Lift Hard, Rest Hard, and then Rest

Lift Hard Even On Your Light Days

Some days you need to de-load a little and lift less than normal days to help your body repair a little. Today was only half like that. I brought my total number of lifts down, but lifted hard. With only having three lifts on my list today, I did something I don't normally do and had Deadlifting and Power Cleaning on the same day. It was hard and I guarantee I couldn't do as much weight on Power Clean as normal but I accepted that and went to town on it as best as I could.

        It's never too late to become what you might have been. -George Eliot

180 Kg Dead Lift

Today's Workout-

3x4 then 4x2 Deadlift  Increasing Weight Each Set 

3x4 Power Clean

4x6 Pendlay Rows

1 set Max Reps of Bench 135 lbs-  33 reps

            Just to see how many I could do and get the blood pumping a little. 

Tomorrow is a much needed rest day. Rest days are just as important to building muscle as the workouts themselves. Your body cannot build your muscle if you damage it before it has had time to repair. Take a day off every once in awhile, it is also important on keeping yourself from burning out. One day of rest is more than worth keeping you on a schedule. If you've been working hard, enjoy your days off.

To Squat or Not to Squat

To squat or not squat.

There really is no question, Squatting should be in your exercise regimen. The squat goes along with a few other exercises that you can not forget to have in your workout list. 

Lifts Not to Forget- 

-Squats
-Deadlifts
-Pull-ups
-Power Cleans
-Bench Press


This list is not in any sort of order of importance. These lifts all recruit multiple muscle groups which leads to more work in multiple areas for one workout. Maximizing your time in the weight room is very important. Everybody wants the "Get Ripped Quick" workout but there is no get ripped quick secret, but there are get ripped faster secrets. Utilizing compound lifts is a main component of being able to slim down quick. I seldom have a workout that doesn't have one of these five lifts in it and I try to have them relatively early in my workouts so that I can put my full effort into them. Nobody cares how much you can curl, but people ask how much you can squat/bench/power clean. These are the lifts that I compete with myself to be able to see an improvement with my own personal bests. Finding your own personal motivation is important and that is mine. Beating myself. Try to do something that you couldn't do the week before. I used to squat 445 lbs. After two knee surgeries, I am ecstatic to be able to get 5x275lbs. There was a long point where I couldn't squat without any weight. That is a humbling experience. I now simply try to improve, the body I want will follow.

Today's Workout-

Squats 4x6

Single Dumbbell Clean and Press 3x6

Calf Raises- 3x10

Barbell Shrugs- 4x10

Leg Press- 

           2x10 single leg 

           3x10 double leg

I wanted to put in Power Clean in today as well but decided against it because I am deadlifting tomorrow and there were no platforms available and I wasn't about to sit and wait for one. 

Have a great Friday everyone. Do work. Much Love. Follow me @fitness4student and don't forget to stay awesome. 

5 Reasons You Cannot Afford to Forget to Lift Heavy Weights

There is a stigma surrounding lifting heavy weights. Some people don't want to get bulky. This is a common thought process especially by  females. This idea that lifting heavy weights will make you look like Arnold is unfounded and pretty far from the truth. You don't get huge overnight; you don't magically wake up and find that you can't reach your opposite shoulder because your biceps get in the way. Bodybuilders work for years and years to achieve the body that you see. 

There are many benefits that lifting heavier weights will provide you. I will go through 5 of the main ones here. 

1. Increase Calories Burned-

Lifting heavier weights will increase your caloric output dramatically. It will do this two different ways.

        a. Calories burned after heavier workouts through-out the day are raised. 

        b. Lifting heavier weights will help you build muscle faster. More muscle on your body leads to more basal calories (calories burned to maintain normal health) burned throughout the day. 

2. You Build Muscle Faster-

I understand that this was said just a few lines above, but it is important enough to restate with greater detail. If you do want to get huge like a bodybuilder, this isn't quite the article for you, but you have to more than simply lift heavier. It is a big part, but as all physiques, it requires a heavy dose of kitchen therapy.

Building muscle will make you look more toned. Every pound of muscle you put on is like losing fat. More muscle will make you look thinner. Lifting heavy weights, will get you thinner, and get you there faster. 

3. Lifting Heavy Will Reduce Injuries-

Yes you must lift heavy with good form and proper safety precautions. This is a must, but building more muscle will help stabilize your major injury sources, your joints. I know that building strength around a joint is huge. After both of my ACL reconstructions main goal along the way was to increase the strength in all the muscles that surround the joint. When a muscle is weak you have less control of it and cannot rely on it for stabilization. By working harder in the gym, you can reduce the chance of a freak injury. 

4. Increase Bone Density-

Lifting heavy weight puts more stress on your bones, this recruits more osteoblastic (bone building) activity and will increase your bone density. Your body is an amazing adaption machine, when you stress your body; it adapts to be able to take on this increased stress, causing improvements. 

You should already be having enough calcium in your diet, your maximum Calcium levels in your bones peaks at around 25 so try to have enough calcium to get that starting point high to have higher bone density as you age and get closer to osteoporosis.  

5. Lifting Heavy Weights Makes You Feel Good-

There isn't much that gives you a better feeling than doing something that you were unable to do a short time before. Building the muscle to be able to lift a heavier weight than you could before causes me to have a great sense of accomplishment. I reached a new personal best on Dead Lift yesterday. The whole room seemed brighter afterwards. I am going to write an article about this soon, but one of my main motivations to lift is my competitive nature. I am not able to compete in organized sports like I was in High School. I needed to have a new fitness mindset, so I created my new philosophy of trying to beat myself. There isn't anything wrong with trying to be the best you can be at something.

A few disclaimers: Always lift what you are comfortable with. This is not an excuse to go try and load up more than you are ready for. No, you shouldn't only lift Heavy. You should incorporate lifting heavy into a routine that gives you a high enough degree of variation. Muscle confusion is important this is the reason you need to load up the weight sometimes. Keep your muscles guessing. 

Finally, have a great day. You deserve to feel good about yourself. Make today the day you give yourself a pat on the back.