Why I lift and maybe why you should start...

     It was a bit after 5:00pm and the evening rush started to come in.  Leaning on my elbows against the stationary bike, they quivered, my arms too weak to support myself upright.  My  shoe laces whipped my screamingly sore legs with each pedal, untied from an innumerable amount of calf raises, as I watched the gym floor become flooded with its after-work patrons.  They shuffled in one by one, in pairs, or in groups; some coming across familiar faces and other seeking solitude to venture solo.  Pedaling on, nobody dilly dallied, everybody was doing something.  Footsteps fell heavy in the aerobics room, cables ran smoothly across pulleys, barbells and dumbbells came crashing down to the ground, and sweat fell onto the belts of the treadmills.  Split tank tops, yoga pants, heavy hoodies, running shoes, straps, wraps, and belts; we were all equipped to go to work.  There is something deeper than the face value.

      The test wasn't good enough, my classmates and I had been shut down saying our grades were not perfect enough and would have to retake out Kanji test.  The day before was a letdown as my marketing test was not as stupendous as it was hoped.  The day before that I was trembling in my shoes proposing an argument of an essay to a leader in the field of modern Chinese history that may have been swatted down. 

But it didn't matter.

     I had 250lbs on the bar and another 200lbs in bands attached sitting my my back as I was going down for the tenth rep, and damned if it wasn't coming back up.  I had 500lbs on the floor, the bar and my palms dusted in magnesium carbonate, belt snugged, and only focused on ripping the weight off the face of the floor.  I had 280lbs in my hands over my neck, lowering the bar, and making its only objective to come back up or face otherwise.  There is only ever one focus.

     This world is full of everything from the bad luck, the accidental, the unfortunate, and the dreadful.  The small things build in the form of annoyances, turning into stress, adding to the tragedy we may call our lives and it's never ideal.

     The car you fixed came back broken down, your boss gave you shit for not making that sale, your teacher hated your thesis, your dog shit on the carpet, you package didn't get delivered on time, you woke up late and started your day off wrong, spouse is fighting with you, death in the family, missed a bill.  There's a lot in life we cannot control.

     Maybe an hour or maybe two hours there is complete control and clear objectives.  There is no failure because there is always success in even trying.  Everything is something to be proud of whether it be five more pounds to your max lift, another rep with a weight you've been working at, a faster mile run, another centimeter to your arms, that extra pound lost; there is no failure in even the smallest accomplishment regardless of me being the biggest or the baddest or not.

     It's a "lift life", a "swole life", the "fit life"; all the same.  Humans all have a desire to better themselves in one way or another and this has never let me down.  Everything I do is in my control whether it's moving a max weight, or making sure my inner traps come to meet my rear delts, it's all the same.  

     There's sweat, tears, and sometimes blood and pain, but there's is always an improvement and solitude.  There's always satisfaction in knowing that although sometimes I can't give my all, I came in and tried.  The shaking in my arms, the swelling in my legs, and the nagging shoe laces whipping against my ankles were a sign of something greater and reaffirm me of a feeling, a feeling nobody wouldn't want even if they tried to ignore it. 

  -Pq

What we learned at camp - Part 1

Although we are a little late in the game to start reporting our coverage, useful knowledge is something that doesn't age.  Back in February I was fortunate enough to attend the 2013 Universal Nutrition Bodybuilding Camp at Fit Gym in Philadelphia with my brother, father and a few other aspiring friends of mine eager to learn from the best.  The event included more swag than you can handle, free samples of their products, six stations with personal instruction from their athletes as well as a question and answer session for the price of $10 (I know right?)  Luckily we were able to attend and can pass the knowledge onto anyone who stumbles across this as it will be broken down into the sections we had encountered; chest, arms, legs, back, abs and shoulders.  In honor of my most recent workout I'm going to go over chest which was taught by Josh Halladay and bodybuilding legend Greg Long. 

Greg Long; don't worry he's still jacked.

We had twenty minutes and there was no time wasted.  Greg Long was a man who knew what he expected out of his athletes and was going to hold you to it ready or not.  The four of us were immediately seated on an incline hammer strength machine unloaded and told to press as fast and tight as possible for fourteen reps, then we got off and the next person went; each with the former Mr. Universe egging us on, no bullshit.  We rotated fast and after each set a 45lb plate was added to each side, and then another.  Why was this so?  During the mayhem we were put through Mr. Long taught us about varying intensity.  The poundage was light but the motion was fast and fierce with a longer amount of reps (14-16 range) to use our own explosiveness to engage differently than a slow repetition.  Without realizing it we also had incredibly short rest periods between sets with some in the 45 second range.  This was all crucial and led to a tempo that was not at your body's normal pace which wore it faster than waiting for conventional rest periods of a minute or longer.  He had also emphasized a training partner, which explains why he was right in our face the entire time.  Not only was somebody cheering us on but when our explosiveness died down a partner was there to spot but also force the repetitions to make the target goal with no exceptions. 

Josh Halladay

After we had spend a few minutes with Mr. Long we were given the Josh Halladay treatment.  After a volunteer was selected there was no questioning this big man telling you to get in a push-up position and put your feet on a bench.  Before we knew it we had a 45lb plate on our backs and were being barked at to pound out push-up after push-up until we kissed the ground.  You'd think the mercy was when he removed it but not a chance.  John was pushing on our backs, ignoring rep count and pushing us further and further.  We all kissed the ground a second time until his hand backed off and we kept going before collapsing and kissing the ground a final time.  After helping us up we realized the torture was a bit of a body weight drop-set.  Heavy presses can be fine and dandy but nothing beats ripping through push-ups at the end of a chest workout to throw it into muscular chaos; and that it did.

Tim getting the good ol' Halladay special.

What we took away was a bit of insight regarding how weight does not have to be the main factor and how much tempo can effect our efforts toward maximum hypertrophy.  Simply exchanging the heavy slow blows for fast, and sometimes forced if necessary, can make the difference between having a big chest and a chest well conditioned with striations to turn heads.

Don't just take this for granted with chest workouts, this can be applied to any spectrum of someone's workout routine as explosiveness is the new slow. 

Two final pieces of advice before parting to the next station was to utilize a training partner as much as possible and the realization that weight is a mindset.  While I typically train alone but after working with Mr. Long it was clear how effective a partner can be so long as they can keep up.  And with regards to the weight, it was almost irrelevant.  "It's not going to be the same workout every time.  What you did last week and how much weight you used might have worked last time but isn't going to be the same this time around."  While I admit that quote was paraphrased the importance lies in what your body is telling you from rep to rep, set to set, workout to workout and week to week.  It's about growing, adapting and making the necessary changes for your growth that makes you good at this sport rather than the quantity you can move.  Unless you want to be a power lifter... whatever floats your boat.

-Pq

Don't worry... they made up.  

TRYING ON MAGNUM FOR SIZE - A sample look at Opus!

While the world of sports supplementation is as much diverse as the general grocery market it get cluttered with tons of products full of synthetic products that are made to be just as effective but less expensive.  Artificial sugars, flavors, colors and man-made extracts that some people would consider unnatural by any means when it comes to food or supplementation. 

Enter the world of Magnum Nutraceuticals (heh get it?  natural!) where the goal is to seemingly provide you with the best in sports supplementation as but naturally without adding additional stimulants or synthetic products.  Recently I decided to snag a sample packed of their "natural" pre-workout booster Opus.  Having thought that this kind of product was more of a gag as being "natural" I threw it in my smart shake and casually headed to the gym.  I must say that as far as a blue raspberry flavor is concerned, it was one of the most delicious and savory tastes I have ever had.  Almost like cotton candy it was mild with no punch and no grit as it all two servings dissolved easily within 10 ounces but I was beginning to think I could be wrong about the casual aspect of it all. 

About ten minutes later I had started warming up my shoulders and minor pectorals for a relentless chest workout when the Opus came into effect.  Like Mike O'hearn's vicious huskies were ready to attack me I felt chills and tingles through my body, a rush of heat pushing through my veins and a hot sweat which I could feel make its way through each and every pore in my body.  I was beginning to think this was something more than an ordinary workout.....

He's really a super nice guy.

Energy came fierce and in incredible quantities that it almost scared me although I never felt out of control.  Jitters were non-existent (a typical side effect of excessive caffeine) and I felt more primed for a workout having been sick and dieting down than I would have at the peak of my last bulking phase. It's been a long time since I've had the barbaric urge to relentlessly pound my way through any workout without no remorse or concern for my own body that it was almost as if Mr. O'hearn was right in my face screaming at me to push out more reps with fiery chains and his dogs barking, snarling and ready to attack if I didn't make the most of each rep.  

Muscular strength and endurance also seemed as relentless allowing me to push and truck on, nothing seemed to be quite enough to satisfy this workout.  The pump was insane and my chest still feeling quite inflated through and still after a mile run, sauna and shower.  All things considered I was quite surprised that something with no creatine or caffeine could deliver such a punch but I wasn't sickly or upset by it's effects.

The bottom line is this.... Well.... it's hard to put into words.  We're so used to the staples of pre-workouts being caffeine, ginseng or even taurine that this was a complete surprise.  Would I consider dropping some money on this anabolic powerhouse at roughly $.80 a servings?  Yes

Just.... Yes...

-Pq

This is a filler article before something bigger.... deal.

Well it's been quite a bit since we were able to post an article but Nick and I are still here.  Being full time students is wearing a bit thin but we're looking to launch an article of our coverage as we attend the 2013 Universal Nutrition Bodybuilding Camp in Philadelphia.  Yup.... it's a four hour session with hands-on training with a few Universal athletes such as Antoine Vaillant and Evan Centopani.  We're fully prepared to be emasculated my some of the biggest monsters in the game and hopefully strike a few poses as I will be attempting to prep for the Philadelphia Pro/Am in May.

We will return soon with dieting tips, a plethora of new training ideas from the pro's themselves and coverage of the event itself.

<3

-Pq

Bro Habits - Part 1

Time and time again we frequent the gym and do things that we typically would not do on a day-to-day basis.  On the other hand, we also see things that other people do and frequently judge them.  No matter what skill level they are, or even yourself, we still find a way to point out those things that "that douche" does or even "that chick" (to be fair to both sides).  We're now going to explore a few gym pet peeves otherwise overlooked by the majority of the fitness community that often give real athletes and bodybuilders an embarrassing aura.  These are Buff-U's Bro Habits Part 1

Yoga Pants
Now as any real member of the male community will proudly admit, we can appreciate a decent pair of yoga pants.  Not only are they functional for exercising in the gym but are greatly appreciated by the male population for a woman being able to pull these off going out to the bars and strolling around campus when there is little time to prepare a decent outfit for the day (yup we appreciate that).

This is not ok...

 










Unfortunately with every upside to a fad like this, there is a downside and it strikes with a furious vengeance.

 The real issue is not that larger women wear these in public (you can do whatever you want, I'm sure there's a market for it) but the fact that they become labored with holding in, well, yourself, that the wearer's skin tone becomes apparent.  Knowing how white a white girl is and how black a black girl is only exacerbates how vulgar wearing a pair of pants can be.  Please stop this.  I admire you're willing to sweat in these for further self improvement but there has to be a limit and courtesy for anything living around you must be considered.

That Stupid Half Shirt Thing

Sick kutz, brah.

 I'll admit that I don't know the name for it and really hope there isn't a technical one.  From my early high school gym adventures there were always a group of guys who had the urge to butcher their favorite athletic oriented shirt in an effort to modify it into the worst looking tank top on the face of the planet.  Not only that, the majority of the guys who do this are nowhere accredited enough in their physique of lifting credentials to warrant showing off their "sick cuts, brah."



Brah quite frankly, if there's a need to modify a shirt to accentuate how "jack3d" you really are then the fashion should be the least of your concerns.  Sometimes a tank top is acceptable, a wife beater is pushing it,  but this is just too much.  I hate this and I hate you for doing it.

Curling In Front Of The Mirror

The more you watch yourself, the more anabolic...it's science.

Every single gym I know has a mirror and every single gym that has a mirror has their typical set of dumbbell racks.  Now directly in front of every single dumbbell rack in every single gym is a set of egotistical dirt bags checking out their pump in the mirror while doing half-assed bicep curls.  

I'll admit to doing this because of purposes of form but it's done about ten feet away from the dumbbell racks and away from any walking zone of high traffic.  Understandably it's ok to watch form and sometimes you want to check out progress, we understand, but get the hell out of the way.

With love,

-Pq

Trying to be the big man on your college campus?

Every student in college, that is attempting to be a bodybuilder, wants to be the biggest and strongest person in the gym in college. Well a great man named Steve Cook has the answer. You may have seen him on Bodybuilding.com once or twice. Cook is a Bodybuilding.com spokes model, Optimum Nutrition athlete and IFBB Pro Men's Physique Competitor.  Cook took time out of his busy life to compose this great training program.

































(The man himself (Steve Cook), just chillin')

I have seen outstanding results in just 6 weeks of the 12 week trainer. I have also seen other people in my gym doing the same routine and have heard nothing but great things.

Being a college graduate Cook understands this is an exciting and new area to explore in a young adult's life. Naturally this program is called Big Man on Campus, because it is directed toward a college students, and has so much insight to offer. First of all there is five sections: nutrition, supplementation, goal setting, time management and life style.  The five sections are meant to break down the complicated life of a college student. Cook discusses in short videos (6-10 minutes) what you can expect being a college student and building muscle.

As I am currently enrolled in college, I thought to myself, "eh...I am on campus, why not try and be the big man?" 




The first week I was sore, very sore. I introduced my body to something I have done before but haven't done in a while, dropsets.  A drop set is, using heavier weight to get to a point of failure, then picking up a lighter weight, and doing the same exercise to failure. For example, you are doing an incline dumbell press with 70 pound dumbells, you get to 10 reps and you can't do any more.  Here is where the fun starts, pick up a weight that is 30-50 percent lighter, so lets say 45 pound dumbells and try to match that rep range immediately after you put down the 70's. Sound easy right?

The idea is simple, just keep going. One thing I want to stress is form.  You can do dropsets till your arms fall off, but if your not hitting the muscles the right way you won't see a change or feel the pump where you want.  Remember from before, the strech, then a contraction? Keep that in mind and have that mind muscle connection on the specific muscle group.

There is more to this program and all you need to do it take the time and watch the videos it's a lot to write out and explain.  Cook does a great job of stressing the importance that this is a lifestyle change and everything needs to be in check.  From your nutrition, training, supplementation, time management and life choices, Cook understands the college life and makes it all clear and easy to follow.

I have taken tips from this that I will alway remember as a progress further not only into the sport of bodybuilding, but in life.

Hyper Hypertrophy - 3 special sets you're most likely not doing

Everybody that has ever set foot in a gym has done a "set" of something with an X amount of repetitions.... duh.  The problem is that people sometimes get too comfortable and adjust to the typical sets with a given rep range.  Sometimes this isn't enough and something is further required to really shock your muscles into hypertrophy for more growth.  When your workouts are looking prime, your failure points and weights are dialed in it's time to start tweaking your sets into something more savage (yeah we're going there.)

Triple Drop Sets
If anyone has every done Neil Hill's Y3T - 9 Week Trainer then you know all about these but can still be incorporated into your workout to help maximize gains.  Well what is a triple drop set?  It's much more than your standard 8-12 rep range because it's tripled.  How?  By lowering the weight each time. 

Here's how it breaks down per set for something simply like chest fly's.  
1. Pick a weight with for a desired failure point and carry out your set normally until failure
2. Without resting, lower the weight in accordance to fail within the same rep range and work again until failure
3. Drop the weight a final time, without rest, and perform the same rep range. 


Hill's program has you go through this with varying rep ranges of 10-12 or 14-16 per drop depending on the workout.  I personally find satisfaction in starting this out heavy for a solid 8 reps and gradually increasing the rep target to the 14-16 range if possible. This is definitely something to gear toward the end of your workout and can be combined to enhance endurance and super muscular breakdown of your troubled areas.  

Another cool tip for triple drop sets?
Use them on a final set of an exercise.  Why stop at the last rep of your leg press?  Throw some plates off, bang out another few reps and drop the weight again!  It's a last ditch effort to milk each exercise for what it can truly be worth. 

Breathing Ladders
Taking a page from The Governator's Blog is something called a Breathing Ladder.  This is a sort of pyramid of repetitions that are determined by your breathing; stay with me. 

The ladder works out like this (using squats as an example):
1 squat - 1 breath
2 squats - 2 breaths
3 squats - 3 breaths
4 squats - 4 breaths
5 squats - 5 breaths
6 squats - 6 breaths
7 squats - 7 breaths
8 squats - 8 breaths
9 squats – 9 breaths
10 squats - 10 breaths

Each is basically it's own set but rest is determined by your own breathing intervals.  When I use these, adjusting the weight accordingly, it can be an helpful tool to incorporate a lot volume into a workout as well as keeping the exercise heavy and proper without beating myself to death.

This is great to throw either in the beginning or middle of a workout and is meant for compound movements after a good warmup.  Further isolation really gets the blood flow to all the right spots once you're good and primed after these.  

Timed Sets

Sometimes a muscle won't grow, you get mad and need to get savage... it's ok we feel you.  Time to let loose and hit up some timed sets and always leads to great experimentation.  The basic idea is to set a timer (3-4 minutes can do it for me) and just go. 

Had enough of chest day? Hop on a chest press machine and start pressing!
Need to get those abs hurting? Hop on a bench and start crunching!
Legs not busting out of those pants, yet?  Grab a squat rack or leg press and get going!

They key is not to go heavy but to pick a weight that the first reps can be obtained relatively easy.  After that you still might have another three minutes to go and will have to take pauses and pump out as many as you can before resting.  The lighter the weight will yield a higher volume and lower injury chances (which is what I prefer). 

3:33 mark shows Antione Vaillant going heavy on deadlifts at the end of his back workout.  This is right where the maniacal kind of volume and little rest needs to be.  This is a great finisher to those stubborn parts that you're just sick and fucking tired of.  



-Pq

Building Your Wingsuit: My Biggest Tips for Your Biggest Back

It's not touched often, it isn't touched hard and its something that can be accomplished alone; of course I'm talking about your back.  Overshadowed by the biggest "Bro exercises" such as the flat "Bro" bench, "Bro" shrugs and "Bro" dumbell curls it seems overshadowed what a big back can do for the rest of your routine.  While "Bro" shrugs can help get you decent traps it takes more to build your Trapezius (traps) and Latissmus dorsi (lats) muscles.

Keeping in mind that the back muscles (when used correctly) are also incorporated into solid benching and chest training.   For myself it has also generated a very strong core and provided a basis for not only busting any moderately fitting dress shirt but granted the ability to carry through many exercises that are heavy on core stabilization (big squats anyone?)

While I admit it might be one of my favorite muscle groups to train, because of its strength I have been able to breeze other muscle groups up with greater confidence and encourage others to do the same for their backs.  I have my reasons for this and here are some tips to keep in mind.

Don't Be Afraid
This is the most important in my book and should be top for everyone else as well.  It is easy to keep in mind that any type of back work should be kept fearless.  What does that mean?  The majority of the exercises going into building your lats and traps are a type of pulling or rowing exercise in which the weight is pulled toward you.  Whereas most exercises are pressed away and might require a spotter (or serious balls if you want to do it on your own), exercises like squats or chest pressing can be intimidating and worrisome when trying to work to your limits.

Most negative motion of back work is typically falling away from you making it easy to stick with limit smashing lifts or endure longer repetitions without being afraid.  The same goes for incorporating your biceps into a routine; the weight is generally pulled toward you and leaves little room for dropping it on yourself.  While none of this isn't meant to forget about muscle contractions and form it is certainly a key element in telling your mind to shut up and let you lift.

Getting A Grip

Antoine Vaillant uses em... like a boss.

One of the biggest hurdles to overcome while building your back is your grip.  The muscles in your forearms will let your grip fail way before your desired rep range for working your back; unless you have forearms bigger than your biceps then maybe.  The best way to work around this is to invest in some decent lifting straps. 

They can be had for under $10, or even free when shopping with some sites, and will drastically improve your back game.  Mostly made of padded neoprene they can wrap around any bar giving your grip a better chance of hanging on while moving through your routine.

Don't just limit it to dead lifting either.  Rows, pulldowns, pullups and even moves like romanian dead lifts (for legs) will help you up the weight and use your target weight.  Personally I've even gone so far as to keep them on for heavy curls or even high rep curls, once fatigue starts setting in, as my biceps will outwork my grip any day.

Speaking of grip this is a good place to mention the grip position itself for bar work.  Many people go as wide as they possibly can while pulling down or not wide at all.  The beauty of working your back is that different grips will have different effects but so long as they make the contraction in the desired muscle groups.  If it's too far and you can's completely contract your back, ditch it and go narrow.  If you're not squeezing you're not gaining. 

Working With Your Elbows
Wait.... what?  
You heard me..... I said ELBOWS.    In between sets I people watch and one of the biggest flaws I see while performing exercises such as the pulldown or any kind of row is there people put their hands.  The majority of the time is spend trying to push their hands farther down than their chest or ram them into their stomach.  Watching this makes my shoulder hurt as well as pains me to see people take the load off of their backs and transfers it to well.... I don't want to know.

The best bet is to start focusing on how deep your elbows go through the movement and how hard the contraction is rather than how far the bar can be pulled.  I've found by bringing my elbows next to my lats (on any pulling or rowing motion), sticking my chest out and contracting my back (squeezing traps and widening lats if possible) gives me the best possible contraction.

Do It One Handed ;)

This one speaks for itself.  By using one arm for the same exercises you can help focus each side when you might be prone to giving a certain arm the favorite treatment (we're all guilty of it at times).  Not only will this knock your pride down a bit into focusing on the contractions than weight but can also serve to pre-fatigue. 

Focusing on one arm at a time for the first two sets can really work your back early.  Following this up with an additional one or two sets with both arms involved will help push each side past their failure points.  It's kind of like productive cheating....

A good dual pulley lat pullown machine, hammer high/low row or even single pulley can be improvised with the right handle.  Don't forget to look for plenty of dumbell work as well as one handed pullups for the daring.

Bring The Gun Show
Through these motions you are using a good amount of bicep effort to help power the weight around making this a prime opportunity to hit them at the end of your back routine.  Warm-up will be minimal as they are already heated from your back workout and can easily be fatigued in as little as two exercises long as the motion is full and the contraction is proper. 

With being said, this is a sample workout of what I've been using to shock myself out of Y3T and get my heart rate higher and will be part of my new secret split (coming pretty soon.)  Everything can be substituted for another piece of equipment and yes, there will be pre-fatiguing.  Give it a try if you dare ;)

-Pq

• 4-5 minutes of foam rolling
• T-Bar Row (substitute low pulley row)
• 2-3 warm-up sets
• 3 working sets reaching failure between 8-12
• Lat pulldown (everyone has this)
• 3 Working sets of 15-20
• Low hammer row (substitute bent over dumbell rows)
• 2 working sets 20-25
• Focus on 1 arm at a time
• Pullups (keep rest short; appx 30-45 seconds)
• 3 sets until failure changing grip each time
• Wide, medium/neutral and then narrow
• Pullup assist can be used so shoot for 10-12 reps with adjusted weight
• Bicep curl machine
• 2 Warm-up Sets
• 2 Working Sets of triple drop sets
• each drop should achieve between 12-16 repetitions
• Dumbell Curls (the big finish!)
• 3 working sets of 18-20 reps per arm
• Note:  I sometimes cut this down to two sets and go for two sets of spider barbell curls depending on my mood :)
• Finish strong with 3 sets of oblique work (twisting situps rock or weighted side bends)
• 7-10 Rounds of Hiit cardio