In the final moments before you step out from backstage and into the lights it dawns on you that you are finally here. All the years of weight training, the months of dieting and cardio, the days of planning your posing routine, color and who to thank are all done. Now there is nothing left to do but step out under the hot stage lights and wait for the judges to call out [...]
Training Program Design 101: Practical Percentages
What are the benefits of percentage based training? Percentage based training allows us the ability to design programs while meticulously manipulating increases and decreases in load throughout the program. By using percentages we also give ourselves more creative control on the design of exercise complexes, manipulation of tempos, rest periods [...]
P.H.A.T. (Power Hypertrophy Adaptive Training)
When it comes to a person’s physique, everyone has a unique set of goals and their own interpretation of what is aesthetically pleasing. Take a look around the gym and you’ll no doubt see a variety of training methods and physiques to match. For instance, you may observe the stereotypical muscle-head, who loves nothing more than entering a room and having everyone’s jaws drop at the sight of their imposing and masculine [...]
Training Program Design 101: Fundamentals
Designing training programs for athletes is such a fascinating endeavor. There are endless opportunities to infuse and mix time-proven resistance training methodologies, and perhaps even create your own. Ask any coach here at TSG, we will be the first ones to tell you that there is no correct way to train. But there are more effective and more intelligent ways to train, which is what this article will be covering. The disparity [...]
Come On Man! Why No Glutes?
In all honesty these are some bogus excuses. At the end of the day men choose not to target their glute muscles because they either do not know how to activate them properly, it’s too hard for them, or their good ole egos kick in while performing curls in the squat rack. There is nothing worse as a man putting on a pair of jeans, especially $200 jeans and knowing you have a flat ass. Seriously guys, chicks dig the glutes too, ask a group [...]
Keeping Track of Rest Periods – Is It Worth It?
Why do we always look at the time to see if it’s 5 pm yet at work? We are always keeping track of time, but why is it that we don’t keep track of time when we are training, as in our rest periods? We’ve found that a lot of people don’t do it simply because they are always in a rush, too lazy to keep track of it, or they don’t understand the benefits of it. So, before we get down-right nasty with this article, just remember that this might not [...]
The “Ab” Solute Truth
As for training, let’s first dispel the myth that the abs are some magical muscle group that’s unlike any other in the human body and need to be trained higher reps than the pecs and biceps. Every skeletal muscle in the human body responds the same way. You can, and should, train your abs in the 8-12-rep range to increase their size and help them show through. Most everyone knows that spot reduction is a fallacy, yet people still [...]
The “Closers”: 5 Ways To Finish Your Workouts Strong
Sometimes, it feels like you’ve had 95 percent of a great workout. Which is better than nothing, but still… Here’s how to hit the 100-percent mark with 5 different body parts. “Leave it all on the field,” high school coaches like to snarl at their young charges. Unfortunately, at the gym, there’s not always a guy standing there in tight stretch-knit shorts and a polo shirt [...]
The Ultimate Guide To Mountain Peak Biceps
Hours upon hours of blood, sweat and tears go into training and torturing this often stubborn body part. We look up to our “brothers in arms” over the years such as Larry Scott, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mike Matarazzo, and Phil Heath in hopes to find some kind of “secret” or magic program that we can put into practice. These guys have what we want; shapely, well-defined, huge biceps! Who can blame us? [...]
The Ultimate Guide To Teenage Bodybuilding
At 26 years old, I still remember my teenage years very clearly. I was bullied, pushed around, and was the butt of every joke. I had virtually no self esteem and no feeling of self-worth. At a certain point I decided that it was time to start doing something about it, rather than spend the rest of my school days feeling sorry for myself. Fortunately, I found weight training and later on found bodybuilding [...]
