Tag: FITNESS
Advice For Those Lifters Who Often Skip Leg Day: Don’t!
For those who skip leg day, you are only hurting yourself.
For many of us lifters, we often dislike, and may even skip, leg day. But the benefits of working our legs and giving ourselves the best chance at seeing that growth is important and by skipping leg day, we don’t allow ourselves to fully take advantage of all the great leg gains we could make to our physique as a whole. And if you are someone who skips leg day, you are ultimately only hurting yourself.
Why leg day isn’t enjoyable for some is an interesting thing to talk about. Is it because we love to work our so-called “vanity muscles”, those ones that everyone sees and can envy? Maybe. Working our biceps and sculpting those horseshoe-shaped triceps are a lot more fun when we see progress as opposed to building our quads which hide under our pants. But what we forget most of the time is just what leg day does for our physique overall.
A large upper body means nothing if the lower half can’t keep up. In fact, it looks quite silly, don’t you think? We’ve all seen those guys with those chicken legs, trying their hardest to make their physique work without fully realizing that their lack of emphasis on leg day is stunting their overall growth. At the end of the day, you don’t want to be that guy.
Let’s take a look at why skipping leg day will ultimately hurt your gains. By knowing what steps to take to make leg day more enjoyable and engaging, you will be more inclined to want to do it. And once that physique starts to take shape, you will see just what a good leg day routine can do for you.
Benefits Of Strong Legs & Leg Day
The benefits of strong legs and what a good leg day routine can do is important to understand so you are more inclined to do it. As bodybuilders, working our legs are obviously important for a well-proportioned and symmetrical physique. But for everyday fitness folks, our legs have the ability to aid in a number of ways that can benefit us beyond belief.
Benefits of strong legs include:
Stronger lower half: By lifting weight and building muscle, you put a focus on strength and increased muscle growth, thus allowing you to hit those PRs and desired physical goals in the gym.
Well-rounded physique: A large upper half needs to be coupled with a matched lower one and by building your legs, you build a well-rounded physique others will envy.
Stronger joints: Our knees and other joints take a beating every day and by working to build larger muscles and those smaller muscles around joints, we work to strengthen our joints and provide for the best in terms of overall support.
Better posture: Stronger legs allow us to stay more grounded and can improve posture by giving us a great base to support us.
Related: WATCH: This Is Why You Should NEVER Skip Leg Day
What’s The Harm In Skipping Leg Day?
The harm in skipping leg day is that you don’t get these above benefits. Without working our lower half, we stunt our overall growth and those sport specific and more functional movements tend to lack, thus impeding on training and performance. And those chicken legs don’t look good on anyone, no matter how much you lift and build your upper body muscles.
Ways To Make Leg Day Engaging
In an effort to want to work your legs, there are some great ways to make leg day more engaging so you feel more inclined to want to put an emphasis on it.
Drop sets are great for building extra muscle with a particular exercise by continuing reps after you’ve reached failure. This allows you to push past any training plateau and will allow you to push your limit more than you thought possible (1).
Supersets works to combine multiple exercises that pair two movements, typically working different muscles, that make your workout more efficient and save you time. Plus, you build more muscle by constantly working your body (2).
Try Different Variations
Many exercises have different variations that you can focus on to continue to work the same muscle but in a different way. Variations allow you to constantly confuse your muscles so they grow, but also keep your workouts more engaging.
Focus On Exercises You Enjoy
By creating a training plan that you enjoy, you can better structure your leg day with exercise you want to perform. With so many great leg day exercises, finding those that you want to do will keep your workouts more fun and engaging.
Best Leg Day Exercises
We wanted to share a couple of great leg day exercises that you can try, or maybe have already tried, because they build muscle but also have many variations to constantly change up your workouts.
Related: The Absolute Best Leg Exercises For Men
Ultimately, Why Leg Day Matters
At the end of the day, leg day matters greatly because this forces you to build your lower half to see the best gains. When you walk around the gym, or just in everyday life, a well-built and properly sculpted lower half will draw as much attention as a solid upper half. Leg day shouldn’t be a burden and by working with these tips and finding exercises you enjoy, you allow yourself the opportunity to grow and develop those muscles for the better.
Wrap Up
Those days of you skipping leg day are over and all it takes is seeing someone with chicken legs to change your mind. All of your workouts should be engaging and you should get something out of each and every one. With the right approach, you will see huge gains and won’t have to worry about a lopsided physique again. Give these tips a try and change that mindset, for leg day is something we all can greatly benefit from.
Let us know what you think in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow Generation Iron on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
*Images courtesy of Envato
References
Schoenfeld, B.; et al. (2018). “Can Drop Set Training Enhance Muscle Growth?”. (source)
Weakley, J.; et al. (2017). “The effects of traditional, superset, and tri-set resistance training structures on perceived intensity and physiological responses”. (source)
Try This Big Neechi Biceps & Triceps Workout For Greater Growth
Pump those bis and tris with this awesome workout from Big Neechi.
Neechi Sosa, better known as Big Neechi, is a celebrity bodybuilder known for his lifestyle, content, and massive physique. He has been featured in many GI exclusive interviews and was also featured in Strength Wars: The Movie. He understands fitness and seeks to use social media as a tool to promote himself and inspire others.
For those of us looking to really capitalize on gains, it can be a waste of time to just flounder through and not see results. So, why waste our time doing that? Taking notes and seeking the best advice from professionals is exactly what we need to only see the best growth possible. With our bodybuilding goals in mind, it only makes sense to look to other bodybuilders to find and seek out the best possible tips so we can look like them. Plus, they are living proof of what those workouts can do.
As a popular figure in the online bodybuilding world, Big Neechi knows just what it takes to push himself and capitalize on many great exercises with the best gains possible. On top of training, nutrition and supplementation are important, but nothing beats having a well-rounded workout in your training plan. Especially one designed to boost all areas of your growth and give your arms that bulging look you need most.
Full Name: Neechi “Big Neechi” Sosa
Weight
Height
Date Of Birth
215-225 lbs.
5’10”
10/31/1991
Profession
Era
Nationality
Trainer, Fitness Influencer
2010
American
Let’s get into this Big Neechi workout and see just how he pumps those bis and tris to see the best results possible. With the right approach and the best exercises, plus a mindset that only fuels gains, this workout is sure to give you results like Big Neechi himself so you look and feel your best.
Photo via @bigneechi Instagram
About Big Neechi
Big Neechi started working out at a young age and quickly fell in love with it. While in junior high school, he broke the high school bench press record and with his sheer strength and winning mindset, football teams and scholarship opportunities came knocking. However, his potential football career ended abruptly and he was left to seek out something else.
He fell back into what he loved, being lifting, and his passion only grew more and more. With his workouts increasing in weight and intensity, he started crafting and sculpting a physique that others started to envy. His social media was also on the rise as someone who partied, and knew how to throw wild parties, plus with more attention on him, he saw the chance to capitalize.
He ended up getting a degree in Exercise and Sports Science and used his knowledge and experience to only further his academic credit. Having been featured in a number of publications, and also some TV appearances, Big Neechi has set himself as someone who people gravitate towards for both content and advice.
Photo via @bigneechi Instagram
Big Neechi Biceps & Triceps Workout
In a recent YouTube video, Big Neechi shows off his impressive biceps and triceps workout so everyone can get a glimpse into how he grows his arms. A great mix of amazing exercises, these combine machines and free weight so you can tackle all of those lifting wants and needs with no problem. Exercises include:
Let’s get into this workout from Big Neechi so you can place this into your routine and see how you like it. Once you perform this once, you will love what this can do for you on those arm-focused days.
The Workout
Warm-Up
Big Neechi starts this workout with triceps pushdowns. His note is to keep these controlled and not to jerk the cable down with excessive movement. Also, keeping your elbows tight with no movement allows for total activation of the muscle.
Exercises
Sets
Reps
Seated DB Overhead Triceps Extension
2-3
12
EZ Bar Skullcrushers
2-3
12
Single Arm DB Preacher Curl
2-3
12
Machine Preacher Curls
2-3
12
Weight Dips
2-3
12
Big Neechi finishes this workout with a round of battle ropes to fire up those muscles and add some intensity to end the session. Battle ropes are great ways to build strength and conditioning and provide that added challenge once fatigue starts to settle in.
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Big Neechi Nutrition & Supplementation For Continued Gains
On top of a great workout, Big Neechi puts a real emphasis on nutrition to make sure his macros are all in line and that he eats incredibly clean. Foods like chicken and rice, vegetables, and other healthy options are the right approach for pumping him with the necessary nutrients to fuel any workout. Of course, protein is essential as this will give those muscles the proper fuel to grow, especially after a grueling workout like this biceps and triceps one above.
When it comes to supplementation, Big Neechi is also in tune with what works for him. Great supplements like protein powder ensure growth and recovery by pumping you with adequate amounts of protein and a pre-workout is always great for those looking toward muscle pumps and increased energy. If you are someone who enjoys a supplement mid-workout, BCAAs are perfect for fighting through fatigue and kickstarting growth before the workout is even complete.
Wrap Up
This biceps and triceps from Big Neechi is exactly what you need to see in order for the most effective gains. Well-built arms are key in any well-rounded physique and will make others envy the work you put in. A great mix of free weights and machines, Big Neechi takes full advantage of the gym and the equipment afforded to him in efforts to see the best growth possible. Place this workout into your arm day routine and see what this can do for all your gains today.
Let us know what you think in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow Generation Iron on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
*Images courtesy of Envato
Arnold Classic 2022 Fitness International Results
Ariel Khadr wins Fitness International at the Arnold Classic 2022.
The Arnold Sports Festival was back to normal this year with the event taking place over the course of the first weekend in March. This has been a competition dominated by Missy Truscott. This time around, Ariel Khadr took home the title during the finals on Friday night.
For the second consecutive year, Truscott and Khadr were highlighted in the final callout during prejudging. As we have seen in the past, results can change come the finals. Jaclyn Baker also impressed during prejudging and gave herself a chance to jump in the final results. The finals were set up well and it did not disappoint during the nightcap.
The full results have been announced. Check out our full breakdown of the Classic Physique division of the Arnold Classic 2022 results below.
Arnold Classic 2022 Fitness International Results
First Place – Ariel Khadr
Second Place – Missy Truscott
Third Place – Jaclyn Baker
Fourth Place – Kate Errington
Fifth Place – Tamara Vahn
Sixth Place – Allison Kramer
Seventh Place – Minna Pajulahti
Eighth Place – Aurika Tyrgale
Ninth Place – Sara Kovach
Tenth Place – Amanda Ciani
Generation Iron Fitness Network will provide coverage of the full Arnold Classic 2022 event including pre-judging reports, analysis, and results updates. Stay tuned to Generation Iron and visit our official Arnold Classic 2021 coverage hub right here!
Greg has covered the four major sports for six years and has been featured on sites such as Sports Illustrated, Fox Sports, SB Nation, NJ.com, and FanSided. Now, he is transitioning into the world of bodybuilding and strength sports.
Feeling Dizzy After Working Out? Here Are 5 Tips
If you’re feeling dizzy or light-headed after a workout, you could be over-exerting yourself.
It’s in the nature of a bodybuilder to push himself past his limits. But we should never get too comfortable in the gym, no matter how much time we spend there. The truth is working out can be extremely dangerous if we don’t make sure to take the proper safety measures.
Feeling dizzy or light-headed after a workout can be caused by a number of factors. Usually the culprit is dehydration, but sometimes it can be something more serious, such as a heart condition. Here are our top 5 tips for working out smarter, not harder, and taking care of your body even as you push yourself for maximum results:
5. Stay Hydrated
This one may seem like a no-brainer, but you would be surprised how easy it is to forget to hydrate, especially if you’re someone who spends a long time in the gym every day and start to move out of habit and repetition more than actual thought. You should always hydrate before and after a workout. Depending on the exercise, drinking small amounts of water throughout can also be beneficial, and keeps your muscles from dehydrating.
4. Warm Up Before You Work Out
It can be jarring to the body to suddenly leap into motion after a long time being still. This tip goes out especially to those of you who work out first thing in the morning, right after your body was essentially motionless for 8 hours! Think about it. Warming up helps ease the body into movement and it reduces the risk of injury, so, there’s really no reason ever not to do it.
3. Try Yoga, Hiking, or Swimming
Dizziness after a workout is sometimes caused by a lack of oxygen to the brain. This could be because your lungs aren’t working at full capacity and can’t keep up with the stress of an intense workout. Low-intensity activities like yoga or a going for a gentle hike have been shown to help regulate and strengthen breathing over time. If you take up a practice like this alongside doing heavier workouts in the gym, it will make you a much better athlete all around.
2. Don’t Smoke or Drink Too Much
Again, this one seems obvious, but you’d be surprised. Smoking is bad for you and hangovers leave you dehydrated and depleted. Take it easy on both, even on the weekends, if you’re serious about your cardiovascular health and avoiding dizziness in the gym.
1. See a Doctor if Something Seems Serious
You should never experience dizziness after working out consistently, even if you do sometimes over-exert yourself. If you feel dizzy and light-headed every single time you work out, consult with a doctor immediately. Many heart conditions go undiagnosed because the symptoms are hard to tell apart from the regular fatigue that sets in from working out.
Boost Your Bench Press With A Pair Of Weightlifting Gloves
How weightlifting gloves can boost your bench press and increase gains.
When it comes to your bench press needs, we often neglect what a good pair of weightlifting gloves can do. We all love to bench, right? It’s become something of our gym calling card. But knowing the right way to bench and the approach to lifting accessories can take us a long way, especially as we seek to lift the most amount of weight possible.
The bench press is thar exercise we all know and love and can greatly influence our growth and development. What weightlifting gloves can do are offer support and protection while also enhancing grip, so you feel more supported and can better tackle any and all of those lifting needs you want to most.
Let’s take a look at the bench press and see what this is all about. We’ll talk about what it is and what it’s known for, what muscles are worked, the benefits of it, and how weightlifting gloves can be a game changer for your ability to perform this exercise.
What Is The Bench Press Known For?
The bench press is an effective chest building exercise as we all know, and is known for its ability to increase strength and size in your upper body (1). One of those three powerlifts that everyone loves to perform, the bench press has become that thing we all compare amongst ourselves.
Similar to the mile for the runner, a common question of how much do you bench is asked around gyms. But the bench press isn’t something to be taken lightly and while athletes of all experience can perform it, when it comes to lifting big weight, it shouldn’t be taken for granted.
Muscles Worked
The main muscle group worked in the bench press is your chest. What you will find is your pecs will feel a serious burn and those muscles will be fired up for growth. Your triceps and shoulders do get work done as well given the nature of the movement and your abs, since they are engaged to keep your back against the bench, will also get a little work done for what their need to stay tight.
Benefits Of The Bench Press
Benefits of the bench press cannot be ignored and this exercise will work wonders for you and your ability to see only the best gains. While it is important to have the best form so you reap these great benefits, don’t neglect what this workout can do for all your goals.
Benefits of the bench press include:
Increased chest growth: This exercise can work those chest muscles so they increase in strength and size for the best gains (2,3).
Works tris and delts: It can also work your triceps and shoulders as a result of the movement so you see good gains to these muscles as well.
Increases pushing power: This exercise is perfect for increasing pushing power and allowing for you to maximize any pushing movement, whether it be sport specific or more functional.
Counteracts pulling muscles: This exercise can help you counteract those pulling muscles, since this is a pushing exercise, allow for better muscle balance.
Plenty of variations: With plenty of variations, you can diversify and add variety to your workout so you work the same muscles but in a different way to increase muscle confusion.
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How To Perform It
Lie on the bench with your feet planted on the floor.
Grab the bar with your hands a little more than shoulder-width apart. Arch your lower back slightly. While this is debated, an arched lower back can help keep the spine neutral and the back tight.
Lift the bar off the rack and gently lower to your chest as you breathe in. Your forearms should be about 90 degrees from the ground as you touch your chest.
With your feet planted on the ground, initiate the upward movement to return to the starting position.
Repeat for your desired number of sets and reps.
Related: Why You Should Use Lifting Gloves In Your Workouts
What Are Weightlifting Gloves?
Weightlifting gloves are a great piece of workout equipment able to improve grip strength (4), add wrist support (5), provide palm protection, and add an overall better sense of feel for your workouts. The choice to wear weightlifting gloves is a personal one, but one worth considering for what these can do for your overall sense of comfort, support and protection when lifting big weight.
Benefits Of Weightlifting Gloves For The Bench Press
What you will find with the bench press is an exercise that puts a lot of strain and potential stress on your hands and wrists. Given the load of this exercise and the beating your hands take, on top of the movements your wrist must do, weightlifting are the perfect piece of equipment for you and your long-term bench press goals.
For those who feel they need wrist support and better palm protection, these gloves are perfect for improving your bench press. The constant wear and tear of our hands on the grip of the bar can be uncomfortable and that unpleasant feeling is just something we can’t have.
With the bench press, grip strength is incredibly important as well for with so much weight under you, the last thing you need is to lose your grip. By working to provide for better grip and allow yourself the opportunity to feel mor supported under all that weight, you will feel as though you have what it takes to succeed and see those bench press PRs in no time.
Check out our list of the Best Weightlifting Gloves for the best in support, protection, and grip!
Wrap Up
The bench press is a monster lift and with weightlifting gloves, you can feel more supported and protected for whatever comes your way. Weightlifting gloves have the ability to offer better support and protection so you can reap the benefits of increase strength and size that the bench press has to offer. Consider weightlifting gloves today and don’t sacrifice any of your bench press gains.
Let us know what you think in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow Generation Iron on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
*Images courtesy of Envato
References
Algra, B. (1982). “An In-Depth Analysis of the Bench Press”. (source)
Saeterbakken, A.; et al. (2011). “A comparison of muscle activity and 1-RM strength of three chest-press exercises with different stability requirements”. (source)
Kikuchi, N.; et al. (2017). “Low-load bench press and push-up induce similar muscle hypertrophy and strength gain”. (source)
Lee, J.; Sechachalam, S. (2016). “The Effect on Wrist Position on Grip Endurance and Grip Strength”. (source)
Buhman, D.; Cherry, J.; Bronkema-Orr, L.; Bishu, R. (2000). “Effects of glove, orientation, pressure, load, and handle on submaximal grasp force”. (source)
Top Exercises For Big Knees & Strengthening Your Quads
These exercises will work to strengthen your quads by providing great support to your knees.
Let’s start with this. How many of us run, even if occasionally? Think about the pain you might experience in your knees afterwards. It can be unpleasant. How many of us squat and perform powerful sport specific movements in efforts to advance our training? Probably more than the first question.
Yet still, think of the pain you may have after. While a lot of this pain may revolve around muscle soreness, which is of course normal when it comes to working out and working hard, for those of us with smaller, weaker knees, this will catch up to us in the long run. When it comes to the physical health of our lower bodies, our knees deserve the best attention they can get and in doing so, focusing on exercises to strengthen both our knees and quads can really help.
Knee pain can be a result of a number of things, but it can be avoided at the same time. For many of us, especially those of us bodybuilders who focus a lot of our attention on working our muscles equally, if there is a muscle imbalance, that can lead to knee pain. Having to compensate for that weaker muscle can force us to use rely on our knees in ways we may not want in order to get that exercise or workout done. Tightness, overworking the muscle, and problems with the alignment of our legs can all play into knee pain but thankfully, there are ways to avoid this.
Let’s take a look at some great exercises to strengthen our knees and work on quad growth. By focusing on our lower body, we allow for great potential when it comes to lifting big and really pushing our bodies to the limit.
Benefits of Big, Strong Knees
One of the main benefits to big, strong knees is balance and stability. As the main point of connection for our lower body, having that strong connection will enhance our ability to stay grounded during big lifts, but also during more advanced movements that can result in tough impact around the knee joint. Building up the muscles around the knee can also work to effectively protect that joint when it comes to these movements that often force a lot of pressure on these joints as is. This will keep you healthy for whatever workout, training session, or performance setting comes your way (1).
Why Having Strong Quads Matter
Since our lower body is essential for all aspects of our training and performance, the benefit to having strong quads will work to grow your squatting ability, enhance sprinting, boost balance, and aid in power production, all things necessary to be as explosive and beastly in the gym. With strong quads, you work to protect those vulnerable knees joints and this will pay off in the long run for your physical health and fitness longevity (2).
Best Exercises To Strengthen Your Knees
Single-Leg Romanian Deadlift
This is a great exercise to correct any muscle imbalances, work to build strength, and aid in balance and stabilization. Using a weight allows you to continually increase strength and this exercise is certainly a great challenge to try as it will also help with posture.
How to: Standing on one leg, grab your desired weight in a dumbbell or kettlebell and let it hang in one arm. As you engage you core, bend so your torso moves to the floor as the leg off the ground will start to lift behind you. Once you feel that pull in your hamstrings, work to slowly extend back to the starting position until your hips are locked out again. Repeat for your desired number of reps.
Front Squats
We all know and love front squats as they will work on that leg growth while helping with posture and aiding in our technique when it comes to other lifts, like the back squat. Since this is typically done with lighter weight, as opposed to the back squat, you’ll find you can work on mind-muscle connection and time under tension as well (3).
How to: Stand with the bar close to your neck, resting on the muscle near your collar bone. With your grip around shoulder width apart, your fingers will be under the bar, but you will want the weight to rest on your body as opposed to a vice-grip with your hands. Unrack the bar and gently lower into a squat, keeping your head and chest up, core engaged, and legs grounded. Once at the bottom, drive through your legs and work to get that weight up to the starting position. Repeat for your desired number of reps.
Wall Squats
Wall squats will allow you to perform a bodyweight exercise while putting some resistance to your quads, glutes, and knees, thus allowing some time under tension to increase strength and work some of the smaller muscles.
How to: With your feet about shoulder width apart, stand with your head, back, and hips flat on a wall. Step out a step or two and slide down into a normal sitting or squatting position. Hold for your desired amount of time and repeat for your desired amount of reps.
Weighted Lunges
The benefit of lunges in general are great as they are a versatile and functional exercise great for building mass, balance, and posture. Adding a weight, being a dumbbell, kettlebell, or plate, will only add extra resistance so your muscles are forced to grow.
How to: With your feet together, step one in front of you and bend at the knee. Your knee will be about parallel with your ankle. Hold for a second or two and return to the starting position. Repeat for your desired number of reps.
Wrap Up
When it comes to our physical health, in particular that of your lower body, it is important to focus on our knees and quads, as they are pivotal for connection, strength, and protection of the vital knee joint. Working on strengthening your knees and surrounding muscles will work to keep you in the gym longer and will give you confidence when going into a big lift. Check out these exercises and really work to get those big knees you want and need.
Let us know what you think in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow Generation Iron on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
*Images courtesy of Envato
References
Alonso, Angelica C.; Ribeiro, Samia M.; Luna, Natalia M. S.; Peterson, Mark D.; et al. (2018). “Association between handgrip strength, balance, and knee flexion/extension strength in older adults”. (source)
Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy (2014). “Knee Pain: Safely Strengthening Your Thigh Muscles”. (source)
Gullett, Jonathan C.; Tillman, Mark D.; Gutierrez, Gregory M.; Chow, John W. (2009). “A Biomechanical Comparison of Back and Front Squats in Healthy Trained Individuals”. (source)
Long-Term Fat Loss: Is the Afterburn Effect Burnt Out?
Long-Term Fat Loss: Is the Afterburn Effect Burnt Out?
“Bro, have you heard about the Afterburn Effect? Basically, if you work super hard you can get your body to burn tons of fat even long after you’ve finished training. It’s how all these big guys stay lean.”
This is literally a phrase I heard in a gym while I was training a few years ago. I remember thinking to myself that I’ve heard of that effect before and I had never looked into it much. I knew what EPOC was (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption) and that is a real thing, but can you actually burn a significant amount of calories that would lead to fat loss or at the very least the maintenance of fat loss long-term? Let’s find out!
Weight Loss Maintenance
You’ve probably been training for a decent amount of time, and once you do you start to realize that achieving goals is one thing; holding onto them for long periods of time is a whole other animal. It’s true that when it comes to muscle mass, it takes far less volume to maintain it than it does to build it (I’ve covered volume thresholds for hypertrophy in a previous article) [1]. However, do the same rules apply to fat loss?
If we’re talking about long-term weight-loss maintenance in the general population, success, as it’s defined by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, is losing 10% of initial body weight and keeping it off for at least 1 year [2]. If you’re in the field, maybe you’ve had clients that have difficulty with weight-loss maintenance, or maybe you’re having trouble with it yourself. In either case, we might look to training techniques as a way to improve our chances without making huge changes to diet – and this is where we might run into some problems because:
The Type of Training Matters
The word intensity gets thrown around a lot and depending on who you’re speaking to it could mean anything from weight used, to how fast your heart is beating, to even just your general perception of the workout. Personally, if we’re in the context of weight lifting, the intensity will always mean the load you are lifting. For circuit training and various forms of HIIT, then I’ll replace that with the percentage of max heart rate.
So let’s talk about high effort, high HR intervals. This would be the obvious choice for the afterburn effect considering how much you need to push yourself to remain at consistently high output. That leads us to a study by Kelly et al. that tested two cardio-based HIIT workouts and their effects on energy expenditure and resting energy expenditure (this is the one that matters for afterburn).
Both groups completed a HIIT cardio workout with one group performing the workout for 10-minutes and the other for 40-minutes. In terms of total energy expenditure and resting energy expenditure post-workout, the results favored the longer duration workout which is not surprising, but that REE increase amounts to a measly 92.9 extra kcals burned [3].
Definitely not the long-lasting calorie scorcher we’re looking for here.
Alright, Let’s Get Jacked Instead
Well, I’m glad cardio intervals weren’t the answer here because now that saves me from having to do them. Besides, the more muscle you have the more calories you burn right?
A study by Hunter and colleagues researched just that in elderly participants. The reason I prefer this study population is that in most cases they already have inadequate muscle mass which means we can potentially observe significant changes. These folks were training 3x/week and getting yolked! The average increase in fat-free mass was 2kg while losing 3.4% body fat within 26 weeks.
Not bad at all.
The researchers measured REE before and after the study was complete and found a “significant” improvement in REE totaling a whopping 81 kcal extra burned per day [4]. That’s maybe half a hard candy – nowhere near enough to get these grannies and grandpas in speedo-shape (though that rarely stops them).
You know what, maybe they just weren’t working hard enough. They were pretty old, and I like to work way harder than that!
Push it to the Limit
I know what you’re thinking – your lifting workouts are way harder than cardio intervals or what those seniors were doing during their sessions. Where are the alpha workouts?
That’s where good ol’ Hackney and colleagues come in to save the day. They know what you want and they’re going to give it to you: an all-out savage lifting workout. It might not be exactly what you’re used to, but they included two groups of participants (trained and untrained) as well as incorporating eccentric tempos, multiple movements per set, and long sessions. We know these sessions were grueling because they also measured creatine kinase levels post-workout which is a direct measure of muscle damage and most of these guys were into very high levels, especially in the untrained group.
The results indicated a very high increase in REE even 72 hours after the workout which would be exciting, however, if you have read my previous article on training to failure [click here!] you can already suspect that there’s more at play here than simply creating enough extra calorie burn to reduce body fat. As the authors put it:
“Prolonged elevations in REE between 24 and 72 hours post-exercise may be triggered by factors associated with DOMS and the overall muscle-repair process. … The extent of the elevation was more pronounced in the UT group, indicating a greater degree of muscle damage.” (Hackney et al. 2008)
So, that spike in energy expenditure is due to your body working overtime in order to recover and remodel muscle tissue from the damage the workout caused.
These results are in line with a 2012 paper by Paoli et al that tested high-intensity resistance training versus traditional training in resistance-trained men. These guys were already decently advanced since the average body fat percentage was 8.5% (but I’m not very confident in that number). This training was a rest/pause style training so the participants were using intraset pauses to be able to lift a heavy weight many more times than they would have been able to without the rest. The results showed a solid 452 kcals/day extra that were burned post-workout.
However, while the results are impressive, the authors concluded the same outcome as Hackney and colleagues; the large increase in REE was more than likely because the post-workout re-synthesis of protein is very energy expensive [6].
Final Word
You can never go wrong with wanting to do more work, and no one can fault you for trying to get away with as much as possible in terms of results. We all want to live in a world where we can go to war in the gym and have the resulting effects of that workout continue for a day or two. In some ways they do – but not in the way that we used to think. That being said, here’s what we’ve learned:
Pure cardio-based workouts will burn more calories during training than weightlifting will, but any increase in energy expenditure afterward is minimal and subsides within an hour. While age-related decreases in fat-free mass reduce energy expenditure, increasing the total amount of muscle mass within realistic values doesn’t seem to have a significant effect on increasing REE. What does seem to have the biggest effect on increasing REE post-workout for up to several days is a large amount of muscle damage – the two downsides to this in my opinion are 1) You would have to live in a constant state of debilitating soreness, and 2) your body is too good at adapting to stimuli that you would run out of ways to create that damage. There is also the law of diminishing returns to think about.
There is definitely more room for research to be done on this subject. The studies that are presently available do not all measure REE the same way which can also lead me to wonder if they’re using certain methods in order to confirm their hypotheses.
Finally, I think this is just another way to confirm that there is no perfect workout method. In terms of impressive results, nothing will beat progressive overload, consistency, and eating for your goals.
References:
[1] Bickel, C. Scott, James M. Cross, and Marcas M. Bamman. “Exercise dosing to retain resistance training adaptations in young and older adults.” Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise 43, no. 7 (2011): 1177-1187.
[2] Wing, Rena R., and Suzanne Phelan. “Long-term weight loss maintenance–.” The American journal of clinical nutrition 82, no. 1 (2005): 222S-225S.
[3] Kelly, Benjamin, James A. King, Jonas Goerlach, and Myra A. Nimmo. “The impact of high-intensity intermittent exercise on resting metabolic rate in healthy males.” European journal of applied physiology 113, no. 12 (2013): 3039-3047.
[4] Hunter, Gary R., Carla J. Wetzstein, David A. Fields, Amanda Brown, and Marcas M. Bamman. “Resistance training increases total energy expenditure and free-living physical activity in older adults.” Journal of applied physiology (2000).
[5] Hackney, Kyle J., Hermann-J. Engels, and Randall J. Gretebeck. “Resting energy expenditure and delayed-onset muscle soreness after full-body resistance training with an eccentric concentration.” The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research 22, no. 5 (2008): 1602-1609.
[6] Paoli, Antonio, Tatiana Moro, Giuseppe Marcolin, Marco Neri, Antonino Bianco, Antonio Palma, and Keith Grimaldi. “High-Intensity Interval Resistance Training (HIRT) influences resting energy expenditure and respiratory ratio in non-dieting individuals.” Journal of translational medicine 10, no. 1 (2012): 1-8.
How The Wide Grip Pulldown Enlarges Your Lats For Real Size
Widen your lats with the wide grip pulldown.
We tend to put a lot of focus on our front, meaning arms, abs, and chest, however the wide grip pulldown can ensure we don’t lose sight of what matters equal to our front, being our backs. Our backs tend to fall by the wayside, which is unfortunate because at the end of the day, they are equally as important as all other muscle groups. Sure, those bodybuilders with massive backs may put a little more emphasis than you want to but showing your back some love can make all the difference.
A great exercise like the wide grip pulldown will ensure your back doesn’t fall victim to neglect so you get a great workout to really boost strength and size. A strong back not only looks good and adds to a great aesthetic, but it also improves stability and posture, really giving those muscles the support they need to see the best gains. The wide grip pulldown is the perfect exercise to help you see the best gains possible for our backs.
Let’s jump right into this exercise and see what makes the wide grip pulldown so great. From what it is, to what muscles get worked, the many benefits of this exercise, and how best to perform it, you will have a well-rounded exercise to add to your back day routine so you only see the best gains.
What Is The Wide Grip Pulldown?
The wide grip pulldown is a beginner level exercise perfect for enhancing those back and biceps muscles, so the focus is on strength and building your physique (1). It is, of course, very similar to the traditional lat pulldown, except the grip is wider and will work those lats and other muscles differently. What you will find with this exercise is that it will boost strength and improve posture in a highly effective way perfect for people and athletes of all experience levels.
Related: How The Close Grip Lat Pulldown Pumps Your Back & Bis
Muscles Worked
With the wide grip pulldown, your lats get some serious work done which is great because these are those essential pulling exercises. Able to support your spine and improve posture, your lats are essential in dealing with many movements, both sport specific and functional. As a part of this exercise as a whole, your biceps, forearms, delts, other back muscles, and abs will feel some work done as well. While the majority of the gains will happen to your lats, you will find that these other muscles will be worked as well.
Benefits Of The Wide Grip Pulldown
The benefits of the wide grip pulldown are hard to ignore and can greatly benefit you in a number of ways. With this effective back exercise, you will only enhance sport specific and functional pulling movements, as well as many others, in efforts to see the best gains possible.
Benefits of the wide grip pulldown include:
Stronger lats: With your lats as the primary target for these muscles, you will find that they will not only grow stronger, but also bigger in size, this giving you the best possible chance at that massive physique (2).
Other muscle worked: With this exercise, you will also get those other muscles worked which is perfect for providing all around muscular development and working to support a well-rounded and symmetrical physique.
Better posture: By increasing strength in your lats, you back will be better supported and you will be able to improve posture and improve overall confidence.
Great for all athletes: As a beginner exercise, this is great for all athletes and can be performed easily and conveniently by all. Easy to learn also allows you to not sweat over trying to learn something complex.
Nice variations: This exercise has plenty of variations so you can effectively work the same muscles but use different machines.
How To Perform It
Performing the wide grip pulldown is relatively easy but does take the right form so you can properly execute this exercise. Be sure to not lean too far back and to use too much momentum when pulling down. You want your muscles to get work done, especially your lats, so focusing on that instead of pulling with your arms can make all the difference for you.
Here are the steps for performing the wide grip pulldown:
Set yourself up on the machine and make sure you are in a comfortable position.
Grab the bar with the widest grip you can. Your hands will be on the farthest most point of the bar with your palms facing away from you.
When ready, engage your core and lean back slightly. Pull the bar down so it goes to around the bottom of your chest and squeeze at the bottom.
Slowly return to the starting position in a controlled motion.
Repeat for your desired number of sets and reps.
Wide Grip Pulldown Alternative Exercises
The right alternative exercises can be a game changer when it comes to seeing great gains. What alternative exercises can do are diversify your workouts so you work those same muscles just in a different way. This will control muscle confusion so your muscles don’t have a chance to get used to any exercise and force you to hit a plateau.
Below are some great alternative exercises to the wide grip pulldown. What you will find is these will fire up your lats, but in a much different way so your growth never stalls.
Renegade Rows
Bent Over Reverse Fly
Wie Grip Pull-Ups
Barbell Rows
Dumbbell Rows
Wrap Up
The wide grip pulldown is a great exercise for increasing strength and size in your lats. As necessary muscles needed for pulling movement, both functional and sport specific, you will find that this exercise is perfect for those muscle building needs. An easy to perform exercise, the wide grip pulldown is perfect to add into your routine and can really round out your workouts perfectly.
Let us know what you think in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow Generation Iron on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
*Images courtesy of Envato
References
Andersen, V.; et al. (2014). “Effects of grip width on muscle strength and activation in the lat pull-down”. (source)
Newton, H. (1998). “The Lat Pulldown”. (source)
Next Level Mental Training: Integrating Mindfulness Into Your Bodybuilding Routine For More Gains
Integrating Mindfulness Into Your Bodybuilding Routine
Mindfulness often seems like a practice best utilized by busy mothers and wannabe yoga instructors. Those who are serious about a real fitness regimen or bodybuilding may dismiss mindfulness practices as unnecessary or silly.
In reality, mindfulness can actually help you improve your game as you seek to build muscle and reach peak physical fitness. Integrating mindfulness practices into your workout routine can offer a variety of potential benefits that can not only help your overall health but may help you reach your fitness or bodybuilding goals as well.
Visualization Can Help You Reach Goals
Even Arnold Schwarzenegger has written about how visualization helped him focus on his goals as a bodybuilder. Mindfulness practice often involves focusing on yourself, including your mind and your body, in any given moment. Being aware of how you feel and why is valuable, so using tools that increase self-awareness can help. So is the ability to focus your mind on a single idea, such as your bodybuilding goal.
Visualization techniques that you learn as part of mindfulness can help you manifest your goals as a fitness enthusiast or bodybuilder. Basically, by focusing your mental energy on your desired outcome, you reinforce your motivation for your workout routine and direct your personal energy toward making that goal a reality.
Staying in the Moment Can Help You Avoid Injury
Bodybuilding and intense fitness practices carry a serious risk of injury. Overexertion is a common issue for those attempting to push their bodies to the limit. Mindfulness encourages you to pay attention to the information your body provides you. Instead of pushing down pain and other reactions, mindfulness encourages you to explore it and understand your physical responses and limitations.
In other words, practicing mindfulness can help you while exercising by encouraging you to understand your bodily reactions and honor your limits. Pushing yourself too hard and too fast could result in a serious injury that leaves you unable to continue exercising for some time, meaning you will lose some of the progress you have made. Using mindfulness to prevent an injury can help you stay on track to meeting your goals.
Mindfulness and Yoga Complement Other Fitness Regimens
Flexibility is one of the key indicators of health. All too often, those attempting to decrease body fat and increase lean muscle mass will overlook flexibility. Yoga practice, which incorporates mindfulness with physical movements, is a great way to warm up before exercising.
Not only does it stretch you out, but it can help you improve your flexibility in the long run. It can also complement your exercise regimen by getting you into a mindful state where you are able to hear what your body. Whatever your long-term fitness goals, the chances are good that mindfulness and yoga can help you achieve them. Meditation is another valuable tool to help you take your fitness efforts to the next level.
If you haven’t already incorporated mindfulness into your weight training or exercise regimen, now is the time to start. It offers a lot of benefits that can increase your potential for success in your efforts. Mindfulness also offers long-term health benefits, like stress reduction, making it a good idea for just about anyone to practice.
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How To Lose Your Love Handles
The Fastest Way To Lose The Love Handles
Love handles have to be one of the most dreaded types of body fats. T-shirt ripping love handles are guaranteed lady-repellent. You might know what we mean if you’ve ever had a girl grab you by your love handles while pillion riding with you on a bumpy road.
As soon as the woman of your dream gets hold of your squishy spare tire, it’s game over for you. Even though people have tried to get the flab in fashion by calling it love handles, it hasn’t worked. Love handles are still hate-handles for most people.
Forget Spot Reduction
The pinchable fat on both sides of your body is stubborn and can take longer to burn-off as compared to the belly fat. Some people make the mistake of trying to lose love handles by doing exercises like side bends.
The spot reduction concept is a myth and performing side-bends (especially with heavyweights) can do more harm than good. Spot reduction exercises can exacerbate the appearance of love handles by increasing the size of the underlying external oblique muscles.
If you want to reduce your love handles, take an overall approach which will include training the abdominal muscles (from multiple angles), cardiovascular training and a balanced diet.
Fix Your Diet
Most professionals agree with the saying “abs are made in the kitchen, not the gym.” If you want to get rid of your not-so-love handles – and want to keep them off – you should follow a customized diet plan.
You should get used to counting your calories and reading the labels before buying packaged stuff. Understanding the role of micro and macronutrients in your diet is an essential ingredient of following a healthy diet.
Remember – the best diet for losing your love handles is the one you can stick with for the long-term. Fun fact – the keg is often the last place on a man’s body from where he loses weight.
Workout
For shedding the excess body fat, we recommend performing two cardio sessions in a day. The first should be a 30-minute low-intensity steady state (LISS) workout to be done first thing in the morning – preferably on an empty stomach.
Do the high-intensity interval training (HIIT) session later in the evening for 10-15 minutes. When it comes to side-fat torching exercises – wood chops, medicine ball rotations, medicine ball slams are some of the most effective movements.
Chill-Out
If you want to live a fit lifestyle, you’ll need to get all the aspects of your life under control. Taking on too much stress can result in high cortisol levels which can lead to excess body fat storage.
To get rid of the bulging waistline, you should always be hydrated as some studies have shown that drinking water can help in burning calories. You also need to make sure you’re getting anywhere between 7-8 hours of sleep every night.
Without proper rest and recovery, you shouldn’t expect to lose weight. Overexerting and pushing yourself too hard will only result in weight gain – which is the polar opposite of what we’re trying to achieve here.
How often do you perform bodyweight workouts? Let us know in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow Generation Iron on Facebook and Twitter.