Prescribed Rest Periods

Here are 3 key points which explain why keeping your rest periods to the prescribed number is so important, and how it will slow your progress down if you fail to do so.

1. Energy Systems 

The intensity, workload, and rest you take between sets will dictate which energy systems come into play at given times during your working set. You've got 3 major energy systems which are all unique in their own way and to maximize your body composition changes and performance levels it's very important that you train them specifically. The prescribed rest periods can help any training plan specifically target different energy systems at different times. 

This means that you're able to improve overall body composition and maximize performance, so do NOT overlook the prescribed rest periods.

Problem With Calves?

There are multiple reasons why any muscle group is resistant to growth, this is no different when it comes to your calves. However, one of the most common factors which cause a huge percentage of people to struggle with calf growth is NOT what you might think. . . Ankle Mobility. 

It's very common to suffer from poor ankle mobility due to an extremely tight Achilles tendon. 

As a result, your range of motion within your calf muscles is drastically reduced which means you will struggle to get the contraction you need in order to fully stimulate the calf muscles. 

How often when you train calves do you find a lot of the pain is in the arches of your feet and the contraction within your calves is limited? To test this, see how hard you're able to make your calf muscle at full flexion. Potentially you'll find it's limited at best. 

To really make your calves grow you must overcome this issue. 

Here's a 3 step plan for you to significantly improve your ankle mobility and as a result make your calves grow better than ever before.

It's Grow Your Chest

Dips 

Some people don't have the shoulder stability or even the mobility at the shoulder joint to do dips pain-free. However if you can do dips then do them because they are one of the most underused mass builders for your pecs. With a slightly wider grip, with slow controlled negatives, they really place immense tension on your pec muscles and also lead to a great contraction of the muscle. You can also change the angle of your body to change the emphasis on different areas of your chest when doing dips.

Bigger Arms Biceps Training

There are so many different variations of curls which can all contribute towards building bigger, denser and thicker biceps for you. 

One of these training techniques I'm going to share with you now is performing straight bar curls on the cable machine while lying down. 

There are two key reasons why doing this can work so well as another bicep exercise to add to your program.

1. Lying down means that your back has to remain flat throughout the entire set which removes any potential of generating momentum from anywhere OTHER THAN your biceps. This will help isolate your biceps more, ultimately.

Chest Training Like This

As with any muscle group, there are multiple ways to target it, stimulate it and accelerate growth. It's having a clear understanding of these different ways which enables you to continue development, and ultimately take that muscle to the next level. 

With your chest workout try to start with flies rather than pressing, the emphasis, in this case, was on pre-exhausting the pec muscles without involving the triceps. By the time you come to press, your pecs are already partially fatigued. 

This isn't the only way to train your pecs, though, this is just ONE of MANY ways you can go about it. 

I don't want you to get into the mindset that one thing is necessarily superior over another, instead view each training tool as a means of creating a new stimulus and opportunity for growth. Collectively, they can come together to create a multi-faceted training approach to ensure a muscle group is constantly worked through different mediums which are great for optimizing hypertrophy. 

In relation to training your chest, here are 3 ways you can change up your chest workouts to change the emphasis.

3 Tips For Shoulder Training

Here are 3 ways to better your shoulder training and the second point might really surprise you.

1. Use more angles 

Did you know that there are 7 separate, small heads within the deltoids? Yes, there are 3 main areas (anterior, medial and posterior deltoid) but these are broken down into 7 smaller heads. 

This should give you a very good idea of why training your deltoids from multiple angles is a very good idea. 

People will have to work through 2-4 different planes of motion with different forms of dumbbell or cable raises without stopping. This will involve moving from a point of biomechanical disadvantage (where your weaker) to a point of biomechanical advantage (where you are stronger). This works very well because as you're deltoids become fatigued you're targeting them from an angle where you are stronger, therefore you can continue to target them and hit different fiber types/areas of the deltoids.

Flexing After My Chest & Biceps Workout

Flexing after a #chest & #biceps #pump at @diamondgympro A) Incline cable flies X 3 for 15-20 reps **Squeeze for 1 second at top of every rep!** B) Incline smith machine press X 3 for 15-20 reps C) Flat dumbbell flies X 3 for 15-20 reps D) Seated hammer chest press X 3 for 15-20 reps **Squeeze for 1 second at top of every rep!** Rep tempo - 3 second negatives Rest periods - 90 seconds Giant set X 3 Spider curls 15-20 Seated incline hammer curls 20-25 Preacher curls triple drop set 12-15 EACH #bodybyian #bodybuildingmotivation #bodybuilding #motivation #training #gymlife #lifestyle #gym #goals #teamBBI #instafitness #fitfam #fitspiration #lightweightbaby #workingout #diet #nutrition #growingseason #hardcore #trainhard #diamondgym #swole #beatingcancer #cancerwarrior #cancerfighter #cancersurvivor

8 Tips On Building Guns

1. Biomechanics 

When you do curls for biceps or pushdowns for triceps the only joint which should be moving is your elbow. Unfortunately, many people involve their shoulder joint a lot to generate more force, allowing them to use more weight. DO NOT do this, moving more weight in the wrong way won't equate to more growth. You want to focus on keeping the target muscle under as much tension as possible! Remember this. 

2. Disadvantage to advantage 

When you train biceps or triceps, by altering the angle of attack you can move from a mechanically weak point to a stronger point as the muscle fatigues. For instance, if you are doing triceps pushdowns you can start off by standing close to the machine with your hands closely gripped together. Then reach failure, step back slightly and take a neutral grip. Then potentially do another drop set, stepping back further. Each time you move in this instance the angle makes it easier, so you've changed the point of attack to allow for continued tension on the muscle.

Back To Your Regular Schedule Program

For most today is the first day back to normality, which means work, gym and diet. 

It’s very likely the structure of your diet has suffered over the last 10 days or so. 

• Excess calories, in general,
• Excessive amounts of inferior food sources consumed 
• No particular structure to your diet 
• Alcohol 
• Lack of exercise 

This is absolutely fine. You need balance in this life and celebrating over Christmas and New Year with loved ones.

However, with that in mind let's want to discuss what is your next best move to get your New Year off to the best start possible.

This isn’t a BS “detox” - let's talking about real things you can do today to fast track your results. Here are 5 things you can do to get you back on track.

Staying Lean

Here's some advice for 2016, in relation to getting in good condition and STAYING there in 3 easy steps.

1. Commit to a 12-16 week fat loss phase and get around 8-10% body fat as a male. For a female, 10-15% body fat.
2. Gradually increase calories once you reach this goal to build lean mass
3. Monitor and adjust your diet based on your new goals, always sticking to the rule that you stay within striking distance of "good condition"

Build Muscle All Day & While You Sleep

Nutritional Guide to Optimum Growth

Muscle 24/7
Muscle cells get bigger and stronger from heavy resistance training, basically by increasing the amount of protein molecules within each and every muscle cell. They synthesize more protein molecules in response to weightlifting, primarily because protein molecules perform many key cellular functions that are essential in order to exercise. Muscle cells adapt to exercise stress by increasing the level and therefore, the activity of, these specific protein molecules— thus enhancing exercise performance. Up to this point, it has been pretty well established that resistance exercise followed by amino acid consumption effectively triggers muscle growth by activating muscle protein synthesis. However, recent scientific research demonstrates some novel ways to consume amino acids after exercise that further increase muscle protein synthesis-representing powerful approaches that further enhance muscle growth and strength.

Eating Greens For Recovery

Want to reduce DOMS and speed recovery? Eat your GREENS! Green leafy, cruciferous veggies, collards, chard, etc help metabolic processes, reduce inflammation, and ultimately can help with body composition over time.

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Typically, how many servings of greens to you have a day

Calf Training 9/1

Cure for COWARDLY calves. Ever notice you stick your calf training at the END of a workout? And when you get there, 1/2 the time you skip them all together? There may be something to that. If your calves are lagging and you truly want to bring them up, prioritization is key. Do 10 minutes at the START of your workout instead of the end and watch your calf growth improve exponentially.

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Basic Physics To Build Muscle

If you want to build muscle, it is important to understand basic physics. Where is the weight exerting the greatest amount of intent at any point in a given movement? Understand (AND APPLY) this, and you can grow at will.

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Getting ABS 101

This is how YOU will get abs  -

1. Sorting your crap out with your diet and being disciplined enough to DROP body fat

2. Training HARD, where the core is naturally engaged a lot will work the abdominal muscles

3. REPEAT

YES, you do have to train abs separately sometimes (if they need to) but the KEY point here is that it won't make Jack s*** difference IF you are too fat. You still won't have ripped abs - that's down to DIET and training hard. 

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Tightening The Core

Learn to ISOLATE The Muscle Properly

The term "isolation" is given to certain exercises which generally use joint for movement, opposed to two or more which are called "compound" exercises.

However, in reality to build muscle you ALWAYS need to be isolating the target muscle. I touched on this yesterday in my email, where I discussed a tactic to isolate the deltoids whilst doing side lateral raises.

Sodium Is Great For Training

Sodium is an essential electrolyte and especially for those of you you train hard and regularly (I'm going to assume that is most of you ;))

Lack of Hamstrings

The reason most people lack hamstrings is because they never get them anywhere near their shortest position. I watch people on a daily basis yank their butts in the air, not knowingly actually taking the hamstring out of the movement as they do so!

1.5 Reps Squat Tips

1 & 1/2 rep squats are an excellent way to get stronger at the bottom of the range, where your body is naturally weaker. It will also place more emphasis on the vastus medialis, the 'teardrop' muscle on your quads. Choose a slightly lighter weight and focus on initiating the rep by squeezing the quads. Elevating the heels is another great method, especially if you have a longer femur and have a hard time getting low while staying fairly upright.

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Morning Training Tip

If you train first thing in the morning, fueling your body with amino acids is essential to give your muscles not only the components it needs to repair muscle tissue, but to prevent catabolism if you are not able to eat a full meal 1-2 hours before. Taking some essential amino acids (along with some MCT oil) is a great way to protect your muscle and fuel growth.