Tag Archives: Fitness

Beginner mistakes

27 Wednesday Aug 2014

Posted by in begginner workout, Bodybuiding, Fitness, Muscle

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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!

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!

 

 

 

 

How many reps?

22 Friday Aug 2014

Posted by in Bodybuiding, Fitness, Muscle

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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. 

Build a bigger back

19 Tuesday Aug 2014

Posted by in Bodybuiding, Fitness, Muscle

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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

Posted by in bodybuilding, Fitness

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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

 

 

HOW DO I GET STARTED?

16 Saturday Aug 2014

Posted by in begginner workout, bodybuilding, Fitness

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For me training in the gym or exercising in general is a way of life and i find it easy to get up and workout but i know for so many of you getting started is probably the hardest thing.

Where do i start in the gym?

i know not everyone is super fit or has a muscular lean body so i find people asking me ” where do is start?” alot. Starting of in the gym can be confusing and a bit boring for most as to be honest they don’t really know what they are doing or how to exercise at all, So I’ve been thinking and here I’ve come up with a basic plan for the gym.

1.) Warm up – this is a must as you need to make sure you get the blood flowing and loosen up the joints you are going to be working. 

2. Stretch and joint mobilisation – So many people avoid stretching all together but please make sure you stretch of the muscles you are going to be working otherwise and also spend a couple of minutes preparing your joints. You are prone to injury if you don’t do this and I’m sure you’d agree that injuring yourself on your first outing to the gym is a bit embarrassing.

3. Cardio or weights – For a beginner i would advice to spend maybe 20-30 minutes using some cardiovascular machines at about 6-8 intensity and then move on to some resistance training and free weights also. You don’t need to be doing crazy amounts of sets or any fancy training just along as you ease into it at a relitively good intensity. I usually do between 3-5 sets of most free weight and resistance machine exercises but if your starting out i would recommend 1-3 sets with a rep range of 10-15

4.Warm down and post stretch – spend another 10 minutes just warming down and stretching of, again this will help prevent injury and stop blood pooling to your muscles. another good reason to do this is so you don’t ache as much which feels awful for most beginners. 

Relax – probably the most enjoyable part is that you need to relax after training! i don’t mean relax by eating a bar or chocolate or stuffing your face i mean just chilling out at home for a few hours.

If you use these tips next time you go to the gym without a clue what to do I’m sure your feel much more comfortable and confident. Training is fun and enjoyable when you know what your doing so please give this a go and let me know how you get on!

x

Training when travelling

14 Thursday Aug 2014

Posted by in Fitness, fitness model, Male model, Training whilst travelling

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This month I’m in edinburgh, scotland for work and I’ve been finding it increasingly hard to train since I’ve been sooooo busy! however… I have a few good tips and ideas for anyone who is in my position. Firstly you need to MAKE TIME. Im sure you can all make time to watch your favourite tv show but when it comes to exercising all i ever hear is excuses. Making time to train really isn’t as hard as you think, all you need is a spare few minutes and space to actually train. For example a local park or even your bedroom is fine. Personally I’ve been training a lot outside because Edinburgh has a lot of hills and steps so I’ve been getting in my cardio by running up and down steps or doing hill sprints! If your in a new city or a unfamiliar enviroment you should spend some time exploring and finding cool new places to train. You also don’t need a fancy gym or expensive equipment you can use your own body weight to train, for example push ups, sit ups, dips, pull ups, planking, wall hands stands… the list goes on! If your still not to sure on how to use your own body weight ill be posting some cool workouts or even go on youtube and check some ‘body weight exercises’ for some quick and fun workouts.

Any questions feel free to contact me guys!

Oliver bailey fitness :)

14 Thursday Aug 2014

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

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hey guys my names oliver bailey and I’m an up and coming personal trainer from london! I’m 20 years old and i currently work as a fashion model signed to AMCK model management! I’m here to provide tips/advice on everything to do with fitness and the whole industry. Feel free to ask me any questions as id be more than happy to answer them 🙂 IMG_0051