Serious fitness enthusiasts and athletes want to be bigger, stronger, and leaner. The number one way to make that happen? Train your legs with complex free weight exercises.
Your legs are the largest group of muscle in your body. They are the foundation of your strength and power. Never will you be able to bench press 315 if you can’t squat 315 first.
By training your legs hard, you will be setting yourself up to gain the most progress compared to every other muscle group.
Arnold loved squatting, and look what happened to him. If you want to be Mr. Olympia, a famous Hollywood actor, and the governor of Alaska, you need to squat!
By training your legs, you will:
Lift the most weight of all muscle groups.
Burn the most calories of all muscle groups.
Form the foundation of your body’s strength chain.
Stimulate the highest growth hormone release through training.
How’s your fitness regime going? In summer, most of us take our workouts a bit more seriously. But did you know that taking the right vitamins and minerals can help strengthen bone, build muscle, prevent injury, and aid recovery — ideal whether you’re into cardio or resistance training?
If you’re a regular at the gym, you need to ensure that your body takes in what it needs to perform. Don’t underestimate the importance of nutrition — check out how vitamins and minerals can help you push harder in your next work-out session.(more…)
Here is an interesting guest post by a good friend of Project Swole. He wishes to remain mostly nameless (aside from mentioning his name is Andy), but trust in me he is smart and experienced, and I think this piece will really connect with most Swole readers.
“It’s unpleasantly like being drunk.”
“What’s so unpleasant about being drunk?”
“You ask a glass of water.”
– Douglas Adams, British author, and humorist
Human beings like habits, as a rule. It’s like that old phrase, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” So, if we do something, and it works out ok, we’ll do it again.
Good or bad, habits allow us to predict the future – if I do this (exactly as I did yesterday), I know what will happen. Habits equal proven outcomes. Get on this train at this time in the morning, and I’ll be at work on time.
And if those habits are linked to a reward of some description, anything from a hit of dopamine in the brain by achieving a specific goal or, heaven forbid, one of a human being’s primary rewards – either food or sex, we’ll be back same time tomorrow, guaranteed, with our plate in our hand, as it were.
Habits provide routine, and for us, routinely provides security.
Unfortunately for us, some habits don’t sit well with others, and the rewards each brings actually off-set against one another, which kind of defeats the object. Take, for example, the diabetic cake-shop owner. You get my point. In fact, like the rest of our existence, it’s all just one big juggling act, seeing what works, what doesn’t, what affects something else, and so on, and hoping for a happy medium somewhere along the line.(more…)
Working out without music would be miserable. Workout playlists make time pass faster and help you pump yourself up for the next rep! If you’ve ever tried to workout with the wrong pair of headphones, you know just how frustrating it can be. Whether you hate dealing with a cord in your face or you sweat all over bulky over-the-ear headphones, you know you need something that can handle your level of workout.
It turns out not all headphones are created equal! Some headphones are best used for certain types of workouts, and that’s why you need to learn more about what kind is right for you. Here is a guide to the best headphones for every type of workout! Take your workout to the next level with these tips.
Are you in the gym day in and day out, but feel like you just are not seeing results like you used to? Well, it is completely possible that you might be overtraining, which is a lot more common than you might imagine.
Overtraining means that you are training so hard your body does not have the time to rest and recover, as it normally should. This condition can lead to a slew of negative side effects, like muscle atrophy, motivational loss, and mood swings.
Overtraining can even diminish the results that you worked so hard to earn, so it is imperative that you never let this happen to you. Stick to the following tips and information to ensure that you never over train.(more…)
When it comes to lifting weights, most people have the wrong perception. Weight training does not necessarily equate to bodybuilding and its benefits are not limited to aesthetic muscle growth either. It is a principle that can be used to achieve a variety of goals for both men and women. In fact, all kinds of athletes and sportsmen use different variants of weight training to boost specific aspects of their game. As the general consensus is that the only ones who lift are the people who want to get jacked, let us take a closer look at what else weight training can do to help your health.(more…)
This article is exclusively on the right exercises to improve the strength of motorcyclists and make them better riders. For the record, the exercises will yield other desirable results such as improved metabolic activities, improved body detoxing, reduced unwanted fat, improved sleeping orders, improved looks etc., but these are only peripheral perks. The sole essence is to improve the riding performance of the motorcyclists.
These exercises are great for beginner riders and veteran riders alike. If you think you are not fit enough to ride your bike and you are not motivated enough to try to get into riding shape, you can always visit sellbike.com for quick valuation of your motorbike and then unsubscribe to Project Swole, because those without ambition might not bother wasting their time reading these posts.
Lower Body Conditioning
Your lower body and ‘core’ plays the most crucial role in establishing contact with your motorcycle and balancing you on it, as a rider. Therefore, these exercises will be focused on those parts of your body.
Exercising to improve those parts of your body is essential because, while riding, there’s a need to do a number of things, some of which are the need to shift the weight of your body between opposite pegs as your motorbike tilts from side to side when negotiating bends. There’s also a need to engage your legs as props and shock absorbers while doing an off road, and so on. (more…)
Whether you are a guy or a girl, it is always an asset to have some nice glutes. The main exercise that will help you develop your glutes the most is obviously the squat. Look at those who have the highest squat numbers. ‘Nuff said.
There are some other exercises that will help a good bit, but the squat will always be the king glute exercise. Before going on to mention the top exercises, we will inform you on some information about the glutes.
How to Get Big Glutes
Like mentioned above, squats are the king of glute exercises. They are without a doubt the single best exercise you can use to develop your glutes. I would even go as far as saying that you would not even need to do another single exercise for them; squats are really that good! However, there are always some other exercises that would be good to experiment with.
What is High Intensity Resistance Training (HIRT)?
High Intensity Resistance Training (HIRT) is essentially resistance training for fat loss, and like HIIT, it really is a big deal. HIRT training is the most effective way to increase your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), increase your Exercise Post Oxygen Consumption (EPOC), and burn calories at the same time.
When using HIRT you will execute several exercises together (sometimes called a super-set or giant-set), for a certain number of reps per set, for a certain number of minutes, without rest.
Along with HIIT, HIRT is a useful tool when avoiding endurance cardio while trying to lose fat, and it actually increases muscle mass more effectively than HIIT. HIRT training will give you the following benefits:
Increase metabolism for up to 36 hours post-workout
Outperform aerobic exercise in fat loss studies
Maintain muscle mass on a low calorie diet
Build muscle mass on a moderate to high calorie diet
HIRT workouts help maintain muscle mass when following a low calorie diet
HIRT workouts outperform diet and aerobic exercise in fat loss studies
HIRT workouts increase metabolism for up to 36 hours
The principles of HIRT are:
Full body workouts using sets of 5 to 15 reps
Pushing through the lactic acid burn
Utilizing a variety of combo-sets (super-sets, tri-sets, giant-sets, etc…)
Utilizing compound exercises
Focusing on the largest muscle groups
Most important, we have to stay true to the two rules of HIRT:
Rule #1 about HIRT: Don’t talk about HIRT. er… no, that’s a rule for a different club I attend on Saturday nights… ah, I’ve already said too much…
Seriously though, HIRT is all about maximizing intensity – you will get out of HIRT what you put into it.
You must maximize the intensity of each set. That means pushing it until you collapse or complete the drill. No resting or slowing down before the time limit is up.
You must maximize the intensity of each workout. Use all the time available to you, to complete as much work as possible. This is the only way to realize the maximum metabolic and muscle retention benefits of HIRT.
BMR and EPOC
As I mentioned before, along with burning calories through exercise, two of the most important factors in exercising to lose fat, are increasing BMR over the long term, and increasing EPOC per workout. Let’s learn a little more about BMR and EPOC, shall we?
Why do we care about BMR?
Your BMR describes the base metabolic rate for your body. It tells us how many calories your body burns at rest. Burning more calories at rest means you will lose fat faster or gain fat slower (if your daily calorie intake is too high). Improving BMR is simple: when you have more muscle mass, your body has a higher BMR.
Increasing your BMR will help you burn more calories over the long term.
Why do we care about EPOC?
Your EPOC describes how quickly your metabolism returns to your BMR after exercise. Because it deals more with the aerobic energy system, HIIT is more effective at increasing EPOC than HIRT, but not by very much. When targeting fat loss, we want to focus on workouts that increase EPOC as well as BMR.
The higher we can pump the EPOC after each workout, the more calories we will burn in the short term.
Who Can Benefit From HIRT
Anyone who wants to lose body fat while keeping all of their hard earned muscle mass, or anyone who wants to minimize fat gain while attempting to gain muscle mass. Alongside HIIT, HIRT should be a vital component to any serious fat loss plan.
HIRT would be useful for people who:
are looking to elevate their metabolism (BMR) long term
are looking to maximize short term fat loss through resistance training
are looking to keep as muscle as possible during a cutting phase
are looking to minimize fat gain during a bulking phase
are looking to increase aerobic endurance
are looking to increase anaerobic endurance
are looking to burn more calories on a daily basis
are looking to supplement their HIIT workouts with additional fat burning exercise
are athletes who participate in a sport such as boxing, MMA, soccer, basketball, football, wrestling, etc…, who need to increase muscular endurance in 5-10 minute bursts, while minimizing body fat
Who Should Avoid HIRT
Unlike HIIT, there are virtually no people who should avoid HIRT. Grasping at straws, the few people for whom HIRT might not be the best solution include those who:
are not cleared by their doctor to begin a high intensity exercise routine. Check with your doctor before starting HIRT.
are overzealous. You can’t use HIRT 3-4 times a week, and strength training or HIIT 3-4 times a week. Even though HIRT is not neurologically as taxing as HIIT or strength training, you still must rest between workouts.
are looking to maximize strength gains. Excessive HIRT and HIIT workouts will slow down strength gains.
are looking to increase speed. Because no sprints or max effort attempts are included in HIRT, speed will probably not be affected.
Designing a HIRT Training Routine
HIRT can be used for either cutting or bulking, usually maintain muscle mass while decreasing bodyfat, but also to minimize fat gains while increasing muscle mass. HIRT is also somewhat effective at improving aerobic endurance and even more effective at increasing anaerobic endurance.
As always, your diet is still 75% responsible for determining how these goals are achieved. Manipulate calorie intake and macronutrient ratios to gain muscle or lose fat according to your goals.
These are the guidelines I will use for creating a HIRT workout:
Each HIRT workout must be a full body routine.
Sets of 5 to 15 reps will be used. Lower reps to focus on muscle gain, higher reps to focus on muscular endurance.
Each HIRT workout will use super-sets, tri-sets, or giant-sets.
Each HIRT exercise will be a compound exercise focusing on the largest muscle groups.
Each super-set should last 8-10 minutes.
60-90 seconds rest between super-sets.
No rest within a super-set.
All exercises should be executed explosively – meaning as fast as possible while maintaining good form.
Three Sample H.I.R.T. Training Splits
There are thousands of ways you can integrate HIRT into your workout routine. You can use full body workouts, a 5 day split with HIRT at the end of your strength training, you can go HIIT-less to avoid sprinting, you can focus solely on HIIT and HIRT for max fat loss. You are only limited by your own imagination.
You can choose to implement several kinds of HIRT splits:
Priority: fat lossDay 1: 45 minutes of HIRT goal – maximal intensity resistance and endurance trainingDay 2: 25 minutes of HIIT goal – maximal intensity cardiovascular trainingDay 3: 45 minutes of endurance cardio goal – anaerobic recovery and aerobic endurance training
Day 4: 45 minutes of HIRT goal – maximal intensity resistance and endurance training
Day 5: 25 minutes of HIIT goal – maximal intensity cardiovascular training
Day 6 & 7: Off
Priority: fat loss, but maximize muscle retentionDay 1: 45 minutes of full body resistance training goal – maximal strength resistance trainingDay 2: 30 minutes of HIIT goal – maximal intensity interval trainingDay 3: Off goal – recovery
Day 4: 45 minutes of HIRT goal – maximal intensity resistance and endurance training
Day 5: 30 minutes of full body resistance training plus 20 minutes of HIIT goal – maximal strength resistance training and maximal intensity interval training
Day 6 & 7: Off
Priority: gain muscle and attempt to lose fat at the same timeDay 1: 45 minutes of full body resistance training goal – maximal strength resistance trainingDay 2: 30 minutes of HIRT plus 20 minutes of HIIT goal – maximal intensity cardiovascular training and maximal intensity interval trainingDay 3: Off goal – recovery
Day 4: 45 minutes of full body resistance training goal – maximal strength resistance training
Day 5: 30 minutes of HIRT plus 20 minutes of HIIT goal – maximal intensity cardiovascular training and maximal intensity interval training
Day 6 & 7: Off
Priority: gain muscleDay 1: 45 minutes of full body resistance training goal – maximal strength resistance trainingDay 2: 30 minutes of HIRT goal – maximal intensity cardiovascular trainingDay 3: 45 minutes of full body resistance training goal – maximal strength resistance training
Day 4: 30 minutes of HIRT goal – maximal intensity interval training
Day 5: 45 minutes of full body resistance training goal – maximal strength resistance training
Day 6 & 7: Off
Three Sample H.I.R.T. Workout Routines
Sample HIRT workout #1
For this workout, you will have to change equipment and/or stations to move to each new exercise, so your best bet will be to plan ahead and keep all the equipment you will need for the super-set at one station. This will keep rest down between sets.
Execute each super-set for 10 minutes without rest. Rest for 180 seconds between super-sets. The workout should take 45 minutes including a 5 minute warm-up and stretching after the workout. Super-set A:
10 reps of deadlifts with 20% of your 1 rm
5 clapping pushups
5 chin ups
10 ab wheel roll outs
Super-set B:
5 jump squats
5 pull ups
10 bench presses with 20% of your 1rm
5 windshield wipers
Super-set C:
5 one leg split squats with each leg
10 inverted rows
10 push ups
5 fold ups with a half second pause at the top
Sample HIRT Workout #2
For this workout, you will have to change equipment and/or stations to move to each new exercise, so your best bet will be to plan ahead and keep all the equipment you will need for the super-set at one station. This will keep rest down between sets.
Execute each super-set for 10 minutes without rest. Rest for 180 seconds between super-sets. The workout should take 45 minutes including a 5 minute warm-up and stretching after the workout. Super-set A:
5 push ups
5 inverted rows
5 jump squats
5 cable crunches
Super-set B:
5 chin ups
5 pistol (or one leg) squats
5 Russian twists with a medicine ball
5 push ups on the medicine ball
Super-set C:
10 skipping lunges
5 ab wheel roll outs
5 dumbbell or kettlebell swings with each arm
5 neutral grip one arm dumbbell or kettlebell rows
Olympic HIRT Workout
For this workout, you will move from one exercise to the next without any rest at all, since you won’t have to change equipment. Each movement will set you up to transition to the next movement, so that you are only executing one rep of each exercise per set and then flowing directly into the next rep of the next exercise.
This workout mainly utilizes Olympic lifts. Use really light weight or you might die, but you will probably puke anyway.
Execute each super-set for 10 minutes without rest. Rest for 180 seconds between super-sets. The workout should take 45 minutes including a 5 minute warm-up and stretching after the workout. Super-set A:
Next to forearm training in muscles being neglected, neck training is next in line. Actually, I would say that people neglect neck training more than anything else. Many people have never even heard of it or would even know what to do.
The neck really is an important muscle. Think about it; unless you are wearing a turtle neck, everyone will see your neck. It can distinguish you from a bodybuilder to just a normal person.
How to Get a Muscular Neck
Although doing traps exercises such as shrugs and deadlifts will assist you in getting a more muscular neck, there are some other exercises that you can perform that help. Everyone is different, so I suggest that you experiment with all of these to see what makes you grow the most. From there, you should be able to change up your training to whatever suits you the best.
