Mentality:
Let's be clear, I train hard but I also train smart. If you were to watch
me in the gym on any given day you may perceive me not lifting as much
as I should be able to lift considering my size. In the beginning of my
bodybuilding career my ego governed a lot of my training, and no matter
how much I learned outside of the gym ultimately my ego took over when
I walked through the doors. Being young, my body would bounce back from
improper form and too heavy weightlifting. I would carelessly sling heavily
weights as if I was a power lifter worrying more about getting a weight
from point A to point B instead of focusing on the feel in the muscle
throughout the full range of motion of a movement. Then, myself and my
training partner, who at the time was working on his master's in neurophysiology
and continued onto become a physical therapist, started to use our heads
and came up with a training principle which focused more on biomechanics,
kinesiology, and physics as they applied to weight training. We started
using lighter weights, but really we believed in harnessing the power
of our minds for training; FOCUSED attention 100% during training. See,
the brain tells all voluntary muscle to contract. The harder you focus
on the task at hand and really feeling the muscle, not merely moving the
weight, the more neurons will be stimulated at the muscle fibers themselves,
thus more recruitment of muscle.
So basically what I am saying is my ego is always checked at the
door of the gym, and my game face for training and total 100%
focused attention begins when I pick up my first weight.
I mainly focus on core movements for my training, better known as compound
movements. I believe that great physiques are not only developed by great
genetics, a clean diet, proper rest and recuperation, and proper supplementation,
but also intense resistance training focusing on compound movements. A
sample of core movements include, but are not limited to:
Quadriceps: Squats Hamstrings: Stiff-legged
deadlifts Back: Deadlifts or rows Chest: any sort of flat,
decline, or incline press Shoulders: Dips (although
they hit the chest and triceps hard also) Biceps and Triceps: due
to their anatomical origin and insertion, any core/compound movement that
works the back could also be included as a compound exercise for biceps.
Any compound movement that works chest or shoulders could also be included
for triceps.
Notice abdominals and calves are not included. I will explain that
at a later point.
My training itself hits one muscle group a week with the
"illusional" muscle groups hit twice a week. The illusional
being lateral and posterior delts, quads, and back width. An example of
a training week would look like this:
Sunday: Heavy Back Monday: Biceps and Chest Tuesday: Shoulders Thursday: Back for width Friday: Quads and Hamstrings Saturday: Lateral and Posterior
delts
Abs are usually very other day done in AM, and calfs, well, I train them
whenever. Calfs have always been a genetic strong point so I'm not really
consistent with training them.
Cardio - done three times
a week 30-60 min in the off season done usually in am with abs.
Sets and reps are never set, nor is the weight. Sets generally are 3 sets
per movement, not including warm ups. Reps range from as little 6 to as
many as 20+. If I walk through the door of the gym and I'm feeling strong
then reps are lower and my rests are longer in between sets. Reps are
also generally lower the larger muscle groups, with the exception of quads.
If I'm not feeling strong then I implement advanced training techniques,
such as super setting and focus more on the 'burn'. Total sets usually
range from 18 working sets total for legs, to 8 total for biceps. Total
sets for the other muscle groups are relative to their size and fall somewhere
in between the two aforementioned. Weight is all relative. I don't concern
myself with that so much anymore.
This is my training regimen in the off season. For contest prep I simply
add more cardio and implement more posing and isometric contractions in
between sets.
That's it!! Not as flashy as some, but it works for me and those I train.
Often simplicity is the answer to your problem.