Happy Thanksgiving! Tips

First I want to start by wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving in advance. What a better time to discuss overeating then right now... I know we are all guilty of overeating around this time of year! 

The average person gains between 8-17 lbs during the holiday season. 

The average person takes about 1-2 months to loose 10 pounds.**

The average person takes 3-5 months to loose 20 lb**

These are averages... I don't want to freak anyone out but I just want you to know what is going on. Let me help you figure out why. The body has a hard time digesting when you over eat. This may be an issue for us as Thanksgiving is the holiday for doing just that! So let me make some friendly advice on what you can do to help a little. 

Digestive enzymes are amazing at aiding in digestion. Most people feel tired after the thanksgiving meal for a few reasons most importantly its because your body is preparing to use all of its energy to digest your massive calorie intake!

Tip #1

Make sure you have a digestive aide sometime in the morning, these can be anything from grapefruit to an actual supplement. These will assist (not as a cure all) you in your digestion later in the day. Try and have another half of grapefruit a few hours before you know you will be eating your food. 

Tip #2

Try to drink a lot of water early in the day as this will increase your metabolism prior to the large meal.

Tip #3

Try and moderate your carb intake. Your body will have a better time digesting up your protein then it will things like stuffing and cranberry sauce. That's not me telling you that you cant have it! haha Just try and have it in moderation! 

Tip #4

If you can try and get at least a small workout in. It doesn't matter what time but just try and get a workout in. 

Tip #5 

Enjoy thanksgiving and be safe! 

Thanks everyone for the constant support I really appreciate it! 

Sincerely,

Frank

(P.S) One of the things I am thankful for this year is all of you who consistently follow my posts and especially those of you who emailed me non stop until I started blogging again! 

Grapefruit for weight loss

This will be a short post.

I have been meaning to put this post up for some time now and since I did the weight loss tips the other day I forgot to put it in there. Grapefruit has been proven to help people loose weight. As much as 1/2 a grapefruit 1-3x a day can increase calorie burning in the body. This also aides in digestion and helps those trying to add an additional angle from which to burn fat. This is especially effective for those who are struggling to eat as clean as they would like. Grapefruit is a great source of natural vitamins as well. This is especially good in the morning before breakfast before a workout for some extra energy and before dinner to help aide in digestion. This is obvious ill advised if you have a sensitive stomach or issues related to acid production. If you don't, then try it! What do you have to loose except a few pounds?

New Routine (for women 8-10 weeks)

Ok so I want to explain what this exercise routine is for before I just give it out. This routine is for Women who are looking to tone, build muscle, increase stamina, strength and build a killer body. Now this might sound cliche and well... it is. \But it works! Period. I am taking the guess work out for you. Follow this plan don't try and make any modifications to it this is specifically for women. It will not make you jacked if you are one of those girls that actually still say that. It will not make you look manly, and it will not make you gain weight. It will make you look awesome and sickly shredded if you are looking to prep properly for summer then start this routine ASAP. So that you can start my next routine just in time for summer. I suggest you do this routine for 8 weeks. This will give you ample time to master some of the more complicated movements as we will be using them later on as well. Here it is! (**P.S. This is assuming that you are already in decent shape. Decent shape being your ability to jog at least 1/2 a mile at a speed of 5.5-6.5 miles/hour and have been exercising for at least 3 months prior to this.**)

Day 1 (Legs & Core)

(Warm up 10 minutes)

(Part1)
Clean and Jerk 4 sets 8-12
Squats 3 sets 8-12
Front Squats (DB) 3 sets 8-12
Deadlift 3 sets 8-12

Box Jumps 3 sets 15 reps (20 inch or higher box)
Lunge (Weighted) 3 sets of 10 each leg
Bosu lateral Shuffle (with med ball) 2 sets 30 sec

Quad Extensions 3 sets 8-12
Hamstring Curls 3 sets 8-12
Straight leg Kick Back (Cable) 3 sets 8-12

Core (part 2)
Hanging Leg Raises (or Captain Chair) 3 sets 15-20
Bosu Crunches 3 sets 15-25
Lying leg raises 2 sets 12-15
Bicycle crunches 3 sets 30sec
Plank 2 sets 45 sec
Mason Twist 2 sets 30 sec


Day 2 Chest and Cardio
(Warmup 10 min)

Incline Bench Press (BB) 4 sets 8-12
Flat Bench Press (BB) 3 sets 8-12
Dumbell Fly on yoga ball 3 sets 8-12
Cable Chest Fly 3 sets 8-12 (incline & decline)

Jump Rope 3 sets of 1 minute

Pushups 3 sets until absolute failure**
Dips (assisted or not) 3 sets until absolute failure**

Dumbbell Pullovers 3 sets of 8-12

Cardio
Sprints (fast as possible) Each set should have less than 2 minutes in between
5x 500m sprint
1x 400m sprint
3x 300m sprint
1x 200m sprint
5x 100m sprint

(this is equivalent to 2.79 miles) if this is too much I want you to reduce each set by 1 instead of 5 do 4 sets that only have 1x I want you to keep that as 1x

Day 3 Back, Calves & Forearms
Pullups (Assisted or not) 4 sets of 8-12
Jumping Jacks 1 set 50
Low Row (cable) 3 sets 8-12
Jumping Jacks 1 set 50
Lat Pulldowns 3 sets 8-12
Jumping Jacks 1 set 50
Straight arm pulldown (cable) 3 sets 8-12
One arm Bent Row (DB) 3 sets 8-12 each side
Bent Row (BB) 3 sets 8-12

Standing Calf Raises (weighted) 3 sets 20
Seated Calf Raises (heavier) 3 sets of 8-12
Jumping Jacks 3 sets 20-30 reps
Behind the back wrist rolls (BB) 4 sets of 12-15


Day 4 Full Body
Part 1
Clean and Jerk 3 sets 8-12
Deadlifts 5 sets 8-12
Bench Press 4 sets 8-12
Squats 3 sets 8-12
Pullups (assisted or not) 3 sets 8-12
Kettle Bell Swings 4 sets 8-12
Sumo Squats 3 sets 8-10 reps
Shoulder Press (DB) 4 sets 8-12
Lateral Raises 4 sets of 25 (light)
Pushups 3 sets Failure

Part 2
Hanging Leg Raises 2 sets 20
Bosu Crunches 2 sets of 25
Oblique Crunches (side crunches) 3 sets of 25
Leg Raises 3 sets 15-20
Mason Twists 3 sets 15-20
Oblique Extensions (Weighted) 3 sets 15-20 each side
Oblique Crunches 3 sets 20 reps

Optional day 5
Sprints (fast as possible) Each set should have less than 2 minutes in between
5x 500m sprint
1x 400m sprint
3x 300m sprint
1x 200m sprint
5x 100m sprint

(this is equivalent to 2.79 miles) if this is too much I want you to reduce each set by 1 instead of 5 do 4 sets that only have 1x I want you to keep that as 1x

Schedule 
Week 1-3 
Monday Day 1
Tuesday Day 2
Wednesday Rest (or day 5)
Thursday Day 3
Friday Day 4
Saturday Day 2
Sunday Rest (or day 5)

Week 3-5
Monday Day 1
Tuesday Day 2
Wednesday 4
Thursday Day 3
Friday Day 1
Saturday Day Rest (or day 5)
Sunday Rest  (or day 5)

Week 5-8 (or 10)
Monday Day 1
Tuesday Day 2
Wednesday 4
Thursday Day 3
Friday Day 2
Saturday Day 4
Sunday Rest  (or day 5)


Term Key** 
Absolute Failure is the inability to preform another rep. (Example push-ups is when you fall on your chest and cant get off the ground using your arms)
BB- Barbell (a fixed bar or barbell)
DB- Dumbbells

To those women who are afraid of looking muscular email me Frankp.training@gmail.com and I will advise you on exactly how to alter this workout to better ease your anxiety about that. This is an amazing routine this will effectively shred your body of most if not all of the fat that you currently have.


**You should check with your doctor before implementing any of the suggested material above. These are suggestions and can be followed specifically to yield faster results. These do not have to be followed in any specific order if a doctor advises you to refrain from implementing this routine due to medical necessity please do not try this. This is to serve as suggestions for people who are currently working out and looking to yield better results. If your doctor clears you to perform this routine THIS WILL WORK. Any and all questions can be posted on the blog itself or emailed to me at Frankp.training@gmail.com**

How to add muscle before summer (the right way) for Women

Ok so this is something I hear a lot about. People are always talking about how they "want to gain 25lbs of muscle this winter." They "want to go from 145 and skinny to 215 before memorial day weekend" rolls around. Same thing goes for ladies who are looking to loose 15 or 10lbs in a short strand of time. Please read this article carefully (this will help take some of your headaches away)

Bulking or Getting Larger (for Women)
Now I understand that women don't like to go anywhere near this subject. Even the girls who say they want to gain muscle are afraid of the topic of gaining weight. I think it runs in their genes.

LETS START SIMPLE

When you are trying to gain muscle you have to gain fat. I repeat when you are trying to gain muscle you must gain fat. This is a given (no if ands or buts about it.) So if you are one of the few women who haven't closed out of this page by now then you will benefit from the next little bit of knowledge. When I say you need to gain fat I mean a few pounds something that will be able to come off in a matter of a month or 2 in preparation for summer. This is a small price to pay for how much better you will look from year to year when you show up to the beach and you have a set of defined arms, your back is cut up, your butt looks just how you wanted, and your abs are showing. (Finally!)

**Quick Rant** (generalization)
Women in the gym workout hard, they just don't do enough research. This is a generalization because I know a few women who actually put as much time in on the computer and in books reading about how to become better and look better as they do in the gym. BUT! this is fair to say that the majority don't. The majority of women look on pintrest, instagram, twitter and other various websites displaying any girl who is a fitness model and expect eating grilled chicken salad and cardio with some weight training will do the trick. WRONG KEEP READING!! ***End Rant***

The most important part of the winter is the ability for you to actually gain fat wear baggy clothes and no one will see... Make your gains improve your weak areas over the winter time. I want you to write down what ever body part you think you lack most. Over the winter you will work that part out and improve it. In order to gain muscle your body has to have enough calories for normal daily life enough to fuel your workout, AND THEN have enough for adding muscle to your body on top of that. Obviously this doesn't mean pig out all day every day. I want you to follow a diet similar to this... (make modifications for your own body and if you don't know how to do that email me and I will do it for you Frankp.Training@gmail.com)

Female Winter Diet (September-December 31st)

Meal 1:
3 whole Eggs 3 egg whites (or another protein)
1 cup oatmeal (with cinnamon)
2 pieces of turkey sausage (small)
OR
3 slices of turkey bacon. (low sodium)

Meal 2:
PB&J (Almond butter is a good substitute)
with Heavy Protein Shake 20g

Meal 3: (hopefully around 12:30 - 1pm)
Eat a normal Sized portion of meat 15-25g
Good Carbs
Small Salad or Veggie

Meal 4:
Lean Meat
Good Carbs
Medium Sized Salad

Meal 5:
Lite Protein shake w/ Snack (small)

Meal 6: (Somewhere around 6-7pm)
Lean Meat
No Carbs
Large Salad or Veggies

Meal 7: (pre bed time 9-10:30pm)
Casein protein w/ whey mix
20g of each


Substitute one of the meals above with this meal on workout days.

Post workout meal:
Protein shake immediately (within 10-30minutes of your workout)

Then eat anytime after that shake
Protein sandwich 20-30g (option 1)
2 PB&J on high calorie bread not wheat (option 2)
White rice and Chicken (option 3)
Mass Gaining Protein Shake (with Banana) [option 4]
etc..


Why do I want you to eat this much? I want you to eat this much?. Because after 2 weeks of eating like this you will look and feel better then you ever did before. If you eat like this your body will gain muscle and strength. You will have more energy, you will sleep better, you will wake up feeling more rested, your workouts will be better and you will look better. Workout like an Athlete look like a model but in order to do that you have to EAT LIKE AN ATHLETE. Make sure you are not trying to cut corners here. This is where most people shoot themselves in the foot. IF YOU FOLLOW THIS CORRECTLY YOU WILL LOOK AND FEEL BETTER. IF YOU FOLLOW THIS CORRECTLY YOU WILL GAIN 1-3LBS PER MONTH MAX. Now I have suggested that you do this from September to December that is a maximum range of weight gain from 4lbs - 12lbs 80% of this gain should come from muscle. That leaves less than 3lb of FAT. If you follow my proper cutting cycle you will be able to loose this in 1-2 months. That would mean that by the time February is over you will be much leaner and more defined then you are now.

At the top of the list I gave you the time frame to do this now I know that I am posting this in November but it is not too late. I have stated that this should conventionally be followed from September to December. By December I mean December 31st. JAN 1st should be the first day of your SLOW leaning out process (I will post my next article on how to properly do that next)

**Obviously this information is circumstantial, this information should be approved by your doctor if you have any existing health conditions. This is in no way the only alternative for gaining lean muscle. There are many other options if you are interested in finding out what those options are please email me. I take no responsibility for people who improperly implement this technique and experience adverse effects. If this is followed identically you should experience identical results. This is to be used by persons who are attempting to gain muscle mass. This is not to be tried by people who need to loose weight as this will help you to increase weight.**

5 solid fat loss tips

So I have decided to write about the most popular topic in fitness THE FAT LOSS GUIDE!!!!  As winter is about to hit (at least where I live) this is the prime to start preparing for summer. For people who are looking to have the dream body they want for summer let me simplify what you need to do so that you can do it instead of looking for the secret! haha

Fat loss is a gradual process I want you to understand that any weight that you are trying to loose especially for ladies must be done gradually! Let me repeat that differently because that is the most important piece of advice I can give you. Any fat on your body MUST be lost gradually or else it is not fat you are loosing.

Wait what? I am confused...

Let me explain, if you loose weight fast it is not fat that you lost it is water or muscle. FAT takes a while to put on the body. Therefore  using the same logic it is going to take equally long to get it off.

Why is that?
because your body doesn't want to get rid of the fat. Fat is a good source of energy for the body. Your body loves to have a reserve just incase. So this means you have to teach your body that FAT BAD, MUSCLE GOOD! haha seriously though that is what you literally have to train your body to understand.

The Secret Guide

(If you have not read what I wrote above read it.)

#1 Eat Clean (especially before bed)
If you are prone to eating a lot before bed then I want you to stop. Learn to have your last meal about 4-5 hours before bed. I want that meal to have NO CARBS IN IT. I repeat YOUR LAST MEAL OF THE DAY SHOULD HAVE NO CARBS IN IT! If you are trying to loose weight eat light at night and heavy in the morning. When I say heavy I mean carbs are ok and bigger portions are acceptable. As the day progresses you want to eat less and less per serving.

Substitute any carbs you have at night for salad... You can have as much salad before bed as you want! Just make sure you are not using as much dressing as you want as this will defeat the purpose.


#2 HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training)
I want you to learn what this is I will post tomorrow about HIIT and how to do it properly. For now in a nutshell HIIT should be a short period of time between 15sec - 2mintues of extremely challenging exercise. Followed by 5-40sec of rest. The break time depends on the work time. If you did 15 sec of exercise then no you should not rest for 40 sec that is not intense. PUSH YOURSELF!

#3 Always eat after your workout
This is the most important meal of the day besides breakfast! This is when your body is begging for food! Feed the monster! I want you to still eat clean but this meal should have larger portions. Also if this meal is within 4-5 hours of your bed time it is ok to eat carbs! I want to explain this later in another post but I want you to understand that it is ok to eat carbs after your workout even if it is within 1-5 hours of your bed time. I want you to portion correctly and also I want you to understand that after your workout your body needs carbs, not slow carbs like brown rice it needs fast carbs like white bread, white rice, cereal (cherios, corn flakes), instant oatmeal, sports drinks, banana's etc. There are a lot of examples I will also make a post about this in the future where I will go a lot more in depth just know that This is the only time of the day where sugar is acceptable and where good carbs and bad carbs switch roles. Normally all the foods I just listed are bad but after your workout they are ok!

#4 High Protein Diet
High protein is good because it will keep your body lean I will not go into too much depth with this one because I have done previously in the past. But understand the average person should be eating between 15-25grams of protein per meal. This should be done 3-5 times a day. If you are working out then you should be eating your bodyweight in protein. So if you weigh 150lbs you should be eating between 120-150g of protein per day. That is just a rule of thumb but it is good to get a higher amount of protein in because without it your body will not repair the damaged muscle tissue from your workout. Also protein speeds up the metabolism.

#5 Drink Water
Soda is bad. Sugar is bad. Iced tea is bad (unless its home made with no sugar). Juice is bad! Yes even orange juice is bad! (only exception is fresh grapefruit juice).

You need to drink water. You need to drink a lot of water for that matter. You need to nearly consume a gallon of water a day I have actually gone into this in the past. <-- that is the link to the article about water consumption.


Follow these 5 tips for the next From now until April and tell me how you do!

I promise the results will be unbelievable.


Thanks everyone for the support! (repost this blog if you like it)
Sincerely,
Frank

Reps until failure

I have an assignment for those of you who follow my blog regularly and are looking for the last little edge before summer comes!

If you are looking to get the most out of your workouts I always recommend you go until FAILURE.

This is an important term that I use often with my clients when I am training them for strength, size of just to get lean. I am looking for you to push your body to its limits. **This is obviously a suggestion if you have any health related conditions you should consult with your doctor before trying this routine. This routine as it is very safe if done correctly is equally dangerous if done wrong.**

Failure is something I will define in fitness as total muscle exertion. The final phase at which your muscle will be strong enough to exert force against resistance in order to barely overcome that resistance one final time.

Meaning THE LAST REP YOU CAN PHYSICALLY DO! (simple) Lets figure out how to do the form, then lets do the form, then lets go heavier slowly and keep going until we get to the point where we can barely do 5-7 reps when that comes we make it lighter and lighter until we can't even hardly do 1 full rep.... This is failure!

When you reach failure I want you to take note of how your muscles feel, how you feel, how much better your workout feels compared to how it usually does. Do this with your last 3 exercises in your routine. So for example if you normally do :

Clean and jerk 4 sets 7-10reps
Shoulder press 4 sets 10 reps
Circuit 
Cable Front raise 4 sets 10 reps
Narrow Grip pull-ups 3 sets 10 reps
Cable Lateral raise 3 sets 10 reps
       Last Set Until Failure (4 total sets)
Circuit 2
Rear delt machine 3 sets 8-12reps
         Last set to failure (Total of 4 sets)
Lateral Arm circles (Not weighted)
        1 minute each set 3 sets


This is just a sample workout and yes you can do that routine and it will work but I am just trying to give you an idea of how you structure a workout with Failure sets in them. If you do failure at the beginning you will have a horrible workout. If you do failure too soon in the workout again you will ruin your whole workout but if you do them at the end you will make your workout 10x as effective. Try it! Let me know what you think!

Email me your questions

Frankp.Training@gmail.com

Sincerely,

Frank

Sleep and Exercise

Everyone knows that it is important to get enough rest. I am also sure everyone knows why, so I will just take a few minutes and explain it again. Just incase some of those reading this don't actually know why.

Sleep is one of the most important things the human body does. When we fall asleep our body repairs damaged and aging cells, it also lowers energy expenditure and metabolism. It rests the muscles repairs the muscles entering a phase called protein synthesis. Now most of us also enter a phase called catabolism during sleep as well. This means that our body is eating its own muscle tissue due to lack of fuel in the intestinal track. Even though the body's metabolism is lowered during sleep those of you who exercise like mad men and women will have such high metabolisms that you will you may even wake up in the middle of the night and tell yourself "ah I am starving" this is because of the catabolic cycle you have entered into during REM.

Ways to prevent catabolism and why its bad!
This is obviously only applicable to people who's goal is NOT to loose weight. These people will not GAIN weight but will maintain the same weight if they follow these steps. The catabolic process is one most weight lifters know about. It is the feared process in which your body beings to depend on your muscle for fuel. Now this is what we don't want! We spend hours on hours in the gym trying to train our muscles to grow and look how we want them the last thing we want to do is use them for fuel. So how do we stop this process?

The answer is easy, EAT. Ok seriously though how do you stop this process? EAT! Not kidding! Before bed is the perfect time to grab some food or a protein shake and eat. The body is only going to store fat if the food you eat is fat. If you are eating or drinking a lean protein shake then there is no reason your body will store that as fat. Instead your body will take a few hours to digest it while you are asleep because your body has dialed its metabolism back a little bit. Breakfast is called BREAK-FAST because you are attempting to break the fast you have entered in your sleep. Fasting is an excellent way to eat all your muscle up. Don't do that unless you have too... I NEVER suggest a bodybuilder to fast. It is a horrible way to prep your body in athletics or weight lifting. If you are obviously looking to be a toothpick then fasting 1 time per week for 12 hours would help. I NEVER SUGGEST ANYONE TO LOOK LIKE A TOOTHPICK... THAT IS NOT COOL NOR IS IT HEALTHY.

You want to look at your sleep as a way to gain MORE muscle not less. So there are other methods, you can drink casein protein. That kind of protein is a slower digesting protein. It is just as lean usually around 90-130 calories per serving. You mix it in water or milk just before bed and drink it. Usually it will take anywhere between 3-8 hours to digest depending on how much and what time you get.  I usually suggest as a snack before bed you mix in 1 scoop of casein and 1 scoop of normal whey protein as you will give your body an immediate boost of protein and then release the rest slowly though out your sleep.

Back to the sleep
Sleep is important because you will allow your body to repair its damaged muscle tissue and enter its own healing process. The body is an amazing machine if you treat your body with care and compassion it will surely show you how amazing of a machine it can become. If your goal is to get lean or your goal is to bulk u p or your goal is to loose weight you need sleep it does not make a difference! Sleep is underrated if you are not getting enough sleep you can be entering a phase called OVERTRAINING much easier and much sooner than expected or desired.

If you do not know what over training is I believe I did an article on it last year that was pretty good so refer back to that one thank you!

For those of you who are looking to validate my information I will post 2 sources for sleep and muscle growth below!

Thanks again everyone,

Have a good day!

Frank


http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/drobson5.htm
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21550729

Volume Training vs Strength Training

So this is a question people often ask, so this is why I will address it.

What is the difference between 10 reps for strength and 10 reps for Volume?

Is there even a difference?

Ok so the term VOLUME in this situation comes from the old school technique of "German Volume Training." Now you might be saying what is that? Well German Volume Training (I will use GVT for short) is the technique most commonly referred to by lifters refer to as the 10x10.

What is 10x10

10x10 is short for 10sets of 10reps.

**Since my mission in the fitness industry is to simplify everything I will even explain sets and reps. (Reps are one movement from beginning to end. Example 1 push up is considered one REP. Rep is short for repetition. One Squat is 1 REP. also: Sets are a group of REPS so if your workout calls for 4sets of 10reps then if it is pushups you should 10 pushups(reps) than break then repeat that 3 more times.)**

Ok so back to volume training... Volume training is a method of both building strength and size. The method is effective but taxing. This is not something I would recommend for people who do not already have experience lifting for at least 1 year. I seriously stress that this is REALLY HARD stuff it is not something you simply do and then walk out of the gym normally. It hurts (obviously in a good way) but it hurts none the less. What your goal to do here is to preform 10sets of 10reps with the HEAVIEST WEIGHT YOU PHYSICALLY CAN! This means that you should not go so heavy that your form is bad and you should not go so light that you will be able to do even 12 reps. There is a learning curve with this workout as most people don't know the exact weight they can do exactly 10reps with.

Myth Busting
There are a lot of pages on the internet that you will find stupid statements that say that you can ONLY build mass if you are doing low reps. This is absolutely false. There are thousands of ways to build mass other than low reps. The simple definition of muscle growth is that you tear your muscle down(microscopic sized tears not injury sized tears) and your body heals it and in the process makes it bigger/ stronger.

The technical term for muscle growth is Hypertrophy- what this is basically is the tearing down of a muscle and the body's natural instinct to repair it. When your body repairs the muscle it gets stronger denser and slightly larger. (**Disclaimer to the ladies** when I say slightly larger I mean so small you could never notice it unless your muscle fibers were under a microscope.)


Back to the difference between 10 reps for strength and 10 reps for Volume or Mass

10 reps should be 10 reps right?

YES!!!! thats why I hate this question!

10 reps is 10 reps and always will be just 10 reps.

Really what you are asking in this question is will the number of sets I do make a difference in terms of volume. 

This is the real true question! Yes the number of sets you preform of an exercise makes all the difference. The average weight lifting routine from start to finish should have no more then 15sets* and no less than 10sets. The reason  is on average if you do 15sets in a single routine with the right amount of rest your workout should take anywhere between 35min-50minutes. The average person rests 1 minute or more between sets before they resume the next so on average most people will take 50 minutes to complete a 15set routine.

When you do volume training 10x10 you use the same equipment same weight (unless you are getting so tired you need to make it lighter) over and over again with 45sec- 1min 30sec rest. NO MORE NO LESS! This is fast paced usually a 10x10 workout should only take 15-30min tops. This is higher intensity and you are tearing your muscle down a lot faster and a lot more effectively. This is why you can both gain strength and size while only using 10 reps. This is the most effective way for intermediate lifter to gain strength and size I highly recommend you try this... But remember this is very intense so make sure you have a friend with you and take safety precautions when attempting a 10x10 routine.

(sorry for how long this one was but you will hopefully understand it finally)


Thanks for reading!
Sincerely,

Frank

Colder months and Exercise

When the weather gets cold it is no surprise to everyone that we get sick! We don't just avoid it, we get sick easier no matter what we do! Around this time of year you always hear people saying "take your vitamin C!" That is true, but only to a small degree. Let me briefly explain why we get sick easily in the winter.

Well isn't it the cold air?

No not necessarily, the reason why the cold air matters is for more severe instances like phenomena, frost bite, hypothermia etc. The jacket/ warm clothes you wear just help to keep your body's natural heat in and so your body won't have to waste as much energy continuing to heat itself up over and over again! So the jacket is VERY important but not as far as colds are concerned.

I have read about this a lot but this is a very well written article if you would like to check my facts! 

http://www.everydayhealth.com/cold-and-flu/colds-and-the-weather.aspx

Well if it isn't cold air what is it?

Ok, so there isn't 1 specific answer unless you want to be THAT GUY who says its "bacteria and germs." That doesn't really help us because we all already know that information. Really what causes us to get sick is dips in our natural immune system often caused by excess amounts of free radicals and other harmful stuff like bacteria. Now what are free radicals should be the real question? I have explained once before vaguely what free radicals are on this blog but I will keep this brief. Free radicals in a nutshell are harmful unstable chemicals found in our body, we create them when we exercise, we create them when we don't get enough sleep, or eat the wrong foods, or drink the wrong drinks. We get them from almost anything that is not good for us. Now this is why Antioxidants have become all the craze over the last few years because they are helpful in stoping free radicals from damaging our bodies and immune systems. What will happen is over time if you create enough free radials and allow them to roam around your body without the proper immune system support you will get sick. 

The best way to fight free radicals and bacteria in the body is through antioxidants, vitamin C, vitamin B, a good multi vitamin, enough water, and obviously substitute some of the bad foods for some natural healthy foods. The body is really a well oiled machine and it is capable of doing amazing things if it is fed the right fuel.

refer to this portion of the article
"Do this: Assuming you've curbed bad habits such as smoking and excessive tanning, turn to your diet. If you eat a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, your diet is naturally rich in thousands of antioxidants. Studies suggest eating at least five servings of fruits and vegetables a day to reap the most health benefits."

This is a brief article on fighting free radicals in mens health it is vague but gives you enough info to satisfy your curiosity. 

http://www.menshealth.com/mhlists/antioxidant_facts/free-radicals-must-be-destroyed.php

Thanks again everyone for the overwhelming support! 

Those of you who have emailed me to request that I start blogging again don't worry I am back for good now. 

Frank

Back into the blog

Hey everyone sorry I took so long off from this blog it looks like there is a decent amount of people who are still viewing my blog so I will revive it! I wanted to take today and catch everyone up to speed with what I have been doing and what I will do with the blog form here on out.

So thanks to those of you who have been viewing my blog even though I have not touched it in almost 6months or more.

I have been working on my business that I was mentioning way back possible a year or more ago. I am actively trying to launch the website before Jan 1st 2014 so I will keep everyone posted on that. I am also looking to build back my following of people who subscribe to my fitness posts. So today is a 2 for 1 day I will post something after this post as well to get back into the swing of things! I am going to be launching my website very soon and so that means I will be sharing the details about the website with you guys first. So stay tuned for all the latest updates on the things to come. Below is going to be the URL to my trailer for the website. I am  hoping that everyone takes a few seconds and watches the video it is only 30 sec long! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIyzBj79nZc

Thanks everyone!

Frank