Author Archives: oliver bailey fitness

Beginner mistakes

27 Wednesday Aug 2014

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When i first got into training i had little to no idea of what i was doing, the only thing i wanted to do was put in muscle and look ripped. I spent the best part of 6 months picking up random weights and trying out different resistance machines before i actually began to build knowledge and a good understanding of how to actually workout. This is common for most beginners so If you are fairly new to weight training I’m going to give you a few tips on how to skip the ‘ i have no clue what I’m doing stage’ 

SET GOALS

For me this is one of the most important things you can do, set goals and make sure they are achievable. Knowing what you want to achieve is great, you can then begin to think up ways you can achieve them opposed to just training for the sake of training.

 

START WITH COMPOUND LIFTS

I would highly recommend performing the compound lifts to build your all round strength before you start to isolate muscle groups. Here are the main lifts and presses you should be incorperating into your workouts:

  • Squats
  • Deadlfts
  • Military press 
  • Barbell row 
  • Bench press

* I would definitely add dips and pull ups into your regime also.

 

NOT HAVING A PLAN

 To help you achieve your goals you need to actually have a plan and know what your doing. If your training say 3-4 times a week make sure you know what your doing every day and what muscle group you are training, this will also help you keep track of your progress as every few weeks you will find that certain exercises will become easier and then you can begin to up the weight or intensity.

 

NOT HAVING A MEAL PLAN

When your starting out your body will most likely ache like crazy because its not always used to the exercises and movements you are doing so its going to need all the nutrients it can possibly get in order to help the body recover and grow. So make sure you have a solid diet and your getting in plenty or protein and carbs in order to fuel your body.

 

Now you know what to do and what not to do so please take some of these tips on board and you will be well on your way to making some good gains!

Complete 6 pack abs

27 Wednesday Aug 2014

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There are so many different views when it comes to how to actually get a perfect 6 pack.The other day i mentioned that abs are made in the kitchen which is completely true but I have also personally found that you need to train abs how you train the rest of your body, for example when you train deltoids you tend to hit every angle, when you train chest you also train every angle and perfrom different presses and movements that will in time will developed a well rounded muscle. So when it comes to abs why don’t you do the same? Another muscle that usually gets ignored are your internal and external obliques, well trained and ripped obliques gives you a great looking stomach and also helps the classic v line cut into your lower abs. I tend to hit abs with weight so I’m getting a rep range of 10-15 and then also mix it up with high rep exercises. Take this into consideration next time you hit your abs!

Train S.M.A.R.T

25 Monday Aug 2014

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 Aimlessly walking around your gym jumping from machine to machine and swinging a few dumbbells around or even doing half hearted cardio workouts over your local park or in your back garden will result in little to no progress. You need to be training S.M.A.R.T 

S – specific -Be specific on what you are actually trying to do, if your goal is weight loss you need to stop the muscle building exercises or vice versa.

M – measurable – Make sure your workout programme is measurable. Weigh yourself frequently and also up your workout intensity, how will you ever progress if you use the same weights or run at the same pace at the same time?

A – attainable -Your goals must be attainable! Not to difficult or to easy. Work at your own pace which you feel is best for you.

R – realistic – One of the most important things when it comes to muscle growth, weight loss, fitness improvement is being realistic, everyone is different and everyone make progress in their own time but thinking its possible to lose a stone in a week or put on 50lbs of muscle over night will result in massive dissapointment.

T – time-oriented – Everything takes time! make sure you have a schedule and you actually stick to it.

 

Now you know what SMART means make sure you remember it and you actually apply it.

Another way of training smart is to actually stop thinking about exercise as something physical and start actually using your brain when it comes to achieving your goals. I notice that people often lose track of how long they have been doing a certain workout for or how much weight they can lift. Start keeping track of what you do in the gym. By this i mean note down how much weight you are bench pressing, note down how you feel after doing 30 minutes on a cross trainer at a specific intensity. If something isn’t working you need to switch it up. This is how you make improvement!

 

 

 

 

Abs in the morning

24 Sunday Aug 2014

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This morning I flew back from Edinburgh where I’ve been staying for the past month to london. It was early start so I thought id get a quick workout In because I highly doubt I’ll get time throughout today to actually train properly. I tend to do a lot of ab work In the morning because personally I feel a much better contraction of my abs and obliques due to having little fluids or food in my body!

Here’s the workout I did:

3 Sets
50 crunches
40 alternating crunch
30 leg raise
20 double crunch

How many reps?

22 Friday Aug 2014

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” how many reps should i do?” i get asked this a lot typically when guys are weight training so I’m I’m going to clear up a few myths and give some advice on what i feel has worked for me. I personally go for anything from 10-15 repetitions purely because for me it gives me a great pump and I’ve still been able to build lean muscle and also gain strength using this rep range. However most commonly you will hear that anything from 4-8 reps is for strength training and 8-12 is usually muscle hypertrophy. Thats not to say that doing 4-8 reps won’t result in muscle growth because usually with any type of strength gains muscle gains will come hand in hand. Anyone experimenting with different weight training programmes and trying different rep ranges needs to remember that what works for someone may not work for yourself so i would recommend to just have fun with it and see what works best for you. Another point i wanted to focus on is that doing for example a classic muscle building 8-12 rep range will not necessarily build you muscle if your diet isn’t spot on. I would say any kind of gains or fitness progression comes from 60% diet and 40% exercise so be sure to eat clean and you will begin to see progress in no time!

Give 100%

One of the main problems i see with guys lifting weights in gym other than awful technique is not giving it 100%. On your final rep of every set you should just about be able to finish the rep and be absolutely exhausted! i see so many people getting to their final rep and then completing it with ease? your gains are made in the final few reps and they should be the hardest. if your finding yourself completing them with ease you need to up the weight otherwise you will never progress. 

Over training

20 Wednesday Aug 2014

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Over training is a subject that i think many people disregard and don’t even think about as they are to busy trying to improve their fitness or pack on as much muscle as possible. This is great, however the majority of people don’t actually realise that overtraining can massively effect your fitness goals or muscle gains or even result in injury. To improve on any aspect of fitness you need to overload your body to some extent for a fair amount of time, however you still need to have rest days to let your body completely recuperate and adjust to the physical demands A Typical week for me i probably train anywhere between 4-6 times but i always make sure i have one or two rest days where stock up on all the nutrients i need to prepare me for the up coming workouts.Overtraining will eventually result in your gains slowing down or stopping all together! Make sure you rest. i get it its hard for some people as if your like myself and you love training you feel lazy or agitated when your not in the gym but for your own sake be sure to have some chill time.

Some of you are probably not sure what the signs of over training are so here are a few common symptoms:

Constant muscle soreness

Trouble sleeping

Feeling weak and tired 

Weak immune system 

Lack of motivation

If you have any of these signs or your now thinking that your overtraining just have a few days of or if your a heavy weight lifter why not try and swap the weight sessions for a few light cardio sessions instead?

X

Build a bigger back

19 Tuesday Aug 2014

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Here I’ve put together a great back workout which has a mixture of compound lifts aswell as exercises that will isolate specific areas. This will leave you with a great pump and your be well on your way to a bigger and stronger back! Make sure you warm up before trying this and also stretch of. Each exercise should be performed with strict form with a slow controlled tempo.

Pull ups (wide grip)

To failure x4

Lat pull down (close grip)

4x drop set 12.10,8

Bent over barbell row

10×4

Single arm row

Deadlifts superset with barbell shrug

8×4

Why can’t i get a 6 pack?

18 Monday Aug 2014

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Sorry to break it to you but there is no ” 6 pack shortcut”

These days i come across so many so called ‘experts’ online that tell everyone if they do this certain workout they will get a 6 pack and lose excess stomach fat ect. Sorry but abs are made in the kitchen not in the gym, yes doing certain abdominal exercises will help but the secret to a lean stomach is purely diet and maintaining a low body fat. A lot of these guys on youtube (i won’t name names) are fooling you. What they are forgetting is that the vast majority of their video audience are more than likely out of shape and over weight, so doing countless sit ups in your room everyday will not really get you anywhere if your still eating the same rubbish foods instead of a healthy diet.

So now your asking how do i lose the body fat?

If you want a toned stomach you will firstly need to lose the weight and start eating clean. I would recommend starting with a good cardio routine 3-4 times a week which involves a mixture of high and low intensity training. Doing things like hill sprints and interval training are a great way to keep the intensity high. Also circuit training is another great way to lose weight because involving weights and resistance exercises will help you tone up at the same time. This along with a good strong meal plan and staying away from simple carbs and bad fats will in time result in the stomach that you want! There is no ” 6 pack shortcut ” 

Just something i wanted to clear up, if anyone has any further questions feel free to comment. x

 

 

SQUATTING FOR GIRLS

17 Sunday Aug 2014

Posted by in bodybuilding, Fitness, girls workouts, training for girls

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Over the past year or so I’ve really noticed that girls have become obsessed with squatting and thinking that doing things like  ‘ the 30 days squat challenge ‘ will result in having an ass like kim kardashian, this is honestly ridiculous! squatting alone will not necessarily get you bigger glutes. Just like any other body part, you need to work every possible angle and squatting alone does not hit every angle. Girls should be trying exercises like lunges,kickbacks,hamstring curls, leg press and hack squats. Exercises like these along with frequent cardio and a good diet will in time begin to shape a far better figure than just squatting alone in your bedroom for 30 days. Please take note!

BUILD A BIGGER CHEST

17 Sunday Aug 2014

Posted by in bodybuilding, Fitness, fitness model, Male model

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Training chest Is a favourite for me and I’m probably not speaking for myself when i say that, However i notice that a lot of people stop making progress when it comes to chest and the main reason for that is they use the same exercises week in week out for months and months. Your body eventually gets used to certain exercises and you need to change it up to carry on progressing. So here is my personal chest workout that i recently designed which i i love. This is an advanced chest routine so but its guaranteed to leave you with a great pump and you will be aching for days!

Flat bench dumbbell press drop sets 

12,10,8,6 X 4

Incline dumbbell press superset with incline push ups

10X4 and push ups to failure between every set

Decline dumbbell press superset with push ups

10X4 and push ups to failure between every set

Incline Dumbell fly superset with dips 

10×4 and dips to failure between every set 

High cable cross over drop sets 

12,10,8,6 X 4 

Low cable cross over drop sets 

12.10,8,6 X 4