Training Methods
Powerlifting workouts
Powerlifting workouts should be tried and tested even if you aren’t a powerlifter. Especially if you have hit a strength or size plateau.
There’s a new breed of powerlifters coming through now. Almost gone are the days where a powerlifter was nearly always overweight and if you were to look at one, you wouldn’t have a clue they even lifted. Nowadays, powerlifters are generally lean, and you can definitely tell that they lift. Unsurprising really when these guys are consistently loading the bars with heavy weight and eating a diet high in protein.
The effect of social media on fitness
The birth of platforms such as Instagram and Facebook have had a huge impact on many things in today’s society. Many have been positive, like the ability to share good news stories and spread awareness about certain illnesses that come with some stigma, such as depression. Others may see a more negative side to it and believe it has just opened up another alleyway to bullying. Amongst all of this though, one of the biggest industries to thrive on it has been fitness.
The science behind muscle building
This is a tough one to write as I don’t like to over complicate muscle building or fat loss. Everyone can build muscle, and everyone can lose fat, therefore, how can it be that difficult?
In its simplest form, muscle building occurs when you train hard consistently and eat in a calorie surplus. You could tell the majority of the population to go away and lift weights in the 6-12 rep range for 6 months, with the aim to get stronger each week whilst eating in a surplus and the majority would come back with new muscle. You don’t have to explain to them the science behind it.
Stop losing muscle when you diet
There is absolutely no reason that you should be losing significant muscle mass when you decide to cut your calories and diet. I say ‘significant’ because depending on the severity of your diet, you may lose a small amount. However, this is usually when the said person Is dieting for a competition and extremely low body fat levels are needed. For the average joe who would just like to cut down so they can see their abs, there should be no reason why any muscle loss occurs.
Are you making these workout mistakes?
To achieve your goals, you want to be avoiding as many mistakes as possible when creating your program and putting it into practice. The thing is, we all make mistakes and a lot of what you learn will be trial and error. That doesn’t mean that you can’t be educated by what you read online and minimise the amount of mistakes you might have made if you had just wandered into the gym aimlessly and started training.
Small shoulders? Here’s why
Shoulders are one of the muscles that can make the biggest difference to your physique. Having thick, wide shoulders is a sure sign of power and a sight that a lot of women won’t ever complain about.
A lot of people like to train shoulders, but not a lot of people know the correct way to train them to achieve a wider appearance and therefore a more aesthetic look.
Short on time? don’t worry
Time is something that our modern society always seems short on. Even if you are the most avid gym goer, it's still likely life has other stresses that sometimes means you are short on time in the gym. It's nice to spend time in the gym, I get it. For a lot of people, it's relaxing, pushing your body to the limit nearly every day of the week. So, fear not, as you can still make progress and walk out the gym feeling like you have accomplished your goals in half the time you train now. It’s all about getting in, stimulating protein synthesis and then feeding your body what it needs to repair.
How to get a thick back
The back is probably one of the most under trained parts on the body, esp
ecially for people new to training. I think this is partly down to the fact that it isn’t a ‘mirror muscle’, meaning you can’t see it when you are training. Sadly, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist and it also doesn’t mean nobody else can see your puny back. It's also no good for your posture if you overtrain your chest and arms continuously, without addressing your posterior chain. You will soon find that your shoulders start to roll forward and you resemble the likes of Quasimodo (okay not that bad but you get the picture).
Exercises for a powerful upper body
When talking about powerful, big comes to mind. It is, however, important to stress that you can be powerful without being big and, you can actually be big without being that powerful. Size doesn’t always equal strength, but thankfully for you, I’m going to teach you how to be both.
Let’s start with the ‘big’ part. I think we can all agree on the fact that if you want to build overall mass, then compounds are the way to go. Isolation exercises work great to build specific muscles, but compounds are going to target a whole range of muscles. More muscles targeted equals greater potential for growth.
So, without wasting anymore time, what exercises should you be doing?
Back to basics
I think it's human nature to sometimes think that more of something means it will be better. Of course, this isn’t true, it isn’t the case when it comes to working out (in most cases, anyway). There is of course different levels of intensity and volume needed that will spark growth or an increase of strength, and these may need to be increased every now and then to accommodate this. But the majority of people working out are doing way more than they have to to reach their goals.