This week’s Stop day(s)

Sunday was pretty easy in terms of fasting. I spent most of the afternoon studying for exams so I didn’t notice the hunger much at all. That surprised me as usually that first fast is the hardest.

Today (Friday) though was pretty tough. I was studying again and started getting pretty hungry around 3.30pm. The trick is to have a few things to do. I would also recommend holding off the caffeine until midday as having that speed up your metabolism just makes you hungry quicker.

In the gym

I’ve been sticking to an upper body/lower body split which in my opinion is one of the best ways to pack on quality muscle. It goes a little like this, of course you would change it depending on your goals.

Day 1: Upper Strength
Day 2: Lower Plyometrics
Day 3: Rest/stretch
Day 4: Upper Functional
Day 5: Lower Strength
Day 6: Rest/stretch
Repeat

For those who are curious I train abdominals about every session at the moment.

Next week I’m only planning one fasting day, most likely Friday again.

Update picture below:

If you haven’t picked up The Dirty Dozen ebook you can download it here (right click > save as).

It always amazes me that even in ancient Greece and Rome, artists have so accurately depicted the fully developed male body. Right down to the 3 heads of the tricep and the seratus anterior. It leads me to believe that back in those days, before steroids, protein shakes and other ‘muscle builders’, there were some big ripped guys walking around.

These guys were purely in good shape from wielding a 10 kg sword while wearing 20-30kgs of armour or simply from working on the land without the aid of machinery.

It is from heroes in those times that the concept of SUPERheroes came about. Written about and drawn in comic books by great authors like Stan Lee, who by coincidence has had 3 of his characters make it into the top 5.

5. Superman – Brandon Routh

This may surprise some, but Superman only just scraped in as number 5. The main reason I decided that is that Superman does not actually need his bulk to be strong. It is simply in his genes to be a bulging out of his costume when he rips off his shirt.

No working out required by Clark Kent, except maybe saving a few trains from derailing and catching a few runaway cars. Now if only he could overcome his little problem with Kryptonite.

4. Deadpool – Ryan Reynolds

Here is one you may of may not of heard of. If you think back to X-Men Origins: Wolverine last year, Ryan Reynolds was playing a horribly misrepresented character called Weapon XI, aka Deadpool (the bit at the end with his mouth sewn up).

Reynolds is currently in action at the moment filming an X-Men spin off movie aptly named ‘Deadpool’. If you have seen Ryan in other films, then you know how ripped he gets. I still remember being shocked when I saw him in ‘The Amityville Horror’ and saw that he was completely massive. I had never seen him like this before while watching ‘Two Guys and a Girl’ in which he looked quite normal sized. Make sure you also look out for Reynolds also in ‘The Green Lantern’ coming in 2011.

3. The Incredible Hulk – Edward Norton

The Incredible Hulk is the buffest of the buff around superheroes. Genetically enhanced via a few too many rads, this green monster is seriously like something from a nightmare.

Lou Ferrigno, one of the few bodybuilders in his time bigger than Arnold, played the Hulk in the original TV series and man was he big! I felt he deserved a special mention in this post, check out his picture below.

Now before you say it, I know Edward Norton isn’t buff in the traditional sense of being huge. However, in The Incredible Hulk he was looking in pretty good shape considering it was his CGI counter-part doing most of the action scenes and he therefore didn’t need to be up to scratch.

2. Batman – Christian Bale

Batman, perhaps the coolest of the cool in the world of Superheroes, here was a man with no special powers or skills. He was simply a man who dedicated himself to the art of being a ninja and helping others. Of course he had loads of cool gadgets to help and he clearly worked out in what spare time he had because he was pretty damn buff.

Whether you love or hate Christian Bale, you have to agree that he pulls off a fantastic Batman. Hereally carves out the darker image of Batman which works great with the theme of the new Batman movies. Personally I think he’s a great actor with a lot of will power and determination to get his body in great shape for every movie he does. Have a look at few favourites of mine: The Machinist, American Psycho and Reign of Fire.

1. Wolverine – Hugh Jackman

This should come as no surprise. Wolverine is an animalistic, sinewy character that is just pure rage and power. The character Wolverine is impressive in his muscularity and build in both comics and movies.

Hugh Jackman – the jack of all trades – has made this character one of the most interesting to watch in movies today. His fight scenes aren’t about fancy footwork or great use of props, they are simply about speed, strength and raw aggression. Great to watch and looking awesome, the Wolverine/Hugh combo takes number 1.

Don’t forget the oldies

FYI  I’ve used the latest actors to fill these roles, but hats off to the original actors who were all in great shape for their time:

• Christopher Reeves
• Lou Ferrigno
• Michael Keaton

I’m considering writing some posts on all the workouts that these actors underwent to get in shape for these roles. If you are interested simply email me or leave a comment below.

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Myth 1: Eating 6 meals a day ‘speeds up’ you metabolism

The eating 6 meals a day or eating regular meals to lose weight is one of the oldest myths in bodybuilding and weight loss. Unfortunately it is regularly propagated in books and all over the internet as a must when trying to lose weight.

The majority of studies done on meal frequency have shown no improvement in body composition (ratio of body fat to lean tissue) or higher thermodynamic effect in higher frequency meal diets. Instead what a lot of these studies have found is that breakfast is simply a must for improving memory, testing, nutrient levels, weight control and muscle protein synthesis.

On the other hand at over 100kg’s my required protein intake to build muscle is 140g – 200g (1.4 – 2 x kgs) per day and seeing as recent studies state that I can only absorb 30g of protein in each meal, I need to eat 5 – 7 meals per day to reach those protein requirements. Eating regular meals also keeps blood sugar levels elevated, therefore providing constant energy throughout the day. It has also been shown to reduce hunger levels during the day, however from personal experience I feel fuller eating 5 larger meals rather than 6 or 7 smaller meals.

So what do I do? I eat 3 meals and 2 snacks per day. The meals are always around the same time with the snacks being placed in when I get hungry (Morning Tea, Afternoon Tea or Supper). As for what you do, do what is convenient. Don’t try to move heaven and earth so you can eat your 6 meals of chicken and rice a day. Instead aim for consistency in when you eat and how much you eat. Following this will allow you to reach you goals.

More can be read on this topic in an excellent article by Alan Aragon.

Myth 2: Bench press is key to upper body development

Go into a gym on a Monday night, any gym around the world and you will find someone using the bench press. Monday is unofficially known in gym circles as ‘International Chest Day’ in which most gym goers train their favourite body part for the first day of the week. It’s kind of strange how you then don’t see them until next week… and how their upper body sucks.

I’m not trying to say bench press is useless, it just needs to be prioritized correctly. The muscles of the back (upper, middle, lower trapezius and latissimus dorsi) are the largest muscles in our upper body. Working on these muscles will build a truly impressive physique. The muscles of the back (specifically the rhomboids, lower and middle traps) serve to keep our shoulder blades retracted and out posture upright. Strengthening these muscles with pulling exercises will counterbalance the bad posture we get from slouching, bending over desks, pushing open doors etc etc.

Now doing bench press (which is another pushing exercise) compounds our bad posture even further. So if you are training only bench press for you upper body you are going to end up looking like one of our neanderthal ancestors. We therefore need to ensure that we do at least enough pulling exercises to counter our pushing exercises.

I know I have strayed a little off topic, but as you now understand, bench pressing alone will only building an impressive slouch. For true upper body strength and looks, don’t forget to pull :)

1. Vary your training

One thing I see far too many people do is just grind away at the same training style day after day. This is often due to a lack of knowledge in training methods.

No matter what your goal is you should include a variety of training techniques to challenge your body in different ways. Don’t just jump on the treadmill for hours on end; instead just do 30 mins accompanied with 30 minutes of resistance training. Same goes for people who only train with weights, try adding some cardio to your workouts to keep your heart healthy (among a heap of other benefits).

2. Record Your Workouts

This is definitely one of the most overlooked methods of tracking progress. Keeping a workout journal allows you to detect sticking points in your training and can also motivate you when you look back and see how far you have come in 6 months.

When starting this technique I would recommend keeping your journal very simple. Something like:

Date: 10/09/2009
Workout: Full Body 1
Pullups BWx8 BWx7
DB Bench Press 30×6 30×6
….. (and so on)

Once you have developed this habit you can put more details in such as:

• Cardio time/machine/settings
• Mood
• Diet
• Time of day
• Length of workout
• Breaks between sets

3. Keep your workouts short and sweet

There are many reasons why short workouts are a better option to long workouts, but today I will just talk about the motivation benefits. Shorter workouts means less time in the gym which definitely makes it easier to motivate yourself to get into the gym in the first place. Long workouts can be boring and unfulfilling; nobody wants to spend 3 hours in the gym!

Get in there, train hard and get out. More and more studies are showing that short intense workouts (even cardio workouts) are better than long and low intensity workouts. Try to keep your workouts in the 45-75 minute bracket including warm-up, weights, cardio and stretching. If you want to train more, add extra sessions and experiment with different styles of training (see point 1). You can also split your workout over the morning and afternoon. Eg. Running in the morning and weights after work.

4. Keep variety in your diet

A lot of people when trying to lose weight will get stuck in the rut of eating the same meals everyday because the find it easier to keep track of caloric intake. Or they cut out a whole bunch of foods they absolutely love (but that are unhealthy) all at once. This usually leads to a complete binge out after a few weeks which undoes all the hard work in the weeks of strict eating.

Instead you should try to add as much variety as possible. Eat a wide range of healthy dishes from many different cultures. Try new foods you’ve never tried, or haven’t eaten in a long time. You may be surprised at how much you like it. For giving up foods, try giving up just one thing you like a week and still eat some of those bad foods occasionally. You will find that some foods you really like now you won’t crave ever, or just once every few months once you stop eating it.

If your having real trouble, consider hiring a dietician or nutritionist if only for a little while to get you on the right track.

5. Set goals

Why are you exercising? Why do you spend 3.. 4.. 6.. 10 hours a week working your but off exercising?

Now there is probably and answer that has risen to the surface and quickly been shoved to the back of your mind. That is the answer we want. Push past all the vague, bullshit answers that come to mind now… ‘To be healthy’, ‘to be toned’, ‘look good for my partner’. There is a much deeper specific answer that is the correct one. Now turn that answer into a goal.

Eg. ‘I want to lose weight for my husband for our wedding’ Nope not buying it. So next she says ‘I can tell my future mother-in-law thinks I’m fat and I want to stand up there looking good and basically stick it to her.’ OK now we’re talking! Now we find a measurable goal (weight or waist size in this case) and work to a date (the date of the wedding).

6. Hire a personal trainer

A personal trainer is more than someone who counts your reps and writes your workouts. A PT will motivate you, push you to your best and get you results. It’s a person you can always ask any health/fitness related questions to and even if they don’t know they will find out for you. They will correct imbalances in your body, fix you posture and make you huge (or little).

Mind you this is what a GOOD PT should do for you (I’ve heard of PT’s coming to your house at 6am to wake you up and take you training), unfortunately there are a lot of people out there who just do PT thinking it will be an easy job or because they don’t know what else to do.

It is important when choosing a PT to keep your eye out for good ones, watch them in the gym with other clients, do they seem completely focused on their client? Ask their clients if they like the trainer or not. Do your homework and make a good choice..

7. Don’t forget to train your willpower

I once read ‘Willpower is like a muscle, the more you exercise it, the easier it is to use’. The more you say no to the unhealthy stuff and say yes to the good stuff, the easier it becomes to repeat it.  But also like a muscle, if you stop using your willpower it will get weaker and suddenly it will be harder to ‘just say no’. So keep it strong and be consistent and it will make life easier for you.

Conclusion

As you can see, the key to living a successful healthy lifestyle is variety and setting goals. Guess what?? That’s the key to a successful in general! . It should be fun to live healthy, not a chore!!