NEW BLOG

Hi everyone, It's been a while.
I'd just like to point out that I no longer will be posting anything on this blog. I am now running an all new fitness Blog over at http://kurtfitness.blogspot.co.uk/
Here I will be posting all new workouts, tips, and meal ideas fro you to try.

The main reason I am not posting on teen Fitness is that I am no longer a teen, I poured years into it though and still reference it now and again for clients and friends looking for good tips so don't discount it. But if you are interested in reading more head over to Kurt Fitness now. Thanks!

New Years Resolutions

So with it being the time of year when new years changes and resolutions begin to from and people beginning to make changes to their lives, training and dieting seem to be some of the most popular resolutions. In this post I am going to discuss some of the main areas to focus on and how to make sure that this year you achieve your goals.

1. Clear Aim:
You must make sure that you have a clear aim in mind. Don't just say I am going to lose weight, or I am going to get stronger, or get fit. set yourself goals and a target. By aiming for specific things you automatically become more focused and when you achieve them you will become so much more motivated to keep going and ultimately succeeding in your aim.
For example I am entering a competition in April and have outlined my aims for it, to train 6 days a week and then take sunday as a rest and posing day, to get down to 5% bodyfat, and to make some lean muscle gains as I go.

2. Action Plan:
You need a plan. Its simple, no plan, no result. What you need to do is look at your aim and break it down into smaller manageable chunks, for example if you wanted to lose 2 stone before the end of March you have to aim to lose 3/4 of a stone each month, which is around 2 pounds per week. Then plan your training and diet around this. Similarly if you wanted to be able to bench press 100kg by march you have to look at what you are doing now and then design a plan that will help you slowly increase your strength over the next 3 months so that you achieve your goals.

3. Motivation:
This can be sometimes one of the hardest things to find. At the start it is easy, the whole new year, new me attitude drives you for a week or so and then it starts to burn out. So having something that motivates you to keep going is key. Firstly find exercises and a training style that will help you achieve your goals and that you enjoy, then find images, people or emotions that inspire you to keep working hard, it could be a sporting hero, a trainer or training partner, or just something like music. What ever works for you make sure to keep it handy and when you feel like giving in break out your motivation and keep fighting on. Sometimes it is good to enter a competition or have a specific important date like a wedding or formal or birthday that yo want to achieve your aim by, that way you cant just say I will start tomorrow or the next day because you are losing time to work for it because although you keep putting it off the date you picked keeps getting closer.

4. It takes time:
The first few weeks or months are the hardest, because you want the results so bad right away, but it takes time to get the body moving and responding to your training. You may get an initial push for the first week but after that it slows down for a while. Don't worry this happens to everyone but if you keep working hard you will begin to move towards your goals and soon you will begin to see the bog transformation that you wanted.
Imagine clay. When you want to work with it, at the start it is all cold and hard to move, and it takes time for the clay to warm up and become more malleable, that is your body when you start training, its cold and takes time before you can start to shape it and create what you want. 

5. Progress pics and tracking progress:
This is an important step for everyone. If you want to lose weight or gain muscle it is hard for you to see the results as you see your body all day everyday so you don;t notice the small changes. However if you take a picture of yourself on day one, write down your age, weight and goals and save it. Then in two weeks take another picture and do the same thing again. In another two weeks do it again and then another two weeks after that. then get all the pictures out and compare them. the difference will amaze you and motivate you.

If you are aiming for strength write down the weight you use each week and the reps and sets you do, then after a few weeks look back and see the improvements, even if it is just a few extra reps or a slightly heavier weight it is still an improvement and if you keep working hard you will achieve your aims.

If you want to discuss your training or get personal training and diet advice form me feel free  to contact me on facebook at www.facebook.com/kurtfitness or email me at kurtfitness@hotmail.com

Med Ball Shoulder Burn out

This is a great way to finish off your shoulder workout and give the muscles a really deep burn out. It can be done with either a medicine ball or a weight plate and works the front and side deltoids. It is really good for adding extra definition and shape to these muscles as well as giving that burn out and endurance for future workouts. Check it out:

Don't forget to check out the other youtube videos at my channel - www.youtube.com/user/kurtyweir1 and like us on facebook at either www.facebook.com/pages/Fitness-Teen-blog or www.facebook.com/kurtfitness

Amir Khan full body workout

Khan uses a range of intense full body circuits to help him burn fat, build speed and explosive power and pack on lean muscle. When discussing this workout routine Khan's trainer, Alex Ariza says, "Aim for completeness. It's no good having speed, but no power, or strength and no balance." 

In the following circuit you will use 90% of the muscle in your body as well as working all of the main muscle groups that are needed for any great martial artist and boxer. Perform each of the exercises shown below for 30 seconds, then move straight onto the next exercise, with no gaps in between, rest for 1-2 minutes in between circuits and then go again. You want to repeat this 3-4 times to get the most out of it.

1. Barbell punch - Take a barbell and turn it upright with the top leaning towards you at an angle, punch the bar out in rapid bursts of 5 punches per arm and keep switching arms until the 30 seconds are up. This will mostly work your triceps, shoulders and core.

2. Explosive press ups - Assume a push up position and either perfrom clap push ups or normal push ups but make sure that your hands leave the floor with each rep. To make it harder bring in a step and place one hand on the step, as you explode up from the push up use your abs and legs to completely lift your body off the ground and leap across to the other side of the bench. This will work your chest, shoulders and triceps as well as your core.
check out the video if your unsure -

3. Wall ball squats - Hold a medicine ball in your hands at chest level and squat down and explode up from the squat and throw the medicine ball up in the air like a basketball chest pass. as you catch the ball squat back down and repeat for the 30 seconds. This will work your legs, core and triceps.

4. Static hold - like a plank but with straight arms, this exercise requires an exercise ball. Place your feet on the ball and hold yourself steady with straight arms for the 30 seconds, to make it harder use a bosu as well and place your hands on it. This will aid your balance and core strength.

5. Medicine ball slam - Lift a medicine ball above your head then crunch your abs forwards as you slam the ball into the ground, catch it as it bounces and repeat. This will work your core and shoulders.

6. Farmers walk - lift the heaviest dumbbells you can and walk up and down a 10 metre line as many times as you can in the 30 seconds. This will aid your shoulder and trapesious muscles and help your stability.

Protein Cycling

This video explains how and why you need to cycle your protein intake in order to get the most out of your training and help build muscle.It also discusses the health benefits and how it will benefit your muscle building potential. Check it out:

Don't forget to check out the other youtube videos at my channel - www.youtube.com/user/kurtyweir1 and like us on facebook at either www.facebook.com/pages/Fitness-Teen-blog or www.facebook.com/kurtfitness

Rep range for upper/lower body

So I know I have already touched onto the subject of rep ranges before in a previous post and video but this time I'm taking it in a different direction. Rather than looking at different aims like building strength vs muscle or losing fat and gaining power, I am going to look at the recommended differences in rep ranges for the upper body and lower body muscles.

Upper Body: 8-12 reps
If you want to build muscle and add shape and size to the upper body muscles, such as biceps, back, chest etc, you should be aiming for around 8-12 reps. This is supported not only by sports science research but is also touched upon in both Bob Paris' book 'Beyond Built' and 'Arnold Schwarzenegger's modern encyclopaedia of modern body building.'
according to this research the best rep range to work to is 8-12 reps for all upper body exercises. Mr Bob Paris says to pick a weight you can perform with god technique but that makes you work hard. Aim for 8-10 reps and then push on to 12 reps. Once you can do the 12 reps for all of the sets for that exercise then it is time to up the weight and push on from there.
However research does point out that if you combine this rep range with a few sessions of heavier lifts aiming for 6 reps say you will develop even better muscular size and thickness. This is because although the 8-12 rep range drives more growth, the power training encourages tighter bonding of the muscle fibres making the muscle look thicker and more 3D when posing. Arnold recommends doing the 8-12 range in most training sessions with 1 day a week focusing on a certain body parts heavier lift, e.g a heavy single dumbbell row for back or a heavy bench press for chest.

Lower Body: 10-15 reps
There is some debate over if the best range is 10-15 or 12-15 reps for lower body, and some who even say as much as 20 reps, but I will stick to 15 for now.
as the lower body muscles are naturally used more often than the ones in our upper bodies, and generally support and carry more weight than your upper body they have a greater muscular endurance and so grow best under a higher rep range. This is again supported by sports science research and 'Arnold Schwarzenegger's modern encyclopaedia of modern body building.' 
However this is a more general description. For the Quads, glutes and hamstrings this rep range of 10-15 works well for most people, providing enough stress and pressure on the legs to work them hard and force the muscles to grow and recover. But when we look at the calves it is a much stranger story. Some peoples calves respond to reps of 15+ and others respond better to heavier training with maybe only 8-10 reps of perfect form. What it really comes down to is finding which works for you and unfortunately with calves genetics can play a big role.
Again just like the upper body Arnold and many sports science research papers suggest that using heavier training days with either a Squat or dead lift will work wonders for thickening and hardening the muscle in the legs. Aiming for 6-8 reps and going extra heavy, still making sure you use good form and a good depth with the squats you can really bring up your legs. But make sure to use the higher reps for the majority of your training.

Core:
This muscle group is so diverse that there is no set rep range. For me personally I prefer higher reps when isolation the muscle for example doing 30+ reps of crunches super setted with maybe 30 reps of russian twists or leg raises. I also like to use ab circuits when training the abdominal muscles. Check them out by searching down he side of the page for them or search ab circuit in the search bar above.
When it comes tot he lower back it is harder to say. When we do a plank for instance it is only one rep and is better the longer you hold it. But with things like deadlifts, or back extensions the rep range varys, for deadlifts most people stick to 6-10 reps but with the extensions I have gone to 20+ reps before and tried to use a slow, controlled and almost perfect form, getting a good squeeze and stretch with each rep.

Muscle Contractions

This video discusses the three main types of muscle contractions, (concentric, static and eccentric contractions) what they are, how to use them and how best to focus on each contraction in order to get the most out of your workouts depending on your own specific training or sports related aims.

Don't forget to check out the other youtube videos at my channel - www.youtube.com/user/kurtyweir1 and like us on facebook at either www.facebook.com/pages/Fitness-Teen-blog or www.facebook.com/kurtfitness