Mind Over Muscle to a Hard Body
Tuesday, June 10th, 2008Introduction
Achieving the success of having a spectacular body is no feat for slackers, but is within reach of everyone that is willing to put their bodies to the test and that are more than willing to fulfill their desires of looking extraordinary.
One must remember three key elements when building their physiques:
1. Efficient Training
2. Smart Dieting
3. Adequate Rest
Training
Everyone knows that training is an integral part of bodybuilding. Many have asked, “What exercises do you perform in the gym? What does your split look like? How many sets and reps do you perform?”
Every time I reply, “It depends.”
Everybody has a different genetic make-up, different schedules, and different abilities. Because of this, I recommend people to listen to their bodies. My routines are constantly changing. This keeps my body constantly guessing and free from the unwanted plateaus that can occur from repetitious routines.
Because I’ve been a working college student ever since I began lifting weights, my schedule is constantly changing. Some semesters I am able to go the gym every day while others I have to keep a three-day split. I prefer working out with a “3 days on/1 day off” approach.
My split looks like the following:
Day 1: Back and Abs
Day 2: Chest and Abs
Day 3: Quads, Hams, and Calves
Day 4: Rest
Day 5: Biceps, Triceps, and Abs
Day 6: Shoulders and Calves
Day 7: Back and Abs
Day 8: Rest
This split is strategized to allow for optimal resting time between each muscle group. I also try to get at 10 reps in each set. Sometimes I may only get 8 and sometimes I may get 12. As long as I keep it between 8-12 reps, I progress nicely. Once 10 reps becomes easy, I increase weight for that exercise. If I feel as if I’m going to plateau, I drastically increase my weight or reps to shock my muscles into growing. I play everything by ear and mainly listen to what my body is telling me.
A Typical Back Workout:
Wide grip and close grip pull-ups (weighted)
- 3 sets of 10 reps each
Deadlift
- 1 warm-up set
- Pyramid 3 sets of 10 reps
- Increase weight every time
Cable Lat Pull-down (Wide Grip)
- Pyramid 3 sets of 10 reps
- Increase weight every time
Cable Lat Pull-down (Close Grip)
- Pyramid 3 sets of 10 reps
- Increase weight every time
Barbell Rows
- Pyramid 3 sets of 10 reps
- Increase weight every time
Close-grip Cable Rows
- Pyramid 3 sets of 10 reps
- Increase weight every time
A Typical Chest Workout:
Bench Press
- 1 warm-up set with light weight for reps of 20
- Pyramid 3 sets of 10 reps
- Increase weight every time
Incline Dumbbell Press
- Pyramid 3 sets of 10 reps
- Increase weight every time
Decline Bench Press
- Pyramid 3 sets of 10 reps
- Increase weight every time
Flat Bench Flys
- Pyramid 3 sets of 10 reps
- Increase weight every time
Weighted Dips and Push-up Superset
- 1 set of weight dips immediately followed by push-ups to failure
Cable Crossovers
- Perform if needed
A Typical Leg Workout:
Leg Extensions
- 1 warm-up set of 20 reps
- 3 sets of 15 reps
- Increase weight each set
- 2 sets of 20 reps w/Legs close together
Leg Press (Increase weight on each set)
- 1 set of 20 (regular stance) for warm-up
- 1 set of 12 (regular stance)
- 1 set of 10 (regular stance)
- 1 set of 8 (regular stance)
- 2 sets of 20 (close stance)- Decrease weight by half for these
Smith-Machine Squat
- 1 warm-up set of 20 reps
- 3 sets of 10 reps
- Increase weight each set
- 1 set of 20 reps of sumo squats (lighter weight)
- 1 set of 20 reps with your legs close together (lighter weight)
Stiff-Leg Deadlift
- 3 sets of 10 reps
Standing Leg Curls
- 3 sets of 10 reps
Calf Raises
- Preferred method of training
A Typical Arm Workout:
Arm day is all about supersets! Key word: SupersetClose-grip bench press w/ Dumbbell Curls
- 3 sets of 10 reps of each exercise
- Would look like this:
- Close-grip bench press, then immediately go to Curls
- Rest
- Repeat
Skull Crushers w/ Barbell Curls
- 3 sets of 10 reps of each exercise
- Would look like this:
- Skull Crushers, then immediately go to Curls
- Rest
- Repeat
Cable Flat-bar Pull-down w/ 1-Arm Cable Curls
- 3 sets of 10 reps of each exercise
- Would look like this:
- Pull-down, then immediately go to Curls
- Rest
- Repeat
Tricep Exercise of Choice
- 3 sets of 10
A Typical Shoulder Workout:
Shoulder Press (Barbell or Smith-Machine)
- Warm-up
- 3 sets of 10 reps
- Increase weight each set
Dumbbell Shoulder Press
- sets of 10 reps
- Increase weight each set
Lateral Dumbbell Delt Raises
- 3 sets of at least 10 reps
- Last set is a drop set
Front Dumbbell Delt Raises
- 3 sets of at least 10 reps
Seated (Bent Over) Rear Delt Raises
- 3 sets of 10 reps
Barbell Shoulder Shrugs
- Warm-up
- 3 heavy sets
Dumbbell Shoulder Shrugs
- Optional
Nutrition
Bulking up is quite easy to do, but much more optimal when done with clean/healthy food. Because most people are interested in getting the 6-Pack Abs, I’ll explain my cutting diet. To bulk, I pretty much add more carbohydrates to my cutting diet.
The Diet
Basic Info
- Consists of high protein to curb the appetite, moderate fat, and a low amount of carbohydrates so the body uses stored fat as energy instead of storing it.
- Usually the body uses carbs as the main energy source, but when carbs are depleted, the body must get its fuel from other sources. This other source will be your body fat.
- Try to eat 4-6 meals a day.
- 6-8 meals a day is optimal, but a lot of times nearly impossible.
If you can eat every 3 hours, the results will be better. - The meals must have a low amount of calories.
- If eating 6 meals a day, 250-300 calories per meal is optimal for weight loss.
- Never go below 1200 calories per day. This can trick the mind to believe that you are starving. When in starvation mode, the body readily stores everything as fat….not good.
- If you skip a meal, do not eat more the next meal.
- Be sure to have 1 cheat meal a week (not a cheat day).
- These can either consist of adding more “good” carbs to a meal or eating simple/bad carbs instead.
- This will cause a spike in your insulin and replenish glycogen stores in the body. This is needed so the body does not stop burning fat by going into a starvation mode. It is a brain/mind trick to keep your body “happy”. Plus it is very nice to have something to look forward to at the end of the week after a week of dieting.
- Splurge, but splurge within in control and reason.
- I typically splurge/restore my body every 7 to 10 days, but every 4 days would work for a typical dieter.
Food Sources
Stay away from food items formatted like this.
High protein food items:
Chicken
Turkey
Extra Lean Red Meat
Fish
Tuna
Salmon
Tilapia
Egg Whites
Whey Protein Shakes
Legumes
Cottage Cheese
Fat sources:
Almonds
Natural Peanut Butter
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Avacado
Legumes
Other Unsaturated Fats
Egg Yolks
Red meat with high saturated fats
Fast Food
Dairy products
Carbohydrate sources:
Regular Oatmeal
Sweetened with Splenda
Brown Rice
Sweet Potatoes
Legumes
Limit the following to one meal (if any) per day:
Whole Wheat Pasta
100% Whole Wheat Bread
- Preferably Stone Ground
Green Vegetables
White Rice
White Bread
High Glycemic Fruits and Vegetables
Pineapple
Watermelon
Corn
Squash
Etc…
Chips
Flour tortillas and other flour-based products
Sugar
Cakes
Ice Cream
ALL Sweets
A Typical Day:
7am: 6 Egg whites, 1 yolk
½ cup of Oatmeal
Small banana
10am: 2 scoops of Whey Protein
½ of a serving of Almonds
Lunch: Grilled Chicken Salad
1 Tablespoon of Dressing of Choice
2 slices of wheat bread
No Croutans
3pm (Pre-workout): 2 scoops of Whey Protein
½ to 1 cup of brown rice<em />5pm (Post-workout): 1½ scoop of Whey Protein
1 scoop of Casein Protein
40 grams of simple carbohydrates such as white rice
Dinner: 6-8oz. of Tilapia (or 6-8 oz. of any good protein source)
Green vegetable(s) of choice
Snack: If you want a snack at night, make it a healthy fat or a protein source. You don’t want to put any kind of carb in your body at night. Carbs are used as energy. When not used (such as in your sleep) it is stored for later use. The only problem with it being stored is that it is stored as fat.
Rest
Allowing your body enough time to recuperate is often overlooked. For optimal results, eight hours of sleep each night is needed. Everybody should ALWAYS get at least six hours of sleep although eight is better.
If the muscle group you are planning to work out for the day is still sore, don’t work it out. It’s probably not through healing. Muscles don’t grow in the gym, but outside the gym with proper nutrition and sleep.
Bodybuilding is a 24 hour/7 days a week lifestyle. Train to grow, eat to grow, and sleep to grow. Not only will your body transform, but so will your mind. Grow big and grow strong – inside and out.
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