Muscle Building Archives -

TOP 3 MISTAKES you are making in the gym

Posted on July 10, 2022August 10, 2022 by Frank Miller

There are a variety of interesting things I see people doing at the gym that really serves them no real benefit. I’ve narrowed it down to these TOP 3 mistakes…

3. Steady-State-Cardio

If you are still stuck on the elliptical for the past year with minimal results, its time for a change. High Intensity Interval Training has been shown to be more effective in anaerobic and aerobic capacity as well as burning fat. These exercises are short, explosive bursts of energy followed by a minimal to moderate rest. There are numerous studies out there that state High Intensive Interval Training burns 9 times as many calories as jogging on a treadmill! So if you want maximal fat loss in a 1/3 of the time you’d be on a treadmill, you need to do some interval training!

2. Improper warm up

To many times I have seen people head right to a treadmill, run for 5 minutes and then go bang out some chest and triceps. Or better yet, doing a few warm up arm circles just before they hop on the bench press. My question to them is, how is working on your aerobic capacity a warm up for your anaerobic exercises? And how was swinging your arms around for 10 seconds helpful? It’s not. In this example, if you are training chest, you should be performing a variety of shoulder exercises such as internal/external rotations (as seen in the picture) to warm up the rotator cuff, then do a couple of sets of the exercises you are performing to get the muscle active. That, is the proper way to warm up.

1. Improper Form/Technique

Are you a gym goer that has had some sort of lower back pain or annoying shoulder pain? It is most likely due to improper form or poor technique over a period of time. On any given day I would dare to say that 50% of the people in the gym are not doing exercises correctly. It is very difficult to bite my tongue when I see people doing deadlifts with a rounded back or a lat pull-down with an abdominal crunch thrown in the mix. Proper form is absolutely crucial to your results. It is the difference between increasing muscle protein synthesis and fat burning or potentially injuring yourself. My suggestion to you is to get an experienced trainer even if its just for 2 or 3 sessions just so you can learn how to PROPERLY workout. With proper form you can maximize your results more quickly and efficiently!

3 EASY ways to MAXIMIZE your workout

Posted on January 8, 2020August 10, 2022 by Frank Miller

1. Supersets

Whether your workout routine is more functional or old school bodybuilding, you really get more from your routine if you perform exercises back to back. A superset can be done 2 ways: more than one exercise on the same muscle group, or more than one exercise on opposing muscle groups (chest and back). Training this way increases your exercises intensity and keeps your heart rate higher for longer inducing a more so “cardio” effect on the body.

2. Rest time

If you do a set of bench press and then are sitting down for 5 minutes till the next set, you are being counter productive to your muscle growth. In case your did not know, periods of rest between sets actually DO have a scientific backing to them. Generally you should only be resting for 45 sec – 60 sec between sets. This is about the allotted time it takes for your muscles ATP to regenerate to pump out another powerful set. With shorter rest times, your routine will stay intense and will maintain momentum.

3. More Reps

If you are performing pyramid sets like your buddy told you at the gym and doing 3 or so reps for as much weight as you can, that’s great! However, if you are looking for a super lean, striated look to your muscles, you need to do more reps. A routine with a higher rep range will recruit more muscle fibers into action and pump more blood and oxygen into the muscle tissue. This will increase the muscle tissues endurance and over time will become leaner giving you that tight muscular tone you’re looking for. Increase your rep range to 12-16 reps with a moderate weight and slightly increasing the weight for every set.

Incorporate these 3 simple changes to your routine and you will see the changes IMMEDIATELY!

Supercompensation – Proper training timing

Posted on July 2, 2013 by Frank Miller

Big word, simple meaning. The term supercompensation refers to your body’s ability to advance its fitness levels over time. The chart explains this best. You start at a base level of fitness. As you train, your base level of fitness decreases due to fatigue from the workout. After the workout is over, your body goes into a recovery phase where it repairs itself. NOW, this is the most important part; during the recovery phase your body then goes into supercompensation, where it is compensating for the fatigue you placed on it from the previous workout, and the body will surpass your original baseline of fitness. It is at this time when you need to train again to further your base line for fitness and improvements. If you miss this supercompensation point, you are essentially starting from exactly where you left off with ZERO improvements. Generally, it takes about 24-48hrs for the body to properly recover and reach this supercompensation phase. So the take away message for this is that if you are working out and have a goal, you need to be CONSISTENT! If you are training random days of the week and with too much rest days in between training sessions, you are just going in circles. Make sure your routine is consistent and has set times and days so you can really gauge your improvements over time.