Thursday, August 30, 2012

Keep Your Split Right!


We haven't done any training plans or articles in a while so it's time to get those rolling again. So, let's talk about that training split.

Many of us start working out with someone who has been at it for a while. We learn what works for them and that becomes our workout law. We tend to stay with working the same groups and even the same exercise on the same days each week. Here is a common body part split we have all seen:

Monday: Chest and Tris "Push"
Tuesday: Back and Bis "Pull"
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: Legs
Friday: Shoulders
Sat& Sun: Rest

Now there is nothing wrong with this split, if it fits your needs. If you have worked out with me before, we may have done this exact split. However, what if you arms are lacking the rest of your body, does it make sense to do them on the end of your workouts?

There are quite few factors to look at when choosing a body part split or any workout plan. Make sure you are using the priority principle, know what other responsibilities you have (kids, work, school, ect) and that you are making sure you get enough rest. Please don't confuse rest with under training. Periods of over training can actually be very beneficial but we will cover that in another post. Here are three splits I have used this year:


SPLIT 1:
Monday: Legs
Tuesday: Upper Chest and Back (pulls only)
Wednesday: Shoulders, Bis, and Tris
Thursday: Legs
Friday: Back (rows only) and Chest (Lower and Flat movements)
Saturday: Rest or Functional Workout
Sunday: Rest

SPLIT 2:
Monday: Chest and Bis
Tuesday: Back and Tris
Wednesday: Legs
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Shoulders
Saturday: Legs
Sunday: Rest

SPLIT 3:
Full body 3 - 5 days a week.

***Each split is only the weight training portion of the workout. Cardio varies and is done 3 to 5 days each week.

As you move towards your goals, it will be necessary to make adjustments to your plan. Need help customizing your split? Need exercises for any the splits listed above? Just ask!

DO YOU

-SideMeat

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Out of town? Still gotta earn that weekend!

What's going on guys? This is just a quick post. I had a great day yesterday. A little exhausting but still a great day...

I was about an hour away from home with three hours between meetings due to a cancellation. Originally I thought I wouldn't be getting a workout in. As is my custom when away from home, I had a gym bag with me. I followed these four steps and had great results:

1) Google gyms.
2) Go to nearest private gym (no chains)
3) Pay day fee.
4) DO WORK.

Here are my results.....




Now this may not be possible and can be expensive. The most important part is I was ready. I had my stuff and if necessary, I would have found a park, ran and done work with body weight some 20lbs dumbbells (yeah, I roll like that sometimes). It's better than nothing! Your best bet? Get a GOOD set of resistance bands, keep that bag packed and always be ready to DO WORK when time allows!

It's Thursday, you got two days left. EARN that weekend!

DO YOU

-SideMeat

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Endurance Swole! Weights are for everybody!

A lot of you guys out there on Team SideMeat are endurance atheletes. You run long distance, cycle, swim, and even do triathalons. Some of you have asked what is my opinion on strength training with weights for endurance athletes. My answer is that you should definitely incorporate strength training into your training regiment. 

Weight training and increased muscular strength has several benefits for endurance athletes such as:

-Increase of efficiency (more powerful push offs, distance per stroke, ect)
-Greater resistance to injury
-improvement in coordination which can also help improve movement patterns

Most guys think that lifting will make them bulky. There are quite a few items that effect bulk such as genetics, diet, and overall training regime. With the amount of calories burned by most higher level endurance athletes a large amount if bulk rarely occurs. Also, majority, but definitely not all, endurance athletes are ectomorphic body types which is not conducive for gaining a large amount of bulk.

Another item to consider is that most endurance athletes train totally wrong in the gym. They use lots of reps and small rest periods to work on cardio and avoid bulk. Riddle me this Batman: If you are doing cardiovascular training outside the weight room why would you turn your weight training sessions into cardio sessions as well? Answer? YOU SHOULDN'T! Once you have developed a base and some muscular endurance your rep range should tail towards the strength and power range which, depending on who you ask, is between 1 and 10 repetitions. Now, periodizing your training and mixing numbers of reps is important as well as weightlifting muscular endurance needs to be maintained for the purpose of maximizing capability during your strength and power sessions. 

Finally, when you design a program, if it is for you sport and not general fitness, ensure you use exercises that are going to improve your primary movers but this also can be use as an opportunity to help correct imbalances in the body, some of which may be cause by your sport! Ensure you avoid overtraining and try to base the number of sessions in the gym each week with amount of endurance training you are doing. You could have anywhere from 2 to 4 sessions per week depending on how much tim you actually spend training for your sport. 

There are a million other factors we can discuss here. The purpose of this is to give my endurance guys a base for stepping up their weight training regiments. I have had one of my wrestlers whose primary sport is cross country lifting 3 to 4 times a week all summer with the occasional day off to down load. His last timed 5k was 13:45. When I asked him about his distance running training now he told me his sprint at the end of his runs is now longer and faster than ever before with no drop off in his pace on the rest of his run from before he started training. I wonder what he will run next time......

DO YOU

-SideMeat

Monday, August 6, 2012

I earned it on Sunday.....

This past Sunday I was feeling extra good, extra blessed, and extra thankful for everything I have. So I figured I would earn it by smoking myself with a some power and functional training. You looking for a burner of a workout? Give these four exercises a try:

Clean and Push Press 12, 10, 8, 6

Dumbbell Burpees with push-up and Shoulder Press 4 x 10-12

Renegade Rows 4 x 6-10 each side

Turkish Get Ups 4 x 5-6 each arm

Now, after EACH SET do 80 - 100 jump ropes rest 30 - 45 seconds and go right back at it! Once you have completed these four exercise complete the core circuit below four times with little to no rest.

Hanging Leg Raises x 12
Standing Cable Crunches x 12
Corkscrews 8-6 each side

Finish it all off with 10 minutes of sprint intervals and you have 45 minutes to an hour of pure, uh, enjoyment!

Give it a try and let us know what you think.

DO YOU

-SideMeat


Sunday, August 5, 2012

Monday Motivation - YOU CAN'T FAIL

TGIM! Another week we can get better! Your boys from SideMeat will have some good training and motivation for you as well as random Olympic updates!

As you approach your week and your training, just remember that every time you put true effort into your training you can't fail. Why? Because you know you went hard and, because of that, tomorrow you will be better. With that being said we will ask a question:
Try applying this to your health and fitness efforts this week. As long as you are giving it your all, you can't fail. Now that you know that, let's see what you do. Failure is a state of mind and you only fail if you quit.....

DO YOU

-SideMeat

Friday, August 3, 2012

What is your relationship with yourself?

This is Friday so I won't bore you too much. Just a few thoughts....

A lot of us go on "diets" to get in shape. Most diets are proponents of a cheat day  or meal which I always tell my clients to have from time to time. The problem with cheating is that we take it to the extreme. We over do it. We take our day and turn it into three fast food meals and/or night of binge drinking where consume 3 days worth of our caloric intake and ruin our bodies for the next three or four days! Why take 3 steps forward during the week only to take 2 steps back EVERY WEEKEND. All in moderation guys. Don't ruin your hard work and effort week after week. Remember you are in control and you make these decisions. I guess in the end it is all about what you want out of life. One of the people that was interested in working with me said they don't want to give up drinking 4 or 5 times a week. I said, "That is fine, you don't want a six pack."

They said, "Oh no I do."

I replied, "Actually you don't, you want to drink. When your physical condition becomes more important to YOU than boozing you will cut back the drinking."

You have to prioritize and decide what is most important you. I am not knocking anyone for partying hard because I know I have had my YEARS in life but you can't serve two masters.

Once you make that decision about what is important, don't sabotage yourself. Dedicate yourself to reaching your goal. You have to establish a relationship with yourself as one of two things: Best Friend or Worst Enemy.

So what are you going to do this weekend? I will be in the gym a few times for sure. I may go out for a drink but, chances are, I won't.

DO YOU

-SideMeat