Learn How To Build Muscle
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Build a Bigger Chest in 3-4 Workouts or Less
www.BurnTheFat.com
If your pecs are a weak body part, or, if you’ve simply hit a progress plateau in your chest development, then this high intensity chest training program will pack slabs of muscle mass on your chest after just 3-4 workouts - and I guarantee it. This is a high intensity bodybuilding workout for advanced bodybuilders only. (Beginners don’t even think about it...)
Considering I’m on a calorie deficit in a cutting phase, I’m especially impressed with the increase in my chest size and development after 3 workouts. You’re not going to gain much if any muscular body weight if you are in a caloric deficit, but NO DOUBT, you can improve the development of a muscle group even while cutting up. This is a perfect example. I’m going to return to this program again for sure on my next mass phase. This program is called…
Multi-Angular Rest Pause With Pump Finisher
Here’s how it works. You select two exercises. For exercise one (the main course), I chose a basic pec mass exercise that can be done at any angle from steep incline to flat bench. Thats the primary exercise you stick with for all 4 workouts. Incline Dumbbell Press was the natural choice. I set up on a fully adjustable bench that allows multiple angles of incline.
For exercise two (dessert), I chose an isolation exercise for a pump finisher, and it changes with every workout.
Here’s the sequence:
A1 Incline Dumbbell Press - steep incline - about 65-70 degrees
6 reps
rest 10 seconds
A2 Incline Dumbbell Press - medium (regular) incline - about 45 degress
6 reps
10 seconds
A3 Incline Dumbbell Press - low incline - about 20-25 degrees
6 reps
10 seconds rest
A4 Dumbbell Press - flat bench
6 reps
Now rest 2 - 3 minutes.
That’s one "set." Technically of course, that is FOUR SETS, done in rest pause fashion, so lets call it one “round” for clarity’s sake.
Yes… that was round ONE. Now do it two more times.
Note: It helps a lot if you have a training partner change the bench angle so you can stay seated and keep the dumbbells in your hands. Doing it alone is slow and cumbersome.
For poundage, youre going to have to go MUCH lighter than usual. Although I don't train heavy pecs anymore, last time I did, I was doing 6 reps with 125s on the incline. So for this program I took about 50-60% of that; 70 lbs on workout 1, 75 lbs on workout 2,and 80 lbs on workout 3. On the last one, I had to drop to the 75s to finish all 3 rounds and even then I needed some forced reps towards the end.
You may need to decrease the weight on the 2nd or 3rd round, but if at all humanly possible, do NOT reduce the weight during each round. Doing all four angles at the same poundage is the whole idea.
What may happen, especially if you even slightly overestimated your starting poundage, is that reps may drop with each angle change within a round. First angle - 6 reps is easy. second angle, a little harder, but still no problem. Third angle, you might only squeeze out 5 reps or hit honest failure on the 6th rep. 4th angle (flat), you might hit total failure on the 4th or 5th rep.
Now this is also where a training partner comes in. This routine should not be attempted without a spotter. Sorry, but you are a dork if you try to do this without a spotter. This program causes HONEST muscle failure (I’ll explain that in more detail shortly), so you need the spotter for safety, but moreover, you will need a spotter’s assistance to complete forced reps, at least on the final round or two, if not the first round. In general, forced reps should not be overused, but they play an important part of this program.
Ok, where were we? Oh yeah, you just finished your 3rd round. You might be finished! Yeah. some people will be DONE, KAPUT, ZONKED, BONKED, NUKED, GAME OVER, after 3 rounds of that (think about it - that was 12 sets, disguised as 3 sets!) However, for those who want the full course…. come with me and lets finish off those pecs with the pump (oh, you thought were already pumped… heh.. just wait…you’ll see what a pump is!)
The second exercise (exercise B) is going to be an isolation exercise.. ie., DB flye, cable crossover, machine flye (pec deck), etc., and you will perform 20-25 reps, non stop in piston-like fashion. use a steady quick tempo, but not so fast that you use momentum.
This isolation /pump exercise will change with every workout:
B1 Workout 1: standing cable crossover
2-3 sets, 20-25 reps
B1 Workout 2: machine flye or pec deck
2-3 sets, 20-25 reps
B1 Workout 3: decline dumbbell flye
2-3 sets 20-25 reps
B1 Workout 4: flat bench cable flyes in cable crossover machine
2-3 sets, 20-25 reps
That’s it! That’s the whole program. Three rounds of multi-angular rest pause, then finish your workout with 2-3 sets of 25 reps on a pumping, isolation movement.
This routine is performed within a standard bodybuilding type of split, so it should be done once in 5-7 days, no more. You would probably do another body part after chest,such as biceps or triceps, depending on how you organize your split routine.
I would recommend advanced bodybuilders use this program a couple times a year if and when they need a boost in chest development. This is not the type of program you would use all the time. You would burn out and overtrain.
There’s one more very important part of this routine - progression.
On the Incline Dumbbell Presses, you will increase the poundage with every workout. Keep in mind, you will not be able to complete all 3 rounds at all 4 angles for 6 unassisted reps. Its going to get harder each time, even as you get stronger. You may have to use a spotter more with each progressing workout. You may also find that on workout 1 or workout 2, you can complete all 3 rounds with the same dumbbells, but on workout 3, by the 2nd or 3rd round, you have to drop the weight or you’ll barely be getting 2 or 3 reps.
Now let me re-emphasize the importance of a spotter. Theres something thats going to happen when you do this routine that does not happen often. You will hit what my training partner and I call “HONEST FAILURE.” This means that your muscles literally fail, or give out right underneath you. Mind you, this is not something you would usually aim for, but that’s just the nature of this program and this is only a 4-workout high intensity “shock” type of routine.
When I say your muscles will give out, I mean that literally. On the last rep or two of 3rd or 4th angle, of the 2nd or 3rd round, your arms may literally buckle underneath you. That’s honest failure.
You see, there are several types of failure… First there is “sissy failure”.. that’s when there is a lactic acid burn or a fatigue in the muscle (you’re tired) and because it hurts or youre tired, that causes you to stop. Thats sissy failure (sarcasm).
Then you have positive failure. This is where you can no longer push the weight up in a concentric motion, but you are still able to lower the weight and exert an upward force against the weight. For example, you’re bench pressing and you hit the “sticking point,” but you are holding that bar at the sticking point (its not coming back down), and you’re still exerting force to push the bar upward, but the bar simply isn't moving up!
Then you have honest failure. This is where the muscle simply gives out.. it buckles. you have reached concentric and eccentric failure. This type of failiure is rarely discussed. In fact I don’t recall anyone ever writing about it except for Arthur Jones and Ellington darden and the rest of the High Intensity Training (HIT) camp.
Rarely does any bodybuilder tread in this territory, and for good reason, as it is really not necessary and can be dangerous for anyone but a veteran who knows what the heck he is doing - and all the kidding aside for a moment, Im serious about this. Its no joke if your chest and arms give out from underneath you and you dump a 70 or 80 pound dumbbell on your face. (you do like your teeth, don’t you?)
However, as a technique you use on rare occasion for a shock routine that breaks through progress plateaus, that untrodden territory is there… for those who dare. There is something about this particular program (multi angular rest pause) that takes you there. You've been warned! Train hard, but be safe!
Now, go out there and get jacked!
Tom Venuto, NSCA-CPT, CSCS
Lifetime Natural Bodybuilder
www.burnthefat.com
About the Author:
Liberate Yourself From Classical Weight Training
By Charles Staley, B.Sc, MSS
Director, Staley Training Systems
Creator of the Escalating Density Training System
During my recent talks in Bellaria Italy, a theme developed which reflects what I consider to be a problem in the way that most people think about resistance training. In particular, during one roundtable discussion on EDT training, I fielded numerous questions about the so-called “correct” number of sets, reps, rest duration, etc., etc., for EDT workouts.
Finally, I saw the underlying problem behind the various questions I was fielding: the attendees were focusing too much on the means of optimal weight training and not enough on the ends. As I thought about it, virtually ALL resistance training systems and philosophies focus on means, often to the total exclusion of the ends.
Case in point: HIT training. HIT (which stands for "High Intensity Training") revolves around the performance of only one (or sometimes two), all-out sets to failure, as opposed to the more conventional methodology of several sets per exercise. Thus, the defining feature of HIT is the use of an unusual set of means.
Another example of a popular training system that focuses on means is Power Factor Training. This system advocates the use of restricted range of motion (for example, performing leg presses over the last 6 inches of extension only) in order to allow for the use of heavier loads. Again, the salient feature of this system is the means rather than the ends.
Enter Escalating Density Training
As I described to my lecture audiences in Italy, when I set out to codify the training system I had been gradually developing over the course of several years (the system that eventually came to be known as Escalating Density Training, or EDT for short), I eventually arrived at an arresting premise: in resistance training, the ends must dictate the means.
This realization struck me as profound, because it’s the exact opposite approach that virtually all other systems are based on! So in other words, what I became focused on is this question: "How can I organize sets, reps, rest intervals, etc., in such a way that I can perform the most amount of work possible in a pre-determined time frame?" (which in EDT parlance, we call "PR Zones").
In the process of asking this question, a fundamental truth emerged: work capacity is a function of managing (rather than seeking) fatigue.
This principle is universal in the lives of all successful people in all fields of endeavor. It is the hallmark of all effective people. In his excellent book Leadership, Rudolph Giuliani states that one of his primary objectives was to get as much done as possible in the first hour of the day, while his energy was still high.
This is a strategy that I have used in my own professional life for many years, and maybe you have too. The point is simple: effectiveness, whether at the office, at home, or in the weight room, is a function of managing energy.
EDT manages energy expenditure in the following seven ways:
1) Antagonistic Pairings:
Sherrington’s Law states that when a muscle contracts, it’s antagonist must relaxó otherwise, no movement would occur. Therefore, if the trainee performs a set of leg extensions in between two sets of leg curls, each muscle group recovers faster as a result of the work performed by it’s antagonist. In EDT, three type of antagonists are recognized:
True Antagonist: For example, pectoralis major and latissimus dorsi
Bilateral Antagonist: When using unilateral exercises (such as dumbbell rows for example), the left side becomes the ìantagonistî for the right side, and vice versa.
Proximal Antagonist: In some regimes of EDT training, two distal muscle groups are trained together in the same PR as a way to manage fatigue. For example, leg curls and incline presses.
2) Optimal force-velocity relationship:
In the body composition aspect of EDT training, trainees are advised to select a weight that can be lifted 10 (but not 11) times - in other words, a 10RM weight. Most importantly, each PR Zone starts with sets of 5 with this 10RM weight - exactly the opposite of what most training systems recommend.
The rationale? By selecting a moderate weight and lifting it acceleratively (See point # 7 on CAT training below), we strike a balance between force and speed which results in the highest possible motor unit recruitment and work output.
3) The Chronological Governor (PR Zones):
Most automobiles have a "governor" which sets a limit on how fast the vehicle may be driven. This is designed to protect both the vehicle and yourself. EDT training uses a similar device, called the PR Zone, to limit the amount of high intensity work you perform in an exercise session.
Typically, EDT workouts feature 2-3 PR Zones, usually 15 minutes in duration. Note that most exercise systems provide you with a certain number of exercises, sets, and reps, and then you perform that workout, regardless of how long it takes to complete. EDT employs the opposite approach: you first set the time limit, and then perform as much work as possible within this time frame.
4) Definitive Progression Targets:
Unlike most training systems, EDT workouts provide a specific performance goal for each PR Zone. You start the workout knowing exactly how much time you have and exactly what must be accomplished. This provides focus and clarity each and every workout.
5) The Distraction Principle:
During an EDT workout, you’ve always got one eye on the clock and the other on your training log. There’s little time to consider how tired you are, what you’ll eat for lunch afterward, or any other distracting thoughts.
6) The Conscientious Participation Principle:
Workout by workout, each individual finds the best set-rep-rest strategy to permit a maximal performance. Slow-twitch dominant exercisers often find that higher reps and shorter rests result in the best performances. Fast-twitchers, just the opposite.
There are a number of individual factors that determine optimal exercise performance for each person, and EDT provides the flexibility to capitalize on individual talents and predilections.
Consider this analogy: water, being flexible and adaptable, always fills the shape of it’s container. Most systems are more like ice however - it only fits if you’re the right container!
7) CAT: Compensatory Acceleration Training
This phrase was coined by Dr. Fred Hatfield, the first man to officially squat 1000 pounds in competition. The central premise is that you move the weight quickly, and compensate for momentum by accelerating the weight even faster.
The body is hard-wired to accelerate heavy objects, and training styles should reflect this reality. After all, if you had to move a 100 pound box from the floor onto a high shelf, would you move slowly in order to maintain continuous tension, or would you move it with as much speed as possible?
When you run a one mile course, your rate of energy expenditure is greater than if you walk that same course - in other words, you did more work per unit of time. Similarly, when you move a weight a certain distance, a faster execution results in greater work per unit of time. Forget about Super Slow training - it only applies to Tai Chi molasses wrestling events.
Static Versus Dynamic Systems
Another shortcoming in most training systems is that they are static. In other words, "Here’s the program, now go do it."
The problem with this approach is that everyone is different. Not only that, but each individual has different needs at different points in their lives. Most training systems prescribe a particular exercise/set/rep/rest/tempo recommendation for everyone.
A select few do a little better by tailoring these parameters for the individual exerciser. EDT takes it a step further by enabling the exerciser him or herself to participate in the design of the workout.
Even further, the exact parameters of each workout often change in accordance to the trainee’s innate experience and understanding about what it will take to beat the pervious best numbers. Interestingly, the flexibility just described does not blur the basic structure of the system.
The Perfect Training System
In fact, there is no singular "perfect" system, in any field of endeavor. However, the "best" systems are dynamic, flexible, and respect the established principles that are known to guarantee a successful outcome.
In the field of resistance training, EDT dynamically conforms to the end-users needs from workout to workout while at the same time ensuring the stringent application of the established principles of athletic training.
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Learn More About EDT Training!
Charles Staley’s training package "The Complete Video Guide To Escalating Density Training" is available now!
Click here to learn more and get your copy today!
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About The Author
His colleagues call him an iconoclast, a visionary, a rule-breaker. His clients call him “The Secret Weapon” for his ability to see what other coaches miss. Charles calls himself a “geek” who struggled in Phys Ed throughout school. Whatever you call him, Charles’ methods are ahead of their time and quickly produce serious results. His counter-intuitive approach and self-effacing demeanor have lead to appearances on NBC’s The TODAY Show and The CBS Early Show.
Currently, Charles competes in Olympic-style weightlifting on the master’s circuit, with a 3-year goal of qualifying for the 2009 Master’s World Championships.
Yes, You CAN Gain Muscle & Lose Fat at the Same Time
By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
www.TurbulenceTraining.com
I have 3 BIG, and I mean BIG fat loss, body changing lessons to
share with you today...
First...
No one believes you can gain muscle and lose fat at the same time. I say, it's true. Not only do my Turbulence Training workouts prove it, but now science agrees.
Researchers from Purdue University showed men and women (with an average age of 61 - with one subject 80 years old!) were able to lose fat, gain muscle, get stronger, lower LDL cholesterol, and improve blood sugar control with a simple strength workout routine.
36 healthy men and women did strength training three times per week for 12 weeks, doing 3 sets of 8-12 repetitions.
By the end, the subjects gained an average of four pounds of lean mass and lost over four pounds of fat. This study show's it is possible to gain muscle and lose - at any age.
And you don't need fancy machines or an expensive gym membership, all you need is a professional program, like Turbulence Training, that you can do in the comfort of your own home.
Next...
I hear from men all the time who claim to be 6% body fat or less
(which is the level of a professional bodybuilder) but still have a
hard time seeing their abs.
This, by the way, is impossible. Listen, if you really are 6%,
you'll have an 8-pack, and you won't need any advice from me.
The problem is too many men and women believe that handheld body fat analyzers are accurate.
The truth?
Recent research shows these tools underestimate the amount of fat you are carrying on your body by 2.4 kg! That's 5 pounds of fat these handheld machines are neglecting to tell you about!
So don't get too smug with your handheld body fat readings, because it's likely underestimating the amount of fat on your body. Besides, its not about the machine, its about the mirror, how your clothes fit, and about losing the inches from your waist.
Worry about those, not some bogus readout on a machine.
And finally...
Everyone knows you don't burn fat with strength training, right? Wrong! A new study hot off the presses from the prestigous Journal of Applied Physiology showed strength training boosts metabolism by 10% after exercise and increases fat burning by 100%.
In this study, subjects did a standard 3-set strength training
program focusing on multi-muscle exercises and showed just how powerful "Turbulence" is for fat loss...
During strength training, you apply "turbulence" to your muscles, causing an increase in your metabolism and fat burning after the workout. That's how you build muscle and burn fat at the same time.
So forget about the "calorie readout" on the cardio machines. While strength training doesn't burn as many calories as traditional aerobic training during the workout itself, it continues to burn calories AND fat long after your workout.
And that's why you get a better body with Turbulence Training than you do with long, slow, boring, less-effective cardio.
Turbulence Training: Build muscle, burn fat, at the same time.
Get in shape fast with Turbulence Training,
Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training
PS - Here are the respective references for those 3 studies...
a) Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 Apr;85(4):1005-13.
b) J Appl Physiol 102: 1767-1772, 2007.
c) Hormone Research 2007;68:8-10.
PPS - Cut your workout and enjoy more time OUT of the gym...
"I used to think you needed to spend hours in the gym everyday in order to see results. With the help of CB and TURBULENCE TRAINING, I have reduced my workouts from 2 hours per day, everyday, to 50 minutes every other day. All the while I have trimmed over 60 lbs. of body fat off my now lean and muscular body. Thanks CB!!!"
Rob Vickers
About the Author
Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training fat loss workouts have been featured multiple times in Men’s Fitness and Maximum Fitness magazines, and have helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than 45 minutes three times per week. For more information on the Turbulence Training workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment, visit www.TurbulenceTraining.com
by Mike Geary, Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer
Everyone will inadvertently hit a frustrating plateau in their training at one time or another. You’re cruising along for a while, gaining strength, losing fat, looking better, and then all of the sudden it hits. Suddenly, you find yourself even weaker than before on your lifts, or you find that you’ve gained back a couple of pounds. It happens to everyone.
Most of the time, these plateaus occur because people rarely change their training variables over time. Many people stick to the same types of exercises for the same basic sets and reps and rest periods with the same boring cardio routine. Well, I hope to open your mind and bring some creativity to your workouts with this article!
There are many ways that you can strategically modify your training variables to assure that you maximize your fat loss and/or muscle building response to exercise. Most people only think about changing their sets and reps performed, if they even think about changing their routine at all.
However, other variables that can dramatically affect your results are changing the order of exercises (sequence), exercise grouping (super-setting, circuit training, tri-sets, etc.), exercise type (multi-joint or single joint, free-weight or machine based), the number of exercises per workout, the amount of resistance, the base of stability (standing, seated, on stability ball, one-legged, etc.), the volume of work (sets x reps x distance moved), rest periods between sets, repetition speed, range of motion, exercise angle (inclined, flat, declined, bent over, upright, etc), training duration per workout, and training frequency per week.
Sounds like a lot of different training aspects to consider in order to get the best results from your workouts, doesn’t it? Well, that’s where a knowledgeable personal trainer can make sense of all of this for you to make sure that your training doesn’t get stale. Below are a few examples to get your mind working to come up with more creative and result producing workouts.
Most people stick to workouts where they do something along the lines of 3 sets of 10-12 reps per exercise, with 2-3 minutes rest between sets. Booooorrrrring!!!! Here are a few examples of different methods to spice up your routine.
- Try 10 sets of 3 with a medium weight, resting only 20 seconds between sets.
- Try using a heavier weight and complete 6 sets of 6 reps, doing a 3 minute treadmill sprint between each weight lifting set.
- Try using a near maximum weight and do 10 sets of 1 rep, with 30 seconds rest between sets.
- Try using a lighter than normal weight and do 1 set of 50 reps for each exercise
- Try a workout based on only one full body exercise, such as barbell clean & presses or dumbbell squat & presses, and do nothing but that exercise for an intense 20 minutes.
- Try a circuit of 12 different exercises covering the entire body without any rest between exercises.
- Try that same 12 exercise circuit on your subsequent workout, but do the entire circuit in the reverse order.
- Try your usual exercises at a faster repetition speed on one workout and then at a super-slow speed on your next workout.
- Try completing five 30 minute workouts one week, followed by three 1-hr workouts the next week.
- Try doing drop sets of all of your exercises, where you drop the weight between each set and keep doing repetitions without any rest until complete muscular fatigue (usually about 5-6 sets in a row).
Want more ideas? There are many more ways to continue to change your training variables. This was just a taste of your possibilities. In order to see how to incorporate various strategies into effective routines, give the programs in my internationally best-selling ebook The Truth about Six Pack Abs a try.
A Woman's Guide To Warp-Speed Fat Loss- The EDT Way
By Charles Staley, B.Sc, MSS
Director, Staley Training Systems
Creator of the Escalating Density Training System
This is an article about smart weight training...a system of organizing weights, sets, reps, and rest periods in such a way that you'll get maximum caloric burn and fat loss for minimum time and effort. The system works and has a documented history of very happy victi…er, I mean, clients.
EDT is also iconoclastic by its very nature...in designing the system, I've broken nearly every known rule of exercise and weight training. I suppose that's a reflection of EDT's architect- namely, me.
Ever since childhood, I've lived by a simple code: if you want to be successful, do the opposite of what everyone else does (This simple premise isn't accurate across the board by the way…actually it only works about 98 percent of the time. Oh well...)
Up until this very moment however, chances are that you've never even heard of Escalating Density Training, or "EDT" for short. That's because, for various reasons, I've never tried to promote it to women in any type of orchestrated way. Why? Well, it's mostly because I'm a...well, a guy. And my thinking has been that women listen to other women a lot more than they'll listen to a guy. And who can blame you? After all, us guys are a brutish lot.
In fact, my wife still can't understand why there's nothing but a toothbrush in my medicine cabinet (OK, I gotta ask- what is it with all these products you girls use? Between my wife and daughter, our house is like a cross between a Bed Bath & Beyond and the pharmacy section of Albertsons!)
But I digress. Over the past several months, I've become increasingly aware that EDT may in fact be the world's most perfect form of training for females- especially females looking to tighten up in a serious way.
I'll make just one more observation before acquainting you with my life's work:
You're gonna really like EDT. Promise.
Imagine a training system where each workout has a time-limit and a concise objective. A system where each workout is a competition with yourself, a game that fires up your competitive juices (even if you didn't know you had any!) A system that produces measurable improvements every time you go to the gym. A system that finds and exploits the "sweet spot" between cardio and weight training.
With it's roots in time-management principles, EDT's simplicity is disarming: there are no pre-determined number of reps, sets, or rest periods. Instead, your goal is to amass as many total repetitions as possible in each 15-minute "PR Zone" ("PR" standing for "personal record."). If I've got your attention, please continue with me as I explain the nuts and bolts of the EDT system. I'll also provide an introductory program that drops bodyfat so rapidly, it'll make your plastic surgeon nervous!
Meet Your New Best Friend...
Here's a quick and painless guide to the nuts and bolts of the EDT system. It's super-simple, but you'll need to set aside of your preconceived notions about weight training in order to grasp the concept. Ready? OK, let's get started…
Training Sessions and "PR Zones"
I don't use the word "workout." Instead, we use the term "training session." Working out implies dull, meaningless activity for the sole purpose of burning calories. "Training" on the other hand, implies you've got a purpose, a plan. And you do! So don't sell yourself short, you're now in training girl! Leave the workouts to the Tuesday Night Book Club bimbos!
OK, now when you're "on" EDT, each training session is composed of between 1 and 3 15-minute time periods that we call "PR Zones." What's PR Mean? Any takers? Anyone…anyone? OK, it stands for "personal record." Which is what you'll be striving to break on each and every PR Zone. Let's continue…
What Are PR Zones For?
They're for setting and breaking your PR's. Your PR's are like your own personal World records. They represent the best performances you've ever done. Ever time you break a PR, you've got definitive proof that you're at your all-time best- numbers don't lie (unlike your scale and your boyfriend!)
During each PR Zone, you'll try to rack up as many total repetitions as possible using 2 "antagonistic" or opposing exercises. For example, bicep curls and tricep pushdowns. Or bench presses and rows. There are lots of possible configurations as you might imagine. Don't get caught up in the details though- just focus on the overriding idea. I'll provide the specifics in just a bit.
How Much Weight? How Many Reps?
OK: let's say you're doing a PR Zone for arms...a very simple example that nearly everyone can relate to. Your two exercises are standing dumbbell curls and lying EZ-curl tricep extensions. Before you start your stopwatch and begin your PR Zone, you'll need to determine (or estimate) your "10RM" weight for both exercises. That means a weight that you can do a set of 10 with before reaching failure.
So start light and do 2-3 sets on both exercises- alternating back and forth between the curls and the extensions. Do sets of maybe 5-6 reps until you hit a weight that's heavy enough to give you a sense of what your 10RM would be (NOTE: This process of finding your 10RM weight only happens once.
The next time you repeat that same PR Zone, you'll already know what weights to use). The main thing is that the weights you've chosen for both exercises are equally difficult for whatever reps you've used during your warm-ups. Got it?
Good. With your weights selected, start your timer. Start by performing your first set of curls. How many reps? 10? No, no, no! We're seeking maximum performance, not maximum perspiration. So you'll start by doing a set of 5 reps- even though 10 reps are possible. Just trust me here. You'll be in plenty of time by the time the PR Zone ends, believe me!
So you've done 5 reps on the curls, so next, do 5 reps on the extensions.
How long should you rest? Get ready...ready?
I...DON'T...CARE
I really don't. Rest as long or as little as you like. One less thing to worry about. Now, the clock's ticking, and you're going back and forth between curls and extensions, doing sets of 5 resting maybe 15-20 seconds or so between each set. But as time goes on you'll become fatigued. No- you really will. So when his happens, you're gonna do two things to optimize your performance: First, you'll drop your reps. Although you'll start the PR Zone by doing sets of 5, over the course of 15 minutes, you'll gradually drop down to sets of 4, then sets of 3, and so on.
Toward the very end of the PR Zone, you may even be doing sets of 1! Don't worry- by this time, the weight that was a 10RM 15 minutes ago is now more like a 3RM!
The second thing you'll do- and it'll happen instinctively…no need to think about it- is you'll gradually increase your rest between sets.
Your 15 Minutes Of Fame Is Now Over
Allrighty then. You finished the PR Zone. Hopefully you performed "X" number of reps for both exercises. Let's say you got 64 reps for each exercise. That's called your Baseline PR. It'll become your training target for the next repeat of this PR Zone
Now Here's The REALLY Cool Thing About EDT...
Depending on the program you're on, in maybe 4-6 days later you're going to repeat this PR Zone. And when you do, a couple of really neat things happen. First, when you start the PR Zone, you know you'll be finished in 15 minutes…no matter what happens. It's not like "OK Susan, here's your program, enjoy!" and you're lookin' at that sucker and your thought bubble is like "Holy frig…how long is that gonna take?" Nope. Not when you're training with me.
The second thing that you'll enjoy here is that you know exactly what you need to accomplish...in this case, you need to get 65 reps or better. How much better? Again…
I...DON'T...CARE
Are ya feelin' the love? OK look…my point is that we're all different… some of us are more aggressive than others. Then main thing is to ensure that you're making progress. And honestly, small margins or progression that you can sustain long term are worth a whole hell of a lot more than big jumps that you can't maintain.
When Do I Add Weight?
Ah…now you're thinkin' like a lifter! OK, here's how it works: As soon as you can increase the total number of reps in any given PR Zone by 20 percent or more, start the next workout with 5 pounds or 5 percent more weight (whichever is less) and start over. Similarly, if you manage to improve upon your last performance (for the same workout) by 40 percent, then you'll increase your weights by 10 pound or 10 percent (whichever is less) on the next PR Zone.
Learn More About EDT Training!
Charles Staley’s training package "The Complete Video Guide To Escalating Density Training" is available now!
About The Author
His colleagues call him an iconoclast, a visionary, a rule-breaker. His clients call him “The Secret Weapon” for his ability to see what other coaches miss. Charles calls himself a “geek” who struggled in Phys Ed throughout school. Whatever you call him, Charles’ methods are ahead of their time and quickly produce serious results. His counter-intuitive approach and self-effacing demeanor have lead to appearances on NBC’s The TODAY Show and The CBS Early Show.
Currently, Charles competes in Olympic-style weightlifting on the master’s circuit, with a 3-year goal of qualifying for the 2009 Master’s World Championships.
By Charles Staley, B.Sc, MSS
Director, Staley Training Systems
Creator of the Escalating Density Training SystemThe bench press has achieved almost cult status, reaching even into popular culture. It wasn’t always this way - prior to the 1960’s the most popular upper body lift was the military press - at that time, one of the three lifts contested in the sport of weightlifting (the press was removed from competition in the early 1970’s due to fears that lifters were using dangerous lifting postures in the attempt to press larger and larger weights).
Despite the fact that men tend to turn this lift into a demonstration event, and that women tend to shy away from the lift altogether, bench pressing (and it’s variations) remain the premier upper body development tool for physique and strength enthusiasts. Like any tool, used properly, you’ll get a great result; done improperly, then bench press can tear up shoulders like nobody’s business.
Here are my suggestions for safe and effective bench pressing:
Bench presses may be performed with a bar or with dumbbells. The bench may be flat (overall pectoral stress), inclined (more stress to the clavicular pectorals), or declined (more stress to the lower pectorals).
Lay on the bench, placing both feet flat on the floor (if this causes the curvature of your low back to increase, find a lower bench or place your feet on solid blocks to elevate them).
Grasp the bar such that both hands are equidistant to the center, and make sure your thumbs are wrapped around the bar, rather than on the same side as your other fingers. You only have to drop a big weight on your chest one time to become convinced that a thumbless grip is a big mistake (assuming you survive it).
Although it is difficult to articulate this concept in writing, the shoulder blades should be tucked together prior to unracking the bar. Do this while your hands are on the bar - lean to your right side and pull the left scapula inward, and then put your weight down on it. Then, leaning on your left scapula, tuck your right side in and then center your bodyweight. When the scapulae are tucked (retracted), the shoulder joints will be afforded additional range of motion as the bar descends, thus adding a measure of safety to the lift.
Immediately prior to unracking, the bar should be directly over your nose - if it isn’t, slide yourself up or down on the bench until it is. Inhale and unrack the bar from the supports. Pause in the top position for a brief moment, rather than making a "B-line" from the supports to your chest.
At this time, take in as much air into your lungs as possible and hold until the bar has ascended through the sticking point. Why? Ever notice that great bench pressers have "barrel" chests? This gives the pecs better leverage. You can give yourself a temporary, artificial barrel chest by inhaling as deeply as possible and holding throughout the lift.
As you lower the bar to your chest, keep your elbows directly under the bar, rather than in front of, or ahead of the bar. At the bottom of the movement, the bar lightly touches your chest at nipple level. Return the bar to the starting position (it should actually travel up, as well as slightly back) by contracting your pectorals.
(Note: there are in fact many different variations regarding grip width, elbow position, and contact area on the chest. The variation I’m describing here is intended for muscular development more so than maximum bench press strength. Competitive powerlifters use an array of techniques designed to maximize leverage, but I assume readers who are also competitive powerlifters will already be familiar with these techniques).
Grip Width
Viewed from the head of the bench, your forearms should be perpendicular to the floor at the bottom position.
Torso
Keep your torso flat on the bench at all times - the bench press is not intended to be a hamstring exercise, despite my sarcastic article called Bench Pressing: The Forgotten Hamstring Exercise.
Speed
Although a variety of speeds can be employed, the eccentric phase should always be "tight and controlled." If in doubt, allow two seconds to lower the bar. If you wish to eliminate the stretch shortening aspect of the lift, you can pause for two seconds at the chest, but don’t relax while doing so.
Depth
Although the most common variant is to bring the bar down until it touches the chest, for some athletes with poor shoulder flexibility, this position may be too deep. As a rule of thumb, the bottom position you choose should not use up all the shoulder flexibility you have - you should be able to go deeper with no discomfort if you had to.
For novice athletes with adequate shoulder flexibility, you can use depth as a method of progression, by using a constant weight over several workouts, slightly increasing the depth every session.
Transition Position
Most bench press injuries occur during the transition between the eccentric and concentric phase, according to Dr. Sal Arria, Executive Director of the International Sports Sciences Association. A common technique flaw involves the fatigued lifter allowing the bar to "bounce" or "chop" down onto the chest, which subjects the pectoral attachments to sudden loads, which is often the stimulus for injury.
A 200 pound bar lowered very slowly exerts about 200 pounds of pressure. But this same bar lowered quickly, may put many hundreds of pounds of tension on the target muscles and their attachments.
Bench Press Standards
According to Strength and Speed (Dale Harder, © 2000 Education Plus), a man who weighs 181 pounds is World Class if he can bench 435, National class at 420, College star at 330, College letter at 275, and HS star at 215.
Anthony Clark, weighing 372, bench pressed 780 in 1996, and I recall hearing that he did 800×2 in the gym recently. Chuck Ahrens, weighing 280, benched 400 for 28 reps. Chris Confessore was the heaviest man to bench press triple bodyweight - 741 pounds. Tamara Rainwater was the first woman to bench 400 pounds. The heaviest woman’s bench press may have been an unofficial 440 by Fibingerova, a Chech shot putter.
Safety
ALWAYS employ (or become!) a competent spotter when performing any bench press variation.
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Learn More About EDT Training!
Charles Staley’s training package "The Complete Video Guide To Escalating Density Training" is available now!
-----------------------
About The Author
His colleagues call him an iconoclast, a visionary, a rule-breaker. His clients call him “The Secret Weapon” for his ability to see what other coaches miss. Charles calls himself a “geek” who struggled in Phys Ed throughout school. Whatever you call him, Charles’ methods are ahead of their time and quickly produce serious results. His counter-intuitive approach and self-effacing demeanor have lead to appearances on NBC’s The TODAY Show and The CBS Early Show.
Currently, Charles competes in Olympic-style weightlifting on the master’s circuit, with a 3-year goal of qualifying for the 2009 Master’s World Championships.
The Greatest Quad Builder... That Almost No One Wants To Do
By Tom Venuto, NSCA-CPT, CSCS
www.BurnTheFat.Com
It’s axiomatic that the exercises which give you the best results are always the hardest ones to do. If you want a huge back… you row and deadlift. If you want huge legs, you squat… OR… you do THIS leg exercise – that almost no one wants to do because its one of the hardest of them all.
Which one am I talking about? FRONT SQUATS!
3020 tempo =
3 = negative/eccentric action
0 = pause in stretch/bottom position
2 = positive/concentric action
0 = pause in contracted/top position
Tom Venuto, NSCA-CPT, CSCS
Lifetime Natural Bodybuilder
www.BurnTheFat.Com
About the Author:
Tom Venuto is a natural bodybuilder, certified personal trainer and freelance fitness writer. Tom is the author of "Burn the Fat, Feed The Muscle,” which teaches you how to get lean without drugs or supplements using secrets of the world's best bodybuilders and fitness models. Learn how to get rid of stubborn fat and increase your metabolism by visiting: www.BurnTheFat.Com
What you need to know about Weight Training for a strong lean body that both looks good and is injury resistant
by Mike Geary - Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer
Working as a personal trainer & fitness professional, there is one type of question I get all the time that shows that many people are missing the big picture regarding the benefits of strength training. This popular question usually goes something like this:
“What exercise can I do to isolate my _______ (insert your muscle of choice – abs, quads, biceps, triceps, etc)?”
It doesn’t matter which muscle someone is asking about, they always seem to be asking how to ‘isolate’ it. My first response to this question is always – “Why in the world would you want to isolate it?”
The first thing I try to teach my clients is that the body does not work well in muscle isolation. Rather, it works better in movements along a kinetic chain; that is, large portions of the body assist other portions of the body in completing a complex movement. In fact, there really is no such thing as true muscle isolation. There is almost always a nearby muscle group that will assist in some way with whatever movement you are doing. However, this article compares attempting to ‘isolate’ body parts via single-joint exercises to the much more effective strategy of performing multi-joint complex movements.
When you attempt to ‘isolate’ muscles by performing single-joint exercises, you are actually creating a body that is non-functional and will be more prone to injury. Essentially, you are creating a body that is a compilation of body parts, instead of a powerful, functional unit that works together.
Now if you really want to end up hobbling around in a body bandaged up with joint problems, tendonitis, and excess body fat, then by all means, continue trying to ‘isolate’ body parts. On the other hand, if you would rather have a lean, muscular, injury-free, functional body that works as a complete powerful unit to perform complex movements (in athletics or even everyday tasks), then you need to shift your focus away from muscle isolation.
Believe me, focusing on how well your body functions will give you the side effect of a body that looks even better than it would have if you focused on muscle isolation. For example, take a look at the physiques of any NFL running backs, wide receivers, or even world class sprinters. Trust me when I say that these guys pretty much NEVER train for muscle isolation (their strength coaches wouldn’t be crazy enough to let them), yet they are absolutely ripped to shreds! Just look at guys like Maurice Green or Terrell Owens and tell me who wouldn’t want a physique like those guys.
Another benefit to moving away from the ‘muscle isolation’ mindset in weight training to a more ‘complex movement’ mindset is that you will find it much easier to lose body fat. The reason is that by focusing more on multi-joint complex movements as opposed to single-joint muscle isolation lifts, you not only burn a lot more calories during each workout, but you also increase your metabolic rate, and stimulate production of more fat burning and muscle building hormones such as growth hormone and testosterone.
Let’s look at an example. The machine leg extension is a single joint exercise that works mainly the quadriceps, can potentially cause knee joint instability in the long run, and doesn’t even burn that many calories. On the other hand, exercises like squats, lunges, step-ups, and deadlifts are all multi-joint complex movements that work hundreds of muscles in the body (including the quadriceps) as a functional unit, create more stable and strong joints in the long run (when done properly), and also burn massive quantities of calories compared to the single-joint exercises.
Now although I do feel that multi-joint exercises should comprise the majority of your weight training workouts, I also think that there can be some benefits with just minor inclusions of single-joint exercises for variety, etc. I choose to build my training programs with about 90-95% multi-joint exercises and about 5-10% single-joint exercises at most.
If you’re interested in discovering more ways to create a body that looks as good as it functions, pick up a copy of my innovative book The Truth About Six Pack Abs
The Ultimate Hard-Body Exercise
by Mike Geary, Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer
The Front Squat
As you may have already discovered, the squat is at the top of the heap (along with deadlifts) as one of the most effective overall exercises for stimulating body composition changes (muscle gain and fat loss). This is because exercises like squats and deadlifts use more muscle groups under a heavy load than almost any other weight bearing exercises known to man. Hence, these exercises stimulate the greatest hormonal responses (growth hormone, testosterone, etc.) of all exercises.
In fact, university research studies have even proven that inclusion of squats into a training program increases upper body development, in addition to lower body development, even though upper body specific joint movements are not performed during the squat. Whether your goal is gaining muscle mass, losing body fat, building a strong and functional body, or improving athletic performance, the basic squat and deadlift (and their variations) are the ultimate solution.
If you don’t believe me that squats and deadlifts are THE basis for a lean and powerful body, then go ahead and join all of the other overweight people pumping away mindlessly for hours on boring cardio equipment.
Squats can be done with barbells, dumbbells, kettlebells, or even just body weight. Squats should only be done with free weights – NEVER with a Smith machine! My ebook,The Truth About Six Pack Abs contains the full story on why machines are so inferior and even potentially DANGEROUS compared to free weights.
The type of squat that people are most familiar with is the barbell back squat where the bar is resting on the trapezius muscles of the upper back. Many professional strength coaches believe that front squats (where the bar rests on the shoulders in front of the head) and overhead squats (where the bar is locked out in a snatch grip overhead throughout the squat) are more functional to athletic performance than back squats with less risk of lower back injury.
I feel that a combination of all three (not necessarily during the same phase of your workouts) will yield the best results for overall muscular development, body fat loss, and athletic performance. Front squats are moderately more difficult than back squats, while overhead squats are considerably more difficult than either back squats or front squats. I’ll cover overhead squats in a future newsletter issue.
If you are only accustomed to performing back squats, it will take you a few sessions to become comfortable with front squats, so start out light. After a couple sessions of practice, you will start to feel the groove and be able to increase the poundage.
To perform front squats:
The front squat recruits the abdominals to a much higher degree for stability due to the more upright position compared with back squats. It is mostly a lower body exercise, but is great for functionally incorporating core strength and stability into the squatting movement. It can also be slightly difficult to learn how to properly rest the bar on your shoulders. There are two ways to rest the bar on the front of the shoulders.
In the first method, you step under the bar and cross your forearms into an “X” position while resting the bar on the dimple that is created by the shoulder muscle near the bone, keeping your elbows up high so that your arms are parallel to the ground. You then hold the bar in place by pressing the thumb side of your fists against the bar for support.
Alternatively, you can hold the bar by placing your palms face up and the bar resting on your fingers against your shoulders. For both methods, your elbows must stay up high to prevent the weight from falling. Your upper arms should stay parallel to the ground throughout the squat. Find out which bar support method is more comfortable for you.
Then, initiate the squat from your hips by sitting back and down keeping the weight on your heels as opposed to the balls of your feet. Squat down to a position where your thighs are approximately parallel to the ground, then press back up to the starting position. Keeping your weight more towards your heels is the key factor in squatting to protect your knees from injury and develop strong injury resistant knee joints.
Keep in mind – squats done correctly actually strengthen the knees; squats done incorrectly can damage the knees. Practice first with an un-weighted bar or a relatively light weight to learn the movement. Most people are surprised how hard this exercise works your abs once you learn the correct form.
START/FINISH
MIDPOINT
For complete descriptions of over 50 of the most effective full body exercises for stripping away body fat while developing a rock-hard body, download my e-book The Truth About Six Pack Abs
The 3 Best Bodyweight Exercises
By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
www.TurbulenceTraining.com
Here are 3 kick-butt bodyweight exercises you can do anytime, anywhere to burn fat, stay energized, and avoid overeating.
Bodyweight exercises help you burn fat shockingly fast, without any fancy equipment.
1) Any Single-Leg Exercise
The pistol (single-leg squat to the floor) is the most advanced
1-leg exercise. But you can also do assisted single-leg squats with a band, or onto a bench, or even with a Stability Ball between your back and the wall.
If you aren't ready for single-leg squats, you can use Bulgarian
Split Squats, Reverse Lunges, regular split squats, or lying 1-leg
hip bridges if you are a beginner.
2) Decline Push-ups
These are harder than normal pushups, thanks to your elevated feet. And in this position, you can still use a close-grip to fatigue
your triceps, a "piked-hip position" to build your shoulders, or
even the Spiderman leg motion to work on your abs.
3) Bodyweight Inverted Rows
I choose these over chinups and pullups because bodyweight rows let your chest rest, while your back is strengthened. It's the perfect compliment to a pushup.
Do 8-12 repetitions per exercise. Don't rest between exercises. Go through the circuit up to 3 times, resting 1 minute after each
circuit.
For a once-per-month challenge, do each exercise to failure in your final round through the circuit.
Get in shape fast with Turbulence Training,
Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training
About the Author
Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training fat loss workouts have been featured multiple times in Men’s Fitness and Maximum Fitness magazines, and have helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than 45 minutes three times per week. For more information on the Turbulence Training workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment, visit www.TurbulenceTraining.com
