Maximize your strength and size by deloading on a regular basis.

Hitting the weights can get a little too black and white sometimes. Either you’re training hard, balls to the wall, or you’re away from the gym resting to let the muscles recover and regenerate. For the most part, this works, but there’s one key element missing here: the gray area in between, when you’re at the gym training but you’re not exactly going all out. Basically, you’re taking it easy on your muscles.

Are you being lazy? Absolutely not. You’re being smart. You’re deloading, the same thing the strongest lifters in the world do on a regular basis to get even stronger.

“Deloading is basically just a means of giving the body a minor break so that it can repair itself,” says Brandon Smitley, an EliteFTS-sponsored competitive powerlifter who holds the fourth highest squat (501 pounds) and total (1,306 pounds) of all time at 132 pounds raw. “You can’t run your car at 6,000 to 7,000 RPMs forever. You eventually need to slow down or you’re going to blow your engine. That’s how you have to look at training. You have to ramp it up during certain times, but you also need to scale back down to allow for recovery.

“For powerlifters or anyone looking to get as strong as possible in the gym, deloading is great for the sheer fact that it lets you handle heavier weights over a long period. It’s also better on the joints and provides a nice mental break every now and then. For bodybuilders, deloading often produces a nice effect where the muscles get a boost in growth.”

How Often To Deload

Scaling back every month or so is a good rule of thumb, but this depends on the individual. Those who require more recovery from heavy lifting may need to deload every fourth week, while guys who don’t tend to break down as quickly can probably get away with deloading every seventh or eighth week. “If you’re a regular gym-goer, you’re going to have to find out what works best for your body,” Smitley says. “Experience level will also determine the deload. If you have a beginner, deloading every fourth week is almost a waste because they’re so new to weight training that the body will continue to adapt to anything. But if you get someone who’s been in the game for a long time, he’s probably going to deload every fourth week as a norm.”

How Long To Deload

Just as once a month (give or take) is a good rule of thumb for frequency, one week seems to be the deloading sweet spot. “Strength and powerliftingwise, one week is definitely the norm,” Smitley says. “As for bodybuilders, they often take two or three weeks and drop their volume. So, for example, the first three or four weeks of a macrocycle might be moderate volume, then the next six to eight weeks would be high volume in the peak of their training, and then after that, you’d have two to three weeks of low volume.”

How To Deload

In the strength community, deloading is typically a matter of cutting training load (weight used) on exercises and/or overall volume. In other words, you’re still going to the gym the same number of days that week; you’re just doing considerably less work while you’re there. Regarding weight, if you’d normally leave one rep “in the tank” on heavy days, Smitley recommends leaving three to four in the tank while deloading. As for cutting volume, you can simply take the number of sets you’d normally do and divide that in half.

“Another approach is to drop all accessory exercises and do only the big lifts,” Smitley says. “So basically, go to the gym, warm up, work up to a heavy triple [three reps] and walk out. Or you can do the exact opposite. If you’re training lower body and you normally squat, nix your squatting but keep your accessory work the same as normal. Or you can do both — you do squats but maybe decrease the weight to something light and work on form, and then drop all assistance movements in half in terms of sets. So if you normally do four sets each of leg presses, leg extensions and leg curls, you’d do two.”

7 Reasons You're Not Losing Weight

1. You're Not Eating Enough

It seems easy enough. Eat less and exercise more. In a vacuum you may be correct. The body is a finely tuned, intelligent machine though. When slashing calories be careful not to cut too many. Leaving too many calories on the plate can be as detrimental to weight loss as eating too much. When you decrease calories to low your body goes into starvation mode and your metabolism crashes. 

A sluggish metabolism is the quickest way to stop weight loss. What typically follows is frustration, starvation, lethargy, and even depression, resulting in a binge.  Binging with a slow metabolism is a double whammy sure to lead to more fat accumulation. Try making subtle drops in calories between 200 and 500 calories per day, depending on your current intake.

Portion Distortion

We get it, calorie counting and tracking macronturients (proteins, carbohydrates, and fats) can be tedious. For those not accustomed to it, it can be intimidating and overwhelming. There are tools to help you. My Fitness Pal and Fat Secret are great smart phone apps with recipes, bar code scanners, and also interact with many of your favorite restaurant chains. Take a week to weigh and measure all of your foods so you get an idea of portion sizes and the macronutrients and calories each food contains. Most people severely over or under estimate the amount of food and calories they consume per day. You may surprise yourself.

Condiments

Hold the BBQ sauce!  Say no to ranch. Get dressings on the side. It may not seem like a big deal, but many of your favorite condiments pack 100-200 calories per serving (which can be as small as a tablespoon). 

There are low calorie and calorie free options to choose from such as mustards and hot sauces you can use to enhance your foods. I frequently pack my own when dining out, and order my foods plain. It gives me the enjoyment of eating out, yet I can often times cut hundreds of calories.  Even ketchup contains 15 calories (4 grams of sugar) per tbsp. That adds up in a hurry when you are using 2-3 servings a day over time.

You're Drinking Your Calories

The fastest way to accrue calories with no satiation is to drink them. Liquids will not make you feel full. It’s double jeopardy because you will still eat enough calories to make you feel satisfied. Fruit juice, soft drinks, sports drinks, and alcohol will destroy your weight loss goals. Ditch them. If you must have them opt for sugar free or diet varieties and limit alcohol to 1-3 drinks per week. For many people this can create a major caloric deficit and cause a jump in weight loss alone.

Too Much Cardio

It’s true, you must burn more calories than you are consuming to lose weight, and cardio is the fastest way to burn those calories for most. However, there is a point of diminishing returns for most. Spending hours and hours of cardio can be tedious and cause unfavorable metabolic adaptations. Your body adapts to cardiovascular/aerobic exercise quickly. If running for 20 minutes at 6 miles per hour burnt X amount of calories when you start it will eventually burn X-Y calories. One must continue to either increase intensity or duration to continue the weight loss benefits.  As you can see, eventually you run out of energy or time.

You're Not Strength Training

Your answer to the previous dilemma is weight training. Weight training produces a phenomenon called EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption). In a nutshell, this means that your metabolism is going to stay elevated after you exercise, so you continue burning calories even after you are done training. Sometimes metabolism stays elevated up to 72 hours after an intense weight training session. EPOC is the gift that keeps on giving (in terms of body fat reduction).

Not Planning Ahead

Preparation is your biggest ally in the battle of the bulge. All the healthy eating and exercise in the world will not make up for that 3 day weekend getaway you plan on drinking pints or sucking down whip cream infused strawberry daiquiris, while devouring typical vacation fair. I’m not advocating abstinence from enjoying a drink or two, or even a couple of cheat meals, but not planning ahead typical means poor food choices for an entire day or weekend. Take a couple of days and some time to plan ahead. 

Plan your “cheat” meals or meals out and adjust your calorie intake for the days before, after, and during those “cheat” meals. The aforementioned apps can help you to balance your caloric budget for the days preceding and following your get away. Also, plan ahead day to day and week to week. It’s hard to resist that office potluck, or the boss buying pizza. Knowing what you are going to feed yourself will help you eliminate those temptations. Not having healthy options, or a plan, to fall back on will lead to indulging in the things you’re trying to avoid. Failing to plan is planning to fail. 

Extreme Mass Gaining Program Explained

If you are seriously involved with weight training, bodybuilding, or any athletic endeavor involving muscle mass and strength, then you surely have pondered the question “How do I gain the most size in the least amount of time?” The first and most commonly practiced approach is to “bulk up“ by eating any and everything you can get your hands on, with, of course, a priority on protein. But dietary fat and carbohydrate control? Forget about it! This approach could be extremely effective for an ectomorph somatotype with a blazing metabolism and forgiving insulin sensitivity. However, for the mesomorph and especially, the endomorph somatotype, this method could be a complete detriment to their goals.

The second protocol for size would be a slow and gradual approach involving “dieting” all year long, staying lean, and in a single-digit body-fat range. This involves crunching caloric values, macronutrient values, and constant manipulation to your nutrition and training regimen. Usually the folks who can’t stand losing their abdominal muscles and sharp facial features utilize this approach, which is effective, but will not truly maximize their muscle mass potential.

The third approach to building lean muscle mass is what I refer to as “the decondition to condition” method. This train of thought requires one to dramatically reduce weight training to two to three times a week. Weight training should involve minimal free weights and place an emphasis on safer machine and cable movements for joint and ligament healing and rejuvenation. You want to keep the muscles stimulated, but far from overloaded and severely broken down. You will also need to reduce your protein and food intake, and consume only small, infrequent meals. Discontinue all muscle building supplementation to get your body flushed out and cleansed. One would follow this deconditioning phase for two months or longer, depending on what your goals and lifestyle permit for properly executing the next phase. This practice primes your body for a huge growth spurt when you “fip the switch” and do the opposite approach.

When making the switch to the “conditioning phase” or muscle growth period, the trainee would begin weight training again, meaning four to six times a week. Begin consuming copious amounts of protein, complex carbohydrates, and essential fatty acids to induce anabolism. Begin a supplementation plan and regimented sleep schedule to ensure recovery is optimized. This method should allow a person to do the “impossible” and gain muscle and lose fat simultaneously if the nutrition is strict with smart food choices, training is brutally intense, and no deviations manifest. Of course, you will be gaining back lost size from the layoff, but often times you will supersede your previous size with a lower body-fat percentage.

This sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? Well…it’s not quite that easy. The key to making this protocol work for you is having substantial muscle mass from previous “bulking phases,” where you have already been through the rigors of excessive, gluttonous eating, and performed basic, heavy exercises to have put on solid size, setting the stage for your physical foundation of muscle mass. After reaching ultimate size, you can implement the unorthodox protocol of deconditioning and shrinking in size, then flling back out with lean muscle mass gains.

Every individual will differ in how they respond to each method of gaining muscle mass. Listen to your body, and keep records of how each approach works. If you get blood work done and can ensure your health is not in danger, forcing extreme caloric intake is probably the fastest way to accrue appreciable muscle mass.

- See more at: http://www.flexonline.com/nutrition/most-popular-mass-diets-explained#sthash.KbiaRJcw.dpuf

20 reasons to SQUAT

If I had to choose just one weight training exercise that builds overall lean muscle mass and increases strength, it would definitely have to be squats.

Not everyone is able to do this exercise correctly.

You need to have the correct form and technique to get the maximum benefit and to avoid injury. It’s not a difficult exercise to perform and I recommend it to anybody.

This is a 1,900 word article, so I felt I had to expand it a little bit than my usual blog posts that are around the 1000 words long.

Originally, I was going to just make a list of 10 reasons why you should squat. But, since squats are an extremely powerful exercise, I knew I had to make it 20 reasons why you should squat.

Some of these I have researched and some are from my own experience of squatting over the years.

People still have a misconception about squatting and think that they are only meant for pro athletes and body builders.

That’s not true, squatting is suitable for anybody, both male and female, who are interested inbuilding lean muscle and burning fat as well as improving their health.

Why Every Woman Should Squat

It is especially great for the ladies that want a great set of legs and a sexy butt. Think Jen Selter, Instagram Sensation.

Jen Selter has literally inspired thousands of women around the world to get a bigger butt.

If you don’t know who Jen Selter is, you can do a google search to get more information about her.

If you are on Instagram, you may have seen her photos.

It’s quite possible, that Jen had a huge influence on a lot of girls wanting to follow in her footsteps to getting the body of their dreams. Who knows…?

Okay, back to what I was saying before…

When you think about it, everybody, whether they realize it or not.

We all have to sit down, stand up and pick something up off the floor.

We never think about making these movements. Our bodies have been programmed to do these things every since we were kids.

It just feels natural.

Squats, when done properly, is the best leg workout for building mass as well as other major muscle group in the body.

Before I get into the 20 reasons why you should squat, I’d like To Share my squatting story

I remember when I first took up squatting in the gym. I used to squat with bad form for months without realizing what I was doing wrong.

And one day, while I was holding a 100kg bar cross my shoulder, I lost my balance and the weight came down on top of me.

Lucky enough, two guys rushed over and was able to grab the bar in time. This was all a result of bad form and not setting myself up to do them properly.

Not only did I have bad form, when I squatted, I didn’t go all the way down, because it’s the full squat that activates your glute and hamstring muscles a lot more.

I still see guys in my gym, with bad form and always advise them on the correct way to do it and they usually appreciate it.

So guys, save yourself the time of causing an injury. And trying to impress your gym buddy, isn’t worth it, unless you both know what you’re doing.

How To Peform Squats Correctly

If you’re not sure how to do them after reading this article, get a personal trainer to show you or you can watch this video that will teach you how to perform correctly perform squats with good form and technique.

For extra safety, you can even do your squats on a smith machine. So if you are a beginner, then I suggest squatting on a smith machine until you get used to doing them properly.

Squatting on A Smith Machine

Most good gyms have a smith machine, where the bar is connected within steel rails, for added safety.

This will prepare you for when you’re ready to do them on a squat rack.

I think one of the main reasons why some people avoid doing squats is because they are afraid of risking the chance of getting injured.

But if you know how to do them correctly, not only will it increase muscle mass in your lower body, but it will do them same for your upper body.

It doesn’t matter whether you want to lose weight, build muscle or increase strength, squatting will help you achieve each of these goals as long as you stay consistent and aim to lift heavy often.

I wouldn’t recommend doing squats more than twice a week, because like any weight lifting exercise you do, your muscles need time to grow, so recover is essential.

If you keep exercising the same muscles every day, you’re not giving them time to recover and could possibly cause damage to your muscle tissues.

If you’re a skinny guy and you want to build muscle, a  good start would be to do 5 sets of 5, at your own body weight. Once you can get to a stage where you are able to lift your own body weight, you can gradually increase the weight as you get comfortable lifting heavier.

It’s a big achievement when you know you can lift more than your own body weight. That’s how you know you are getting stronger each week.

When you are able to lift heavier weight each week, you will feel inspired so that you look forward to your next squat session.

Okay, Here are the 20 reasons why you should squat

1. Increase Size And Strength In Your Entire Body

When you squat not only will you build muscle in hamstrings,quads and calves, but due to the high amount of HGH released, you will build size and strength in your chest, back, chest, arms, shoulders and ABS.

The reason why this happens because once you know how to perform a squat the correct way your body will be forced to naturally increase its own anabolic hormones that will cause other muscle groups to get bigger quicker the next time you train them.

2. Improves Circulation In The Body

Squat exercices gets the blood pumping in your entire body and improves your health all round.

3. Increase Testosterone & Growth Hormones

Exercises such as squats and deadlifts release essential growth hormones that contribute to muscle growth and strength gain in the entire body.

4. Increase Core Strenght

Squats hit your entire core muscles from every angle. This gives you every reason to squat if you want killer ABS

5. Improve Flexibility

Because the deeper you squat, the more flexible you become. Squatting will also increase hip flexibility. A lot of people carry a lot of stress in their hips, because they don’t have good posture and this is why they have the urge to sit down all the time.

6. Great For Burning Fat

Most of the muscle you gain from squatting heavy will be in your lower body, and the more muscle that you gain the more fat you will burn.

7. Squats Strengthen Joints

Once you know how to perform squats correctly, not only will it prevent injury, but it will also strengthen your joints as well. When you squat down, with all that weight on the bar, you are engaging your ankle, knee and hip joints at the same time.

8. Its Functional For Completing Daily Tasks

What I mean by this is that It makes your daily tasks easier, like if you are carrying groceries home or lifting or moving furniture in your house. So it makes your body safer during real world activities.

9. Reduce The Risk Of Getting Injured

Squatting is a safe exercise, once done properly and will reduce the risk of injury because as you expand the depth of each squat, you will increase strength in your quad muscles that will also enable you do perform other compound exercises with ease.

10. Become A Better Athlete

It doesn’t matter what sport you do, you need to be squatting. It’s essential to have a strong lower body, whether you’re doing swimming, playing tennis or basketball. You should squatting.

11. Increase Vertical Jump

Squats are great for increasing your rate of force development which is important if you want to be able to jump high. I found barbell jump squats a great way to increase vertical jump.

12.Improved Workout Efficiency

I’m a strong believer that squats improve strength, stability and efficiency when it comes to doing other weighted exercises such as bench press, deadlifts and even pull-ups. I find that it gives you that extra edge over that’s crucial when you’re trying to squeeze out one last repetition, when you’ve reached failure.

13. Develop A Great Set Of Legs And Butt

It makes no difference whether you are male or female. Squats will give you a great set of legs and butt. So girls, If you really want to activate those butt muscles, do deep squats with a wide stance so that it gives your butt a better workout. Your friends will want to do what exercise you did, while the lads will be drooling over you.

14. Get Killer Calves

For those of you who are ashamed of having skinny legs, like I once had. When you squat heavy it will gradually build muscle in your calves. No more more chicken legs.

15. Squats Are Cheap

All it takes is a barbell or a set pair of dumbbells. You don’t have to buy them brand new either. Read total body free weights workout from home.

16. Increase Sprint Times

According to research, studies show that sprinters can increase their sprint times by a significant degree as a result of squatting.

17. Improve Atlethic Performance

Not only will you gain size and strength in your legs, squats will also increase your performance capacity to run faster and jump higher.

18. There Are More Than One Variation Of Squats

Not just the traditional bodybuilders squats where you place a barbell over your shoulders. You can do dumbbell squats, kettlebell squats, wall squats, plie squat and barbell front squats. There are lots more ways to squat.

19. You Can Squat Just About Anywhere You Like

You don’t have to be in a gym to squat and you don’t even need gym equipment. You can do them at home, at work, or the beach.  If you do a google search for “Squat without equipment, I’m sure you will find lots of variations. Try doing 100 bodyweight squats and I’m sure you will feel the effects from it. Even 50 is good enough.

20. Squats Are A Universal Compound Exercise

Other than deadlifts, squats are a main stream exercise that uses more muscles in the body.

The 7 essential ingredients of a healthy balanced diet

1)  Water

Water is an essential ingredient of a healthy balanced diet. It is important for optimal health. It is also essential for the functioning and cleansing of your body. You lose water daily from your body through urine and sweat and it needs to be replenished. If you are not drinking enough water, you can become dehydrated.

Studies have shown that good hydration is essential for the prevention of chronic diseases. To gauge whether you are drinking enough water, the color of your urine should be a light yellow color. Dark yellow urine is a sign that you need to drink more water.

If you are looking for ways to sustain good levels of hydration throughout the day, herbal and fruit tea is a good alternative to water. Herbal and fruit tea contain no caffeine and can have some therapeutic effect.

2) Herbs and spices are an essential ingredient of a healthy balanced diet. They will not only add flavor to your food. They will add color and health benefits to your food; your meals will come alive.

Herbs and spices are some of the most powerful antioxidants. They are nutrient dense; rich in minerals and multivitamins and they have medicinal properties.

Here are some of the herbs and spices that you can incorporate into your diet:

Turmeric, Rosemary, Cinnamon, Cayenne chili pepper, Black pepper, Cumin, Sage, Coriander, Basil, Garlic, Thyme, Oregano, and Ginger etc.

3) Vegetables and fruits

Eating plenty of fresh, high quality vegetables and some fruit is an essential ingredient of a healthy balanced diet. It will provide you with all the nutrients your body needs for optimal health.

A research published in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health found that people who eat seven or more portions of vegetables and fruit a day have a 42% lower risk of dying from any cause, compared to those who eat less than one portion. They also found that they enjoy a 31% lower risk of heart disease and a 25% lower risk of cancer.The study brought to light that vegetables had a larger protective effect than fruits. Your focus should be on consuming more vegetables and small amount of fruit.

4) Other Good Carbohydrates

Other good carbohydrates are starchy vegetables such as sweet potato, yam, squash, parsnips and pumpkin which are essential ingredients of a healthy balanced diet. They are digested slowly so will not raise your blood sugar or spike insulin. They can be eaten in moderation.

Don’t eat carbohydrate alone. Always combine it with some fiber, protein or healthy fats to help with blood sugar balance.

5) Good Quality Protein

Good quality protein is an essential ingredient of a healthy balanced diet. It is important for the building and repair of your body tissues such as your skin and it is also a main component of your immune system and hormones.

Including good quality protein in your diet is important for blood sugar and insulin balance. It will also help you control your hunger.

6) Good Quality Fat

A research published in the British Medical Journal shattered the myth that fat causes heart disease and obesity; they found no link between eating saturated fat, heart disease and obesity

The type of fat you eat matters, not the amount. Good quality fat is an essential ingredient of a healthy balanced diet. By adding good fat to your diet, the digestion and absorption of your food is slower, and the reaction of insulin is less extreme. So don’t cut out fat, enjoy it.

Here are good quality fats that you can incorporate into your diet:

- Fatty fish including wild salmon, sardines and mackerel
- Avocados
- Nuts and seeds
- Olive oil, extra virgin olive oil
- Extra virgin coconut oil
- Grass-fed animal products – butter, eggs

7) No processed food

Processed foods are high in sugar, unhealthy fat and processed salt which have all been linked to chronic illnesses such as heart disease, insulin resistance, diabetes, obesity and cancer