The last post I wrote about how to improve your chin ups detailed how to get from zero to one. Once you get to one you will, in time, work your way up to sets of five or even ten reps. But again, you will hit a wall at some point and be unable to make any more improvements. So today I am going to offer a very easy, completely unscientific method that will help you add more reps to your chins.
One of the major problems is that for most average guys a set of chins is a five rep max. Therefore it is true CNS draining Max Effort work. And they repeatedly do this time after time, workout after workout. There is no other exercise that you would continually max out on and take to near death failure like you do with chin ups. You would know better than to do that with squats and deads. But everyone is fine with doing it on chins. And I truly believe that to be one of the major reasons why more people don’t improve on their chins with any regularity.
The other problem is that there isn’t enough… …continue reading.
I always advise all beginners and hardgainers to concentrate on making linear progress (either by adding more reps or more weight) at each and every workout. Add a rep or a plate and you will make pretty consistent gains for quite a while. This is one of the key components to the Muscle Gaining Secrets program.
Eventually, however, you’ll no longer be a beginner or a hardgainer and then the whole game changes. It will become more and more difficult to make linear progress on a consistent basis. This can be hard to accept at first and become quite frustrating if you let it. But you have to take a step back into reality and accept facts. If you were able to add five to ten pounds a week to your bench ad infinitum you would be pressing 1,000 pounds in a few years. Obviously this isn’t possible.
You also have to accept the fact that you will have off days. You won’t always be able to set PR’s. This doesn’t mean you haven’t made progress or haven’t gotten stronger. It could just mean you haven’t been eating or sleeping properly, you’re too stressed out or it could be… …continue reading.
Guest Post By Brad Pilon
You may not have heard of intermittent fasting, and so you may not know why it can and should be a part of your workout and fat loss plan. Intermittent fasting is the practice of abstaining from all but water for a period of usually 24 hours to help with the goals associated with fat loss and weight loss in general. The way in which it helps in this arena is by cutting out a full days caloric intake, while still being able to maintain a full workout schedule. Let’s look at three main reasons I believe that intermittent fasting is a good idea for anyone serious about fat loss and muscle building!
The primary reason I’m fond of a workout plan that involves intermittent fasting is that it promotes maximum fat loss. Most people employ these types of fasts two days a week while working out, and this means they are effectively cutting out a full two days caloric intake from their weekly consumption. This combined with your workout can and does have a dramatic effect on the pace at which you lose excess fat. By working out while doing these fasts,… …continue reading.
Riding a stationary bike sucks. Sure, it’s convenient and often the only option for a lot of people, but let’s be honest; enduring 30 minutes of water boarding would probably be more fun. If you can ride a stationary bike, you can ride a real bike; and that would be a much better choice. Sprinting would be far superior to either of those. Doing so on a hill or with a sled or Prowler is often even better. Below are some of my favorite conditioning drills that I do myself and with all of my clients.
All of these can be done at the end of your strength workouts as a finisher for 10-15 minutes. Most of them can also be done on off days; either alone or in a circuit with one or several of the other conditioning drills. If you choose that option you would train for 15-30 minutes and be sure to choose exercises that won’t interfere with your next day’s workout. Therefore you probably wouldn’t want to do band sprints the night before a heavy squat day, for example.
Battling Ropes- There are several different ways to do the battling ropes- alternate, double arm… …continue reading.
I’m very proud to say that I don’t really know too much about the whole Tiger Woods thing. I don’t watch the evening news because I choose not to hear about an 88 year old grandmother getting beat up in the subway. That has zero positive impact on my life. And I like to keep it positive. So I instead watch CNN, MSNBC and SportsCenter to keep up on what’s going on. But I haven’t caught a lot of the Tiger story, nor do I care.
So he likes to sleep with hot chicks apparently. Join the club. Who doesn’t? And who cares? If you started liking Tiger Woods for any other reason than you grew up together it was most likely because of his ability to hit a golf ball. And that’s what he should be judged for. You can’t like him any less now or it would be hypocritical. I personally never liked him that much because, A) I hate golf and B) I always thought he came across horribly in interviews, had zero personality, was a little smug, and just not my kinda guy.
To be that good at something means you have to be somewhat selfish.… …continue reading.
TRX Suspension Trainer- 
There are countless exercises that can be done on the TRX; many more effective than using a machine or even free weights. At Renegade Gym we prefer to use the big, basic barbell lifts as our main exercises and then supplement with bodyweight, TRX and strongman type lifts for accessory work. The TRX is great to travel with because it’s small and light and will fit in your suitcase or backpack with ease. When you have a TRX you can always get a workout on the road no matter where you are.
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Fat Gripz- These little suckers instantly turn any standard bar or dumbbell into a fat bar. This increases your grip strength and stimulates arm growth beyond what a normal bar or dumbbell can. They easily slip on an off and are made of extremely high quality, heavy duty rubber which is hard as a rock and doesn’t wear out or compress. These would make a great stocking stuffer for the meathead on your list.
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Sun Warrior Protein- While a bottle of wine or Scotch might make dealing with the in-laws a little easier, a bottle of Sun Warrior will help you build size… …continue reading.
I wish I had a guide about how to avoid elbow pain when I first started training, because I certainly have had my share of it. Although this is not my main area of expertise, and guys like Bill Hartman and Keith Scott know a lot more about this than I do, I’ve trained a lot of people for a lot of years and have seen almost every injury you can imagine. I’ve also experienced quite a bit of them myself. So today I’m gonna share some tips and tricks with you about how to avoid elbow pain. And since no discussion about the ‘bows would be complete without addressing the wrists and shoulders we’ll cover that a bit as well.
First on the list of exercises that cause elbow pain is the straight bar curl. When you go heavy enough, long enough, this exercise will probably bother your wrists and lead to some tendon issues in the elbow. You can avoid that by not keeping the barbell curl in your routine for more than three or four weeks straight, rotating it in and out every other week or just avoiding it all together. Another way to make this… …continue reading.
It just wouldn’t be Christmas if I didn’t get at least a dozen random fitness related questions per week from strangers, family members or long lost pals at holiday parties. Kinda like the exchange I had with my old friend Kevin last week…
“Hey Jay, good to see you, buddy. Glad you’re here, I have a couple questions for you.”
“I probably don’t have the answers, but fire away.”
“My shoulder’s been killing recently right here, when I bench press. Here, feel this clicking thing it’s doing,” he says as he places my hand on his shoulder.
Another holiday party; another guy placing my hands on his body. For once I’d like to meet a lingerie model with a supraspinatus tear. Or a pulled pec.
“Feel that? What do you think I should do?”
“How bad does it hurt?”
“Pretty bad.”
“I’m gonna go with stop bench pressing, then.”
“Oh man… I was hoping for another answer. I love benching.”
“But obviously it’s screwing up your shoulder. You can probably go back to it eventually but for now you have to eliminate whatever is causing you pain. That would be the first logical step. See how it feels when you… …continue reading.
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