Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Back To The Battle Grounds!

After taking 3 weeks off to let my body rest, I've had enough! It's time to reenter the battle grounds! My main focus is to reintroduce my body to the weights using basic movements, lots of unilateral lower body work and dumbbell work for the upper body. I'm slowly increasing the volume and intensity as time goes on. I'm also trying to keep my routine as balanced as possible.

If you aren't custom to making your routine's "balanced" then I suggest taking a look at this article by Leith Darkin on DieselCrew.com

Anyways this is how I've set up my split:

-4 days: squat training, overhead pressing and chin-ups (aka vertical push/pull), deadlift training, bench and row training (aka horizontal push/pull)

-I only train 3 times a week with an extra vanity or conditioning day done on the weekend (not done heavy. This day should not interfere with recovery and the week to come) so the cycle looks like this:

Week 1

Monday: Squat training
Tuesday: off
Wednesday: Vertical push/pull
Thursday: off
Friday: Deadlift training
Saturday: optional
Sunday: off

Week 2

Monday: Horizontal push/pull
Tuesday: off
Wednesday: Squat training
Thursday: off
Friday: Vertical push/pull
Saturday: optional
Sunday: off

So there is always an extra day that carries over to the next week. If you've used Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 routine then you probably recognize the layout (eventually I'll be getting into a modified version of Jim's routine).

So My first day of training was for the squat. This being the first day back in a while I took it easy and kept lots of reps in the tank. The workout looked like this:

Day 1:

A1: Front squat 3x5

B1: Split squats 3x10
B2: Elevated hip thrusts 3x10

C3: TRX body saw/knee tuck 3x10 (third variation on video)

Believe it or not I was sore as hell starting about 2 hours after this session up until my warm up for my deadlift training day! Damn...hopefully doesn't take long to get back into the swing of things

Day 2: Vertical push/pull

A1: 1 arm dumbbell push press (clean off of ground on first rep) 3x5ea

B1: Standing dumbbell military press 3x10
B2: Chin-ups 3x10

-Shoulders were pretty sore after this. Could tell my elbows need some time to get use to the forces put on them during pressing motions.

Day 3: Deadlift training

A1: deadlift 3x3

B1: deadlift 4x8
B2: back lunges 4x10 ea

C1: TRX Side bridge 3x10 ea (first video on video)

-Holy Crap! back and ass were sore as hell! Love it!

Day 4: horizontal push/pull

A1: Dumbbell press 3x5

B1: Incline dumbbell press 3x10
B2: Dumbbell row 3x10 ea

C1: 50 reps each TRX push ups and inverted rows. Timed for conditioning

That pretty much caps it off. No extra workout was done on the first week. I'll update you guys on my second cycle through once I'm done it. I'll be adding in a little bit more volume and increasing the weights slowly. That's it for now! Good luck on all your Fitness goals and adventures!

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Strength And Conditioning: The Real Deal

I just recently turned 25. I’ve been in the fitness industry for nearly seven years. In respects to most strength and performance coaches or personal trainers, I’m just a baby. And in the industry sense, I may be just barely growing one sweet ass prepubescent porn-stache. Nonetheless, I have developed a profound ability beyond my years to sniff through the crap and find what’s real.

I’ve seen many cookie cutter trainers emulating routines from bodybuilding magazines, while their clients really have no clue that they are being swindled. People assume if they are paying an “expert” they are getting “expert service”. Over time I’ve only met a select few warriors and bringers of truth who can actually deliver above and beyond what people want (and need).

I’m very excited to let you know that a colleague of mine, who is one of those select few that provide an outstanding service, will be opening up a new personal training facility!

This is not an advertisement. It’s my duty as a lover of training and the truth to tell you what’s the real deal. Just in time for the new years, Isaac Payne, is opening Pure Payne Strength And Conditioning.

Whether you’ve finally decided to put in the work to reach your 2010 fitness goals, or you have already begun the battle to a better you, I know Isaac will get you where you want to be and beyond.

To give you a taste of what’s to come at Pure Payne Strength And Conditioning, Isaac has agreed to answer some of my questions.

Iron Athletics: Tell us a little about yourself? What sparked your passion for training?

Payne: Well, I'm not quite sure how or when exactly I decided that I wanted to work in the fitness industry but I knew that I always enjoyed playing sports, being active and simply looking good and feeling good. Right out of high school, I went into a Business Administration program (which probably would have served me well today) and flunked out. From there, I decided to take some Human Kinetics courses. I knew that I was on the right path when I started getting better grades and really enjoying what I was learning. From there, my passion just grew as I started getting my feet wet working as a trainer part time throughout school and learning how to put together programs for different types of clientele.

IA: Ah yes, business administration would have been good to study for myself as well! Where is your facility located?

Payne: My facility is located inside of Razor Fitness at 6351 Westminster Hwy in Richmond.

IA: Besides the usual, what type of equipment do you use?

Payne: As far as equipment goes, I have a lot of great stuff. I have kettlebells, tires, slideboards, sleds, bumper plates, glute/ham raise, and lots of open space to run wild!

IA: My favorite thing! Open spaces to run wild in. The next question isn’t necessarily a direct question about your training facility, but rather to give people an idea of your views. What do you think of the Vancouver fitness community? What’s Missing? And what are you bringing to the table that separates you from the rest of the pack?

Payne: I think the Vancouver fitness community is pretty good compared to other major cities. Vancouver is a very active and health conscious community. I think what is missing to get people to really achieve their goals is more education and a higher standard of service from fitness professionals. There seems to be too much variance in the level of knowledge and experience among trainers and other professionals. The media doesn't help either by deceiving people into thinking they can get great results with little to no effort. What separates me from other trainers I feel is that I am always making a conscious effort to stay on top of what is the most current and effective methods to help people achieve their goals. That includes training methods as well as nutrition because we all know the gym and the kitchen are inseparable. Too many people underestimate the impact of their diets on their overall success. Aside from that, I think I really make it a priority to build a strong rapport with all of my clients since they rely on me to keep them motivated and consistent with their program.

IA: How would you explain your training?

Payne: I guess I would explain my training as intense yet effective. It provides a lot of variety, which keeps people interested (and nervous at times), but it also makes it fun so their workouts don't feel like a chore or a job.

IA: Oh I’ve seen the cold sweats your clients experience when you walk in the room. Kidding aside, what can people expect the moment they step into Pure Payne?

Payne: People can expect to get thorough and intense workouts that are polar opposite to any traditional gym program they have ever participated in. No machines, no long, slow cardio, no isolation movements, just good old fashion training that will leave you feeling like a new person after every workout.

IA: Could you give the IA readers an example training session someone might go through at Pure Payne?

Payne: A typical training session might look something like this:

warm-up

1a) 2 arm kb swing 15

1b) swiss ball ham curls 15

1c) swiss ball mtn climbers 10ea

3 sets

workout

2a) sumo deadlifts 8/8/5/5

2b) walking sled rows 20 meters

4sets

3a) tire flips 8

3b) glute/ham raises 10

4 sets

and a conditioning set to finish

4a) box jumps 10

4b) mb twist 20

as many sets in 5 mins

IA: Could you give us some closing thoughts, advice, or encouragement you’d like to give to the people reading

Payne: At the end of the day, people need to take a look in the mirror and ask themselves if they are happy with the progress they are making with their training program. Regardless of whether your goals are weight loss, strength, speed, or conditioning, you have to ask yourself are achieving success and if you're not then something has to change. Too many people fall into a "comfort zone" and never really improve upon themselves. People need to be more conscious of what they're eating and increase the intensity and efficiency of how they train. I guess easier said than done, but nothing in life worth having ever comes easy.

IA: Finally how can people contact you?

Payne: I can be reached at 604-764-7467 or email at sizemicstrength@hotmail.com. Purepayne.ca coming soon!

There it is gym-lovers. 2010 is here and I’m sure your scheming ways to reach your goals. All in all, best of luck and keep your head up in these rainy days to come. In the end, it’s so worth it.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

15 Things I've Learned In Life And In The Gym In 2009

1. Recovery! I’m learning to incorporate it rather than fight it

2. The City makes me bitter! To the people who live in the city: How many random people on the street have said happy new years to you? How many random people have you said happy new years to? Not many if any. Now I’ll ask the same to people who live in a small town? Big difference I’m sure.

3. Turns out, I love to work; every day I’m not working I miss it and act like a crazy person.

4. I still have a lot to learn, especially from those who are doing things right.

5. Nothing comes easy. I use to think if I tried hard enough 95% of the way something (call it divine interventions…or whatever you want to call it) would help me out the other 5%. This isn’t the case…you have to go all the way.

6. Vancouver really lacks a good bar! If anyone knows of one please let me know! Cause I’m yet to experience it.

7. I need to get to bed at a good time so I stop fucking sleeping in.

8. Family is #1. With them you can get through anything

9. I spend too much damn useless time on the computer

10. As much as I love to train hard in the gym, sometimes you have to stay away from it. I hadn’t taken any substantial time off from training in over a year and nagging injuries started to show up. I thought I just needed to do more work on prehabing weaknesses. It wasn’t until I was talking to a veteran of the weight game that it clued in. He said “I know this sounds crazy to you right now…but have you ever thought of taking time off?” I thought about it…thought it was crazy, but ultimately decided to give it a shot. By the end of the 3-week lay off I felt great!

11. My body gets the best results on the simplest routines. Every time I try something new and crazy I get disappointed and get back to the bread and butter of compound lifts, a couple accessories, and maybe a couple conditioning drills. Cutting the Crap makes your workouts WAY more productive.

12. There are very few people in this world that are ready and willing to get shit done…are you one of them or are you just talking out of your ass?

13. I need to stretch more and drink more damn water!

14. If you take lower body training serious, it’s really fucking hard to find good jeans that won’t crap out on you in 3 months. All I see is damn skinny jeans…are you kidding me!? I’m not that big, but that shit won’t even go past my knees.

15. In business people all of a sudden become two-faced. Words all of a sudden take double meanings. Sincerity and good ol’ honesty don’t seem to get you far.