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When training shoulders, a lot of folks overlook a great training technique: isometric holds, particularly with lateral raises.
The next time you perform lateral raises, hold the dumbbells at the top portion of the rep (so your body makes a T) for X seconds, instead of lifting the weights up and down. Determine how long you’re going to hold the weight before you actually start holding it. That way, you won’t sell yourself short by quitting early.
Make sure you have a slight bend in your elbows, to alleviate the stress on the joints.
The great thing about iso-holds (in my personal opinion) is that they create a phenomenal burn in the shoulder muscle, particularly when supersetted with compound exercise like dumbbell shoulder presses or military presses.
So if you’re looking to define your shoulders, a fantastic (and grueling) addition to your workout might look like this (you can substitute 6-8 for 12-15, depending on what phase of your workout cycle you’re in):
Dumbbell Shoulder Press 4 x 12-15
superset
Lateral Iso-Holds: 4 x 45 seconds
To round out the above workout, you may want to do an Arnold Press (or another exercise that targets your front deltoid head) and a Rear-Delt exercise.
So try this exercise out. Who knows? It may be your new favorite.
A lot of people like training with stability balls, wobble boards, and all of those so-called “functional” training devices. But the problem is, most folks incorporate them haphazardly into their workouts and never really know when to use them. So when DO you use them?
Your training routine should look like a time line, beginning with foundational training and then progressing to sports-specific training, which usually incorporates functional moves.
So whether your a man or a woman, athlete or non-athlete, the foundational-period shouldn’t consist primarily of wobble-board and functional exercises. Instead, you should be focusing on heavier, compound movements like the squat and bench press.
This is especially true if you’re trying to improve your golf game (or tennis game, let’s say). Both of these sports involve lots of rotational movements. Even so, the initial weeks of your workouts should include little (if any) rotational movements.
But after four weeks (or longer, depending on your goals and initial fitness level), you can start incorporating basic functional movements–but not the stability ball or wobble board (not yet).
By basic functional movements, I mean one or two exercises that mimic a sports-specific movement. So for our tennis or golf example, that might be a lunge with a loaded trunk rotation, a one-armed bench press (which involves more core stabilizer muscles), or Russian twists.
When you finally reach the sports-specific cycle, that’s the time to pull out the stops and bring in the wobble-board and stability balls. That way, you’re body has developed a foundation of strength, has been introduced to various functional moves (which may be later adapted in some way or another, like performing Russian twists ON a stability ball after you master the regular version), and then finally has progressed to very sports-specific movements.
Even if you’re not training for a specific sport, the same general principle applies. You want to start with compound movements and then progress by manipulating sets and reps towards a final phase that fully targets your fitness goal, whether it’s fat loss via circuit training and intense cardio or muscle mass via 8-12 repetitions per set.
So what happens after you finish? Well-earned rest. Take a week or two off. You’ve earned it.
So I know I mentioned training specifically in the last column, which seems a bit easier for women then men. I mean, how does a woman goal-orient her workouts? Because to be honest, the average woman’s training regiment looks something like this:
- running four to six times per week
- crunches / sit-ups
In the effort to lose weight or keep weight off, and gain muscle definition, a lot of women shy away from weight training–because few women want big muscles.
But here’s the catch. The Use/Disuse Principle–one of the fundamental fitness principles–is fairly simple: use it or lose it. So if you’re not specifically training muscles via resistance training, you won’t build any muscle. But if you’re not supplementing your cardiovascular exercise with resistance training, you’re actually NOT efficiently targeting your fat-loss or “toning” goals. Why not? Because your resting metabolic rate has to do with your lean body mass; in layman’s terms, the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn. So to really become lean and defined, you need to hit the gym.
So here’s how you do it. Training in the 6-8 repetition range will give you strength and boost your metabolic rate, with minimal increases in muscle size. Then, moving to a high-repetition (12-15 and 15-20) circuit phase will promote fat loss, increasing your muscle definition with little increases in muscle size. In this circuit phase, you’ll progress from one exercise to the next without rest.
After a three or four weeks, either add another exercise to the circuit or decrease your rest-periods between circuits. Make sure to take a light week in-between your phases (so, circuit train for 4 weeks, take a light week of recovery, then add another exercise and circuit train for another 4 weeks, etc.) for your body to recover.
The in-between week doesn’t have to be complicated. It could simply be the circuit itself, but with each exercise performed individually for 3 sets of 15-20 reps, for example (so you won’t go from one exercise to the next without rest in this week).
Keep in mind that the program outlined below is meant for someone who wants to decrease body fat and increase muscular definition. If you’re content with your current body weight, I wouldn’t recommend you do the circuit-training portion of this program. Instead, you could just substitute it with occasional supersets and high-repetition free weight exercises, which become more specific with each additional phase (more on this below).
So the breakdown of the overall cycle may look like this:
4 weeks: strength phase (6-8 reps; failing within this repetition range); train 3 days per week
1 week: recovery week (light weight, ~15-20 reps); train 3 days per week
4 weeks: strength phase (same as #1; change some exercises)
1 week: recovery week
4 weeks: Circuit Training ~ depending on your fitness level, choose 4-5 exercises (preferably free weight moves) to perform back-to-back without rest. Also, depending on your fitness level, rest 1.5-2.5 minutes between circuits. Train 3-4 times per week.
1 week: recovery week
4 weeks: Circuit Training ~ either add an exercise to the previous circuit, or cut the rest period by 30 seconds. Train 4 times per week.
Also, as your body becomes acclimated to the circuit training, you can begin to incorporate more functional moves into your circuit–like stability ball training or one-arm dumbbell squats. Don’t be afraid to squat, by the way (with dumbbells or a barbell). When done correctly, it’s a fantastic move for shaping the lower body.
Finally, make sure you supplement your routine with regular cardiovascular exercise 3-4 times per week.
Also, try to increase either the # of times you perform cardio or the intensity level as you get into the circuit portions of your workouts. You can alter the intensity level by running faster, increasing the resistance (if it’s a treadmill or an elliptical), increasing the incline, running for longer periods, or incorporating a high-intensity method like HIIT.
In other words, mimic the cycle above with your cardio routines; during the strength phase, perform less-intense cardio fewer times per week (~ 3 times per week for 25 minutes, let’s say). During the recovery weeks as well, decrease the intensity. As you get into the circuit-training, however, increase it (for example) to 4 times per week for 30 minutes per session, and then decrease it during the interim recovery week, and then back up to 4 (or 5) times per week for 35 minutes (or longer, depending on your individual fitness level and training goals).
A quick tip: for optimal fat loss, perform your cardiovascular routine either first thing in the morning on an empty stomach (or after downing about 20 grams of whey protein mixed in water), or directly after your workouts.
Keep monitoring your body weight and be realistic with you’re training program–it’s all about baby steps. Don’t try to run for 45 minutes 5 times per week after not doing any cardiovascular exercise. Instead, make steady (and slight) changes to your routine during each phase. These little changes, over time, mean big results.
I know I’ve touted the benefits of mixing up your routine a few times (to say the least) in this blog, I realized that a lot of gym-goers do the exact opposite. Rather then sticking to a single plan, many not-so-experienced lifters never stick to any plan. And that’s not good.
While you may read in magazines or online training websites about “instinct training,” it’s generally reserved for very seasoned lifters who are so in-tune with their body that they can literally ‘feel’ what exercise will efficiently target a specific body part, while assessing outside factors like energy level and whether or not the muscle feels “cold.” In other words, it takes a long time to be able to train instinctively.
And even the lifters who do train instinctively usually keep certain “core” exercises in a routine, while rotating others based on the factors described above.
So what I’m trying to say is this: don’t constantly change the exercises you perform workout-to-workout. To make progress–and to feel like your making progress, which is essential to staying motivated–you should be performing a consistent routine and tracking your repetitions and weight and hopefully beating one or the other each subsequent workout.
The term periodization, for the most part, refers to changing these fixed workout regiments at specific intervals, or periods; hence, periodization.
So don’t feel down if you’re seeing no results and you’re training haphazardly. Construct a routine that’s made up of exercises that you really feel target the muscle working. So don’t do bench just because you think benching will give you a big chest; if you feel dumbbell bench more, do that instead. And once you have a set routine, stick with it. The results will come.
And I know a lot of these blogs seem directed at guys, but this applies to girls too. Train specifically, not haphazardly.
How DO you get a big chest? One thing’s for certain: your chest won’t balloon after doing multiple sets of bench press. Because if it did, then almost every guy in the gym would have an amazing chest. And he doesn’t.
So how’s it done? For one thing, you need to split up your chest training into two phases: a strength building phase and a mass-building phase. Think about it like this. Instead of just training in the muscle-building repetition range (10-12), you’re better off building a base of strength. That way, you’ll be able to lift more weight for 10-12 reps and achieve even greater muscle gains.
This initial phase shouldn’t be more than 4 weeks. You should focus on compound moves (read: the bench press) and dumbbell movements like the dumbbell bench press. In these initial weeks, focus less on isolation moves like the cable crossover or machine flyes. Instead, try performing three compound free-weight exercises like the Barbell Bench Press (Flat or Incline), Dumbbell Bench Press (Flat if you did Barbell Incline first, and Incline if you did Barbell Flat Bench first) and Weighted Dips.
Perform about 12 sets for chest once a week; since you’re training with heavier repetitions (5-8 repetitions), you’ll need more recovery time. Also, strength-building phases typically are lower volume, since each individual set taxes your muscles more than a typical higher-rep, lighter-weight set. Rest periods should also be longer; aim for about 2 to 3 minutes between sets.
After four intense weeks, it’s time to kick up the volume. Perform about 12-15 sets for chest twice week, for a total of 24-30 sets per week. Pull out all of the stops. Kick up your repetition ranges to 8-10 and 10-12, depending on the exercise (whatever you prefer on a given exercise), and decrease your rest periods to 30 seconds to a 1 minute between sets. Incorporate isolation moves like the Dumbbell Flyes and the Cable Crossovers. But still include you’re major mass builders: a barbell movement, a dumbbell press, and a dip.
While you should consult a nutritionist for specific dietary plans, remember that your diet is paramount to your mass-building success. Do some research on mass-gaining diets that meet you individual requirements (like your weight and body type).
But after 8 weeks, it’ll be worth it.
Just a quick tip here. Whenever you’re doing an exercise that requires you to keep your chest on a pad (and usually works your back), try to actually keep your chest on the pad. A lot of times, folks will come into the gym and load up plate after plate on the bar of the T-Bar Row in Ramsey (that funny looking machine by the column on the right) and then rock out rep after rep. Literally, rocking back, chest flying off the pad to pull the weight up. I mean, even if your chest lifts off the pad a little bit–like, even a few inches–it’s probably a sign that you’re going too heavy.
Trust me on this one. You’ll see better results if you actually lift the weight slowly and squeeze at the top (for a count of 1). If you can’t hold it at the top long enough to squeeze, or if you’re chest’s flying high, it’s time to take some plates off. And this goes for almost any other exercise. With biceps curls, keep your chest up and back straight and pin your elbows at your sides. When you curl the weight up, squeeze the biceps muscle hard for a count of 1. It’ll work the muscle so much harder–and isn’t that the reason you’re training in the first place?
By the way, this is huge with abs as well. A lot of folks will say “I can do 100 crunches” or “I do 200 sit-ups,” when really, that’s not what counts. Next time you do a crunch, hold the top position and exhale as your contract you abs forcefully, then lower slowly to the floor. By slowing your repetitions down with abs and actually contracting your midsection, you’ll feel the burn much quicker and work the muscle much more effectively.
So try to go a few pounds lighter next time. Squeeze the muscle at the top of each repetition. Focus on the movement and make sure you’re not swaying or rocking or using any muscle besides the one you’re lifting for. You’ll be more sore, even though you’re losing less weight. It’s a weird concept, but it works.
5-10-20. Adapted from tri-sets, the 5-10-20 method training supposedly allows someone to become big, lean, and strong. How you say? Well, if you’ll remember, repetition ranges in the 1-5 range primarily target maximal strength, while repetition ranges in the 8-12 range target muscle hypertrophy (i.e., muscle growth), and repetition ranges 15 and above generally target muscular endurance and fat loss (when coupled with a regular cardiovascular routine, of course).
So the whole principle behind 5-10-20 training is this: let’s take the “optimal” repetition range for the three main fitness objectives–strength, muscle mass, and fat loss–and perform them back-to-back without rest. Trainers usually pick a barbell exercise for the 5-rep exercise, a dumbbell press or lunge, etc. for the second, and a flye or machine for the third. So a sample 5-10-20 routine for chest might look like this:
Incline Barbell Bench 4 x 5
Flat Dumbbell Bench 4 x 10
Flat Dumbbell Flye 4 x 20
The great part about the final exercise? It gorges the muscle with nutrient-rich blood, leaving you with a phenomenal pump.
But who should use this routine? And is it effective? In general, only advanced lifters (folks who have been training for over 1 year) should try the 5-10-20 program. And if you do try it, you shouldn’t utilize it for more than four to six weeks since the high-level of intensity may lead to overtraining.
As for the results, it varies. In general, every person responds differently to a certain type of training. That’s one of the drawbacks of this routine–it assumes that the chosen repetition ranges represent the “ideal” repetition ranges for each fitness objective, when in fact, they may not. While you may realize the best gains in muscle size performing 10 reps per set, I may respond better to 8 reps per set.
Also, there’s a training principle out in the fitness world called the SAID Principle, which essentially states that each phase of training should focus on one goal. Basically, if multiple goals are targeted at one time, the SAID Principle states that each goal isn’t receiving it’s fair due. So according to that principle, you’ll realize greater gains in strength, muscle, and fat loss if you focus all of your training on each individual goal. In other words, you should have a “strength-building phase,” or a “muscle-building phase,” or a “fat-loss phase.” So this may not be the best way of getting big, lean, and strong.
But who knows? Maybe it could work for you.
So I realized that, in the effort to periodize or change up my workouts, I actually fell into the trap of using the same method of periodizing for nearly two years. As of last week, I still performed a four-day split: Chest/Back on Mondays and Thursdays, Shoulders/Biceps/Triceps on Tuesdays or Fridays, and Legs on the day I didn’t do shoulders and arms.
I periodized with my repetitions; I usually do three weeks of 6-8, then one week of light weight, then three weeks of 8-10, then one week of light weight, then three weeks of 10-12; and then take some time off and repeat the cycle.
What I didn’t realize until three days ago (when I read it in a book) was that I can actually periodize the way I train, in addition to the repetitions. For instance, I’m now following a relatively low-intensity four-day split where I’m only training one body part each day, with 10-12 repetitions per set and two to three minutes of rest between sets–as a kind of breather for four weeks until my “advanced” period, where I’ll do four or five workouts a week consisting wholly of tri-sets. Or I could train on five days instead of four, or switch into a full-body routine three times a week, or employ supersets, etc.
The important thing (ala Dr. Jim Stoppani) is that I spend about four weeks on relatively less intense type of training, with a certain number of repetitions and rest periods, and then I switch into a relatively more intense method of training for four weeks, and then switch to a relatively less intense method, etc.
So these less intense phases serve as a kind of recovery phase, like the one week light weight, high repetition phase did that I talked about in my “Get Huge with Periodization” post.
The best part about this routine? It’s exciting. I can shuffle around training methods every five weeks, and officially look forward to my workouts again.
If you’ve been training for a while and want something new, try this. It changes lives.
I’ll talk about some of the different kinds of training methods you can use in later posts, with the pros and cons, etc. Figure out what works for you, and go for those gains.
What’s the best exercise to get a big chest? Dumbbell Bench!
Why? The Barbell Bench actually forces your arms into an unnatural position, and doesn’t allow for the stretch that dumbbells give near the bottom of the movement. When a recent study compared the two lifts, it actually showed a higher percentage of muscle fiber recruitment with the Dumbbell Bench press, not the Barbell Bench press.
Use it: For a big chest, incorporate 4 sets of 8-10 reps of Dumbbell Bench into your chest routine. Also, try training chest twice a week (on Mondays and Thursdays, for instance).
Here’s something new: did you know that training body parts once a week actually isn’t enough? Ideally, you should train each body part twice a week, or even three times a week (if your a beginner). The body’s a lot more resilient than people think.
So. I guess Arnold* was right?
*Arnold Schwarzenegger used to train every body part three times per week, often doing two workouts per day (morning and night). What a beast!
In the spirit of the Style Files, I’ll make this post short and sweet. Suppose someone trains shoulders twice a week with the following routine, hoping to increase shoulder size (or add mass, same thing):
4 x 6-8 Military Press
4 x 6-8 Front Raises
4 x 6-8 Lateral Raises
4 x 6-8 Upright Rows
What’s wrong with this workout? A few things. First, he’s training in the 6-8 repetition range, which targets strength, not size. He needs to boost his repetition ranges to 8-10, or 10-12, depending on his preference.
Second, notice that the first two exercises primarily target his front deltoids. In general, your front deltoids get a lot of work–if Fred (let’s say) does any sort of pressing movement for chest, like the bench press, he incorporates his front deltoids. If Fred really likes Military Presses, he should remove “Front Raises,” since including both exercises targets (in general) a rather overdeveloped portion of his deltoids.
Better yet, he should exchange front raises with Dumbbell Shoulder Presses, and perform those before his Military Presses. This ensures that Fred’s medial deltoid, or the part that gives his shoulders width, can be taxed with the most weight possible, first in his workout, when he’s freshest. It’s called the Priority Principle. Train your weaker parts first.
One final mistake? Too much volume! He’s performing about 16 sets for shoulders in one workout. He’d be better off splitting his shoulder routines into two workouts, done twice-a-week.
So the new and improved shoulder routine might look like this:
Day 1
Dumbbell Shoulder Press: 4 x 8-10
superset
Dumbbell Lateral Raise: 4 x 8-10
Military Press: 4 x 8-10
Day 2
Dumbbell Shoulder Press 4 x 8-10
superset
Dumbbell Lateral Raise 4 x 8-10
Upright Row 4 x 8-10
Notice that even though Fred’s now doing 12 sets per workout, instead of 16, he’s actually doing 24 sets per week. Also, with the supersets, this workout should take about 30 - 45 minutes.
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