My arms routine

Well tonight im training Bicep's and triceps so I thought I'd share my routine with you so that you can get some idea's about how to structure your workout routines and maybe give you some new ideas for your own training.

Workout Routine:

1. Bench press: (3sets 10reps) + (4 sets of 8 reps) 

2. Seated curls (5 sets of 10 reps)
3. Tricep pull down (5 sets of 10 reps)

4. Held ab crunches (100 reps)

5. Bar curls (5 sets of 10 reps) - superset with next exercise

6. Tricep push down (5 sets of 10 reps)     

7. Single hand preacher curls (5 sets of 8 reps)

8. Held ab crunches with medicine ball (10 reps)

9. Concentratioin curls (5 sets of 10 reps)

10. Tricep bench (4 sets of 10 reps)

11. 21's (3 sets of 21 reps)



I prefer to work the antagonistic muscle groups in opposites to each other. (i.e one is a push, tricep, and one is a pull, bicep, movement) so the stretch each other out as you work and so you have more endurance and can lift heavier for longer during the worout.
I also find that supersetting allow me to add a cardio element to the workout as it means more work with less rest time in between sets and also does more muscle damage and forces the body to repair the damaged muscle faster and so makes your strength gains come faster.

By adding the two short sessions of ab crunches every three exercises it allows my arms to have a short ( 5min) break and allow a small amount of recovery before the next few exercises. It also prevents a rest time for my cardiovascular movements die to the constant motion of the abs during the crunches and prevents my heart rate or metabolic rate from dropping whislt I recover. Also its a good way to get some good ab work into the session.

Finally by finishing with the 21's it allows me to work the biceps to failure. "1's are a great way to train your biceps and are a form of endurance training b forcing your muscle so work overtime causing a build up of lactic acid. Simply pick up a bar or set of dumbells that are lighter than you normally curl, but not too much lighter. Then do 7 reps from full extension of the arm to 90 degrees, the 7 reps from 90 degrees to the top and thn a final 7 reps of full curls. the slower the better but as I said it really gives your muscles that burning snsation when done right and so its best to leave it till last.

MMA fight 12/11/2011

On saturday night I took part in A D-class MMA bout in The British Legion club in Antrim hosted by Marty Walker. I thought you'd like to see some pics of me in action so I've stuck them on below.

Round 1: Touch gloves. Back to your corners, ... fight!

So I came out of the corner and circled round before landing a front kick and low leg roundhouse kick.

After that he shot forward and took me down to the floor but I trapped him in half guard.

After around 40 seconds of grappling he attempted an arm bar, but i was able to get on top and slam him twice breaking the arm bar hold. After that another few punches and kicks were exchanged before the round ended.

                                                        

Round 2:

So second round again I come out looking to land a few low kicks and this time he buckles under the front kick to the stomach. being a heavier guy than me he drops his head as the kick lands and he stumbles forward.

In an attemt to take me down again he shoots forwards but I sprawl and take him down. From the control position I sweep around and get him in the sleeper hold.

After that Its pretty much over, I roll onto my back and finish the submission and he taps out.

                          

Jump-start your muscles!

Have your muscle gains stalled? Getting stronger without adding mass or tone? Well below are some excellent tips from top trainers and Men's Fitness Magazine UK to get your muscles growing once again:

Biceps: Guru Chad Waterbury's tip is to forget doing endless biceps curls and try somthing new. He suggests that rope climbing is a great way to build your biceps, "Any time you pull with your hands close together, theres no way your back can take over and so its all on the biceps" NO rope? then do pul ups on the V-handles for the same effect.

Triceps: 'No more kickbacks', according to Mens Fitness UK you need to do dips or tricep bench instead to really get the trieps pumping, make sure you work on the lock out part of the lift for extra gains.

Chest: Chad Waterbury also claims that by contantly changing your chest routine you can get a big chest in no time. "Mix it up" Dont just do bench press and flyes all the time , add decline bench and incline bench press or swap the bar bell for dumbells to build extra muscle.

Lats: Wide grip pull ups are a good way to work this muscle group. Aim to do 40-50 every back workout, either supersetting them or getting them done as quickly as possible at the end of a session can really make a difference.

Traps: Make sure your doing your shrugs right in order to build up mpressive traps. Leading US strenght coach, Jim Wendler suggests doing a few heavy warm up sets and then doing one big all out set of 20-50 reps of a lighter weight. But make sure it's still a challenge!

Abs: Water bury suggests dumping the crunches and instead claims that "overloading the abdominal muscles is the best way to improve". Try traing them in an ab's circuit involving obleak, ab and core stability exercises to get great abs.

Quads: Unlike most muslce groups it has been discovered that the quads react well to high volume training. I suggest doing intense cycle programmes to build up your Quads. Or you could throw in some front squatts.

Hamstrings: Dr Stuart Magill points out that unlike the leg curl machine, every real world hamstring move also recruits the posterior chain. try a single-leg deadlift.

Calves: The sports people with the biggest calfs are sprinters and american footballers. Waterbury claims that, "looking at the muscle action that both sports demand I realised deceleration is key to calf growth" The answer is single leg hops holding a dumbell on the same side.

EAT LESS - LIVE MORE!

I know what you're thinking, "obvioulsy eating less junk means I will  live longer", but I'm talking about eating less food in general, not just the unheralthy stuff. In fact up until very recently it was actually an unproved theorythat eating less food would make us live longer! It has been discovered that eating less can actually prolong our lifespans. By only having 3-4 small meals per day actually slows the aging processes in our cells and so increases our potential lifespan considerably!

"We're getting closer and closer to a good understanding of how caloric restriction works. This study is the first direct proof for a mechanism underlying the anti-aging effects we observe under caloric restriction," said Tomas A. Prolla at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

A calorie-restricted diet that still provides all the nutrients necessary for a healthy life but minimizes the energy (calories) supplied in the diet has been proven to delay the onset of age-related chronic diseases such as cancers, heart disease, and strokes. There are also hints that people who eat a calorie-restricted diet might live longer than those who overeat. In addition, calorie-restricted diets beneficially affect several biomarkers of aging, including decreased insulin sensitivity (a precursor to diabetes).

I know what your thinking how does less calories lead to a longer life span?
Well a major factor in the age-related decline of bodily functions is the accumulation of "oxidative damage" in the body's proteins, fats, and DNA. Oxidants (in particular, chemicals called "free radicals") are produced when food is converted to energy by cellular structures called mitochondria. Under reduced-calorie conditions, levels of Sirt3 increase, altering metabolism and resulting in fewer free radicals produced by mitochondria that are the sources of highly reactive forms of oxygen, which damage cells and promote the effects of aging.
"Caloric Restriction in non-obese people leads to less oxidative damage in muscle cells", according to a new study by Anthony Civitarese and Eric Ravussin,(Pennington Biomedical Research Center). As oxidative damage has been linked to aging, this could explain how limiting calorie intake without malnutrition would see more of us living long and healthy lives. 

Boost strength with Magnesium!

If you want bigger muscles, increased testosterone levels and better workour performance times, try increasing the amount of magnesium in your diet. This super element is found mainly in green, leafy vegetables such as spinach and it is involved in the activity of every cell in our body. This was discovered by turkish scientists working on new supplements for sports performace enfancements.


Okay so heres how it works:
The Turkish scientists wanted to test the effects of magnesium on free testosterone levels (the type which build muscle and are available in the blood). They split the subjects into three groups, the first two groups were given 10grams of magnesium per kilo of body weight a day for 4 weeks. the third group were given none. (the control group)
The first group would do no exercise over the 4 weeks. The second and third did between 90 minutes and 120 minutes a week of tae kwon do per day.
The second group recorded the highest increase in testosterone, followed by the third who didn't take any magnesium.

This proves that magnesium does work to increase your testosterone levels causing extra muscle gains and better performance, but it must be accompained by an active and physical training programme!

Pull your weight

This post is all about pull ups. The pull up is an old exercise that everyone has seen or done at some part in their life. Suprisingly though it is still rated as one of the best exercises for training your bicep and / or back muscles.

In this post I have listed 5 ways to boost your pull up reps max from beginner level to a more advanced routine.

 

1. If you find it hard to do a few pull ups then try doing negative reps. Using a bench or by jumping up so that your chin is over the bar lower yourself slowly back down. Make the reps last for at least 15 seconds to get the benifit out of it. The almost stayic hold as you slowly lower youself will aid strength gains and soon you'll be able to do more reps.

2. This tip comes from fitness coach 'Pavel Tsatsouline' that he calls "greasing the groove". Simply position a bar somewhere you will pass often during your workout, or at home and do a set up pull ups to failure every time you pass it. Soon youll be able to last longer than ever before.

3. Lowering the rest time between sets can help to increase your rep number maximums for pull ups. By lowering the rest times to around 30 seconds between sets you give the muscle less time to recover and so this increases the amount of resistance you can take before you give up. This way when you come do do your first set next time around your body will have adapted to recover faster and so you will be able to do more reps.

4. Add a weight. By holding a dumbell between your feet, or hanging a weight from your belt as you do pull ups increases the amount of weight you are used to pulling. Over time your muscles will become used to the extra load, so when you remove this you will feel lighter and so will be able to do more reps.

5. This tip is from Men's Fitness magazine. The say that once you are getting good amounts of reps in, (15-20) then you should start to perform a one set max every morning and afternoon for a month. By the end of the month your repititions will have dramatically increased and you'll feel stronger.

The chile that burns fat!

If you're looking to shift a few extra pounds, adding metabolism boosting foods such as the chilli pepper to your diet can have a serious impact. The high levels of capsaicin found in chillies will seriously rev up your metabolic rate, causing your body to burn more calories. Recent research found that eating 1 tablespoon of chopped red or green chilli peppers, which contains roughly 30mg of capsaicin, could temporarily boost your metabolism by over 20%. This is also supported by research for the 'Journal of The Medical Association of Thailand' in which participants experienced increases in their metabolic rates after consuming just 5 grams of chilli pepper.

Quick tips:

1. For maximum metabolic benifit make sure to eat the white 'ribs' in the centre of the chilli pepper as these contain the highest levels of capsaicin. But they're also the hottest part.

2. Make sure sure drink plently of water afterwards as this will also rev up your body's fat burning ability.
3. Fresh peppers are better than pesto's and dips so get down to the super market and get the good stuff!