Training Tips
Don’t Neglect the Legs
Ripped arms, big chest, developed shoulders, but puny little chicken legs. You all have seen it, and you might even be one of the unfortunate who suffers from these unbalanced physical proportions. If you suffer from puny leg syndrome, here’s some advice to help you beat it. Even if you don’t fall into this category, this advice will help you stay that way. Either way, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain by reading on.
Next time you’re at the gym, check out the scene. No, I don’t mean that fitness vixen stretching in front of the mirror. I mean the equipment. There’s always a whole gang of people hovering around the flat benches, the dumbbells, and the cable machines, while the lonely leg press continues to be neglected. Legs need some love too, so man up and get the blood flowin’ to the lower half.
Leg Presses
1. Position yourself under the leg press machine with your legs fully extended and your feet against the crossbar. With your hands, firmly grasp the handles located on each side of the seat.
2. While bringing your knees towards your chest, lower the weight as far as possible without rotating your hips.
3. Press the weight back up until your legs return to the starting position.
Leg presses build up the mass of the thighs, and by making small tweaks to the leg press movement; you can zone in on specific sections of the thigh. Place your feet shoulder width or further apart and you can emphasize the inner part of the thigh, or keep your legs and knees together and blast the outer sweep.
Regardless of how they are executed, there is no denying that leg presses are a great way to promote lower body development. If you are determined to add some monster wheels to your wide upper body, don’t pass by the leg press one more time. Stay out of the puny leg category for good by including this exercise into your routine now.
Becoming One of the Elite
There are plenty of guys out there who are big, but to become an elite member of the bodybuilding realm you need to bring more – low bodyfat and size. To reach this often-desired but rarely accomplished level, these three adjustments must be made.
#1. For months, maybe even years, your training has been almost 100 percent focused on weights to pack on size. Your training has to evolve from strictly weights to a combination of weights and cardio. A weight-training program performed along with a cardio program is more effective at reducing bodyfat than either weights or cardio alone. Now we realize that there is no way you’re about to buy a pair of purple tights and start participating in your local aerobics class, but the same fat shredding benefits can be achieved through other cardiovascular means such as running, walking, or biking (mobile or stationary). Whatever activity you choose, the most important aspect is that you engage in enough to get results without going overboard. Twenty to thirty minutes per session should be sufficient to start tapping into those fat stores, but you don’t want to exceed forty minutes per session. Anything over that and you run the risk of a decrease in muscle mass.
For maximum fat loss, perform the cardio first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. Throughout the night while you sleep, your body needs to use its stored carbs (glycogen) for energy. Therefore, by doing cardio first thing in the morning there is little left for the body to use besides fat. Another option is to add the cardio immediately after weights. This way you burn through the glycogen during the weight session and by the time you hit the cardio once again the body is left with no other energy option besides fat resulting in a decrease in bodyfat percentage and an increase in lean muscle mass.
#2. Turn up the intensity. Do you arrive at the gym, slip into your regular routine, and go through the motions barely breaking a sweat? It’s time to cut that nonsense. Going to the gym shouldn’t be like a day at the beach. Your heart rate should rise, your muscles should be pumped, and your shirt should be soaked with sweat. Then, you know you’re training with intensity. It’s a simple concept: training intensely burns more calories than lower-intensity training. This is true not only during the activity, but also when your body is at rest. Because training with a high level of intensity builds more muscle, and muscle tissue burns more calories than fat while the body is at rest. Next time you’re at the gym, don’t just put in enough work to get by, challenge every single muscle fiber to its fullest extent.
#3. Complement your training with proper nutrition. You can’t expect to develop a defined physique if your diet consists of jumbo hot dogs and greasy tacos. Eat clean. You know what you should and shouldn’t be eating. Stick to it one day at a time, and don’t lose focus when going out to eat or when celebrating the holidays with family. If you can overcome adverse moments like family cookouts and Thanksgiving dinners, then you’ll really know your plan is on the right track.
It’s not easy to become one of the elite. If it was, then everybody would be sporting a ripped six-pack and cannonball delts, and we all know that’s not the case. But with some dedication and determination, in a couple months you’ll start seeing the changes and eventually just looking at your chiseled midsection in the mirror will become the motivation you need to keep going.
FLEX & FLEXIBILITY:
THE BENEFITS OF STRETCHING
Unfortunately, flexibility is probably the most overlooked part of a workout. But ask any world-class athlete, and they’ll tell you, maintaining flexibility is a crucial part of any routine. Case in point: 6-time Mr. O and reigning champ Ronnie Coleman doin’ the splits at the 2003 Olympia. One look at those massive legs spread in opposite directions is proof enough. While strength is no measure of flexibility (you can be the biggest guy in the gym, and still not be flexible), the way to become flexible is easier than you think. From ballerinas to bodybuilders, athletes of every kind stand to improve their flexibility, prevent injury, and get a great warm-up from stretching. Now, let’s separate the tank tops from the tutus.
There are a number of reasons to stretch whenever you train. Unlike your workouts, stretching is quick and easy (compared to benching a couple of Volkswagens, anyway). In other words, you don’t have to waste time with yoga classes; leave that to the double-jointed human pretzels searching for inner peace. Just a few minutes of stretching both before and after your workouts will help you maintain and/or increase your flexibility… without having to bend your legs behind your back.
We know what you’re thinking - being able to touch your toes isn’t going to do the same thing for your muscles as weightlifting does, and you’re right; if that were the case, your gym would be nothing but a room full of exercise mats. But stretching is still an essential part of a well-rounded workout that helps prevent muscle strains before they happen. From the standpoint of prevention, it’s easy to see why stretching is so important. Stiff muscles, when subjected to sudden elongation during exercise, can become strained and even torn. Depending on the extent of the injury, you could be looking at a months-long break from the gym. The point? Take the time to stretch now… avoid muscle pain, tenderness, bruising, cramping, and tearing later.
But stretching is more than just a way to prevent injury. Pass on the stretching, and you’re missing a big opportunity to increase each muscle’s range of motion – an important part of any kind of exercise. Imagine a quarterback unable to bring his arm back far enough to launch a 60-yard pass, or a weightlifter unable to go down far enough on his squats. When you stretch, you increase your flexibility and prepare more muscle fibers for the next grueling workout. Since flexibility declines some with age, stretching is also one of the best ways to maintain a wide range of motion in the long-term.
And let’s get real, it never hurts to do a little warm-up before your hit the weights. Ever wonder why they call it a warm-up? When muscles are cold, they’re tighter. Stretching is a light exercise that warms the muscles, making them more pliable (able to bend). The more your muscles are able to bend, the less likely it is you’ll feel sluggish going into your workout. That way, you can hit the gym like a steam train right from rep one.
So, where do you begin?
Some basic tips:
- Approach stretching the same way you approach training. We’re not saying you have to turn your stretching routine into a second workout – just treat it with respect and be consistent. It’s details like this that separate the serious lifters from the rest of the pack. Stretching is also a great time to think about your goals and mentally prepare for your next workout.
- Stretch both before and after your workouts to maintain or improve flexibility and prevent injury. You might also find light stretching in-between sets helpful.
- As a general rule, hold each stretch for about half a minute. The world’s not going to end if you stop at 25 seconds, but then again, you want to make sure it’s a full stretch, and not a weak attempt.
- Stretch the muscle – but don’t strain it. Gently pull the muscle hard enough to make a difference without tearing the muscle apart. Even if you can’t stretch very far at first, that’s okay: pulling it too far can put you in a world of pain. It should feel as though you’re giving the muscle a slight tug.
- Slow and steady wins the race. In other words, don’t bounce or jerk the muscle in any way. The body actively resists overstretching by sending an electrical impulse to signal the muscle to bounce back. Think of it like a tree branch – you want to bend it back slowly. Too quick a move, and it will snap clear off (the tree branch, that is).
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