Mid Life Fitness

Workout Album: Disturbed – The Sickness

If like much of the Western world you’ve given in to temptation and over eaten, then rejoice! Mass building requires calories and in this world of obesity we constantly under attack by a media driven guilt trip over what we eat.

Now I don’t mean that you should eat just anything that comes to hand, but there is need to see the forest and not just the trees, something which is impossible if we just listen to a small and vocal minority whose aims are not the same as ours.

In the next couple of days keep your eyes on this blog or my newsletter because Vince Del Monte is releasing a co-authored report which might just open your eyes a little.

I don’t agree with everything that Vince says, and neither should you. Come to that you shouldn’t agree with everything I or anyone else says either! Come on, you are old enough now to realise that you need to tailor advice to what works for you.

But back on track, as I work out today, hitting a new Personal Record, at least for this cycle of training, I’m glad for the boost in calories which are in the process of adding muscle. Yes there is going to be some fat as well which I’ll need to deal with, but the Summer and Autumn of stripping back the fat has altered the balance in my favour. More of that in the report, but for now I need to get back to the presses and pull ups – I’m writing this in the rest pauses as I’m still taking it easy because I haven’t cleared the last of the cold from my system yet – the price of a crap immune system, but one which is sooo much better than it used to be!

Train hard.

Here’s a delicious, healthy, raw dessert from the brand new plant based recipe guide that some of you may want to try out for Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. This couldn’t be any simpler to make and won’t take you more than five minutes.

Ingredients
• 2 bananas
• ½ cup dates
• ¼ cup carob or cocoa powder
• 2 tbsp coconut oil

Directions
Combine all ingredients in food processor and blend until smooth. Let chill in refrigerator for 60 minutes before serving. If you wanted it to be a little sweeter you could always add a little organic maple syrup to taste. But I don’t think you’ll need any. It’s up to you.

This is also great when topped with some of the raw vanilla cream, which is absolutely delicious.

PS. Don’t forget this is the final day to get the plant based Renegade Recipe Guide at the low sale price.

Click HERE to order yours now.

Merry Christmas.

Working out when you are ill is never to be recommended, yet I doubt that there are any of us who haven’t been tempted to sneak in a work out during that time.

This last couple of weeks I’ve missed working out according to my current schedule and the last week or so it’s been because of a cold. Today though the symptoms had backed off enough to tempt me back into my home gym.

Logistically it was a nightmare because all the Christmas decorations are out and the tree is sitting right where I would normally squat. But needs must and with a little experimentation I got the squat stands out where they would work.

The two week rest break meant that I increased the weight by the normal increment. I’m still working up to my max weight on this pattern of reps, so I reckoned that would be OK.

The squats went well, though I stretched out the rest pauses just a little more than normal to compensate for my weaker recovery ability. Speaking of recovery, I’m going to need to be careful over the next couple of days to make sure I get a good rest regime in to allow me to recover from this.

The upper body workouts were harder than the squats, but it was a good work out.

No one would expect to be able to build impressive muscles without spending time working hard in the gym. The same then is true of the mental attitude which is necessary in order to be able to work out that hard.

Mental strength does not come to us any more easily or naturally than physical strength. Both need to be carefully trained and developed. No matter what your genetics might dictate on either of these things, you can improve and be better than someone who has not bothered.

The one trait above all others which will see you to success is in maintaining a positive mental attitude. A positive mental attitude is the steroids of the mental strength game.

Where do you get them?

As with any strength training, it has to be done consistently otherwise you will lose any benefits that you’ve gained.

In the Western culture we’ve become accustomed to being negative about things. Our days are filled with complaining about things, being irritated or angry about other people. Road rage is a symptom of a much larger problem.

You need to learn to stop that practice, because what you do to others is reflected in your own self. Anger and frustration can be powerful motivations in a workout to really push yourself, but that assumes that you’ve made it into the gym in the first place.

Remove all negativity from your mind. While you may see negative things in others, don’t mention them, don’t even think about them. Instead find something positive to say. This is very hard to do in my experience, but it also applies to you, yourself. It’s easy to talk yourself into giving up by focusing on the negatives. Focus on the positives. If a workout didn’t go as well as you’d hoped then be determined to do better next time, but focus on the fact that you came and did it.

Normally there is a reason for a workout not going well, so search within yourself to determine why – where you ill, tired, hungry? This is the second secret, which is to learn from every experience, good or bad. Take pleasure in those experiences, because each have something to teach you and if you can learn the lesson you will do better the next time.

Establish a morning ritual where you find those nuggets of benefit in the happenings of the previous day. Start the day with a laugh, even if forced because the biofeedback will make you positive. Start the day in control of your own mind by choosing to only be positive that day.

Only you can develop the strength to stand firm in your own mind. Only you can choose to be unaffected by the moods of others, to instead focus on achieving your aims. This is how you change the rest of your life – what are you going to do about it?

Today I have a guest post from Jason Ferruggia. I think that most people will do pull ups or chins at some time, and perhaps like me you will learn better technique from this post.

To quote Julie Morgenstern, the New York Times best selling time management guru, “confident people embrace the learning opportunity a mistake or failure presents”, and I will admit to learning that I was not following the best form despite all I know about pull ups.

So, here is Jason:

1) Don’t go to failure- This is the biggest problem I see with pull
ups. Everyone goes to failure on every set. That’s because it’s so
easy to do. As soon as a single rep does not look exactly like the
previous one and you can’t get as high, the set is over. If your
speed slows down noticeably the set is over. You
would never continue a set of squats if you could no longer lock
out the weight. If you got all the way up on rep five but were only
able to get up half of the way on rep six you wouldn’t proceed to do
four more reps of partials until the set ended with the weight
crashing down on you and crippling you. But that’s exactly how
people finish their sets of pull ups. The form gets worse and worse
and worse, and they keep going and going and going, climbing up the
invisible ladder, swinging and kipping. When you do this you get no
stronger. And most of the time you get weaker. The negative effect
of training to failure is seen more on chin ups than any other
exercise. No one knows why this is, but trust me, that’s how it is.

2) Lose excess body fat- If you are carrying excess body fat your
ability to do pull ups will be greatly reduced. Extra body fat is
good for lifting more weight in certain exercises that require
greater leverage like the squat and deadlift. But that’s all it’s
good for. Other than that it’s unhealthy and unsightly.

3) Start in the proper position- All too often people start in the
dead hang position with their scapula elevated and their shoulders
touching their ears. This is dangerous and incorrect. When you do
“this all of the tension is placed on your tendons and ligaments
instead of your muscles. When you get on the bar you want to pull
your shoulder blades down and lock your shoulders into their
sockets. This is a far safer position and ensures that the stress
will be placed directly on the muscles and not the tendons and
ligaments.

4) Maintain a slight elbow bend throughout the set- This goes hand
in hand with the above tip. Before starting your set you want to
bend your elbows ever so slightly. This bend should barely be
noticeable, but it will have a huge impact on your elbow health. Do
not start with your elbows completely locked. This, again, places
all of the stress on the tendons and ligaments instead of on the
muscles. On each successive rep you should lower yourself until your
arms are nearly straight, stopping just shy of lockout. But don’t
use this as an excuse to cheat. Just shy of lockout means that your
elbows are “99% locked out;” you just don’t want that complete
extension.

5) Initiate with the lats- When you start to pull, be sure that you
fire your lats first; not your biceps. If you have trouble feeling
your lats, as many newbies do, have someone poke or slap your lats a
few times before you start pulling. Even having a partner keep his
hands in contact with your lats throughout the set may help. It may
also look a little strange to other members of your gym.

6) Drive your elbows down- To get the most out of your lats when you
chin you should think about driving your elbows down and back. Don’t
simply pull with your biceps.

7) Pull your chin to the bar- I used to be a stickler for having
people pull their chest to the bar. I still instruct beginners to do
that, knowing full well that they won’t be able to, but that it will
at least instill the importance of getting high. You only need your
chin to clear the bar. That last few inches does very little for you
lats and instead focuses the stress on the smaller, weaker muscles
of your upper/middle back. The pull up should be used to target the
lats, first and foremost. Don’t waste energy struggling with that
last few inches at the top. Get your chin over while keeping your
back arched and then lower yourself. Use other rowing exercises to
target those smaller upper back muscles and use the pul up to smoke
your lats completely.

8 ) Use a variety of grips- There are countless ways to pull your
body up. You can do chin ups with your palms facing you at a number
of different grip widths. You can also do chin ups with your palms
facing each other, or pull ups with your palms facing away at
multiple grip widths. You can pull up on bars, rings, fat bars,
ropes, towels, suspension straps, beams, Eagle Loops, and even
baseballs or softballs hanging from a chain. The variations are
endless. Use as many different chin ups as possible to avoid burnout
or overuse injuries.

9) Use a variety of rep ranges- To do a lot of pull ups you need
strength and you need endurance. Strength is built with low reps.
You can do low reps with a weighted vest or dip belt or you can
simply perform more difficult variations of pull ups. Endurance is
built with high reps. This is where the use of bands comes in handy.
Having a few different levels of band tension will allow you to vary
your rep range greatly. This will help you boost your chin up
numbers a lot faster. Some days you train in the range of 1-5 reps
for maximal strength. Some day you train in the range of 6-12, and
others you train in the range of 15-30, with a band, to improve your
endurance.

10) Strengthen your grip- The stronger your grip is the easier pull
ups will feel. I suggest getting a Captains of Crush Gripper and
using it a few times per week. You can also add in some more
specific grip work at the gym like fat bar holds, hexagon dumbbell
holds, as well as various pinching and crushing exercises.

For more great training tips and workouts pick up your copy of
Muscle Gaining Secrets today at:
http://www.TheHardGainer.com/

Train hard,
Jason Ferruggia
Strength & Conditioning Specialist
Chief Training Adviser to Men’s Fitness Magazine

Renegade Strength & Conditioning, LLC, 453 Watchung Ave, Watchung , NJ 07960, USA