7 Things You Can Learn from a Powerlifter

There are so many ideas out there when it comes to health and fitness. In all honesty, most of them are a waste of time. Fads pop up in the health and fitness industry all the time, and disappear just as quickly. If you have a goal of getting in better shape, and living a heathier life, you need a plan that is going to get you there, and more importantly, keep you there.

I completely understand that not everyone is interested in becoming a powerlifter, but any group of people so dedicated to getting stronger has a lot to teach to the general public. The important thing here is to understand the concepts that allow them to get so strong. These concepts can be applied to any fitness goal you have, whether it be lose weight, put on muscle, or just feel better in general.

The Beginners Top 3 Mistakes

Mistake #1 – Failing to track progress.

This mistake is made by a good percentage of trainers out there, because many people make gains despite not tracking. When tracking you should be able to come back at the end of every month and specifically know every gram of food you have eaten, every weight lifted, how many reps, sets, when it got hard, where you failed, how many hours you slept, what supplements you were taking etc. But most importantly you need to track your one rep max on each lift, your weight and your bodyfat.

By doing this you are able to account for all failures and all successes and see where you went wrong/right. This information is invaluable if you are serious about getting big and lean. If for a given month you dont know how much muscle you lost/gained or how much fat you lost/gained you are cheating yourself out of knowledge beyond the scope of any article you may read online.

Dont just sit there and hope for the best, be accountable for your actions and take steps to improve.

Mistake #2- Failing to Lift Progressively Heavier weights/Allowing yourself to repeatedly lift the same weights

This is the sole reason 95% of people who go to the gym lack any discernable muscle mass, dont be one of them. This comes about because the health and fitness industry has this hard on for Form and “not letting your ego get into the movement” etc. Form is important, but only to the degree to which muscle is still being stimulated and gains are still being made. Bad form is when your form inhibits your ability to stimulate growth. I dont care how good your form on deadlifts is, if you lift the same weight today as you did a year ago, you havnt gotten noticably bigger sorry. That said i dont care how bad your form is if your lifting noticably more weight with the same form today as last year, congratulations you have gotten noticably bigger. Controversial yes but you cant deny its truth, look at guys like branch warren, nothing about his form is “pretty” but he lifts heavier and heavier weights and gets bigger and bigger. Its called “weight” training instead of “set and rep” training for a reason.

Mistake #3 -Reading to much and experiencing to little

This mistake goes hand in hand with mistake number one. Reading a bunch of articles is the equivalent of going to university, sure its helpful, but the real world is much different to what you think “should” be right. For example, all articles on fat loss preach low carb high protein/fat almost all at least. however through tracking progress i have found that this causes me to lose muscle much faster than fat, so through trial and error i now know that high carb low fat med protein for me works best. That is something i can only learn for myself.

Basic Instructions: Deadlift

The basic instructions to the deadlift are as follows:

1: Load a barbell that is sitting on the floor.
2: Place your feet approximately 12 inches apart and half-way under the barbell
3: Grip the bar slightly wider than your feet so that your knees can easily pass between your arms
4: Take a VERY large breathe into your belly
5: Bend your knees until your shins touch the barbell
6: Arch your back and puff your chest up
7: Pull BACK on the barbell, not up
8: As soon as the barbell raises past your knees, thrust your hips forward
9: Straighten your back and your legs until they are locked and the shoulders are back
Proper Starting Position

Want Abs?

IF YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE A SOLID SET OF ABS READ ON..

First things first.

BODYFAT

If your bodyfat percentage is too high you will not be able to see your abs. The key to revealing your abs is all about getting rid of your bodyfat you want to get this as low as possible, this can be achived by proper diet and cardio, A good cutting diet is what you need, which is a diet with a calorie deficit eating less calories than you burn, use the search function to find a good cutting diet that would suit you. A good fat burner supplement will help out and make it much easier, although it is not needed.

STRENGTHENING THE CORE AND ADDING SIZE TO THE ABS

There are 100′s of ab excercises all have there own benifits. Some people like to add weight for extra resistance which helps strengthen and add size to the abs, and some people just like to use bodyweight but relly focusing on the Squeeze and ContractionPersonally i find that abs respond best to just bodyweight excercises with a good squeeze and contraction, many pro bodybuilders agree. But you should include both for maximum results.

Dips: An oldie, but goodie

The all mighty dip like any other exercise has developed a cult following. Whether it is seated, body weight, or weighted, the dip has earned its place in the bodybuilding lexicon for good reason. The history of the exercise dates back to the advent of sport and physical fitness itself.

The dip is formally categorized as an upper body compound pushing exercise which involves the chest, shoulders, and triceps. The dip is a staple of many bodybuilding and strength training programs for its simplicity and the results it produces.

The dip has even been likened to the “upper body squat,” by the great Mike Mentzer. The equally great Vince Gironda even had his own theories on the creating of a wider chest through the use of what has become known as the “Gironda Dip” and a V shaped Dip bar.

The Forgotten Art of Gym Etiquette

1) Use a towel, or wipe down the machine you’re using (or both). No one likes hoping on a machine or rack dripping with sweat, or crusty sweaty chalk.

2) ALWAYS re-rack your weights. Even if the barbell had weights on it when you “got there”, when you’re finished using it put the weights back

3) Grunting is OK, consistent screaming is not. I’m happy you’re pumped up, but it breaks my concentration if I can hear you over my music.

4) If it’s crowded let others “work in” with you. This can be hard if someone of dramatically different size, and presumably stregnth, is waiting… but for the most part try to share.

5) Avoid walking in-between the mirror and someone who is in the middle of a set. It breaks their concentration.

6) If people are waiting for you to finish an exercise, try to keep the chitchat to a minimum.

7) If they can’t work in, take the time you need to finish the exercise properly, but no more than that.

8) Clean up after yourself. Goes back to #2, but make sure to put towels away, don’t trash the locker room, etc…

Product Review: Optimum Nutrtion Casein Protein

Optimum Nutrition puts out a wide variety of products including their “Gold Standard” protein.

Recently I have been using their chocolate flavored casein with the idea of gaining mass.

Before I go on, I want to explain that my goals for weightlifting go beyond “looking good”. I don’t lift weights to impress anybody. I choose to lift weights to impress myself.

With that idea in mind, I started taking casein in order to gain muscle mass.

The first thing I thought when looking at the product was: Damn, its really that expensive?

For a 2.5 lb tub, you can buy 5 lb’s of whey protein from the same company. I really had to find out what all the fuss was about.

Hellraiser Training Program

Want to gain massive muscle in 12-weeks?

This isn’t your normal workout program.

“Rage” from Universal Nutrition put together what he calls a “Hellcentric” program which will test you to your absolute limits. You will have to dig deep within these twelve weeks, and Rage swears you will hate him by the end of it.

Each exercise set revolves around one concept: “Hellcentric”

Each set has 8 reps, plus 4 hellcentric repetitions.

These Hellcentric reps are designed to tear the micro-fibers in your muscle to the fullest to gain massive growth.

Have the guts to be a Hellraiser?