WROGNESS ABOUT OH SO MANY THINGS

  How often do you hear these statements... "I'm bulking up or "I'm just trying to get toned, I don't want too get bulky". Are these people after completely different things? In a word... NO. Both desire lean muscular bodies. If these two parties got together and compared notes, they'd really have all the ingredients for some solid progress.

Wrongness

   Men and women seeking the "toned look" often fear the evil bulk monsters of the universe, that apparently lurk around every corner just waiting to throw tons of hulking bulky mounds of muscle all over unsuspecting gym goers who dare venture too far into the free weight area..."Oh no! not the free weight area"! Yes the free weight area. That doesn't mean the machines! It means exactly what it sounds like...weights that are free, or not attached to anything but the bar they rest on. So they resign themselves to hours of boredom doing steady state cardio with the hopes of muscle definition. Or they mail in a half assed attempt at a weight circuit, believing that they just need to throw the weights around for a couple minutes, and run back to their beloved treadmill. ENDLESS MILES OF RUNNING DOES NOT MAKE YOU LEAN AND TONED.  

   At first venturing out into the free weight area may seem scary, you're like a trembling antelope separated from its pack on the African Savannah. But trust me, the only thing you need fear in this weight wonderland, is a few unsavory characters that inevitably wonder the floors of every gym. Don't worry about that though...After all this is about you.Besides, this is where we can really begin to burn fat.

"Whaaaaaaaat! burn fat? with free weights"? Dammit Steve! I swear I've explained this to you like a million times! PAY ATTENTION! Muscle burns fat...so it would stand to reason that if your goal is fat burning, you would want more of it. Also we can do some amazing intervals with weights!

  Does anyone have any questions? Yes you ma am? "But I don't want too get bulky". Holy crap! Are you related to Steve?! If I hear this statement one more time...ok breath, calm down...remember the steps...ehem...Well miss you wont have to worry about that because women produce about 20 times less testosterone (hormone largely responsible for muscle growth) than their male counterparts. And most men will struggle to put on size even with this great hormonal advantage. One more thing miss, gaining bulk is largely a product of overeating combined with weight training. So you see, as long as you aren't eating like mad, fairly heavy weight training will only help your goal of being "toned". Which really, is low body fat combined with larger muscle underneath.

  "What about higher reps, like 15-20? that's how you tone muscle right"? No not really, though I don't blame you for this misconception, as its uttered daily across workout floors, company lunch rooms, and just about anywhere a workout conversation is taking place. The reason high reps don't work...When people resign themselves to a nightmarish 20 grueling reps, they often back off the weight too far in order to make their magical "fat burning rep range". I"ll help you out here... If you can complete another 3 or more reps after your set is done, you've missed the boat completely, no muscle building is going on here. There wasn't enough stimulus to produce ANY type of adaptation, and further, you're probably going to rest WAY too long between your marathon sets to produce any fat burning results either.

   Does anyone else have any nuggets of brotastic science?  "ooh ooh me, pick me"! Wow sir I love your enthusiasm! Surely you have something amazing to add to the conversation! "Well I run 6 miles 3 days per week to stay in shape, that's the best way". Somebody get me a hammer there is one last nail in this steady state cardio for fat burning coffin that needs a couple taps...Steady state cardio is the last thing you should be doing if fat burning is the goal. If there are any pissed off avid runners out there, please understand that I am speaking from a fat burning standpoint...If you for some reason enjoy running, by all means have at it. For everyone else, LETS DO SOME HIIT!

  Ok I'm kinda scared to ask at this point but would anyone else like to speak up? Um you sir? (I can tell this one is gonna be painful)..."Ok, so like I'm bulking right now, so I don't want to do cardio, because i don't want to like loose all of my muscle bro". If you could only see the look on my face right now...Where to start with this one?  HIIT (high intensity interval training) improves muscle's lactate threshold, reducing acidosis within the muscle (acidosis causes muscular failure). This basically means your muscles can handle stress longer and that means more overload, which leads to muscular hypertrophy (muscular growth). Tabata has been shown to increase anaerobic capacity (energy system used in short intense bouts of exercise like weight lifting) by 28%! That means lifting more weight for longer!...Why are you staring at me like that Steve? (Steve expressionless, motionless)  Dammit! It means your going to get bigger! (Steve happy!)


  Now that I've bludgeoned many of these myths, let me show you the way I train myself and others with the best results.

 Weights

There is a definite sweet spot for building muscle at about 3-4 working sets of 8-10 reps

Rest intervals should be between 30-60sec

Hit full body twice per week

Use compound lifts (multi joint movements like deadlift, squats, rows, and presses)

This one sounds counter intuitive, however always going to failure wont get you more muscle! Always leave one rep in the tank. Pro bodybuilders can go to failure and beyond because they are on steroids. The rules don't apply to them, they grow in-spite of their training good or bad. Grinding out that very last rep just fries your nervous system.

Cardio

   Yes I am majorly biased toward HIIT (high intensity interval training) rather than running for endless miles. Why? Because that is what has worked the best for me and the clients I train. So what should a HIIT session look like? 

Tabata: An HIIT system of 20sec of MAXIMUM effort followed by 10sec rest for a total of 4min. I like to link 4-5 Tabats together for a total of 16-20min. Trust me THIS WILL BURN A CRAZY AMOUNT OF CALORIES!


HIIT: A general HIIT is somewhat like Tabata but the work/rest intervals are not set. These can be applied to weights, sprints or anything else you can think of. the mane thing is that your rest intervals are shorter than your work intervals, for example: warm up for 10 min and then 1min work followed by 30sec rest. I don't take HIIT past 20-30min. 

Even while adding muscle size, I still perform HIIT workouts 3 times per week.

  So you see, whether you want to be "toned" or "bulk up" we are actually talking about the same thing. Nobody wants to look like skeletor, which is what you will look like with low body fat and scrawny muscles (think the "heroine sheik"  modeling era). Likewise, men!

The perpetual bulk has got to stop! You don't look good with a bunch of fat hiding all of your hard work. 

  In conclusion, girls! The free weight area was not designed as an obstacle course that you must run through as fast as possible in order to get to the treadmill. Do yourself a favor and start lifting more weight! Trust me lifting heavy ain't just for guys!

  Guys! Dudes! Bros! Do I have your attention? Stretching won't make you girly! Neither will some good HIIT! And it's about time you clean up your damn diet! No more hiding behind your crap "I'm bulking" excuse!

So boys and girls the lesson here? Let's have a powwow of sorts, barrow the best of each others routines and actually start seeing results! "Brilliant"! Thanks Steve, your not so dumb after all! 


If you would like to be in front of the line when the new Spartacore training manual is out...send me your email!!