Contrast Training workout

I really have become a fan of what I call contrast training. To me this style blends both heavy lifting and metabolic training into one tough workout.

We all know that muscle is active tissue and is always helping you burn calories even when you are at rest. More lean muscle equals a higher metabolism. In order to keep up the lean muscle tissue we must lift heavy weights and not just do cardio based routines. If you lift heavy weights you will keep your muscle which will help you metabolism stay high which will help you drop body fat! Check.

Metabolic workouts are high in intensity, keeping the heart rate elevated making you burn a ton of calories. This is a plus in any program. Generally metabolic workouts consist of higher rep and lower weight exercises. Burn more calories equals burn more fat! Check.


Workout-( similar to my blog post from last Monday )
* The first two supersets you should you use a weight that makes it hard for you to finish the last rep or two

A1) RFE ( Rear foot elevated ) Split squat holding dumbbells- 8 reps each leg
A2) One arm landmine shoulder press-8 each
4 rounds. Take 1 min rest between sets

B1) Trap Bar deadlift-8 reps
B2) One arm row with dumbbells ( start with palm facing behind you, as you row finish with the palm facing your body )-8 reps each
4 rounds. Take 90sec  rest between. You will need this due to the demands on the grip

C1) Alternating front lunges for speed-12 each
C2) Band speed rows ( palms facing each other )-25 reps * watch video below
C3) Surfer get ups-6 each ( if you cant do these you can sub in burpees for 12 ) * watch video below
C4) Band speed presses-20 reps * watch video
Rest 1min. Do this 4 total rounds



For the band exercises
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kb3Gy1VjxbQ&feature=share&list=UUw6xHMEe8HkW-z2zJmqTTSg

For the surfer get ups

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoUyzLcAsuk&feature=share&list=UUw6xHMEe8HkW-z2zJmqTTSg

8 Training Tips

1. The Deadlift-When you do deadlifts think about pushing away from the ground with your legs. Drive your the ground away as if you were doing a leg press. This will keep stability and not let your back round.

2. Rear foot elevated split squats-If you find yourself having issues with the low back or just the range of motion try using a lower box or step. The smaller box will help your back and keep you from losing form.

3.Improving the shoulder press-If you find yourself getting some shoulder pain when starting any shoulder press movement try starting at the top of the movement instead of the bottom. Ben Bruno talked about this tip and I have since used to with success.

4. Glute thruster variations-Instead of the classic 1 second pause at the top of the move, try holding for2-5 seconds making sure your glutes stay tight and your low back is not working. This will bring more time under tension for the glutes which will lead to better gains.

5. Pullups-If you do them constantly, try taking 1-3 weeks off to give your wrists, elbows and shoulders a break. Pullups are great and should be a part of any quality program but they do tend to be hard on the joints and taking a break will help every now and again.

6. Squeeze those glutes- When you do any plank variation always keep in mind to keep those glutes tight. My keeping the glutes tight not only will you get more glute work ( never a bad thing ) but you will also help keep your body more stable and the core turned on and not your low back.

7. Be ready- Improve your workouts by foam rolling then doing a quality dynamic warm up. The foam roller will help tissue density and "iron out the knots" of the muscle. The warm up allows you to then keep the body ready by increasing core temperature and prepping you for the workout to come.

8. Pressing variation-Instead of doing your normal dumbbell chest press give this technique a try. Lying on your back holding a pair of dumbbells, keep your arms tight to your sides and your palms facing you, As you press the weight up start to rotate the dumbbells so they finish with your palms facing forward. Make sure your arms stay tight into your body the whole press. This will not only be better on the shoulder but will also hit your triceps more as well.

Presidents Day Workout

Just because you are off work doesn't mean you cant put work in! Get to the gym on this Presidents Day and try this workout. This workout combines both a high rep high endurance training program with a heavy low rep workout.


* Make sure the weight is perfect for the reps. If you are doing 6 reps the 6th rep should be very tough if the weight is correct.

A1) Pullups- 6 reps ( hold each rep for 3 seconds at the top )
A2) Goblet squat with dumbbell-8 reps ( hold last rep at the bottom for 8 seconds )
3 rounds. 30 sec between rounds

B1) One arm dumbbell press with neutral grip ( palm facing your head )-8 reps each arm
B2) Single leg deadlift with dumbbells ( hold a pair of dumbbells )-8 each
3 rounds. 30 sec between rounds

C1) Seated row with straight bar-6 reps ( hold each rep for 3 sec )
C2) Step up with dumbbell ( if you step up with the right leg hold the weight just in the right arm )-6 reps each
3 rounds. 30 sec between rounds

D1) Kettlebell swings-15 reps
D2) Straight arm pulldowns with band-20 reps
D3) Burpees-10 reps
D4) Ball slams-15 reps
30 sec rest. 3 rounds

Go Dominate!

Why women cant lose fat and why guys cant add muscle

I know their are plenty of women who workout like no other and consistently dominate their workouts and do things like:

• Lift heavy weights
• Have intense workouts
• Eat to match their workouts
• Use weight training as their fat loss strategy and not cardio

But this is not the case for the majority and there lies the problem. Your average woman generally:

• Has too many bad for you Starbucks drinks
• Uses steady state, long distance cardio as her primary way of attempting to lose body fat
• Eats too many carbs
• Rarely if ever lifts a weight over 5lbs
• Takes group fitness exclusively
• Doesn't know what a deadlift or goblet squat is
• Reads Glamour or People Magazine while working out
• Thinks one arm tricep kickbacks she sees in the magazines will help her "tone" up
• Thinks protein will make her get big muscles
• Eating like a bird will help her lose fat
• Thinks eating a healthy cereal is a great breakfast
• Diet coke is her staple drink of choice

Why your average guy cant build enough muscle:

• He thinks he eats enough, in reality he doesn't eat nearly enough
• He loads up on any calories he can get at including cakes, pies, chips, fast food and other garbage that will just make him look like garbage
• Doesn't workout with enough intensity
• Doesn't take enough rest.
• Drinks too much
• Doesn't hydrate like he should
• Forgets about big lifts like rows, presses,squats and deadlifts
• Tries to do what is best for others but not what is best for him

Get your Unilateral on!

Benefits of unilateral training

• Most likely you never train this way so that alone makes it good for you

• Helps the core by the body resisting the lean that wants to take place towards the loaded side of the exercise.Great way to work the function of stability with the abdominals and low back.

• Burns more calories-Having to work one side followed by the other takes twice as long as a normal set therefore creating more time under tension which will burn more calories.

Example full body workout


A1) One arm dumbbell row-10 reps
A2) One arm split stance dumbbell snatch-10 reps per arm
A3) RFE split squat-10 reps each side ( if your right leg is on the bench, then hold the dumbbell in the right arm )
3-4 rounds. Take 0-60sec rest depending on level

B1) One arm dumbbell flat chest press-10 reps each ( trust me you will feel your core on this )
B2) One arm cable row with palms down-10 reps ( light squat position, face the cable and row )
B3) Single leg deadlift or single leg bridge-10 reps
3-4 rounds. 0-60sec rest depending on level

End with-
Side plank-for time each side
Reverse crunch-hold onto a dumbbell behind your head, tuck into one side of the body and then back down and then tuck into the other side-5 each side
45sec rest. 3 rounds total

Thursday Tip Jar

GREAT TECHNIQUE TO MAKE THE RFE SPLIT SQUAT MORE DIFFICULT

1/2 rep- Lower yourself all the way down then come up only half way, go back down and then all the way back up to the top of the move. This would equal one rep. I would recommend doing 4-6 reps since this is pretty intense especially done with heavy loads.

Do 3 sets of 6,5,4 reps taking 90seconds of rest between sets. Finish with a 4th set in which you do normal reps of 12.

In case you forgot proper form or what the split squat is checkout my old post

http://h4training.blogspot.com/2010/03/eom-bulgarian-split-squat.html

ANOTHER FORMAT TO USE FOR BODY COMPOSITION TRAINING ( FAT LOSS )

A1) UPPER BODY

A2) LOWER BODY

A3) CONDITIONING EXERCISE

B1) UPPER BODY
B2) LOWER BODY

B3) CONDITIONING EXERCISE

C1) UPPER BODY

C2) LOWER BODY

C3) CONDITIONING EXERCISE

End with some core work or even a forth tri-set

FOR BIGGER BICEPS

Do extreme negatives on the preacher curl. Load the bar with heavy weight and focus on a slow 10 second count as you lower the bar down. Have a partner help you lift back up and repeat this for 3-4 reps only. That should be plenty if the weight is enough, trust me. Rest 90 seconds and do 2 more sets.

ONE CHANGE AT A TIME

When you go to change your program dont change the reps,sets, weight, rest intervals and
exercises all at once. Just make one change to any of those variables and you will see new gains. You see tons of people who want to do a new exercise everytime they workout but that doesnt always have to be the case.

Simple program for simple goals

If you are someone who doesn't have one distinct goal but instead want to get a little stronger, want to lose a little weight, want some hypertrophy then this program would be for you. In the program below you will train at every different rep and load scheme in order to give you a well balanced program. Just the variety alone will bring on new change to the body. I have found that this type of program can work great for weight loss as well since it helps keep people using heavy and moderate weights and not just high rep low weight.



Everything is based on a full body workout 2-3x a week format.

WEEKS 1-3

"STRENGTH PHASE"

Focus on
*Heavy weights 
*5-8 reps per exercise
*3-4 sets of each exercise
*Upper body/Lower body super-sets work best, straight sets can work as well
* Rest periods of 45sec-1min between super-sets

Example
A1) Pullup-6 reps
A2) RFE Split squat-6 reps


WEEKS 4-6

"ENDURANCE PHASE"

Focus on
* Light weights
* 12-15 reps ( even some 20 rep exercises )
* 3-4 sets 
* Upper body/lower body super-sets or even tri or quad sets
* Limited rest periods of less than 30sec ( if your fitness level allows )

Example of quad set
A1) Row-15 reps
A2) Goblet squat-15 reps
A3) Pushups-20 reps
A4) Walking lunge-15 reps


WEEKS 7-9

"HYPERTROPHY PHASE"

Focus on
* Moderate weights
* 8-12 reps
*3-4 sets
* rests 30sec-1min between sets
* compound sets, super-sets work best

Example of compound set
A1) One arm row-10 reps
A2) Pulldown-10 reps


Once you finish the 9 weeks you can start back with the strength phase even changing the length of the phases. If you find yourself getting better results with certain phases then stick with those and drop the one that doesn't yield the best results.