Training fundamentals that you probably aren’t doing that can deliver to the end of the rainbow where you can get a chest of gold in results!
As you most likely already know, you won’t get “Shredded for life bro” in a month and you won’t be the strongest in the gym in 12 weeks. It takes structured work and progression to get to where you want to be physically and mentally, this also goes for becoming more mobile, stable or powerful.
However I can give you the formula you need to get to your goals a lot quicker than it took myself as I didn’t have the opportunity to learn all these bits of information when I first started! But you do have the opportunity to fast track your learning and results in the next 12 weeks to create a solid foundation and depending on your goals, possible reach them if your actually willing to follow the process correctly.
So if your hands are on the steering wheel, ready to speed through once the green light goes on than buckle yourself in to write down and absorb the following information that will not only give you a kickstart to fast tracking your training but also let you turn on the turbo in your car to win the race you have with yourself to keep yourself on target to hitting your goals and winning your own race!
Fundamentally to gain the correct strength and progress your training you need to focus on your fundamental movements which are the:
Squat
Most people have squat before usually you’ll find people back squatting a barbell in the gym, the squat can be performed incorrectly often due to the position of the body not being correct (Think Feet hip width apart, chest up, knees out and hips going back as you go down and on the way up lock knees and hips out)
Lunge
The lunge has so many different ways as well but lets think (as you step back stay tall, knee touches ground, keep knee inline with hips and shoulders for a straight line with the front knee inline with heel)
Hinge
The best way to describe the hinge is taking your pants off with feet hip width apart, straight back, chest up and knees slightly bent as you push your hips back not down.
Push
Think of a push up or bench press, think elbows slight in not too close to the torso but also not in line with shoulders, slightly tucked, as you go down in a push up the shoulder blades come together going down to a point before the shoulders try and turn down towards the ground and on the way up lock arms out, keeping a strong straight body.
Pull
A pull up or inverted body weight row will work, think ( braced core, ribs in, arms and back pull you forward with mid back squeezing together, while the chest reaches the bar and arms locked out at start position.)
Twist
A rotation or twist of the upper body such as slamming a ball side to side while pivoting with a rotation each time you swap sides, or a seated Russian twist. upright position with mainly upper body rotation.
Gait (Walking)
You would be surprised at how many people can’t walk or run, its crazy! as simple as it sounds most people cross feet when walking, as you walk your feet should be hip width apart with toes straight and as you run your feet will usually form a straight line which is normal. (Issues with knees, hips , back and neck can come from lack of foot stability)
Focus on start with improving those basics and you’ll find once you fix the fundamentals you’ll be 10x ahead of someone with strength and muscle development than those who don’t.
There is a reason I can still Turkish get up 55kg with one arm, front squat 120kg, back squat 140kg, jog 60km in one go, handstand walk and bench 100kg, Deadlift 160kg and still have smooth movements with my Olympic lifting all at 78kg currently and its because I worked on my fundamentals first than made the transition to strength, power and conditioning over a structured program cycle.
12 week training cycle includes 3x 4 week blocks and in each of the 4 week blocks you’ll have a one week deload (This is essential otherwise your progress will plummet and your physical and mental state will be damaged because you didn’t recover correctly. ( You build muscle when you have a recover day and rest is when your body actually rebuilds and grow muscle and repairs ) Mentally recovery days are important as you give your body time to recover and this stops the risk of inflammation flaming up in the body from lack of recovery and not letting your body deload from the stress it been put under.
So quickly:
– Rest and Recover = after 3 weeks of training with light weight and lower training effort and also have recovery days the day after a session or at least lower the intensity to a light session such as mobility work, light jog or an outdoor hike.
– 12 Training cycle has 3x 4 week training blocks shown below:
Week 1 progressive overload training (start at a certain weight, set and rep range)
Week 2 progressive overload training (increase one of the variables reps,sets, weights,)
Week 3 progressive overload training (increase one of the variables reps,sets, weights,)
Week 4 deload training session (light)
– In a weeks plan you will have a certain amount of rest days depending on your intensity of each session
If you have a big session you’ll need the next day to recover, if the session is easy than you will be fine to go back the next day, heavy resistance sessions require more recover than high intensity cardio sessions. one is more muscle than cardiovascular however if you feel fatigued the next day it is a clear sign you need to recover.
You can have active recovery days which could be a focus on mobility, cardiovascular if you did weight or just go outside for light activity.
So how can you alter training to make intensity high each week?
Well it depends on your goal really, if you want to get stronger than you would increase your weights each set after a warm up of course, first set 5kg, second 7kg, third 10kg for the first week at say 10 reps with 60 seconds rest and the following week add more weight, sets, reps. or even tempo so slower transitions between each point of a exercise so it may go for instance 1/3/1/2 which would be 1 second hold at start, 3 seconds to end, 1 second hold, and 2 seconds back to start. there are a range of set rep, sets, rest ranges for different goals. Send me a email and ill be happy to send them through to you.
Less reps means more sets and more reps less sets is a good baseline to follow for now
Strength – 1-5 Reps for 5-8 sets at 80-100% 1RM (1 Rep Max )
Hypertrophy – 6-15 Reps for 3-6 Sets at 60-75% 1RM (1 Rep Max )
Muscular Endurance – 20 upwards Reps of 5-12 Sets at 30-50% 1RM (1 Rep Max )
Those are the basic guidelines however when it comes to results you’ll need nutrition to be 80% minimum to get good results so weight loss deficit, weight gain surplus and fat loss and muscle maintenance is a (maintenance calorie range).
The above principles will help you reach goals for exercise personal bests or body goals but keep in mind you’ll need a new program every 4 weeks with alterations to keep the results coming and by changing some variables as listed above that will help you do this.
So how can you add in more progressions if you find your self struggling exercises and results?
If you’re struggling to lift more it may be strength or stability:
Focus on a Tempo range, try out a slower tempo for strength such as 1/4/2/4 this will help you focus on more control and even try isolation holds at the bottom of a squat you might hold it for a longer period of time say 2-4 seconds to create a more stable position which will help you improve your end range strength to move out of that position with more ease.
If your struggling with Power:
focus on more quick tempos always with control to activate your fast twitch muscle fibres or even add in resistance bands to say a squat or bench press for more force production.
Not losing weight?
Your not eating in a deficit or your eating bad food in a deficit that are causing gut health issues, focus on more wholesome foods as suggested in the previous email.
Not getting the body you want?
Are you eating too much or not enough for your goals? are you actually training the right way ?
Be honest ask the questions and solve the problem and if you feel lost just ask me for help.
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chriswalkerpt14@thenextrushmagazine.com
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