Beating the Weight

Every workout should be taken serious because every workout is another day where you should be trying to better yourself. I use to be able to tell if I am going to have a good day or a bad day but now when I go to the gym I look at it like I am only here to get better and stronger; there should be no bad days, eveyday should be a better day then the day before. Lifting with other people can be very beneficial because you have the motivation to compete with your partner or partners. If both partners are willing to push each other to do as best as they possibly can every workout session will lead to amazing results. I have experienced lifting by myself and lifting with as many as six people and I have learned that the more people that are present leads to better numbers on the weights. Always cheer your partner on because it helps, it is motivation. Recent surveys have shown that 80% of people do better in events when others are cheering them on. Do not ever believe that any amount of weight is too heavy because it is not anything is possible and there are people today that bench press over a thousand pounds. Heavy weight does not exist, only excuses for not being able to lift the weight exist.

Max Out Chart

Maxing Out

Maxing out is a very fun day and is the reason why many people lift weights for a hobby. Some people max out every other week or every other month, but I do not max out until I feel like I have really improved which is usually about two or three months. It is a very upsetting and frustrating feeling when the max out day has arrived and you do not improve at all no matter what lift it is like bench press, curl, squat, dead lift, military press, or any other lift. Maxing out takes a lot of preparation and should be focused on the week before your max out day. I usually like to lift very light the week before the max out day because I like to be fully charged and ready to break a personal record. It is important to eat a nice meal prior to maxing out; I like to eat a lot of chicken cutlets a few hours before, a protein bar later in the day, and I am will drink a lot of water throughout the day. When I get to the gym I like to warm up with a three or four light sets than put on a heavy weight. After I warm up every set is for one repetition so I do not tire myself out. After completing one set I add 10 to 20 pounds for the next set and hopefully will break my personal record. Adding too much weight every set will result in failure because you have to work your way up to the weight. Sometimes I do really well when maxing out and some days I do not do really well. A lot of people do not even bother maxing out they just use a max out chart instead as an estimation of their one rep max. The chart is an estimation chart which uses a certain amount of weight for a certain amount of repetitions and gives you an idea of what the max what be. For example it may say 225 pounds for 8 repetitions would equal a 275 pound max. People use this chart because they are not one hundred percent serious about knowing what their max would be and they would rather not risk injury by actually lifting that amount of weight when they can just use a chart that gives them an idea of where they are.

You Spend A Lot Of Time In The Gym If;

1. You can put the exact amount of weight on the bar without having to actually count.
2. You know what time your gym is opened and closes everyday.
3. You love slamming the weights on the ground as loud as possible.
4. You love rolling the dumbbells on the ground using your foot to make it less work when you actually have to lift it.
5. You hate when people talk more than lift.
6. You hate when people are using equipment for an hour.
7. You hate when someone comes over to your bench and gives you a spot when you do not need it.
8. When people talk on the cell phone it annoys you.
9. You are easily distracted by others.
10. You laugh when people make weird loud noises.
11. You are mean to people when they try to give stupid advice or interrupt your workouts.
12. You love looking in the mirror when your muscles are pumped.
13. You can easily tell which trainers are talented or useless.
14. You take a lot of trips to the water fountain.
15. You laugh out how some other people are dressed.
16. You are a little intimidated by the massive people.
17. You can’t stand the terrible music the radio plays.
18. Sometimes you bring an i-pod just to avoid conversation from others.
19. You step on the scale almost every visit to the gym.

Supplements

I do not like many supplements because I feel like they are useless and only help certain people on other drugs that use various supplements to enhance their drug effects. The only supplements I currently take are whey protein and muscle milk. I usually switch every two months; January, February, May, June, September, and October I would use whey protein and March, April, July, August, October, and December I would use muscle milk. I have tried other supplements in the past like Cee-Pro, No-Explode, and Sizeon. I never really wanted to take these supplements because they were so expensive and I did not fully understand how they worked. My friend always wanted to take them so we would usually pay half and half for each supplement try them out and see if they worked. Cee-Pro was the biggest waste ever. My friend and I took Cee-Pro for about a month and it did absolutely nothing except make us thirstier throughout the day. I was unhappy about this supplement because it cost both of us like $23 each. I never really bought No-Explode but sometimes my friend would make drink a glass about 20 minutes before we started our workouts. My friend said No-Explode gave him a lot of energy and increased his pumps but I never really felt more energetic or better pumps probably because I only tried it two or three times. I was frustrated about buying Sizeon because my friend convinced me to buy it and we didn’t split this one so it cost me like $45. The first time I tried I almost threw up because I could not take the test. I tried it a few times after that and I literally struggled to get it all down. After trying Sizeon like four or five times I just threw it away and realized supplements are not for me. I wish I did not waste all that money on the supplements but at least now I know I will never try them again. I have tried a sample of creatine once but it really dried my mouth out and made me extremely thirsty so I did not try that again. One of my friends takes creatine all the time and he says that it made him gain a massive amount of weight, but I think the creatine just retains water in his body and makes him look more fat and not muscular.

5x5 workouts

5x5 workouts are a great way to improve strength and endurance. I like do to 5x5 workouts during the summer months like June, July, and August. Doing 5x5 workouts during the summer months gives me just enough time in the gym to get better and stronger but I don’t have to spend time in the gym like it’s my full time job. 5x5 workouts is a method that involves working out a muscle for five sets for five repetitions for every exercise. So if I am doing chest and the exercises I choose for that day are bench press, incline bench press, and dumbbell flies I will do five sets of five repetitions for those exercises. The same method is employed for all the other muscles as well. These workouts are easy to record and keep track of because everything is five sets and five reps, the only things that change are the muscles worked out and the types of exercises chosen. When I do these workouts I usually increase the weight on every set by five pounds to get stronger. These workouts can get tiring because you are doing five sets for every exercise and by the end of the workout you could have done 15 to 25 sets which adds up to 75 to 105 repetitions. When doing 5x5 workouts I think it is better to only workout one muscle a day because doing more than one muscle will cause extreme fatigue and soreness. Also doing one muscle will weaken you for the next muscle to workout so it is best to just do one muscle a day.

Abs and Forearms

Forearms and abs are the most frustrating muscles to workout. A lot of people see very little results even after continuous hard work. I believe that forearms and abs are more genetic than anything else. Some people do not even bother wasting their time working out their abs and forearms. There are plenty of exercises that can be done to help people develop their abdominal muscles. When I am in the gym sometimes I see people doing hundreds of sit ups as fast as they can without taking any break at all. I don’t think doing hundreds of sit ups and couple of days is going to get great results. Developing abs does not just involve working out but a healthy diet is essential. Studies have shown that more consumption of fruits and vegetables cuts fat from the stomach region. When I was younger I use to do 100 sit ups every night before I went to bed. Hundreds of fast sit ups is not the best way to cut up your abs. The best method is to do 15-30 repetitions but squeeze your abs for two or three seconds every repetition. Holding your abs flexed after each repetition will give much better results. Some exercises for abdominal workouts are crunches, reverse crunches, cherry pickers, medicine ball abs, abs roller, cable crunches, leg raises, heel touches, side bends, and other variations using weight or other equipment. For some reason my forearms are very small compared to my other muscles. I have worked out my forearms no days a week, one day a week, two days a week, three days a week, and five days a week and still can not get any results. I have tried everything which leads me to believe that forearms are a muscle that develops at a later time in life maybe like twenties or thirties. I have done wrist curls using a bar, dumbbells, and individual weight plates. I think the best exercise for forearms is the wrist curling with the rope where you have to keep curling the weight up from the ground to your shoulders and come back down and up again only using your forearms. When I do this exercise it is hard to lift my arms after so I know it works. I also use a hand flexor where you can do hundreds of repetitions a day because you can bring it anywhere. A lot of people do not even bother working out their forearms because they believe that you use your forearms in every exercise you do.

Legs

Legs are the worst muscle to work out because they are always sore and lifting with legs makes it difficult to run. I usually work out legs on Saturdays which is bad because then they are sore until Monday. I recently just started running a lot so I have to skip legs every couple of weeks because I am to sore from running. During powerlifting season legs are done on Tuesdays and Fridays and your legs are sore every day of the season. Just like bench press there is a heavy day and a light speed day. The most important exercises are squats and deadlifts because they are done at competition. On Tuesdays which is the heavy day I usually would do three sets of three repetitions on squat, heavy quarter squats, three sets of five repetitions of good mornings, and other leg accessory exercises. Quarter squats are another form of squats except you don’t go down all the way. Quarter squats are done to get people used to having heavy weight on their back. Good mornings are when you’re in a squat position but instead of squatting down you practically bend over keeping your back straight and your butt out. Friday is a light speed day for squats and deadlifts. Box squats are done for ten sets of two repetitions with 50-60% of your one rep max but you must come up as fast as possible. When doing box squats when you squat down you sit on a box for a second and then explode up. The box is an indicator of how low you have to come down. Just like speed bench press after enough experience is acquired you can use bands and chains on the box squats. Speed deadlifts are done for eight to ten sets of one repetition. The idea is that you only get eight to ten repetitions a week so explode up as fast as possible and make everyone count. Speed deadlifts are done with 50-60% of your one rep max and you can also use bands or chains after enough practice. Some other accessory leg exercises are lunges, leg presses, leg extensions, reverse leg extensions, and leg curls.

Triceps

Triceps are fun to work out because they are quick and easy. Triceps are located on the arm at the opposite side of the bicep. Strengthening the triceps can increase you bench press because they assist the chest muscles in the lift. The first exercise I usually do is four sets five or ten repetitions of extensions with the curl bar. After every repetition I squeeze my triceps as hard as I can. The second exercise I do is punch press for three sets of twelve repetitions. Punch presses are done with dumbbells and they are similar top bench press except your wrists are turned in and your elbows are kept tight at your side. The next exercise I do is rope ins when you connect the cable machine with the rope and pull the rope down and end away from each other. I usually do rope ins for three sets of five or six repetitions. The next exercise I do is pushdowns or reverse pushdowns on the cable machine for three sets of ten repetitions. The last exercise I always do is close grip bench press. I like doing close grip bench press last because you are already fatigued and you really have to push yourself to do well. I work up to a five rep max on close grip bench press. When you’re using a close grip it does not work your chest because you keep your elbows in and only your triceps are getting the work. When working out triceps form is the most important thing always keep your elbows in and always flex your muscle after every repetition.

Biceps

Biceps are my second favorite muscle to work out under chest. The bicep is probably the hardest muscle to get results because it is a very small muscle. Curling is really the only exercise that is practiced for biceps but over the years more and more variations of curling are discovered. Some curling exercises are preacher curls, hammer curls, concentration curls, reverse curls, buddy curls, deadly 7’s, and cable flexes. It is always best to change up the exercises every couple of weeks but my favorite exercises are preacher curls, concentration curls, deadly 7’s, and buddy curls. Buddy and deadly 7’s are always done last because they require the most energy and it is hard to even lift up your arms at all after these exercises. For buddy curls you obviously need a partner and you curl the bar for ten repetitions, then immediately pass the bar to your partner, he does ten repetitions, he passes the bar back to you, you do nine repetitions, and you keep passing the bar back and forth until you get down to the last repetition. This exercise is tough but if you and your partner motivate each other you will get through it. Deadly 7’s is a complicated exercise where you partially curl the bar from the down position to the halfway up seven times, then your partially curl the bar from halfway position to all the way up seven times, and then you finish by curling seven full repetitions. Deadly 7’s may not sound that bad but they are really tough because there is no rest allowed. I usually work out biceps on Thursdays but during powerlifting season I really don’t work them out at all.

Shoulders

I dislike working out shoulders because they require the most work of all of the upper body muscles. There are a lot of different exercises for shoulders so it takes a lot of time to work out. I usually work out shoulders on Wednesdays. I believe the best exercises for shoulders are military press, shrugs, upright rows, and side raises. I usually do eight sets of military presses; four sets using the bar doing five or six repetitions and four sets using dumbbells doing ten, twelve, or fifteen repetitions. For shrugs I do six sets; two sets using the machine with light weight for thirty repetitions, two sets using the bar with heavy weight for eight to ten repetitions, and two sets using dumbbells with light weight for fifteen repetitions. For upright rows I use the curl bar and do three sets; the first set of twelve repetitions, the second set of eight repetitions, and the last set of five or six repetitions increasing the weight every set. I usually do five sets of side raises switching the grip, weight, and repetitions up every set. Shoulders are the only upper body muscle that I do not enjoy working out.

Back

A lot of my friends dislike working out back because it requires a lot of work. I love working out back because having a strong back can help with other muscles and when your back gets really defined it looks great. Some lifters refer to a cut defined back as a cobra back because you have the cuts like the snake cobra’s head. I usually work out back on Tuesdays. The first exercise I usually do for back is lat pull downs. The lat pull down machine is made of resistance cables and you pull down with a bar. When I see most people do this exercise I always just see people bringing the bar in front of their face but it is much more beneficial to bring the bar in the front of your face and then in the back of your head and count that as one full repetition. I do my first set of ten repetitions with light weight; move the weight up to the next cable for eight repetitions, and the last set move the cable up again for six repetitions. One set of ten, eight, and six repetitions may not sound like a lot of work but I count one repetition coming down in front and in back of my head, so I am really doing one set of twenty, sixteen, and twelve repetitions. The next exercise I do is seated cable rows for three sets of fifteen reps. The seated cable row machine is usually part of the same machine as the lat pull downs but on the other side. Every repetition on seated cable rows that you pull back you squeeze the back of your shoulders together for maximum results. The third exercise I usually do is reverse cable fly’s for three sets of twelve to fifteen repetitions. The cable fly machine can also be used for chest fly’s but when you do them in reverse they work out back muscles. The last exercise I do for back is always four sets of pull ups until failure. I try to do as many pull ups as I possibly can and every week I try to complete more. I do pull ups until failure because I believe they are the most important exercise for back. Sometimes I do pull ups at the beginning of my workout but I try to do them with weight attached to my body but it is very difficult. Other exercises for back that I every couple of weeks are dumbbell or barbell rows, reverse pushups, and hammer strength machine rows.

Chest

Chest is my favorite muscle to workout because it is my strongest muscle. I usually work out chest at the beginning of the week particularly on Mondays. The first thing I do for chest is always bench press. For bench press I do five sets of five repetitions increasing the weight by five pounds every set. If I complete the last set for five repetitions then I will move up five pounds every set the following week. So if I do 200, 205, 210, 215, and 220 all for five repetitions then the next week I will move up to 205, 210, 215, 220, and 225. The second thing I do for chest is inclined bench press which is instead of laying down flat your sitting in an inclined vertical position. I do three sets of five repetitions increasing the weight by five pounds each set. The next exercise I do is fly’s using dumbbells or a cable machine for three sets of ten repetitions. The last exercise I do is either three sets of push ups until failure or three sets of dumbbell bench press until failure. During powerlifting season I did completely different exercises which were much more complex such as board press, lockouts, floor press, and speed presses. During powerlifting I benched on two days, Mondays and Thursdays. Mondays were the heavy days and Thursdays were the light speed days. Mondays would usually consist of board presses, floor presses, and lockouts usually working up to a three rep max. The three rep max is the heaviest weight you can lift for three repetitions. The light speed day would consist of eight to ten sets of three repetitions. On light speed days you use very light weight like 50-60% of your one rep max. The idea of a speed day is to train with speed and lift weight as fast as possible. Eventually when lifters get more experience they start using bands or chains on the weight. Bands or chains add resistance, when you come down with the weight it gets lighter but when you come back up the weight gets more resistance. The purpose of bands and chains is to train your weak points and get make you lift much faster.