February 23, 2014

How The Strongest Man Of All Time Can Help You Add 15% To Your Squat, Deadlift, or Bench - Progressive Movement Training

If the strongest man the world has ever seen can do it, I can do it!

Paul Anderson is said to be one of the strongest human beings who ever lived and it’s likely that not many would argue that statement given that he reportedly squatted 1,000 lbs, and possibly even 1,200 lbs! Certainly there is much to be learned about the training of this man, but this article will simply shine light on a form of training he popularized, which undoubtedly assisted in him attaining the superhuman strength levels he was known for.

February 16, 2014

Why Lowering Builds More Strength AND Muscle Than Lifting! A MUST READ FOR ANYONE WHO WANTS RESULTS

Do you even lift?

It’s a safe assumption that fitness nowadays is more popular than it has ever been, and that building muscle, even for a female, is at a socially acceptable all-time high, while continuing to rise. Gone are the days in which it was frowned upon to be in good shape and have ‘muscles’, and where those who took care of themselves were labeled as ‘on steroids’, while receiving stares of envy and jealousy from those who were not, but wish they were. It’s no longer frowned upon for girls to lift weights, or for men to do yoga. Skinny is out, and fit is in. This is an exciting time for a fitness enthusiast, that’s for sure!

More and more people are joining gyms, running, biking, swimming, playing various sports, doing yoga/pilates or crossfit, competing in physical competitions like ‘tough mudder’, and just generally becoming more health conscious with their lifestyle choices. The ‘New Year’s’ crowd is lasting longer and longer, and in actuality, it doesn’t even appear that there is much of a New Year’s crowd anymore, as the gym feels as full, or busy, as it has for the past several months. This either means that most people are already members of the gym, of there are no ‘new’ enthusiasts anymore. Unfortunately, while the intent is always positive when one is trying to be more health conscious, the outcome for most is negative.

There is a mindset generally associated with ‘getting fit’, not sure where it came from, in which most associate ‘results’ with ‘hard work’, and that the harder one works, the more results there is to be had. While this may sound logical in theory (to the uneducated ear), in practice, this simply is not the case. If it were, all anyone would have to do to get ‘fit’, would be to use their vacation time and take a week or two off work (depending on their starting point, and desired end point), workout like a machine non-stop, transform into the superhuman that they wish to become, and get back to their everyday life as a ‘new you’.

February 9, 2014

Load VS. Time Under Tension - What's More Important For Building Muscle?

The formula for results

Regardless of what motivates you to utilize the time you have to get into the gym and push yourself to create some sort of physical change (increase strength/muscle mass, or decrease bodyfat/improve endurance), the equation (if there ever was one) for getting results is, and has always been:

Load X Time Under Tension = RESULTS! – The amount of weight you can lift multiplied by the duration in which you can generate tension. If you want to get any sort of result in the gym, you better familiarize yourself with this formula! Anything you do, either exercise-wise (how you perform), or programming-wise (when you perform), that takes away from either variable in this equation will negatively affect the end result