Time Efficient Training in Texas

May 28, 2008

downtown austin Time Efficient Training in Texas I recently had the pleasure of spending an extended, Memorial Day weekend down in the great city of Austin, Texas. For anyone who has never been, I highly recommend it. Among numerous other things to do, you definitely need to check out the museums, catch a flick and dinner at The Alamo Draft House, grab some food and drinks at The Oasis on Lake Travis, and go experience the incredible live music scene on Sixth Street. If Bob Shneider is playing, do yourself a favor and get a ticket; it’s an amazing show. Thanks to Chad Thompson for that great recommendation.

Two of my favorite things in life are training and good music and Austin combined both of these passions perfectly. Austin is a very fit and healthy city as evidenced by all the hiking, biking and walking trails around which we definitely took great advantage of. It is also known as the live music capital of the world and you can see every kind of music imaginable being performed in the countless bars downtown.

My only warning would be to those of you that don’t deal with heat too well to wait until October to visit. It was at least a hundred and fifty thousand degrees during the time we were there.

With so many great things to see and do it would have been easy to skip training while exploring Austin. That’s the great thing about the Muscle Gaining Secrets workouts and the style of training that I have developed over the last 14 years. It takes very little time to get in a great workout that will help build muscle and burn fat. On day two we did a quick 20 minute workout in the room following some of my Home Gym Warrior and bodyweight only training principles. With my Jungle Gym and TNT Cables safely packed for the trip this time we were able to get in a great training session in the comfort of our own hotel room without taking away too much time from sightseeing and having fun.

On day four of our trip we made our way over to Hyde Park Gym, thanks to the recommendation from Jake Andrews. It was a great hardcore style gym, which I highly recommend. Definitely my kind of scene. Again, we had a full agenda of stuff we wanted to do so we wanted to get in and out of the gym quickly. Thanks to my time saving training system we got everything done in less than thirty minutes and were on the roof of The Iron Cactus eating our post workout meal and enjoying the sunshine in no time.

With summer right around the corner nobody wants to spend countless hours in the gym. There are too many fun things to do and see. But we all still want to look good at the beach. The great news is that you can have fun this summer and still look great with my time efficient workouts and nutrition plans in Muscle Gaining Secrets. Three days per week, 30-45 minutes and you’re done! After that you won’t have to be ashamed to take off your shirt at the next pool party.

There’s still five weeks ‘til the Fourth of July; plenty of time to get in great shape for summer.

Go to http://www.MuscleGainingSecrets.com now to get started today.

Be relentless,

Written by jasonferruggia · Filed Under Muscle Building | 1 Comment

Questions and (no) Answers

May 21, 2008

t1 jordan.pippen Questions and (no) Answers There hasn’t been a day that’s passed in the last 15-20 years that I haven’t thought obsessively about training for at least an hour or so. I am constantly analyzing and questioning things. I spend a minimum of an hour per day discussing training with my good buddy John Alvino because he has more experience training people than almost anyone I know of. I also dial up the West Coast at least a couple of times per week to talk training with my colleague and close friend, Alwyn Cosgrove. AC is another guy that I love talking training with because he has tons of real world experience and understands what it’s like to have a gym full of guys training at once and the real concerns that arise from that situation.

Anyway, here are just a few of the many questions that we ask each other on a daily basis…

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Written by jasonferruggia · Filed Under Muscle Building, Strength & Conditioning | 5 Comments

Training and eating on the road

May 19, 2008

Last week I was on a five day adventure trip in Mexico with a couple of my buddies. When I got to the airport I realized that I had forgotten my supply of food that I always travel with and was not happy. It was definitely going to be a long (and hungry) trip.

When I unpacked my bag I also realized that I forgot my jump rope and my TNT cables and Jungle Gym straps that I always travel with. Another bad sign.

You see, I despise training in most public gyms and would rather train outside on the beach or in my hotel room than set foot into one of these nightclubs. When I found out that our hotel had no weight room I was instantly devastated when I realized that my only option was the Gold’s Gym across the street. For some reason I assumed that a Gold’s in Mexico might be better than a Gold’s here. I have no idea why, but I did. Boy, was I sadly mistaken.

I walked into the sounds of pumping techno music and the sights of countless spandex clad gym goers pumping up their biceps and glutes on more machines than I had ever seen packed into 5,000 square feet. As I shimmied my way between all the Cybex and Nautilus machines in search of the small free weight area in the back corner my desire to train began to plummet by the second. When I saw that they had hexagon plates instead of round ones my plans to deadlift were ruined and I had to improvise.

After taking ten minutes to do a few sets of chin ups (because I had to wait for all the guys to finish doing cable kickbacks in between sets) I went over to the dumbbell rack to complete my workout with some rows, shrugs and Romanian Dead Lift’s.

I left, vowing to never leave for a trip without my training equipment ever again. The next morning, since I forgot my trusty jump rope, I had to improvise. I found an empty 25 yard stretch of sand on the beach that allowed me to run a few 300 yard shuttles in 12×25 fashion. This workout was much better than the one the night before at Gold’s.

As far as the eating goes; this was one area where it was hard to improvise. Since I avoid eating animal products because of all the negative effects that their consumption has on your body and on the environment I was pretty limited. For five days I survived on nothing but fruit, pasta and a nightly salad consisting of pretty much nothing but iceberg lettuce. I had barely a gram of protein or healthy fats the entire time I was gone. And by the end of the trip I felt terrible.

At this stage of the game, there is no excuse for me making these types of mistakes. But unfortunately I did and had to pay for it. When traveling in the states you are usually never too far from a health food store or a Whole Foods market so it’s not as big of a deal. But as I have already experienced three times this year in the Bahamas, the Dominican Republic and Mexico, you are not always so lucky when you leave the country.

Even so I will be more than prepared this Thursday when I head down to Austin, Texas for five days. I went out yesterday and stocked up on enough nuts to feed a football team and got two boxes of Raw Organic food bars. I also always bring a small container of Vega with me on every trip. Vega is one of the only supplements that I highly recommend to everyone and is packed with protein, healthy fats, fiber, probiotics, digestive enzymes and vitamins and minerals. I mix up one of these every morning when traveling to ensure that no matter how limited my food choices are, that I have gotten in a healthy, nutrient packed breakfast.

And I already threw my jump rope, TNT Cable and Jungle Gym in my bag so there is no forgetting them. With those three small, lightweight pieces of equipment I can get a great workout anywhere in the case that there are no good gyms around.

The bottom line is that when you care about your body, train hard and watch what you eat you always have to be prepared when you travel. That means bringing the right food or going somewhere you know you have easy access to it. That also means being prepared for the worst and packing some training equipment or learning and mastering numerous bodyweight only exercises so that you can train anywhere.

For some great ideas on how to train and eat on the road and for muscle building workouts that can be completed just about anywhere in 40 minutes or less, check out http://www.MuscleGainingSecrets.com.

Written by jasonferruggia · Filed Under Muscle Building, Nutrition | 21 Comments

Is a Pump Needed to Build Muscle?

May 15, 2008

larry scott Is a Pump Needed to Build Muscle? Who could ever forget that famous line from Pumping Iron where Arnold said that getting a good pump was better than sex?

We all laughed, although some of us harder than others, because deep down we agreed with what he said. But after all these years, the question still remains- is a good pump a defining component of a productive muscle building workout. Is it really that important?

Some people emphatically state that getting a good pump is necessary if you want to build muscle. There are no studies that show this to be true, but real world evidence shows that there is something to getting a good pump. First of all, the ability to easily obtain a good pump is a sign that your body is in an anabolic state and ready to train. It shows us that the body and the cells are well hydrated and ready to grow.

Some days, you go to the gym and can’t get a pump no matter what you do. Those are days that you probably shouldn’t even be training. Your body is telling you something, and that something is that you are not in an anabolic state, probably not fully recovered, and you are not ready to train. In other words you will not be building muscle on that day.

As far as the pump having an anabolic effect, this is debatable, but most bodybuilders swear that there is something to it. When you get a good pump, you are delivering tons of nutrient-rich blood to the muscles that will greatly increase amino-acid uptake. Theoretically, this should result in a greater anabolic effect.

The kind of training that stimulates a good pump causes sarcoplasmic and mitochondrial hypertrophy. This is the kind of hypertrophy which is lost very quickly when you stop training. It is completely different from myofibrillar hypertrophy, which comes from heavy training and lasts much longer. However, sarcoplasmic and mitochondrial hypertrophy is necessary if you want to be as big as humanly possible.

So, while it isn’t proven by science, there is probably something to gain from getting a good pump. Having said that, I definitely wouldn’t make it the focus of your workout. Chasing the pump and disregarding all of the principles of effective training is one of the biggest mistakes you can make and will do nothing to help you build lean muscle.

You can get a great pump from doing 50 pushups but everyone knows that’s not going to build muscle. Just mindlessly pursuing a pump will get you nowhere and may even cause losses in size and strength. However, after you have done the bulk of your workout you can always finish with a backoff set, a rest/pause set or even an occasional drop set to maximize your pump and thus maximize your body’s muscle building potential.

For example, on your chest workout you could do a couple heavy sets on the bench press for 5-6 reps and then finish with one higher rep set of 8-12 on dips to get a great pump. If you do this you hit a variety of muscle fibers and target both types of hypertrophy. That way you get the best of both worlds.

Remember, it isn’t necessary and should never be the focus of your workouts (heavy training should) but getting a good pump tells you that you’re ready to build muscle and can even maximize your potential to do so.

Please leave your comments below.

Written by jasonferruggia · Filed Under Muscle Building | Leave a Comment

Strength Training For Combat Sports

May 14, 2008

jeff monson Strength Training For Combat Sports There is an old idea that still permeates mixed martial arts circles and that is the idea that strength work is not necessary or should, at best, be a secondary consideration. Many combat coaches and athletes spend hours and hours a week on conditioning. Often times this is all they will do, neglecting any kind of strength
work whatsoever.

I understand that conditioning is the most important quality for a combat athlete to develop but you have to realize that improving your strength is vitally important as well. Statistics have shown that at lower levels of competition, the stronger of two equally skilled opponents will usually emerge victorious. This isn’t always true at higher levels of competition but it still needs to be noted.

Working on improving your endurance is the most important thing you can do as a combat athlete. But that doesn’t mean that strength work should take a back seat either. If you improve your strength, you improve your endurance. That is because everything that you do (pick up an opponent, etc.) when you are stronger, takes less energy and thus is less tiring.

Think about this; strength work has been proven to help marathon runners improve their times. This is because they can apply greater force to the ground with every stride they take when they are stronger. And doing so takes less out of them.

So if strength work can benefit a marathon runner how can it not benefit a combat athlete where half the battle is physically moving your opponent into positions you want him in?

You have to get stronger if you want to get better and help prevent injuries; there are no two ways around it. If you are a world champion, maybe getting stronger won’t help you much more, but for many combat athletes, improving their strength could be the key to victory.

Many combat coaches and athletes think they are training for strength but they end up just turning their weight lifting sessions into another conditioning workout. I have witnessed numerous combat athletes do nothing but high rep circuit training with fairly light weights. This is a huge mistake.

You do plenty of conditioning as it is; the last thing you need to do is turn your strength training sessions into another conditioning workout.

51vBTMZKJIL. SL500 AA240 Strength Training For Combat Sports

For a more effective approach to training for combat sports, pick up your copy of Fit to Fight by clicking HERE now.

Written by jasonferruggia · Filed Under Strength & Conditioning | 3 Comments

How to build big, powerful shoulders

May 13, 2008

handstand pushup How to build big, powerful shoulders Question: What are the best exercises for building big, powerful shoulders?

Answer: The best all around shoulder building exercise is the barbell hang clean and press. Perform this exercise by bending over with a barbell in your hands and a shoulder width grip. Start with the barbell just above your knees and be sure to maintain perfect posture with your head in line with your spine, chest up and back arched. Initiate by driving your hips forward and shrugging your shoulders. Pull the bar to your upper chest and catch it there by dipping at the knees slightly. Immediately press the bar straight up overhead to lockout.

The second best shoulder exercise you can do if you want to build cannon ball sized delts is a handstand pushup. This is as difficult as it sounds but can be modified for novice or intermediate lifters. The easiest way to work up to a handstand pushup is to start by simply holding the position for time while you keep your feet up against the wall. Work to increase your time each week and eventually you will be able to start doing partial and then full range reps. To increase your range of motion place your hands on boxes and lower your head between them. Once you can do a set of 6-8 reps with your head between the boxes you should have some pretty impressive shoulder development.

Check out MuscleGainingSecrets.com for more info.

Written by jasonferruggia · Filed Under Muscle Building | 4 Comments

Leading By Example

May 5, 2008

Yesterday I spent the afternoon in Central Park at the Men’s Fitness Ultimate Athlete event. While it was a great event for a great cause and I met a lot of great people I was reminded of the importance of leading by example. My good friend, Sean Hyson of Men’s Fitness, who was looking as jacked as ever, jumped into the competition to show that he can not only talk the talk but walk the walk. I was really impressed by Sean’s willingness to get his hands dirty while he was working and put his money where his mouth is. After Sean’s impressive performance on the bench press I looked down at my phone to notice a text message from another good friend of mine who also leads by example.

Craig Ballantyne and I first met via a mutual friend a few years back and have trained together several times since. While Craig will never be mistaken for a juiced up professional bodybuilder he is incredible shape and has the physique most guys would kill for. He is absolutely ripped and definitely practices what he preaches. The thing that impressed me was how strong he was. I have done deadlifts, squats, dumbbell presses, militarys, chins, rows and everything in between with Craig and he never ceases to impress me with his incredible relative strength. Another thing I notice when training with Craig is that he’s never tired. While I like to take my time on heavy days Craig seems like he’s ready to go in no time. At 33 years old, Craig could easily dominate many guys ten years his junior in the weight room on any given day. Another example of practicing what he preaches and having incredible strength and endurance from the Turbulence Training and nutrition program.

And despite what you may think, Craig doesn’t spend his life in the gym to achieve those results. He is incredibly busy and thus has limited time to dedicate to training on many days. Regardless, he has learned how to maximize his results in limited time and has formulated a training system that allows him to simultaneously build muscle, burn fat and improve his overall energy and endurance levels. Not only does Craig do this with himself but over the last several years he has helped thousands upon thousands of others do the same.

When I need a change from my usual heavy workouts and am extremely busy I pull out my Turbulence Training guide and get in and out of the gym in under a half hour while still getting incredible results.

Having lifted with Craig several times and gone head to head with him in competition I can tell you that Turbulence Training is the real deal. And as much as it pains me to admit, he has even shown me up a few times in weight room competitions.

Since his birthday is coming up Craig is in a great mood and is giving away not one, not five but TEN, F R E E incredible fat blasting reports, including:

1) Meal Plans for Men & Women by Dr. Chris Mohr & Jayson Hunter (Value $97)

2) Bikini Ready Abs by Holly Rigsby (Value $29.95)

3) 10-Minute Trouble Spot Workout for Women by Joey Atlas (Value = $27)

4) The Abdominal Exercise Index by John Alvino (Value = $77)

5) Kettlebell Fat Burning Workout Unleashed by Troy Anderson (Value = $47)

6) Home Gym Muscle Building Workout by ME (Value = $79.95)

7) The Big 5 Fat Loss Turbulence Training Circuit Workout by Craig Ballantyne (Value $19.95)

8] TT for Amazing Lower Abs by Craig Ballantyne (Value = $19.95)

9) The Turbulence Training Hard-core Fat Loss 4-Week Program by Craig Ballantyne (Value $19.99)

10) A 6-Month Basic Level Membership to the Turbulence Training Discussion Forums & Other Exclusive Fat Loss Info (Value $119.70)

But this entire package is only available for less than 72 hours. On Wednesday, May 7th, at 11:59pm, the 10 new bonuses offer is over.

Click HERE now to claim your ten F R E E bonuses.

Written by jasonferruggia · Filed Under Announcements, Fat Loss | 1 Comment

His Physique Nauseated 2000 People Simultaneously

May 2, 2008

Last week I met up with some friends and went to see a few of my favorite old school hip hop groups of all time. When the second group of the night (who will remain nameless to protect the innocent) came on the crowd was on fire as the band started out with one hit after another. The lead singer has always been known for taking off his shirt midway through the set and revealing his ripped, muscular physique. This was always a big hit with the ladies and probably made more than a few of the guys envious or jealous.

It had been several years since they played their last show so no one had really seen them in a while but in a hooded sweatshirt he still looked pretty jacked. At about the half way point in their set it happened. He turned toward the DJ and walked to the back of the stage as he started to remove his shirt.

In an instant the t-shirt was off and the only thing left was the trademark wife beater. When he finally turned around the whole crowd went silent from the obvious shock.

“WTF happened to him,” the girl next to me said.

All of the sudden the entire theater was instantly deflated when they saw that their hero had let himself go from all jacked up and shredded to small, soft and fat. The droopy pecs, saggy lats, smooth arms and huge pot belly instantly changed how we viewed him in a millisecond.

You see, when someone is in great shape you automatically look at them differently. You think they have control over their lives. A strong body and a strong mind go hand in hand so you just assume that they are intelligent. You assume that they are hard working and dedicated. You even look up to them or admire them. A great physique commands respect and admiration.

In fact, studies and statistics have shown that people who are lean and muscular have more success not only with the opposite sex but in their business and personal lives as well.

When you are small, soft and fat people look at you like you like someone who has no control over their own life. They think you are lazy and nobody wants to do business with lazy people. How can they trust you with their money or want to do business with someone who can’t even keep himself healthy and in shape. They may not say it to your face but they are all thinking and it probably say it behind your back.

Will you let your personal and professional life suffer any longer; will you be the one that people laugh at the beach or pool parties this summer? Or will you take control of your own destiny by getting in the best shape of your life right now? Not tomorrow or next week but right now?

It’s an easy decision if you ask me.

PS. Summer is right around the corner. Click HERE now for the best shape of your life.

Written by jasonferruggia · Filed Under Motivation | Leave a Comment

High Intensity Training On No Sleep

May 1, 2008

Today I have a post that I stole from my buddy Keith Scott of www.BackToFormFitness.com (which I highly recommend you check out) about training hard and not making excuses.
**************

I was fortunate to travel to Los Angeles this past weekend to see a couple of Eddie Vedder concerts. (If you have never seen Eddie or Pearl Jam in concert, I highly recommend it.) I met up with my good friend Jason Ferruggia of Muscle Gaining Secrets fame. If you don’t know of Jay or his work, check out his site and products, they are top notch. More on that later.

We met in Santa Monica and hung out the first day, getting lunch and talking training. Jay is an encyclopedia of knowledge when it comes to putting on muscle and gaining strength. I soaked up as much as I could about the subject, while sharing my expertise on rehabilitation and getting healthy after injuries. Although I learned a lot in those conversations over lunch and dinner, my real lessons came on Sunday afternoon when I had the opportunity to train with Jay at Gold’s Gym in Venice beach.

GoldsVenice1965 High Intensity Training On No Sleep

During our training session, we didn’t say much, and didn’t need to. I took mental notes along the way. You see, what I learned that day can’t really be summed up in a book, or article, it had to be experienced first hand.

I am in intense person by nature. In fact, intensity is one of my top values in life. I do most things with intensity in one way or another. Besides our mutual love of training and good music, that is probably why Jay and I get along so well.

We trained for only 45 minutes that day, and that was more than enough. Jay does everything in the gym with the utmost intensity. I knew immediately that if I wanted to hang with him while training that day, I was going to have to up my intensity levels big time. Normally, this is not a tough task, but Jay and I were running on a few hours of sleep total for the last 2 nights. We pulled a 30 hour day and night when we first got to LA and only made up a little bit of that lack of sleep. Neither of us felt good physically when we got to Gold’s, but we were going to train anyway. Not training wasn’t really an option at that point. First lesson; there are no good excuses for missing a training session. Jay didn’t have any, and I couldn’t either.

The main lesson that I learned that day from training with Jay is that you have to go into every session with incredible intensity no matter what. Fatigue, lack of proper nutrition, and dehydration were all realities when we got to Gold’s, but were all forgotten about after the first set. Now this was not the most intense session I ever had, not even close, but the intensity was raised by both of us, and for good reason. Jay and I both know that in order to overcome the daily issues that can and do occur in most of our lives, we need to raise the bar so to speak and up the levels of intensity and work ethic. This is the only way to get results.

We hammered our way through our training session and ended by doing jump rope intervals outside in the 90 degree heat (yes, Cali had a heat wave in April.)

Take home points:

Life happens and when it does, what will you do? Being too tired, or not feeling well, or hung over, or stressed out from life are all realities that hit many of us. What will you do?
Train with intensity each time out. No matter how you feel, what your circumstances are, decide that you will train with the utmost intensity and nothing less. Want to know the real secret to making gains and reaching your goals? Go at it with everything you have each time out.
Want to know everything you need to know about getting big and strong? Get Jay’s book. There are a lot of so called “Hard Gainer” experts out there, but most are phonies at best. Jay is the real deal. Look here to find out more about Jay’s products.
Go to I-TUNES or wherever you get your music and check out Eddie Vedder’s Into The Wild soundtrack album. You wont be disappointed.

Please leave your comments below.

Written by jasonferruggia · Filed Under Muscle Building | 1 Comment

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