Roll with Me

My quads were tight and sore on Sunday, as I have mentioned this is unusual, so I needed to take care of them.

Saturday is leg day- I train legs twice a week and I may need to move to one, as I am not recovering fast enough. There are some who will say that if you are training right, meaning as hard as possible, you should not be able to train more than once a week.

I train hard, even in my own eyes I am a certified beast and have been told that by many men who are qualified to know a beast when they see one.

This workout could easily benefit a man or woman, just change the weights a bit. I would like to hear how you do like it and how you feel afterward.

Here was Saturday's training:

Reverse Crunch on an incline 3x10 bodyweight
/ superset with
Hanging Leg Raise from a power rack, tilting pelvis back 3x10 bodyweight
Deadlifts 5x10 155 pounds
Front Squats 3x10 125 pounds
Back Squats 3x10 135 pounds
Glute Ham Raise 4x10 10 pound weight
Reverse Hyper 4x10 with 2 pound ankle weights
(I am pretty tired now)
Seated Leg Curl 3x10 70 pounds
Standing Calve Raise 3x10 135 pounds / superset with
Seated Calve Raise 3x25 70 pounds

Then a short break and 30 minutes on the stairmill.

If you can train twice a day I would recommend doing the cardio in the afternoon or evening instead.  Studies have shown that sessions lasting longer than 1 & 1/4 hour really are more detrimental to muscle building, so try to keep it right about there. I will talk more on that at another time, but for now you may notice that those who seem most successful are not necessarily those who train the longest!

Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays I will do my cardio after work. 20 minutes..that's it.

The deads and squats alone are enough to work over many people.

I don't usually do many machines such as the leg curl and extensions until I get close to a competition, as these are not considered "mass building" and are associated more with cuts and definition. I will do extensions and RDL's along with lunges on Tuesday.

Soon I will take the deadlifts out as these are  not really a "Figure" type of exercise...but they do your entire body good!

Rolling is important, it can help you stay healthy and recover faster. This picture was taken Sunday evening and rolling was so painful I felt nauseous doing it, I had to stop and come back several times. SC taught me to roll through the pain, until the pain stopped, then roll 30 more times. I couldn't, it hurt too much.

Deadlifts and Squats

 

People ask me all the time what they should do in the weight room. I know there are so many different exercises, it can be overwhelming and intimidating.

First, as I have always said, you really need to hire a trainer. Not just any trainer, but someone who understands your goals and has the knowledge to help you reach those goals.

Interview them, find out what experience they have and make sure they are in agreement with your goals. I once had a trainer who thought women shouldn't be muscular- only "toned" so we ended up parting ways as I wanted to get big and he didn't want me to get big. We are still friends though.

Anyone (and I mean anyone) can be a Certified Personal Trainer, it isn't rocket science. There are some certifications that are considered better than others, and some can even be taken online, which means anyone could actually take the test...

You may actually have a friend who is willing to help out, just don't suck up too much of their time, they need to train too.

But maybe you don't want a trainer, or can't justify the expense, or you don't know anyone who can help out, what do you do in the gym?

Deadlifts and squats.

These are the two most important lifts that you can learn and you should do.  They should be the core of your training, you should do them every week without fail.

What are the least popular lifts in the gym, the ones that few people do?

Deadlifts and squats.

Why? The answer to both is simple. They are effective and they are hard.

That's why they are the best and the least popular!

These two lifts work your entire body, every inch of it. And any strength coach worth their salt will tell you the same thing. Also, they are not going to aggravate a bad back or bad knees if you do them properly.

Please don't mistake a 40 pound fixed weight bar with a proper Olympic bar- with weights added!  You need a real weight, one that will scare you a bit and make you take a deep breath as you approach it.

Oh and if you are a woman, you know what will impress men more than any other lift in the gym?

Deadlifts and squats.

Start lifting and start living!

Below is a video where Matt Wenning watches a lifter squat, and corrects his technique.  Matt is one of only a handful of people to total over 2600 lbs in a professional competition, hold an all-time world record of 2665 lbs in the 308-lb class, and bench press over 800 lbs in a full powerlifting meet. He currently the owner and a private strength coach at Ludus Magnus gym in Columbus, Ohio, a personal trainer to many executives and professionals at Capital Club Athletics, and contracted by the US Army. He also works with firefighters, physicians, children with disabilities, and all forms of athletes in the Columbus, Ohio, area. If you like this video, there is a part 2, 3 and 4 of the same fellow as Matt helps him to increase the load he is able to squat.

You will be able to find the rest of the videos at EliteFitnessSystems

Email readers will need to navigate directly to the blog to view the video.

Reverse Hyper

I am forever working on the posterior chain, this is the missing link for most people.

It is vital not only esthetically, but for your health to ensure a strong lower back, glutes, hamstrings and calves. 

A strong posterior chain will allow you to run faster, squat more, deadlift more, and make sure you fill out your jeans a lot better than most people!

There is a piece of equipment called the Reverse Hyper, and like the wonderful Glute-Ham Raise, most gyms don't have one, they are tough and not for sissies, so gyms choose to have a biceps curl machine instead....

The Reverse Hyper was invented by Louie Simmons of Westside Barbell after breaking his back.

My gym doesn't have one, so I have to make do with what I have. You can perform a very effective Reverse Hyper with a flat bench and a firm stability ball.

I was doing this last week and a trainer stopped and watched. I finished and he asked where I learned to do it and I explained I used to use a Reverse Hyper when I trained with SC, and I hated every minute of it, but knew it was a great exercise. 

The trainer said he was impressed, he never saw it done like this and he thanked me, said he learned something from me.

When Maria was taping this today, another trainer and her client were watching. As I finished the client said "that is physically impossible!" and the trainer said "Wow! Amazing!"

I told them, "No, it isn't physically impossible, in fact, it is quite easy and if you did it, you would have a butt like me!"

I am demonstrating a reverse hyper in the video below. I caution you, unless you have a very strong lower back, do not hyper extend your legs up as far as I do, I can do this as I have well developed muscles in this area- beginners should try to maintain a more neutral position (don't bring your legs up so high, I wouldn't be going so high with weights on my ankles).

Once you have become accustomed to this, add weights strapped to your ankles. Make sure you perform the movement slowly and deliberately, do not swing or use momentum!

Turn up your speakers! There is a great clip by Dragonfly to accompany this short 22 second video. Email subscribers will need to navigate to the blog to see the video.

205 Squat

On my mission to get as big as I can, I had a conversation with SC and told him all about the last four weeks. I had been doing a huge volume of work, many, many reps and it was getting easy, even though I kept upping the weights.

He said it was time to cut back on the volume and bump up the intensity. That means really heavy, heavy weights, but not as many reps, it just isn't possible to push huge amounts of weight many times.

Saturday morning and I had my plan written out. A modified version of what I have been doing, just less reps but a lot more weight. Here is the workout:

Front Squat 5x5 155 pounds
 
Back Squat 6x4 205 pounds
 
RDL's 5x8 185 pounds
 
Leg Press 4x10 495 pounds
 
Leg Extensions 4x10 110 pounds
 
Pistol Squats 3x5 12 kilo bell
 
Walking lunges 30 seconds on, 30 seconds rest 5 sets
 
stair mill 20 minutes

I started feeling nauseous right in the middle of the leg extensions, that shows me I was really pushing hard. I just sat and rested a bit longer in between sets, then sat for about 5 minutes before I started the pistol squats.

In the picture above I am squatting 205 pounds, and next week it goes up, I can do more.  I am aiming for two big wheels next Saturday, that's 225 pounds.

I had to sit a bit in the cafe before going home, this wiped me out! 2 1/5 hours of training hard is difficult! Grabbed my coffee, sped home and fueled up with the perfect after training meal:

1/2 a bagel, peanut butter and no sugar jam
1/2 cup non fat cottage cheese and 1/2 a mango

Sugar, quick acting carbs (lots) and a little protein.

Getting Bigger

Yes my goal right now is to get big, really big. That doesn't mean I want to get fat, although a certain percentage of my gain will certainly be fat.

I can see a big difference from the picture I took only a week ago, under the  post "off season eating right". I realize it was posted a couple days ago, but the picture was a week before this one.

Arms are looking ripped, I like that!  My weight is slightly down too, which is even better. I am at 126. I went back on creatine the day after my competition on October 2, so a good amount is water that I will hold on to.

Back is getting wide, in fact you can see in the picture below that I am about busting out of my favorite Lululemon Hot Class Bra!

I am not sure when I will stop, I like this. I felt so strong this morning (Saturday), and the turn excites me. Even though I moved up on most everything, it was easy, no struggle at all! That means that my next leg workout, I go up again!

I respond well to the basic moves, the hard ones that most people don't like to do:

Front Squats

Back Squats

RDL's

Lunges

Chin Ups

Pull Ups

Swings

I have been moving up on my weights for the large muscles every session, SC taught me that I need to charge, I need to increase weights and/or volume and doing the same weights every time is not doing me any good.

Saturday I did:

Front Squats 5 x 8 135
Back Squats 5 x 10 165
RDL's 4 x 10 155
Leg Press Drop Sets 20@405/ 30@315/ 50@225

Leg Extensions 5 x 10 97.5

Pistol Squats 3 x 5 each w/ 12 kilo bell

Walking Lunges 5 sets 30 seconds on/ 30 seconds rest with 2 25 lb dumbbells

20 minutes walking on the Nordic Track climber at 30% incline.

2 hours and I was done. Then home for a big breakfast.

I will be training with someone again soon, if all goes according to plan. BN is a big guy, really big. He trains football players, is RKC certified and a beast. I believe he is something like 6' 3", 265 and 5% bodyfat...a beast like I said.

I told him I want to get big, I do not want to do all that silly jumping around that I see all the trainers at my gym do with their clients. They spend a great deal of time jumping around, or engaging in cardio workouts, that's fine if they like that and cardio is their goal, it is not mine.

I don't need a "perceived" tough workout, I need a "real" tough workout. I know that I have trained hard enough when I sweat even though my feet are not moving. That's heavy squats and deadlifts, you go nowhere yet everywhere.

I want weights, and heavy weights. Basic moves. Squats. Deadlifts.  Kettlebells. And a program that is guaranteed to get me big. Some cardio will be thrown in of course, but not too much or it defeats the entire goal of adding mass right now.

He has planned a program with only four days a week lifting. That means it will be hard and heavy requiring lots of rest. I can do my cardio on the other days, and a few ab exercises too I guess.

Not sure when we start, you will certainly hear all about it though, I guarantee it!

The Rebound

The weeks following a competition can be really rough for some people. It's called the "rebound"  it hits some hard, and it hits others even harder.

I guess it can be similar to postpartum blues, you may feel depressed, unmotivated, you over eat, or eat things you wouldn't normally even consider putting on your plate. Some find that getting back to the gym is difficult.

The worst for me has been the psychological effects of gaining weight. Now, at competition time you weigh less than is healthy, bodyfat is abnormally low, and it is virtually impossible to maintain this for long.  You have to gain weight, just to get to where a normal, healthy person should be.

It's tough to see yourself as a sleek, svelte, beautiful human specimen one day then several pounds heavier only a couple weeks later. I gained 9 pounds in 2 weeks, then I lost 3 for a net gain of 6.

I think I do a fairly good job by allowing myself to eat almost whatever I like for a few weeks, but I maintain my schedule of eating and don't gorge all day long (I actually did two of those days).

I only took two days off from the gym afterward, then launched right back with a new program which gave me something to look forward to, changing things up helps.

Although I am now only 6 pounds heavier, I still put myself through torture thinking that I have gained too much, when in reality I still look fantastic. I can't help it, it's part of the "dark side" of competing in a body conscious sport. Your mind plays really stupid tricks on you. Sometimes, it's hard to get a grasp on what is real and what is all in your mind.
 
You can see this in all competitors, just look at our Facebook posts, we all talk about enjoying a simple treat like the world will come to an end, and luckily, we all try to keep each other in check.

David tells me all the time that I look great, in fact, I even know I look better with more weight on, it's just when that belly is soft, I get kinda freaked out for a while. It usually takes me about 5 weeks, then I get it all back into perspective.

Yesterday (Saturday) I looked forward to the gym as I could spend as much time as I wanted to and not worry about being late for work, or cutting my training short. It was leg day, "Quadzilla Lite #3" and I was looking forward to a really hard workout. Here is what I did:

Front Squat 5x8 @ 135 pounds (40 reps)

Back Squat 5x10 @ 155  pounds (50 reps)

RDL's (Romanian Deadlifts) 5x10 @ 135 pounds (50 reps)

Leg Press 3 Drop Sets 20 reps @ 405 pounds, 30 reps @ 315 pounds, 50 reps @ 225 pounds.
 

Leg Extension 5x10 @ 90 pounds (50 reps)

Pistol Squats 3x5 each leg with a 12 kilo kettlebell (15 reps)

Walking Lunges 5 sets of 30 seconds walking, 30 seconds resting holding a 20 pound dumbbell in each hand.

This was my hardest "Quadzilla Lite", I saved it for Saturday so I would have enough time. I put the reps down to emphasize how many times I moved my legs in this workout, and if you add it up, not counting the lunges, that was 320 repetitions. With weight. At 6 am. Actually it took me an hour and a half so 6am to 7:30am. That's a lot of reps.

I then had to get my cardio in. I don't do much cardio typically; however, as I have gained so much and am still not in a frame of mind to accept it, I have been trying to lose a bit before I level off.

I headed over to the stair mill for a 20 minute interval session.

There was a woman on the stairmill next to me when I climbed up, she appeared to have been there a while. About 10 minutes later, she climbed down and went to an elliptical in front and started on that. She wasn't in bad shape at all, but nothing striking about her came to mind.

As I ended and went to toss my towel into the bin, she leaned over to speak to me:

Woman: "Are you a trainer here?"

Me: "No, I am not"

Woman: "I have been looking at you thinking to myself 'that is the body I want!'"

Me: "thanks, that's great to hear, but I am just coming off a competition, I compete in Figure, so I am looking almost as good as I get, and it won't last that long" (we then talk about the difference in Bodybuilding and Figure).

Woman: "Really?! You compete?! I can see that, you look fantastic, I would love to look like you."

Me: "Well, I will tell you what, start lifting weights. What I don't do much of is cardio."

Woman: "Yes, that's what a trainer here told me too."

Me: "Look around you, look at the people you see doing cardio all the time, they don't look very good do they?"

Woman: "No, they don't that's for sure."

Me: "I started lifting weights when I was 40, I am now 49, you can do it too."

Woman: "I am 44! I can do that. I woke up this morning and said to myself 'you are awake, start your program now!', so I am here."

Me: "You know, a good cardio workout is running up and down bleachers if you can, you don't need to do it long, it hits your whole body, great for the butt, it is a great workout."

Woman: "I will try that, thanks!"

We then chatted a bit about training and frequency and I then excused myself.

Encounters like this happen frequently, although this one was really needed. It came at a time when I was not yet recovered, I hadn't emotionally "rebounded" fully. I am still trying to see myself accurately, as others do. I needed this stranger to help me, I needed the assurance, the boost to my self esteem, I needed another woman to ask me how to look as good as I do.

I will get there, it won't be long, but it is still a struggle for me everyday.

Fortunately, I don't suffer through the binge eating and massive weight gains that many others do. I think that most competitors who do struggle with this are those who had eating disorders at one time, or have struggled with weight and perhaps were extremely overweight at one point in their lives. For those women, the "rebound effect" may be all too familiar and all too haunting.

If you see yourself here, think about this, give yourself a break, shoot me an email if you want to talk. You know you still have a physique more stunning than 90% of the world's population, don't forget it!

Quads with SC

I trained with SC on Saturday, first time since May. I had a great time! It was quads, quads, and more quads.

I got there at 8:30, it was nice to sleep in, of course, I had no choice, he wouldn't meet me any earlier.

The glutes look great so we need to hit quads and hit them hard!

First, something to "jack up my CNS"  (central nervous system). We set up the squat rack, with the bar low, so that I need to dip down slightly, keeping a straight back, bending the knees so I can grab it with an alternate grip.

I will do this 5 times, basically I am bending at the knees 6 inches or so and then straightening my legs while gripping the Olympic bar, and then setting it back down.

We load weights on, I do 5 reps. Rest. We load more weight one, I do 5 reps. We load more weight on. SC says " Do you know how much this is?"

I tell him not to say that to me, my head will get in the way and I won't be able to lift it. I look at the bar, there are three plates on each side, three big wheels. I am lifting 315 pounds of iron.

I do three more sets. I need to rest.

We talk a bit, about what is going on in our lives, I like catching up, I enjoy his company. I like the facility, it's serious business, we are the only ones there. Iron, rubber flooring, dust and chalk, no fancy stuff. And 11 Olympic lifting platforms, a real gym.

Now it's front squats. I will go as heavy and as low as I can. 5 sets of 5 at 135 pounds. Front squats are a lot more difficult than back, and they really make your quads burn.

Next step ups, but not the ones I have ever done before.  These will focus entirely on my quad, of course a bit of the glute gets activated, that cannot be helped, but my quads feel this, it is hard. Slow and steady.

I have an Olympic bar across my shoulders, with only 10 pounds added on each side, believe me that's enough.

I will step onto a high box, it's 18 inches I believe.  I place my left foot on the box and lean over so that all weight is on the left foot and the right toe is barely touching the ground. I will push up onto the left foot, straighten my leg then touch back down with the right; however, big difference form regular box steps, my right foot never touches the ground, only the toe does and only for a second.The weight remains on the working leg the entire time. Time under tension.

The quad is absolutely burning. 10 on the left, then 10 on the right.

If I was doing this on my own I would have stopped, but I can't stop with SC sitting there watching me.

I rest, then two more sets, it takes forever.

It's been an hour and a half, time to stop.

David took this picture on Sunday, my shoulders and arms look good, quads are not sore yet, but they will be on Monday. My traps are sore from hoisting that 315 pounds so many times.

I LOVE this!!