How To Get Shredded Fast

As advanced bodybuilders approach a bodybuilding competition, cardio becomes more and more important. While there are always those blessed with spectacular genetics that don't need to do any cardio, they are few and far between. The rest of us require 30 to 90 minutes, 5 or 6 days per week, in order to shed enough body fat for our muscles to look their best onstage. Calories can only be dropped so far if you wish to retain muscle mass. Supplements such as ECA (ephedrine/caffeine/aspirin stacks) help as well. But when it comes down to it, cardio is what sheds the body fat.

Cardio should be completed first thing in the morning, for up to 45 minutes. Doing it BEFORE eating any food will ensure the body uses stored body fat, not food in the body, for energy. Cardio should be performed at a moderate rate, limited to 70% heart rate capacity at the very highest. The bodybuilders should do up to 45 minutes of cardio maximum. After that, the body begins using muscle stores for energy, and the exercise quickly becomes very counterproductive. Remember - when the clock hits 45 minutes, walk away from the machine!

For those with slower metabolisms and higher bodyweights, a second round of cardio training might be required in the afternoon or evening, directly following training. This cardio session can last up to one hour. As it is done upon the completion of weight training, the body has likely utilized any food present during the weight training session. At this point, as no food is available, the body will use stored body fat for energy during this cardio session.

Advanced bodybuilders often engage in split weight training session as well. For example, the bodybuilder will train chest in the AM, then triceps in the PM. This kind of training allows the athlete to better isolate body parts and give each body part a better workout. At the same time, however, it does interfere with multiple cardio sessions. It's very hard for the body to recover from two weight sessions and two cardio sessions in the same day. Bodybuilders in pre-contest mode would be best served by limiting weight-training sessions to one daily, when engaging in multiple daily cardio sessions.

Mass Gain Workout

This routine is a great routine for a more advanced trainer looking to bulk up during the coming winter months. it basically is a 3 day split done over 5 days per week. its slightly complicated so i’ll do my best to explain it now:

workout 1 – chest and triceps
workout 2 – back and shoulders
workout 3 – legs and biceps

The training week will look like this:

monday – W1
tuesday – W2
wednesday off
thursday – W3
Friday – W1
saturday – W2
sunday off
monday – W3
tuesday – W1
……………………….. and so on following that pattern

Wednesday and sunday are rest days. this allows for bodyparts to be trained twice per week. every 3 weeks one of the workouts will only be trained once. as you can see on week 2 W3 will be trained twice but W2 will be only trained once. this allows for maximum muscle stimulation twice per week (every 4 days). this will allow for maximum recovery but muscle stimulus more regularly. if you train a muscle group on a monday, by thursday it will normally be fine to train again, but you dont, you leave it fully recovered and doing nothing for another 4 days. whats the point. that muscle could be growing in those 4 days but its not as its had no stimulus. This plan is the perfect combat to that.

so the workouts must tie in the bodyparts. normally if training a bodypart once per week i would do maybe 5 exercises of 3 sets per bodypart. due to training each part every 4 days this is not necessary. the workout will be as follows:

W1: chest and triceps
flat bench press – 5 x 5
incline dumbell press 3 x 8
cable flyes – 3 x 8
weighted dips – 5 x 5
cable pushdowns – 3 x 8

W2: Back and shoulders
Barbell row – 5 x 5
Chins – 4 x 8
heavy shrugs – 3 x 8
standing barbell press – 5 x 5
heavy lateral raise – 3 x 8

W3: legs and biceps
squats – 5 x 5
smith machine lunges – 3 x 8
leg extensions – 3 x 8
standing barbell curls – 5 x 5
seated hammer curls – 3 x 8

calfs, abs and forearms (if you wish) can be added onto the end of the workout of your choice. i Aim to do calfs twice per week so generally do them on a monday and thursday regardless of what workout falls on that day.

Weights will not be increased each set but rather a weight will be chosen (for example 100kg on bench press), then when 5 sets of 5 reps can be achieved you will increase the weight. then if you fail at say 3 reps on the final set you will stick at that weight until the full 5 x 5 is accomplished. no spotting should be required on any set excpet the last one as you want to be making sure you are doing the reps yourself.

I recommend changing the exercises every 6 weeks but keep the principles the same and keep them heavy compound. for example you could replace squats with hack squats and do deadlifts on back day. You may swap flat bench to incline barbell bench on chest etc.

This routine is fantastic for building overall strength and when combined with a high calorie diet will really help you add some solid pounds over the winter months.

Breathing...You Could Be Doing It All Wrong and It Could Be Costing You Results!

Yes, it seems like such a simple thing. Now consider this...HOW you breathe during your training can have a HUGE impact on your strength and muscle activation! Breathe wrong and you could be throwing away results.

Breathing is one THE most often overlooked pieces of the puzzle when it comes to weight training...and it can have a tremendous impact on the results you get from your training!

Here's the thing that a lot of people don't know about breathing...different exercises require different breathing strategies.

Yep, how you breathe in a heavy squat is not even close to how you should breathe while doing a pulldown.

So here's a rundown of how to breathe while doing some of the more popular exercises (I will assume your form is generally good - going in depth into proper form for each exercise would make this a book instead of an article!).

** Please note, if you have high blood pressure or any issues with holding your breath (e.g. you easily get light-headed), you'll need to adjust these breathing recommendations accordingly. These instructions (for a few of the exercises, at least) are intended for those who don't have issues with short periods of breath holding.

How I've Trained Around Injuries

Being injured doesn't have to mean total rest and a loss of muscle, strength and results. There ARE good ways to train around injuries, as long as it's done SMART.

So here's the deal...an injury isn't the end of the world! They happen to the best of us, sometimes no matter how careful you are. And THAT is what this article is all about...I'm going to give you examples of how I'VE trained around a few injuries I've had over the 18+ years I've been training.

Getting these injuries didn't mean I had to completely stop every aspect of my training until I was fully recovered. In fact, continuing to train actually helped with recovery!

** Before we go any further, let me be VERY clear right up front. The examples I'm using here are from MY own experience and used only on myself. I'm not recommending you do ANY of these techniques.

I'm not a doctor (and especially I'm not YOUR doctor). I'm not a physiotherapist. This should NOT be considered medical advice. When you read this article, PLEASE use your own common sense and PLEASE consult with your doctor and get the all-clear to train if you decide to train around any injury.