Posts Tagged ‘Weight Training’
Tuesday, December 29th, 2009
I get plenty of questions in various comments throughout the website, but I also get comments and questions via the Project Swole Contact Form.
Generally I address those questions through e-mail, but often I do not have the time to reply to each and every question personally.
The category, Your Health Questions is a more proactive approach to answering your questions so that everyone can benefit from the Q & A.
Scott wrote:
“First off, I would like to say your site is great. I’ve learned a lot reading your articles.
I just had one question: when you say not to have an ‘arms day’, should I just include a few biceps and triceps exercises everyday? And how many different exercises of each should I do?”
(more…)
Tags: arms, biceps, triceps, Weight Training, weightlifting, Your Questions
Posted in Weight Training, Workout Routines, Your Questions | 23 Comments »
Wednesday, December 16th, 2009
1 Rep Max Calculator
I had published this post once before, but recently a couple people have asked for such a tool, so I’m busting it out again for all the new Project Swole readers.
There are many strength training programs that involve calculating your 1 rm or 1 repetition maximum. Some programs want you to use a % of your 1 rm, which is sometimes even harder to calculate.
Most of us do not how how to figure out this number without performing the actual rep itself. Use this easy calculator to get a basic idea of how much weight you can lift once.
(more…)
Tags: calculator, max, powerlifting, strength, weight lifting, Weight Training
Posted in Motivation, Weight Training, Workout Routines | 8 Comments »
Tuesday, November 24th, 2009
Need another reason to add either HIIT or HIRT into your workout routine?
A university study has concluded that a combination of cross training and strength training produces the same strength adaptations as strength training alone, while also eliciting the wonderful benefits of cardiovascular conditioning.
(more…)
Tags: build muscle, fat loss, fitness, lose weight, training, weight lifting, weight loss, Weight Training, weightlifting, Workout Routines
Posted in Conditioning, HIIT Routines, Weight Training | 4 Comments »
Monday, November 23rd, 2009
When lifting weights, there are many questions asked by both noobies and experienced lifters alike.
Some great weightlifting questions include:
- what are the best exercises?
Answer: view my series of best exercises posts.
- how long should I workout?
Answer: HIIT: 20 mins, Weightlifting & Endurance Cardio: 45 mins
- how many sets should I do?
Answer: That answer is going to require a dedicated post, so I’ll get to that shortly.
- how many reps should I do?
Answer: read on and find out…
There are 3 main kinds of repetitions (reps) when it comes to weightlifting; certain rep and set schemes are used depending on your goals. Let’s examine scheme #1:
(more…)
Tags: Conditioning, reps, strongman, Weight Training, weightlifting
Posted in Conditioning, Weight Training | 7 Comments »
Monday, November 9th, 2009
Jump squats are great.
This is an excellent sport specific exercise that can be used alongside plyometrics to help you increase your vertical jump.
Jump squats will also help you power through a plateau in your regular squat development by conditioning your quads and hips to power through the lockout at the top of the movement.
Jump squats are an excellent sport specific exercise that can be used to increase power for:
- Olympic weight lifters
- Olympic athletes that either throw (javelin, shot put) or jump (long jump, pole vault)
- Basketball players who need to jump high
- Football players who block or tackle
Add jump squats to your regular workout, your HIIT routine, your HIRT routine, or your sport specific training.
(more…)
Tags: back squat, barbell squat, jump squat, jumping, squat, squats, squatting, Weight Training, weightlifting
Posted in Exercise Technique, Weight Training | 9 Comments »
Tuesday, August 18th, 2009
I get plenty of questions in various comments throughout the website, but I also get comments and questions via the Project Swole Contact Form.
Generally I address those questions through e-mail, but often I do not have the time to reply to each and every question personally.
The category, Your Health Questions is a more proactive approach to answering your questions so that everyone can benefit from the Q & A.
Jim wrote:
“I wanted to know about how much protein my 14 year old should be having.
He is playing football and weightlifting at school. (Freshman). He is 5’8 and 112 lbs.
He wants to add some weight and muscle but we heard that you should not give your teen protein because they will start to grow outward instead of height-wise.
What do you recommend?”
(more…)
Tags: athletes, high school, Sports, teenagers, Weight Training, weightlifting
Posted in Your Questions | 12 Comments »
Saturday, August 1st, 2009
Mary Ward is a blogger and enjoys writing about medical career topics, such as how to obtain a Master of Health Administration degree, job and education tips, and more.
The Myth of Spot Reduction: Why Crunches Don’t Work
So many of us are on a constant quest to lose weight, it’s just a natural part of life. We tend to put on the weight without realizing it and before we know it, we’re clinging to any diet or fitness regimen that we can find.
This holds especially true when it comes to certain body parts, namely the abdomen.
(more…)
Tags: lose fat, lose weight, spot reduction, weight loss, Weight Training, weightlifting
Posted in Healthy Lifestyle | 4 Comments »
Thursday, July 9th, 2009
Douglas Robb at HealthHabits posted the other day about the Occlusion/Kaatsu training method, which is popular in Japan. While not necessarily useful to me, I found it a very interesting read.
What Kaatsu Training Does
Kaatsu training looks like it can increase muscle hypertrophy significantly more than regular resistance training over an extremely short period of time. In fact the results of the studies show that 2 weeks of Kaatsu training increases muscle mass to a higher degree than 5 weeks of regular resistance training.
(more…)
Tags: build muscle, gain, gain muscle, kaatsu, mus, muscle gain, occlusion, weight, Weight Training, weightlifting
Posted in Research, Weight Training | 12 Comments »
Friday, May 29th, 2009
I get plenty of questions in various comments throughout the website, but I also get comments and questions via the Project Swole Contact Form.
Generally I address those questions through e-mail, but often I do not have the time to reply to each and every question personally.
From now on I want to take a more proactive approach to answering Your Health Questions by posting them separately in the blog. This way we can be sure that everyone benefits from the Q & A.
Rich wrote:
“I have been working out with a trainer for about a year and when I started I was at 180lbs and had a pretty big gut and I am now down to 159lbs. The problem is I still have the gut, even though it is much smaller. I look much better, but I am not satisfied because I want to have a six back. I know it will take a lot of time and patience, but I was wondering if you knew of some stuff that I could do.
What do you recommend here?”
(more…)
Tags: fat loss, intensity, weight loss, Weight Training, weightlifting, Your Questions
Posted in Your Questions | 1 Comment »
Monday, November 24th, 2008
There are at least 100 good reasons to lift weights. Fat loss, muscle gain, sports specific training, powerlifting, general fat loss, and so much more. These are all great reasons to start weight training.
Have you ever thought there might be some bad reasons to lift weights? I was contemplating this while watching the New England Patriots stomp the Miami Dolphins yesterday, and I decided that the following 8 reasons to lift are probably ill conceived for the most part. What do you think?
(more…)
Tags: weight lifting, Weight Training, weights
Posted in Healthy Lifestyle | 28 Comments »
Thursday, September 25th, 2008
There is a neat new program at https://pull-ups-training.com/ that will help you increase your pull ups. Check it out then read this article.
Someone beat me to the punch. I was going to write a program like this based on what I saw at The 100 Push Ups Challenge, but I just didn’t make the time to do it. So what I will do instead, is to explain how to work this 20 Pull Ups program into your regular training routine so as not to sacrifice the rest of your muscles while on this program. Get ready for some 2-a-day workouts!
The premise of 20 Pull Ups is to combine several training methodologies throughout the week by doing several sets of pull ups each day. This is a 6-8 week program for those who can already do at least 5 pull ups. However, if you can’t do 5 pull ups, there is a slightly longer program that you can use, which incorporates assisted pull ups for the first 4 weeks. Either way, you should give this program a try if you want to be able to do more pull ups.
(more…)
Tags: 20 pull ups, Conditioning, pull-ups, Weight Training, weightlifting, Workout Routines
Posted in Workout Routines | 28 Comments »
Thursday, September 11th, 2008
Inexperienced athletes do dumb things. Most people look for the easiest way from point A to point B, and sometimes they become obsessed with trivial details. I did it; you did it… or maybe you still do it; and the newbie that jumps on the bench after you will do it too.
Hell, when I first started training, I was following a 6 day per week, 2 a day program, written by some professional bodybuilder. It took me a year to learn how to do barbell back squats and even longer to start deadlifting. I thought I knew what I was doing just like you do.
In order to take that first step towards knowing everything, we must first realize that we know nothing. This is what I want you to do before you read the rest of this article. Once you can admit that you know nothing about weightlifting, you can read these tips and apply them to what you have been doing, in order to start doing what you should be doing.
Once you have the proper train of thought, you may proceed…
(more…)
Tags: athletes, Conditioning, mistakes, Weight Training, weightlifting
Posted in Conditioning, Weight Training | 5 Comments »
\
