Step-Ups.
Decline bench.
Step-ups.
Incline bench.
Step-Ups.
Narrow Grip Bench.
Step-Ups.
Okay I'm done.
Jamie Eason and Jim Stoppani have interesting programs that have certainly taught me a lot about the weight lifting world. These programs have revolutionized my lifestyle and I owe a lot to them. And now I'm done.
I didn't really officially finish Jim's program; it kind of fizzled out towards the last couple weeks. I was over-training, not stretching enough, and pretty much pissed off every muscle group in my body.
But I learned a lot! ...Mostly the value of stretching.
Here's a quick breakdown of things I've come to understand the past couple months. Some of it may seem painfully obvious to any of you with real experience that happen to be reading the blog, but too bad. I'm still a beginner in this game and it was all news to me:
Squats - Some people are just anatomically different and therefore must squat differently (http://themovementfix.com/the-best-kept-secret-why-people-have-to-squat-differently/). However, for the most part, you should get down to 90 degrees or more, keep your back straight with chest up (looking up helps a lot), weight on the heel/sides of feet, feet slightly pointed out, and arch your back aka stick out your butt. There are also stretches / specific strength training techniques that help build to a better squat (http://www.t-nation.com/training/squat-like-you-mean-it). Finally, I learned why people train with olympic squatting shoes, but olympic lifters wear chucks.
Active Rests and Super Sets - An excellent addition to a work out, but counterproductive to PRs or really heavy lifting in general. A lot of lifters start with low rep - high weight sets on a couple key lifts, then supplement with high rep - low weight lifts for the rest of the work out. I think I'm going emulate that, incorporating AR and SS into the mix for the non-heavy stuff.
Diet - Diet, diet, diet. Whew, there are a lot of theories out there! IT'S OVERWHELMING!!! That being said, I'm pretty obsessed with the take-home message from Testosterone Nation's many articles on the subject. They pretty much say that everyone is different in their body type, hormonal composition, commitment levels, current habits, and time capabilities. AKA there's no one stop shop that's going to work well for everyone. Even if something may work well for you, it's irrelevant if you can't commit. For example, I'm fairly convinced that carb cycling is worth a go, but I am most certainly not ready for that yet. T-Nation encourages the trial and error method to see what does work, but they're quick to point out that the common man would probably benefit if he just cut out the crap and made better choices overall. And they're probably right. I'm mostly there. But, as the entry entitled "The Skinny Fat Girl... Part 2" explains, I've got a long way to go and I've hit a plateau. Simply eating good foods isn't enough. Time to experiment.
- Intermittent Fasting - I'm taking this for a spin first because it fits my schedule and my eating style. If you've read any of my posts, I think it's clear that I love food. Like... a lot. So my portion sizes tend to be bigger and 6 meals a day is rough for me. The 6 meal strategy dictates that you eat more of less, but that doesn't go so well. I eat more of more. And, eating more frequently trains your body to expect food all the time.
- What am I supposed to say to my body when I stay up late and I get legitimately hungry for the 7th time that day? Or the 8th? Or the 9th? (I work a 2nd job at a restaurant in the evenings. No amount of will power can say no to boneless wings when 9th hunger comes around and you've already said no to the 7th and 8th. [cue the title of this entry]) There are some potential health benefits, both body comp related and otherwise, so it's worth a shot. Fun fact - the mitochondria in your kidney?? have trouble dividing well and a fasted period allows them to focus on division rather than function. <<very unscientific fun fact. I remember reading about some study on it in a book a few months back. Here's a very unscientific article a quick google search pulled up http://draxe.com/intermittent-fasting-benefits/ I don't feel like finding a better one lol.
- Take home: At the very least, it will stop me from mindlessly eating at night - a very real problem. It will reprogram my body to not be hungry every few hours - a very real problem. It will save me time in the morning, when I'm already rushing to get to work - a very real problem. It will save me time on meal prep in my super busy schedule - a very real problem. And, it could potentially have all these other health benefits like longer life, hormone regulation, and other relatively unimportant stuff compared to looking good. I kid, I kid.
Oh yeah, PS, I'm probably joining the Army Naitonal Guard and I can do dips now. ha, nbd.
