HIT SUNDAYS

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For most people sunday is a day for rest and relaxation but for me its the opposite! Nothings better than getting a great workout done first thing in the morning to set me up for the rest of the day. I usually train legs on a sunday but recently I’ve slowed down on the crazy leg workouts as i feel my legs are beginning to get a little bit to big and its just not the look I’m going for. So instead of doing countless amounts of squats  , this morning i did a high intensity cardio workout that really got my blood pumping and left me ready for my bed!!!!

Here it is:

Notes: No more than 60 seconds rest in-between each exercise/set

Skipping rope:

10 minutes  – every 60 seconds sprint for 30 seconds

Incline treadmill sprints:

1 minute Sprint (30 second slow jog) X 5 SETS

Rowing machine:

5 minutes (as fast as possible)

Burpee pull up:

20-30 reps X 4 SETS

Box jumps into Burpee:    * If boxes are not available try tuck jumps into burped instead 

20-30 reps X 3 SETS

 

 

How to build LEAN MUSCLE & GAIN STRENGTH

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Most people would probably argue that you either build lean muscle by doing high reps and taking in high protein and low carbs or you gain strength by reducing the reps, upping the weight and upping your protein and carb intake. Why can’t you do both? You can, and here is how you do it:

The majority of guys that train in the gym will typicaly split the muscles up. For example, monday is chest and tricep day and tuesday will be back and bicep and so on. Yes this method is massively beneficial because it helps focus all your energy into one muscle group instead of doing 3-4 in a single session. However, here is something i do which others don’t. I spend a workout a week focussing on compound lifts and power lifts. Usually i spend every sunday doing heavy squats, dead lifts, barbell press and a mixture of olympic power lifts. These kinds of lifts and movements are great for building overall strength and maximising muscle growth and also help release natural testosterone (which aids muscle growth). I can guarantee that if you spend at least one day a week focussing purely on these kinds of movements you will in time see a huge change in your overall strength and thank me!

Simple 6 pack secrets

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Here are a few simple tips to help see progress when it comes to getting the all important 6 pack. I follow each and every one and have found massive success with using them all. Give them a try and let me know how you get on.

1.) DO ABS FIRST – As soon as you begin your workout make sure you train abs first. 99.9% of people do abs at the end of the workout, when they are tired and therefore get a half hearted ab session done when if they would of done them first they would have put 100% percent into it.

2.) GO HEAVY – For some reason everyone thinks that they need to do 100 sit ups or 100 crunches to see progress. Why such a high rep range? Abdominals are like any other body part, yes they do respond well to high rep range but they also respond well to adding some weight and getting maybe 10-15 reps also.

3.) WORK YOUR OBLIQUES – defining your obliques will really give your torso the complete 6 pack look.

4.) CUT THE JUNK FOOD – As i said before, abs are made in the kitchen! So stop eating sweets,chocolate,cakes and start eating lean meats and veggies!

What the fitness industry doesn’t tell you

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Nowadays because of the internet the fitness industry is forever growing and along with the growth of the industry comes a lot of new trainers/online stars. All you have to do is go on youtube and look for a specific workout or exercise and your flooded with countless videos of topless guys with vain’s popping out of their muscles trying to tell you what to do.

I personally have learned a lot from these kinds of people and made some real progress using certain techniques that a lot of the pro athletes use. However, you need to make sure you take advice and learn from these videos with an open mind. A lot of these guys market themselves very well and make you believe everything they are saying. What the internet does not tell you is that a huge number of these so called fitness/health experts are actually taking performance enhancing drugs (steroids) to look and be in the kind of shape that they are. Im not saying that everyone is taking them because i know guys that are in great shape and are natural, But please don’t be stupid enough to believe that if you copy someones workout and diet plan that is taking steroids that you will end up looking like them, it just doesn’t work like that.

That being said, i have nothing against people that use them. You can gain a huge amount of size and strength taking different types of steroids and everyone is entitled to do what they want. But just make sure when your seeking online advice and new inspiration you keep this post in mind. This is a topic i just wanted to cover because i know a lot of people are easily mislead, don’t be one!

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HIT CARDIO

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Here’s an outtake from a recent shoot i did in London. This is probably the most up to date shoot in terms of what kind of shape I’m currently in, lately I’ve been doing much more cardio and I’m really seeing a difference. Its so easy to get caught in weight training and focussing on getting bigger that alot of people neglect cardio. Cardio is going to really help you keep your body fat down and help increase your all round fitness.

Ive recently been doing a lot of HIT cardio (high intensity cardio). If your not familiar its basically when you go all out to your max! Often done in some kind of interval workout or circuits.  Its great because its a much more intense way of getting your cardio done and your going to see much better results than just spending ages on a cross trainer. My latest HIT cardio workout is running at an incline for about 10 minutes at a moderate intensity for a warm up, then i sprint for a minute then reduce the speed and recover for 30 seconds. I do about 5 sets of these sprints followed by some body weight exercises like burpees which ill superset with pull ups.

Give HIT cardio a try!

Bigger shoulders

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What a lot of people don’t realise when it comes to building well shaped muscle is that you need to hit the muscle from every angle. Your deltoids are a muscle that have 3 main heads or sections.Which are the anterior (front) middle and the posterior (rear). So to form well rounded shoulders you will need to be doing exercises that don’t just work the anterior head but the middle and posterior also. Here is a great workout that will do just this.

21s – superset front raise with side raise and rear delt raise

7 reps front,7reps side raise,7reps rear delt raise x3
Military press (barbell)

10reps x 3 sets
Side raise (dumbbell)

10reps x 3 sets
Front raise (barbell)

10reps x 3 sets
Upright row (EZcurlbar)

10reps x 3 sets

Rear delt raise (dumbell)

10reps x 3 sets

Shrugs (dumbbell)

10 reps x 4 sets

Total abs

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Heres a workout thats uses supersets to hit all areas of your stomach, Your upper and lower abs and also your internal and external obliques.

Superset
Hanging leg raise – 10-20 reps x3
Rope crunch – 10-20 reps x3

Superset
medicine ball sit ups – 10-20 reps x3
laying scissors – 15-20 reps x3

Superset
oblique teapot – 10-20 reps each side x3
laying side crunch – 10-20 reps each side x3

MYTH = Weights make women bulky

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So many women think that for some reason lifting weights will result in them bulking up. I don’t know who has drilled this into their heads but its a complete myth! Firstly women don’t have nearly as much testosterone as men do, which means building muscle is much more difficult. Secondly your going to have to be consuming a massive amount of calories whilst going pretty hardcore on the weights to notice any kind of bulk in your muscle which most women don’t do anyway. If your a female and your hesitant about lifting weights for that reason,you need to get that idea out of your head. Weight lifting can be hugely beneficial for women. One of the big benefits is that it helps you burn extra calories because when you break the muscle down it burns calories repairing itself. Another great reason is that it helps sculpt your body. Doing cardio alone will more than likely just result in weight loss, if you want to tone and shape your body, lifting weights will help!

SECRET TO A GOOD BODY

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Repetition is key

= CONSISTENCY 

Just like anything you do, the more you do it the better you become. When it comes to reaching your goals physically or mentally REPETITION is key. It drives me mad when people say they want to have a good summer body or they want to look like a certain person who has a physique they want, they don’t realise that the person they are aspiring to look like has has been training consistency for much longer than a few months just so they can look good for summer, They train numerous times a week and eat clean. A good body doesn’t just come over night and no legal supplement can be purchased which will miraculously get you in shape. The secret is to train train train, eat eat eat and rest! So please to anyone out there that thinks they can just start training in march to be ready the july holiday, think again.

Boxing circuit

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Boxing circuit
Spending workout after workout on a treadmill or cross trainer trying to burn as many calories as physically possible gets pretty boring after a while and this is one of the reasons most people stop exercising, they don’t find it fun and it becomes more of a chore. It doesn’t have to be this way! There are so many exercise classes on the market these days that are fun. Personally i love getting my cardio done in the form of boxing or any type or martial arts. When i say boxing i don’t mean you have to get in a ring and get punched around for 12 rounds, I’m talking about doing rounds on a heavy bag and then mixing it up with some circuits that will incorporate body weight exercises which is great for improving your fitness and gets you ripped up at the same time. Here is a workout that will push you to your max and get your heart rate up. You don’t need to be a professional boxer to do this, just give it a go and see how you get on

Round 1: 5 minutes on the bag X 3

Punching normal speed for 2 minute then speed punching for 1 minute
As soon as your done:
20 burpees
20 press ups

1 min rest

 

Round 2: Bag work X3

Heavy punches for 2 minute then speed punches for 1 minute seconds
As soon as your done:
20 mountain climbers
1 minute plank

1 min rest

Round 3: Combination punching X3

  • 1 punch – 1 push up
  • 2 punch – 2 push up
  • 3 punch – 3 push up
  • 4 punch – 4 push up
  • 5 punch – 5 push up
  • Then go backwards until 1 punch – 1 push up

1 min rest