4 Ways to Breathe Life into your Dying Workout

Bodybuilding - 4 Ways to Breathe Life into your Dying Workout

1. Switch Your Workout Style - Lack of variety in a workout quickly leads to boredom. Working out is just like any other aspect of life. If we get bored we quickly lose interest and sleep walk through the workout as a result. It's just like having a job. If you go to work every single day and do the same thing every SINGLE day you quickly lose interest in what's going on.

There are so many types of workout styles available. Search on Superset, German Volume, Pyramid, Cable, Dumbbell, Circuit, Straight Set, Total Body Complexes, or Push/Pull and you'll see just what I mean.

2. Increase Weight 10-15% On Each Exercise - One of my favorite ways to kick start a workout is to add 10-15% of my normal resistance to an exercise. If nothing else it gets your attention. All too often we get attached to the amount of weight and reps we're accustomed to doing. 3 things happen here:

- Comfort
- Lack of Growth
- Boredom

All of which are terrible for the drive and excitement needed to keep a dynamic workout in tact. Adding more weight also allows you to refocus on what is going on. You are forced to focus and push yourself to get that weight off your chest!

3. Add The Element Of Surprise To Your Music Selection - While the iPod is great for your workout it can also be a curse. Last month I listened to the same 3 play lists for 6 days a week. Needless to say I got bored... really, really, really bored. Mixing up the music is a great way to get you rejuvenated and provide that extra spark. When your music gets style try this:

- Set the player to random
- Switch musical genres (rap to rock, rock to rap, house to heavy metal, etc)
- Find some old music you haven't used in a while

Music is a powerful motivator in the gym. Use it to your advantage.

4. Perform Challenging Exercises - Some of the equipment in the gym can get very lonely. The Dip/Pullup stands, hack squat machine, Olympic bars (deadlifts, squats, overhead press), and plyometric boxes (explosive jumping) are all woefully lonely. Befriend them. Crank out some pullups, do a deadlift or 2, stack up some plyometric boxes and perform a set of jumps.

These exercises are the most rewarding in the gym. On top of that there is NEVER a long line of people climbing over each other to do pullups. These exercises are the most challenging but they are also the most rewarding.

3 days vs 6 days !!!

Bodybuilding - Why Does This Work

Yes, that's it! It may sound crazy to somebody who is used to doing 30 sets for biceps and working out 6 days per week. Even crazier is lifting 6 days per week and not growing! Stop thinking that more is better! If you are a natural bodybuilder, you will not have near the recovery of a steroid user. Somebody on steroids can lift 6 days per week without overtraining, but you can't.

Many bodybuilders who are used to high volume training would laugh at a bodybuilder who does one set per exercise and only works out three days per week. I ask them how many times a week they work their biceps.

Almost always, they say once per week on "Bicep Day". Once per week!? So they work their biceps, then they let them rest for 7 days in a row? After 1 or 2 days, their biceps are no longer sore... yet the wait another 5 or 6 days to work them again. Their biceps are slowly shrinking during this long rest period.

In our workout you isolate each bodypart THREE times per week with a full, heavy set. You hit it on Monday, let it rest one day, hit it on Wednesday, let it rest, hit is on Friday and then give the poor muscle a two day break... before starting the cycle again. So we work our biceps (and all muscles) three full times per week which is 12 times per month. They work their biceps 12 times in 3 months! And they call us lazy...

Why is this good for muscle building? Think about when you build a callous on your hand. If you were to rub your hand until is was cut and started bleeding, then wait a week, then do it again, you would simply have a scar. On the otherhand, if you were to rub it a little each day or every other day, it would slowly build up a resistance to the rubbing, thus forming a protective callous. This is the same idea with our workout.

Another interesting thing is that people who do 12 sets per bodypart usually do not go to full failure on each set. This would be almost impossible as it would nearly kill them!

They will usually do their first few sets with ease because in the back of their mind they are saving their energy for the last few sets. Most of their sets are worthless since they are not going to failure. How often do you see somebody in your gym perform a full, balls to the wall set where they are almost about to die from the pain and effort. Not often.

Usually these people are just going through the motion, getting a good "burn", while making a few grunts. Then they walk out feeling better than you because they did 12 sets for biceps and you only did one. Your muscles will only grow if they are forced too! Otherwise, we would all have huge legs just from walking around all day.

45 minutes workout then get out of the gym...

Bodybuilding - The Workout The workout should last no longer than 45 minutes! Plan your rest between sets accordingly so that you finish in this time period. Studies have shown that after 47 ? minutes of intense weight training, your cortisol levels shoot up. This means that the longer you workout AFTER 47 minutes, the LESS results you will get and the more likely you will overtrain. So get in the gym, lift hard, stay focused, and get out. The most important thing is that you lift to absolute FAILURE! This is not an option. It is almost 100% necessary to have a workout partner. If you need to get 8 - 10 reps, choose a weight that allows you to get 8 - 10 reps? but not even ONE more. I am serious! Once you reach your last rep, you should not be physically able to do another one, no matter what. If Britney Spears promises to date you if you get one more, it wouldn't matter. You should NOT be able to do it. Only you can judge if you are truly putting all possible effort into each set. Unlike programs where you are doing 4 or 5 sets per exercise, you only have one chance to blast your muscles. Don't waste it! Perform each set with good form. Cheating will only hurt your gains. Do each rep slowly and do not use momentum. Each rep should use a full range of motion and take approximately 2 seconds on the way down and 2 seconds on the way up. Do not "jerk" the weight up. Slowly move it up and down. Use lighter weight if you must. This is VERY important to your gains so don't ignore this! Do not stop moving during any part of your set. Some people will go all the way down on squats, then come back up and lock their knees, rest for a second or two, then go back down. Do NOT do this or you will be making Baby Jesus cry. You should stay in constant motion without locking out on any exercise. Do not stop at the bottom of your bicep curls or any other exercise. Again: Keep moving for the whole set and do not lock out your arms or legs.