Immediately go right into EZ bar reverse curls ( grip with palm down ) and do 10 reps. Go ahead and rest for 90 seconds and repeat this process, however for this round instead of wide grip curls do narrow grip curls. Finish by doing 1 more cycle of both the wide grip/reverse curl combo and the narrow grip/reverse curl combo.

A) Wide grip barbell curl 10 reps
SUPER SET WITH
Reverse curl 10 reps

Rest 90 seconds.

B) Narrow grip barbell curl 10 reps
SUPER SET WITH
Reverse curl 10 reps

Rest 90 seconds and repeat starting from A and then finishing the workout with B.

Dips hardcore

Try this for your dip routine next time. Do 3 full dips with regular good depth, once you finish your 3rd rep do 3 half reps starting from the bottom and stopping halfway up. Once you finish 3 half reps from the bottom, do 3 more full reps and then finish with 3 half reps starting at the top and going halfway down. The routine will look like this:

• 3 full reps


• 3 half reps starting from the bottom


• 3 full reps


• 3 half reps starting from the top

Rest 1 minute and repeat 2-4 times.

Debunking some exercise myths

1. Myth: Doing cardio is the best way to burn fat.

Verdict: FALSE!

Doing too much cardio will in fact strip the body of its muscle. Losing muscle mass causes your body to become less efficient at burning fat. The more muscle you have the higher your metabolism will be and the more calories you will burn. A cardio workout will burn calories in the now ( the time frame you workout ) whereas Resistance training will burn calories not only in the now but also throughout the whole day. Unless you want to take away your body's best fat burning machine, I suggest doing resistance training.

2. Myth: Women will get muscles as big as a guy if she lifts weights.

Verdict: FALSE

This myth is why most women don't want to touch dumbbells in a gym. But this myth is so wrong. Women only have about 1/3 the testosterone men have, making it difficult to for them to gain muscular size. Unless a woman takes anabolic steroids the chances of her getting really big are slim to none. Doing weight training will help develop lean, strong, tight muscles and therefore should be a part of a women's routine. Muscle is not bulky, but compact.

3. Myth: You can "spot reduce" areas of your body when working out.

Verdict: FALSE

Although this is a popular belief, it has no truth what so ever. Body fat is stored throughout the body as a whole. By doing certain exercises your body will not pick out which area of fat it wants to burn. The real way to lose fat is to increase the calories you burn by doing both resistance and aerobic training and to decrease your calorie intake.

Quick thoughts on P-90X

I know there are a bunch of you out there who often ask me about P-90X and what is my opinion on it. I have watched the entire DVD set of workouts and I really do like the program. It has creative and unique exercises and it is broken up into intense splits. I do also want to say that the P-90x series is not best for the beginner, it is better suited for the intermediate level individual. Listen any workout program that is done with consistency and proper intensity will yield results, so no P-90X is not a miracle workout but just a viable option for those who need structure with their workouts. If you cant afford the DVD's then find a program you like and stick with it for 90 days and I bet you will find changes. My advice......use H4 workouts!

6-12-25

If you want a new way to add gains then try this unique method of training. After completing the first cycle of this routine you will most likely need to drop the weight 10-20% in order to complete cycle 2 fully. Below are some examples for this routine:

For biceps

Incline dumbbell alternate curl 6reps
REST 10 sec
Standing barbell curl 12 reps
REST 10 sec
Standing pulley cable curls 25 reps

Rest 2 minutes and repeat at most 2-3 times.

For triceps

Close grip press 6 reps
REST 10 sec
Tricep extensions 12 reps
REST 10 sec
Standing pushdowns 25 reps

Rest 2 minutes and repeat at most 2-3 times.

Helping to achieve that "V" look

Besides having impressive shoulder width and a small waist, lat width is what will ultimately give you that desirable V shape that most guys wish to achieve. Below is a super set for the lats that will shock them into new growth. Take a weight you could normally dumbbell row for 10 reps and drop it by a good 5 lbs for this routine. I would also suggest dropping your usual weight for the lat pull down for 10 reps by 10 lbs or so.

One arm dumbbell row-10 reps
SUPER SET WITH
Wide grip lat pull down-10 reps

Rest 90 seconds and repeat 2-3 more times.

H4 Fat Burner #2

This routine is pretty tough, I would not suggest this for beginners. Make sure the weight is not too heavy on the row else you will die out fast. You will start with 10 pushups then 10 rows and then 1 jackknife ( burpee ). Every round after the first, the pushups will go down from 10,9,8,7....etc all the way to 1 on the last set. The rows will always be 10 reps and the burpee's will go up from 1,2,3,4....etc to 10. Here is the workout:

Pushups- start at 10 reps finish at 1
SUPER SET WITH
Row- 10 reps
SUPER SET WITH
Jackknife ( burpee )- start at 1 rep end at 10

No rest at all, go through the whole tri-set and then keep repeating.

Tabata Method for fat loss

Named after Japanese researcher Izumi Tabata, this method was discovered as very effective way to burn fat. I would do this at the end of your regular workout since it will drain you pretty bad. Here's how:

• Pick a compound, multi-joint exercise ( like squat press with dumbbells )


• Perform as many reps as you can for 20 seconds


• Rest for 10 seconds


• Repeat 7 more times for a total of eight sets

Chest combo

Use this super set to give your chest some growth. Make sure you use heavy weight on the bench press the 6 reps should be very tough to finish.

Barbell bench press 6 reps
SUPER SET WITH

Dumbbell bench press 12 reps

Rest 90 seconds and repeat 3-4 more times.

Q & A

Please write me any questions you would like answered and I will respond. I will then post the question you have submitted with my best response. Thanks!

3 way

Your delts tend to respond very good to tri-sets and since most never do tri-sets this is a good shock routine for your system. This routine takes you from heavy weight and low reps all the way to low weight and high reps. Here is the workout:

Seated dumbbell shoulder press 6 reps
SUPER SET WITH
Seated dumbbell lateral shoulder raises 12 reps
SUPER SET WITH
Shoulder press machine 20 rep

Rest 90 seconds and repeat 2 more times.

Know this.....

You might have heard that a pound of muscle burns 30 or 40 or 50 calories a day, however most research has proven this to be false. A pound of muscle burns approximately 7-10 calories a day compared to a pound of fat which burns about 2-3 calories. So if you replace a pound of fat with muscle you can burn up to 5 times as many calories a day!

Side Planks

One of the better abdominal exercises that not many people do are side planks. Start by lying on your side, legs together, feet stacked. .Bend your bottom arm and make sure your elbow is underneath your shoulder and place the other hand on your hip. Use your abs to elevate your hips and hold at the top. Start with whatever you can do and work your way up to 1-2 minutes. This is a great exercise to hit your obliques without putting much stress on the spine.