Part 2
Other points that will help with your training
1. If you smoke, stop. Nicotine blinds the sites in your muscles that get activated by electric charges. Stop smoking, and watch your growth. Anyway, it is dumb to smoke. Nicorettes will take away the craving.
2. If you drink alcohol - stop. Alcohol has nothing going for it. Don’t be fooled by the inverted “U” graph/bell curve, where they say 2 drinks a day are better than none. Alcohol is a poison. This is for the guys – alcohol is the enemy of “testosterone” – that is the stuff that makes you lead or follow on the dance floor. The stuff we all want so bad – so why reduce it with booze.
3. Raw eggs and milk are the cheapest forms of protein. They contain all 22 amino acids. Don’t have your hard earned dollars taken from you with some marketing hype about readily absorbed amino acids etc. They may be utilized easier by your system, however, if you get a 10% increase in uptake, is it worth the extra dollars? Don’t be concerned about the cholesterol in eggs. Eggs have lecithin in them which is a fat emulsifier and thereby, self limits the amount of cholesterol absorbed. Also, don’t worry about salmonella- you have more chance of getting it from the chicken flesh.
4. If you take yogurt – use the plain type, and not the flavored or
sweetened. Calcium cannot be absorbed in an alkaline
environment, and the sweeteners and fruits in yogurt produce
alkaline juices in the stomach.
5. Eat what is healthy and good for you – not only what you like or
what tastes good.
6. Take a mineral and vitamin supplement daily. You need lots of the
B–vitamins. They are water-soluble, and are depleted through
stress. They assist in weight loss.
7. Warm up BEFORE stretching.
8. Stop drinking all sodas and carbonated drinks – the acidity and
phosphate is not good for you. Also coffee causes acidity in the body.
9. Drink water with an elevated pH. (to get city water to the
approximate pH and alkalinity, mix 11/2 teaspoons of sodium
hydroxide in 4 qts. water or 10 mls - 2 level teaspoons, Arm &
Hammer baking soda) It may taste lousy but you’re tough.
10. Do some complete movements when training – not only
exercises that isolate individual muscles – e.g. biceps curls, pec
work. You need to train your body to function as a unit. Flip
snatches are good, so are power cleans – from the hang and from
the ground, also clean and jerks – try 5 X 5 and you will find
muscles you never knew you had.
11. Do some Plyometrics
12. Do aerobic work AFTER your weight training to burn fat.
13. Do not over train. It is easier to over train than not train enough. We
often think we have not done enough, when in fact, rest would be
more beneficial. 3-4 days rest for a body part is not too long. Do not
train if there is the slightest amount of stiffness in your muscles or
even if they feel tired. Wait until it all disappears.
Having trained in various gyms in five countries, guess what are the most popular exercises I have found the guys doing? – you guessed correctly – bench press and arm bicep curls – (plus all the other chest and arm exercises). It never ceases to amaze me how many guys are so intent on having big arms and benching 400 lb. Let me give you some sobering advice here – a 20” arm and a 400 lb bench press has never helped anybody do anything practical and functional. How many of you can press – push press or otherwise – your own bodyweight above your head. If you cannot do that you cannot call yourself a strength athlete. It is a shame when a 250 lb man with 20” arms can bench press 450 lb but cannot even lift his own bodyweight above his head. You will be surprised at the number of people that cannot do this – including some of the WWF and NFL guys. I am not saying one should not bench press, just don’t make it the main exercise you do. Include it in your overall program as ONE of the exercises. I believe the statistics are, only 1 person out of 10,000 can lift his/her weight above their heads. So if you want to get into an exclusive club – lift your own bodyweight above your head and you will be one of the few. It’s really something to be proud of.
Do some basic strength work, and watch yourself grow and get functional all round strength. It is important to have a strong back, shoulders and legs. Most guys in the gym are big in the chest and arms department, but fail in the legs and back.
The main reason people do not make good gains with their programs is
that they do not build solid foundations. You must not worry about how
fast you can gain strength or size, but how good your foundation is.
Always train within your limits – when using weights, use a weight you
can handle for 3 sets of 15 reps – increase the weight so that you can
do 10 reps with it, and don’t add any more weight until you can do 15
reps – carry on this way for at least 6 months. Add weight in small
increments – there is no rush. Don not forget you need to start off with
some basic strength building exercises like full back squat, push press,
dead lift, power cleans and bench press. Also, do some lat pull downs –
wide and normal grip and bent over rowing. If you did not start this way,
go back and build your platform. You will be amazed at how strong you
get, and how you gain mass.
I will not go into how one’s form should be and how to do the above
exercises safely etc. – you should all know that, or someone at your
gym can help you.
Go for it.
Other points that will help with your training
1. If you smoke, stop. Nicotine blinds the sites in your muscles that get activated by electric charges. Stop smoking, and watch your growth. Anyway, it is dumb to smoke. Nicorettes will take away the craving.
2. If you drink alcohol - stop. Alcohol has nothing going for it. Don’t be fooled by the inverted “U” graph/bell curve, where they say 2 drinks a day are better than none. Alcohol is a poison. This is for the guys – alcohol is the enemy of “testosterone” – that is the stuff that makes you lead or follow on the dance floor. The stuff we all want so bad – so why reduce it with booze.
3. Raw eggs and milk are the cheapest forms of protein. They contain all 22 amino acids. Don’t have your hard earned dollars taken from you with some marketing hype about readily absorbed amino acids etc. They may be utilized easier by your system, however, if you get a 10% increase in uptake, is it worth the extra dollars? Don’t be concerned about the cholesterol in eggs. Eggs have lecithin in them which is a fat emulsifier and thereby, self limits the amount of cholesterol absorbed. Also, don’t worry about salmonella- you have more chance of getting it from the chicken flesh.
4. If you take yogurt – use the plain type, and not the flavored or
sweetened. Calcium cannot be absorbed in an alkaline
environment, and the sweeteners and fruits in yogurt produce
alkaline juices in the stomach.
5. Eat what is healthy and good for you – not only what you like or
what tastes good.
6. Take a mineral and vitamin supplement daily. You need lots of the
B–vitamins. They are water-soluble, and are depleted through
stress. They assist in weight loss.
7. Warm up BEFORE stretching.
8. Stop drinking all sodas and carbonated drinks – the acidity and
phosphate is not good for you. Also coffee causes acidity in the body.
9. Drink water with an elevated pH. (to get city water to the
approximate pH and alkalinity, mix 11/2 teaspoons of sodium
hydroxide in 4 qts. water or 10 mls - 2 level teaspoons, Arm &
Hammer baking soda) It may taste lousy but you’re tough.
10. Do some complete movements when training – not only
exercises that isolate individual muscles – e.g. biceps curls, pec
work. You need to train your body to function as a unit. Flip
snatches are good, so are power cleans – from the hang and from
the ground, also clean and jerks – try 5 X 5 and you will find
muscles you never knew you had.
11. Do some Plyometrics
12. Do aerobic work AFTER your weight training to burn fat.
13. Do not over train. It is easier to over train than not train enough. We
often think we have not done enough, when in fact, rest would be
more beneficial. 3-4 days rest for a body part is not too long. Do not
train if there is the slightest amount of stiffness in your muscles or
even if they feel tired. Wait until it all disappears.
Having trained in various gyms in five countries, guess what are the most popular exercises I have found the guys doing? – you guessed correctly – bench press and arm bicep curls – (plus all the other chest and arm exercises). It never ceases to amaze me how many guys are so intent on having big arms and benching 400 lb. Let me give you some sobering advice here – a 20” arm and a 400 lb bench press has never helped anybody do anything practical and functional. How many of you can press – push press or otherwise – your own bodyweight above your head. If you cannot do that you cannot call yourself a strength athlete. It is a shame when a 250 lb man with 20” arms can bench press 450 lb but cannot even lift his own bodyweight above his head. You will be surprised at the number of people that cannot do this – including some of the WWF and NFL guys. I am not saying one should not bench press, just don’t make it the main exercise you do. Include it in your overall program as ONE of the exercises. I believe the statistics are, only 1 person out of 10,000 can lift his/her weight above their heads. So if you want to get into an exclusive club – lift your own bodyweight above your head and you will be one of the few. It’s really something to be proud of.
Do some basic strength work, and watch yourself grow and get functional all round strength. It is important to have a strong back, shoulders and legs. Most guys in the gym are big in the chest and arms department, but fail in the legs and back.
The main reason people do not make good gains with their programs is
that they do not build solid foundations. You must not worry about how
fast you can gain strength or size, but how good your foundation is.
Always train within your limits – when using weights, use a weight you
can handle for 3 sets of 15 reps – increase the weight so that you can
do 10 reps with it, and don’t add any more weight until you can do 15
reps – carry on this way for at least 6 months. Add weight in small
increments – there is no rush. Don not forget you need to start off with
some basic strength building exercises like full back squat, push press,
dead lift, power cleans and bench press. Also, do some lat pull downs –
wide and normal grip and bent over rowing. If you did not start this way,
go back and build your platform. You will be amazed at how strong you
get, and how you gain mass.
I will not go into how one’s form should be and how to do the above
exercises safely etc. – you should all know that, or someone at your
gym can help you.
Go for it.
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