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Workouts

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by Nick Hoad

How To Increase Your Workout Intensity!

Let's be honest, sometimes workouts can be pretty boring, especially if you’ve plateaued. You go into the gym, do a set, rest, repeat and then go home once you’re done, feeling like you’ve made no progress. It can get pretty repetitive and makes the gym less fun. This is where adding intensifiers comes in handy. These intensity techniques crank the intensity up a notch, letting build more muscle, strength, endurance, or even all 3 at the same time. Drop Sets Drop sets bring the burn by making you go beyond failure. After you finish your top set, instead of resting, drop the weight and keep smashing out reps. What this does is gives you a few more reps when the muscle would usually fail. That then increases the time under tension and the fatigue that the muscles are getting, encouraging the muscle to grow. Drop sets are best to be put in on isolation exercises like leg extensions or bicep curls, and usually at the end of a workout to get the muscles fully exhausted. Rest-Pause Sets Rest pause sets, like Drop sets, are about going past failure. On your top set, crank out as many reps as you can. Once you’ve hit failure, rest for 10-20 seconds, then squeeze out some more reps with the same weight. This pushes you beyond your normal rep range, making your body adapt faster and your muscles to work harder. Rest pauses are fantastic for compound lifts like squats, bench press or deadlifts, helping you gain strength and endurance without completely draining you. FST-7 (Fascia Stretch Training) FST-7 training is about getting a pump, a really, really massive pump. It’s 7 sets of an exercise, usually an isolation exercise, with 30-45 seconds rest between. This stretches the fascia, which is the tissue that surrounds your muscles, giving them room to grow. Using FST-7 in areas that you want to improve, like arms or chest, at the end of a workout can really drive up that intensity in a workout. Supersets If you’re low on time, supersets are the way to go. By pairing two exercises together, and doing them back to back with no rest, you can either do opposite muscles like biceps and triceps, or you can give one muscle a killer burnout. Supersets are useful for saving time in your workout, pushing your muscles to work harder and increasing your heart rate. Time Under Tension (TUT) TUT ramps up the intensity by slowing down each rep to maximise the time that your muscles are under load. By slowing down the raising and lowering of the movement, TUT makes you focus on the muscles you’re targeting and activates them more, pushing them to failure a lot quicker. TUT is a perfect intensifier to use to boost muscle growth, as well as the mind to muscle connection. Throwing them in towards the middle or end of a workout on any exercise can bring a whole new level of intensity. Eccentric Training Putting emphasis on the eccentric (lowering) portion of the movement, where most muscle damage occurs, leads to growth. By slowing down the eccentric to 3-5 seconds, you can get more activation in the target muscle. Eccentrics work well in compound lifts and it is great for breaking through strength plateaus and improving technique and control. Final Thoughts Adding in intensifiers can boost your training and accelerate the results. Using them can push your muscles beyond their limits, helping you build muscle and strength faster. With how demanding these tools can be, it’s important to incorporate them once or twice in a workout and always prioritise technique and form. With intensifiers in your training program, you’ll be able to get your muscles working more and get more results!

by Patrick Gustowski

What Is Motivation?

Going to the gym, staying on top of a meal plan and saving money can feel at times too easy when you’re highly motivated to stay on track. Hitting your first few PB’s and seeing weight change on the scale can be the thing that makes you show up the next day, but what happens when you don’t see the scale move? Or your warm-up weight feels heavier than usual? Maybe discipline is the ultimate way of unlocking your potential. So... What is Motivation? Motivation as a term can be broken down into two different categories that shift and influence human behaviour; Extrinsic Motivation Motivation that comes from outside of the individual and often involves external rewards, in a health based example that could be praise from a peer, winning a 10-week challenge or a trophy for a bodybuilding show. Intrinsic Motivation Motivation that arises internally from within the individual, such as reaching a new personal best, finishing that gruelly block of your plan or noticing yourself in the mirror after chest. Motivation is a reward system for your body and soul, the dopamine your body releases when you are positively reinforced whether it be intrinsically or extrinsically can become addicting. It’s why it’s also so difficult to be forced to be motivated when you don’t see the bigger picture of why you do the things you do to accomplish your goals. But why does it seem so easy for others? In times of weakness we may look to comparisons of others around us that seem to be infinitely more motivated by some unstoppable force. In reality, the secret to winning may not be based on constantly motivating yourself and reaping temporary rewards, but accepting the challenges as stepping stones in a much longer, more tedious journey. Discipline: You Reap What You Sow What’s the secret then, if you can’t rely on motivation to push you each day, if plateau’s and sick days are inevitable, then what else could you possibly do? Become disciplined. Mirroring the motivation sources covered previously, specifically intrinsic motivation, being disciplined is by far one of the best skills you can learn to succeed at. When you know you’re disciplined, hitting a new personal best after pushing through a tough plateau reinforces your ability and mental fortitude to ignore temporary releases of negative emotions. Being disciplined reworks your mind to not expect or assume a feeling of positivity after completing a task, but assists you in looking to the future when you remind yourself why you started training, or eating well in the first place. Very simply, the pay off you get from eventually meeting your goal, pushing yourself through moments you find are tough and looking at tomorrow as another step into a lifetime of motivating reinforcement because you believed in yourself and stayed on track, is immeasurable. Where Do I Even Start? The River Analogy Motivation and discipline are more allies than adversaries, they can effectively work with each other and achieve more together than they ever can alone. The River Analogy is a digestible way of looking at your goals and journey in a palatable way; The Current: What is your overall goal? Is it weight loss, muscle gain or a mentality shift? That’s your Current. Something that continues to push and move forward, something with a start and an end, and with discipline you can learn to ride and control the current. The Debris: The Debris is an analogy for obstacles, seemingly immovable objects that can knock you off your rhythm. They can set you back if you can’t learn to adjust, and recalculate your direction. Sometimes the obstacles feel too big and they do temporarily knock you off. The Lily Pads: When you feel like you're sinking, when you’ve gone off track and lost sight of your current, you need a start point. You aim for the Lily Pads. This is your motivation, with its temporary boost you can set smaller more achievable goals that put you back on track and back in focus with your overall goal. Wrapping Up Motivation is good for the mind and a great tool if you can master it, discipline is essential for growth and overall well being. To put yourself in uncomfortable positions, doing things that challenge you mentally and consistently be open to learning, will change your life. The catch is that you are the only person that can start your journey.

by Nick Hoad

Lifting Club Chapter 2: Shoulder Workout

Strap yourselves in for this workout because this super-set filled shoulder workout from lifting club is a one way ticket to getting the best shoulder pump of your life. This workout hits the entire shoulder, from front to back and using techniques to build you some epic boulders. Remember form is the MOST IMPORTANT part of any workout, especially when you start to fatigue. Make sure you’re not jerking through the movement and keeping tension on your muscles. First things first, make sure that you’re warmed up and have your downed your favourite pre-workout... trust us, you're going to need it. Exercise 1: Rear Delt Dumbbell Flye / Rope Cable Face Pull (super-set) We weren’t joking when we said this shoulder workout is a one way ticket to pump town. To start off, we’re going to be doing rear delt dumbbell flyes superset with rope face pulls on the cable machine. This will get the rear delts pumped up and the shoulder joint nice and warm. To start off the super-set, we’re going to do rear delt flyes with dumbbells. To make the movement more stable, rest your head on an adjustable bench, set on an incline. This way you’ll have room to move your shoulders a bit more freely, but also have the stability of bracing against a bench. To do this movement, let your arms hang straight down with dumbbells in your hands. Push your arms forward to add more focus into your rear delts. To complete a rep, imagine you want to touch the roof with your pinkie finger. Hold at the top for a second, then lower your arms slowly. The second part of the superset will be a rope face pull. To do this exercise, set the cable machine up just above your head height with the rope attachment. Grab the rope with an underhand grip (palms facing towards each other). Take a step back and hold your arms out in front of you. Pull with your elbows and bring the rope as close to your head as possible by splitting your hands apart pulling beside your head. To complete the rep, let your arms slowly come back out in front of you. For the Rear Delt Dumbbell Fly we're going to do 4 working sets. Set 1 & 2 will be done at a weight that you can get an easy 15 reps, with approx. 4-5 reps left in the tank. Set 3 & 4 will be done with a weight that you can only just get 10 reps with. Almost reaching failure. Superset each of these sets with Rope Cable Face Pulls. Pick a weight that you can do 15 reps with, leaving 1-3 reps in reserve, and stick with that for all the 4 sets. Exercise 1 Working Sets Rear Delt Dumbbell Flye 2 sets x 15 Reps @ 6 RPE 2 sets x 10 Reps @ 9 RPE Rope Cable Face Pull 4 sets x 15 Reps @ 8 RPE Exercise 2: Seated Arnold Press / Standing Dumbbell Lateral Raise (Super-set) Pumped from that first super set? Good. Now it’s time to do the front and side of the shoulder in another super-set. The first exercise of this gruelling superset is an Arnold Press. To do this exercise, set up as you usually would in a dumbbell overhead press. Instead of coming down and keeping your wrists facing one direction, we’re going to add in some rotation to really get the shoulder burning. At the bottom of the rep, Hold the dumbbell in front of your face, with your palms facing you. As you’re lifting the weight up, rotate your wrists so that once at the top of the rep, your palms will be facing outwards. When coming down, control the weight and rotate your hands to face your palms back at you. Once you’ve smashed out the Arnold Press, we’re going to move into a standing lateral raise. To do this exercise, hold the dumbbells out in front of you, drive from your elbows and raise your arms out to the side. Then lower the dumbbells slowly back into the start position. When doing this make sure you keep your heels on the floor, so you don’t cheat the rep. We’re going to be doing 3 sets for each exercise on this superset. Pick a weight that you can do 15 reps with, leaving around 2 in reserve. Exercise 2 Working Sets Seated Arnold Press 3 x 15 Reps @ 8 RPE Standing Dumbbell Lateral Raise 3 x 15 Reps @ 8 RPE Exercise 3: Standing Barbell Military Press / Rear Delt Dumbbell Skis By now your shoulders should be screaming to stop. That means you’re on the right track. We’re going to power on with yet another superset. Don’t worry, it’s the last one. To start our final super set, we’re doing a standing barbell press. To do this exercise stand with your feet shoulder width apart and brace your core. Hold the barbell so that it’s resting on your upper chest, then press it up above your head (watch out for your chin). To complete the rep, lower the bar back to your upper chest, slowly. For the second part of our final superset, we’re going to be doing some dumbbell skis. To do these, bend at the hips so you’re almost parallel with the floor. Hold the dumbbells out in front of you and pull your arms behind you keeping your elbows fixed. Lower the weight back in front of you to complete the rep. To get the most out of the Barbell Military Press, pick a weight you can do around 12 reps with, stopping just shy of failure. We’re going to do 3 sets. On the last set, after finishing your 12 reps, drop the weight by 50% and do as many reps as you can. Now, for the Dumbbell Skis, you’re going to want a weight that you can do 20 reps with, almost hitting failure. Do 3 sets with this and we’ll be onto our next exercise Working Sets Standing Barbell Military Press 3 x 12 Reps @ 9 RPE Last Set Drop Set 50% AMRAP Rear Delt Dumbbell Skis 3 x 20 Reps @ 9 RPE Exercise 4: FST-7 Upright rows From the well acclaimed coach, Hany Rambod, we have 7 sets of upright rows to really make sure that your shoulders are pumped and full. To do an upright row, hold a dumbbell or barbell close to your body at hip height, with an overhand grip. Bring the weight up to shoulder height, keeping it close to your body. Lower the weight back down to your hips and you’ve done a rep. Pick a weight that you can get an easy 12 reps out on the first set, because as the name implies, we’re doing 7 sets, with a maximum 1 minute rest between sets. Once we’re done here, we’re onto our last exercise. Working Sets Dumbbell/Barbell Upright Rows 7 x 12 Reps Exercise 5: Seated Dumbbell Lateral Raise 21s Last exercise, so it should be easy right? Wrong. Our final exercise is going to make sure that your shoulders are pumped, sore and most of all three dimensional. For our last exercise, we’re doing dumbbell side raises, with a twist. For the first seven reps, only do the bottom half of the rep. For the next 7, do the top half. Finally, for the last 7, do the full range of motion. This will equal 21 reps of pure pump. For this set, pick a weight that you’re able to do the 21 reps with, and send it. We’re leaving nothing in the tank to completely burn out our shoulders. Working Sets Seated Dumbbell lateral Raise 21s 3 x 21 Reps @ 10 RPE *7 Bottom Half Reps + 7 Top Half Reps + 7 Full Range Reps And you’re done. Now every time you lift anything over your head for the next few days, you’ll be reminded of this sick pump that you got from this boulder builder workout. Make sure to get your protein shake in, you’re going to need it!

by Nick Hoad

Lifting Club Chapter 1: Back & Biceps Workout

This workout is the back & biceps day from chapter 1 of the MJ Lifting Club. It incorporates exercises to target the upper, middle and lower back, as well as biceps to finish. In this workout we'll be utilising a variety of different techniques to ensure your back muscles get the attention they deserve. The MOST IMPORTANT part of any back workout is to ensure you’re using proper form, especially as your muscles start to fatigue. Make sure you’re not jerking through the movement and you’re keeping constant tension on the targeted muscle groups. A few essentials we used for this workout include the TMJ Apparel Figure 6 Lifting Straps, as you’ll be moving some heavy weight and we don’t want your grip to be a limiting factor. Another essential is your TMJ Apparel Legend Lifting Belt, to increase abdominal pressure and ensure you're maintaining good posture. You’re also going to need a good, strong, reliable training partner for this workout. Somebody who can help you force out some heavy reps, and scream at you when you convince yourself that you’ve had enough...Enjoy Exercise 1: Standing Rope Cable Pullover Our first exercise for this workout is a standing rope cable pullover. Doing this exercise first will ensure that your back and shoulder joint is warm, while reducing risk injury and helping with mind muscle connection. To complete this exercise, connect a rope attachment to a cable machine ensuring that the cable is up as high as it can go. Once you’re all set up, take 1-2 steps back, bend at your hips and hold your arms out so that they’re almost in line with your head (make sure your shoulders are back to put tension on your lats). To complete a rep, drive from your elbow pulling the rope down towards your hips. Ensure that you keep a straight arm and your chest up. To get the most out of this exercise, pull your elbows as far back as you can throughout the movement. To finish the rep, slowly raise your arms back up until you’re in your starting position and feel a full stretch on your lats. For this exercise, we'll be doing four total working sets. Set 1 & 2: The first two sets, we’re going to do 15 reps at a 6 RPE with a moderate weight, leaving around 5 reps in the tank. Set 3 & 4: For the final two sets, we’re going to crank it up a notch. Increase the weight and bang out 10 reps at a 9 RPE, coming 1 rep away from failure. Rest time: 1-2 mins between sets. Exercise 2: Chest Supported Overhand Grip T-Bar Row Your back should now feel pumped and warm which is now perfect timing to jump into our heavier exercise. For exercise two, we’ll be completing an overhand chest supported T-bar row. This exercise targets the upper and mid back; traps, rhomboids and rear delts. Firstly, set yourself up on the chest pad of the machine so that your lower chest is at the top of the pad. Once in position, grab the bar or handles with an overhand grip, just outside shoulder width. To row the weight up, retract your shoulders and pull with your elbows to raise the weight up to your chest. When lowering the weight, let your shoulders spread apart, making sure that you’re not rounding your upper back. NOTE: This exercise is perfect to incorporate your Lifting Straps and your Legend belt. Set 1, 2 & 3: This exercise is going 12 reps at a 8 RPE. Pick a weight that you can do 12 reps with, leaving 2-3 reps in the tank. Rest time: 1-2 mins between sets. Exercise 3: Single Arm Lat Pulldown For our third exercise, we’re going to do something a little different. We’re going to take the regular lat pulldown, and make it more efficient. To complete this exercise, set up an adjustable bench, with the back set at around 65 degrees. You want the bench positioned so you are sitting facing away from the cable station. Ensure that the cable is all the way at the top, with a D-handle attachment. Sit facing the bench so your chest is supported firmly up against the padding. To complete a rep, hold the handle with an overhand grip and pull your elbow down towards your hip. As you do this, rotate your arm so that when you finish the rep, you have an underhand grip, squeezing through the lat as you come to the bottom of the movement. To finish the rep, let your arm rotate back to an overhand grip as you’re lowering the weight. Adding in the rotation will add extra stress onto your lat, and help increase the contraction at the bottom of the rep. Set 1 & 2: Pick a weight that allows you to complete 10 reps at a 9 RPE, stopping one rep away from failure. Set 3: Back off the weight so that you can complete 15 reps at a 8 RPE with about 2-3 in the tank. Rest time: 1-2 mins between sets. Exercise 4: Seated Underhand Grip Cable Row By now you’ve probably got the pump of a lifetime, but we’re not done yet. For this exercise, we’re really targeting the lower lats with an underhand cable row. To set up this exercise, you’ll need either a straight bar or an ez curl bar attachment on the seated cable row machine. To complete a rep, grab the bar at around shoulder width, stick your chest out and pull through your elbows driving that bar towards your hips. When lowering the weight, go slow to really get a burn in your lats. To make things interesting, this exercise will incorporate a drop set. Set 1 & 2: Use a weight that will get you 12 clean reps at a 9 RPE. Set 3: For the last set, still do the 12 reps at a 9 RPE, but then once completed, drop the weight by 30% and smash out as many reps as you can. Rest time: 1-2 mins between sets. Exercise 5: Weighted Hyperextension For our final back exercise, we’re going to burn out the lower back with some weighted hyperextensions. To do this exercise efficiently, set yourself up on a hyperextension bench at around 70 degrees. Secure yourself in the machine and let the weight hang in front of you with straight arms. To complete a rep, hinge at your hips, lifting the weight, allowing your lower back to round slightly and get a nice stretch. Once in the stretch, hinge yourself back into the starting position, flexing your lower back. Set 1 & 2: Use a weight that will get you 12 reps at a 9 RPE. Set 3: For the last set, still do the 12 reps at a 9 RPE, but then once completed, drop the weight to bodyweight and smash out as many reps as you can. Rest time: 1-2 mins between sets. Exercise 6: FST-7 Barbell Biceps Curls Now that the back portion of the workout has been completed, we’re going to move on to biceps. For our first bicep exercise, we’re going to incorporate an intensity technique called FST-7. You'll need to grab a ez curl bar or a straight bar, whatever you feel is more comfortable on your wrists. To complete a rep, hold the bar out in front of you with your arms Shoulder width apart. Curl the bar up to the top of your chest, ensuring that your elbows stay by your side and don’t drift up too far. Then lower the weight back down until you're back to the starting position. For this exercise, we’re doing 7 sets of intense muscle building. Set 1-7: Pick a weight that you can do 12 reps with rather easily, leaving 3-5 reps in the tank. Complete the 7 sets with less than a minute rest in-between to really force blood into the biceps. Rest Time: 45-60 secs between sets Exercise 7: Standing Alternating Dumbbell Hammer Curls You made it... to our final exercise of the workout. Now, we’re going to hit our forearms, brachialis and biceps with some hammer curls. To do a rep, hold a dumbbell with a neutral grip, and curl it as you would with a regular bicep curl. Make sure that your elbows are tucked by your side, with little movement, and you’re doing one arm at a time for maximum contraction. Set 1, 2 & 3: We’re going to do 20 reps per arm at a 9 RPE. To really make sure that the biceps have been finished off Rest Time: 45-60 secs between sets And that's a wrap, MJLC Workout #1 completed. Better go grab a protein shake, you’re going to be sore for the next few days.

by Nick Hoad

Pressing Forward: Mastering Progressive Overload

You’ve been hitting the gym for a while. Everything was progressing nicely, seeing results, feeling good. Then BAM, the weight stops going up, you look the same as when you last checked. Let’s face it you’ve hit a plateau. Demotivating, I know. But fret not, we have the key. Progressive overload - The golden ticket to get you back on the gain train. What Is Progressive Overload? Your body is smart. Very smart. When you’re in the gym, lifting weights and putting stress on your muscles, your body adapts to it over time. Doing the same reps with the same weight every workout isn’t going to make your muscles grow, because they don’t need to. This is where progressive overload comes into play. If you consistently increase the challenge for your muscles each workout, your body will grow. Why Is Progressive Overload So Useful? Progressive overload is essential because it’s how your body gets fitter and stronger. When you use it in your workout plan, you’ll see constant progress, keeping that motivation at a high and plateaus at a low. What’s best about it is everyone can do it, from someone that’s two weeks in to over 10 years in, it has its place in every lifter's split. How To Apply Progressive Overload Knowing what Progressive Overload is, is one thing. But how do you do it? Well, there’s a bunch of different ways. The main way is to increase the weight by a small amount, usually around 2.5kg to 5kg, and do the same reps. You can also stay at the same weight and increase the reps or sets that you do, which is useful when you’re stuck at a certain weight. Reducing the time between sets is also a way to increase intensity. If you want to take it a step further, you can throw in intensifiers into the mix. Dropsets, where you lower the weight can keep pushing past failure, or supersets, where you perform exercises back to back without a rest. These are just some of the methods that push your muscles past their comfort zone, shocking them into growth! Tracking Progressive Overload Progressive overload can be a bit daunting. Especially if you can’t remember what weight you did, and completely forgot the reps and sets too. That’s fine, it happens to the best of us. How about some tools to track your sessions and get to progressively overloading?: 1. MJ Fitness App The MJ Fitness App is your one stop progressive overload shop, giving you a built in tracker for your workouts, so you can be sure that you overload each workout. As well as having a free workout plan, supplement plan, meal tracker and exercise tutorials. It’s perfect for any lifter looking for an all-in-one app. 2. MJ Training Journal If you prefer something more physical, the MJ Training Journal will meet your needs. Not just helping you track your progressive overload, but weekly planning and reflections, It’s the perfect journal to track and improve in your fitness journey Final Thoughts Progressive overload is the simplest addition to your workout routine, that can lead to big results. Whether you’re lifting heavy weights or doing drop sets, tracking your progress and pushing yourself a little harder every time you train will make plateaus a thing of the past.

by Brandon Verde

Heart Rate Zones: What They Are & Why They Matter

Whether you’re new to training or have been at it for a while, you might have considered tracking your heart rate. Although it's not necessary, tracking your heart rate can be beneficial for various reasons. You might do this for health, such as lowering your resting heart rate, or for performance, ensuring you train in different zones to maximise health and fitness. Some zones offer specific benefits, so you may choose to train in one for fat loss or increasing power output. However, it's important to maintain a balance across all zones and not focus on just one. How To Find Max HR & Heart Rate Zones There are several calculations used to determine your max heart rate. A standard method is subtracting your age from 220, or you can use an online calculator. Keep in mind that this doesn’t consider fitness level, health issues, etc., and serves as only a rough guide. Each zone represents a percentage of your max heart rate. Zone 1: 50-60% Zone 2: 60-70% Zone 3: 70-80% Zone 4: 80-90% Zone 5: 90-100% How To Track Your Heart Rate There are various ways to track your heart rate. By placing your index and middle fingers on the inner side of your wrist or on the side of your neck under the jaw, you can feel your pulse. You can count the beats for one minute, or count for 15 seconds and multiply by four. Sports watches and straps can also track your heart rate continuously during daily activities, exercise, and sleep. These devices may provide more accurate readings and help identify patterns, strengths, and weaknesses. Medical devices like blood pressure monitors or ECGs offer more detailed information but are typically found in medical settings. What Are The Heart Rate Zones? Each zone indicates how hard you’re working and serves a particular purpose due to the type of energy used and the duration you can stay in that zone. Zone 1: Generally used for warming up. You can still talk easily with relatively low energy expenditure. Zone 2: Talking may become slightly more difficult, but you can still hold a conversation. This zone can be maintained for a long period. Fat is used for fuel, making it ideal for fat loss, although it’s not the most efficient calorie-burner. Zone 3: Improves aerobic fitness and blood flow. Energy comes from a mix of fat and muscle glycogen. The workout starts to feel more intense, making it great for steady-state cardio. Zone 4: This zone transitions from aerobic to anaerobic exercise. Your body becomes more efficient at removing lactate as it builds up, using glycogen instead of fat for energy. It’s excellent for maximizing performance and high-intensity muscular endurance. Zone 5: Typically maintained only for a few seconds. It involves reaching VO2 max, sprinting at maximum speed, and maximum power. You’ll be unable to talk and will be breathing heavily. Why Train In Each Of The Zones? It's essential to utilise each heart rate zone to maximise overall health and fitness. If you have specific goals, you might spend more time in certain zones. For example, a sprinter will likely spend more time in Zones 4 and 5, while an endurance athlete will focus on Zones 2 and 3. However, even with specific goals, balancing your time across all zones will yield maximum benefits, such as increased aerobic fitness, improved blood flow, higher lactate threshold, and better muscular endurance and power. Why Do Cardio If You... Don't? So, what if you typically skip cardio? Maybe you lift heavy or are trying to gain weight and avoid anything that might hinder those goals. Or perhaps you fit in quick workouts but never make time for cardio. As long as you’re moving, why bother? Firstly, increased endurance and fitness can help you get through sets with ease. You might have the strength to do 5 sets of 10 squats or 20 walking lunges, but are you getting out of breath or spiking your heart rate, preventing you from performing at your best or even wanting to do them at all? Improving your muscular and cardiovascular endurance can help you work until you hit true muscular failure rather than just fatigue. Cardio also aids in recovery. A fitter heart recovers to a resting rate faster, and efficient energy usage and lactate threshold improvements help you push hard when needed and rest effectively afterward. This applies to both between sets and post-workout recovery, as your body becomes quicker at recovering from intense bursts and more efficient at post-workout recovery due to improved blood flow and better waste removal. So, even if you don’t plan on running a marathon, sprinting, or biking through hills, cardio can still significantly benefit your workouts and recovery. How To Implement Cardio Into Your Routine You can vary your cardio workouts depending on how you feel and how much time you have. A longer workout in zones 2-3 may be great for active recovery and ideal if you have more time. A workout in zones 4-5, like interval training, can be short and sweet if you’re pressed for time. Below are examples of cardio workouts that should keep you within zones 2-3 and 4-5. Your heart rate zone will also depend on your fitness level and how hard you’re working. Zone 4-5 Workouts (Interval Training, approx. 10-15 mins): Stairmaster Interval Training: (10-minute example: warm up at level 8 for 3 mins, L10 for 1 min, L7 for 1 min, L20 sprint for 1 min, L8 for 2 mins, L7 for 1 min, L20 sprint for 1 min) Stationary Bike Interval Training: (15-minute example: L14 for 5 mins to warm up, L18 for 1 min, L12 sprint for 1 min, L14 for 1 min, repeat x3, L14 moderate-slow pace for another minute to cool down) Treadmill Interval Training: (example: warm up with a brisk walk, then alternate a jog or sprint with a brisk walk at your choice of interval, i.e., 40/20 sec, 1/1 min, 30/30 sec, then cool down with a moderate walking pace) Circuit HIIT Workout: (example: create 8-10 exercises with a mix of strength, core, and cardio, and repeat 2-4 times) Zone 2-3 Workouts (Steady State, approx. 20-30 mins or more): Incline Walk on the Treadmill: Choose an incline and speed that suits you. It shouldn’t feel like a walk in the park, but it also shouldn’t feel like a difficult hike. Stationary Bike: Choose a moderate pace to maintain. Elliptical: Great for injury rehab and low-impact exercise. Walk, Jog, or Bike Ride Outdoors: Get some fresh air and sunshine while you’re at it! You shouldn’t be completely out of breath, but a conversation shouldn’t hold too easily either. To fit these into your program, start with one workout in each zone per week. Gradually increase the volume of cardio, but be careful not to overdo it if you already have an intense program. Listen to your body and find where cardio fits best without sacrificing energy and performance. For instance, a longer steady-state cardio session might fit into your weekend when you’re not rushing to work, and interval training with sprints might be better after an upper body workout rather than on leg day. Alternatively, you might find that cardio after leg day helps with recovery and reduces DOMS! Reminder Don’t forget to make it fun! There’s nothing worse than dreading your cardio sessions. Sure, sometimes you have to do things you don’t want to do, but if you can make it enjoyable, then why not? Experiment with different workouts. Try a boxing class or vinyasa yoga. Spending half an hour walking on the treadmill might not be your thing, but perhaps you enjoy riding your bike outdoors. Find what you enjoy and can be consistent with.

by Brandon Verde

Myo-Reps

Overview Myo-Reps are a specific rest-pause training technique that involves taking a working set to the point of failure to ensure maximum muscle fibre activation, and then maintaining this muscle fibre activation over a sustained period of time by utilising short rest breaks and multiple short sets. How To Perform To perform Myo-Reps, begin with performing an ‘activation’ set to failure within the 10-12 rep range. Rack the weight and take 4-5 deep breaths over no more than 15 seconds, then begin the first Myo-Rep set of 6-8 reps to failure. Rack the weight again resting another 4-5 breaths over no more than 15 seconds, then perform another Myo-Rep set of 4-6 reps to failure. Continue with this short “rest to work” ratio until you can no longer perform a single rep with good form. Capped Myo-Rep Sets Myo-Reps can be performed using a capped number of total Myo-Reps performed for an exercise. For example capping a set at 20 total Myo-Reps would look like this; Perform an ‘activation’ set of 10-12 reps (+20 reps), with the (+20 reps) made up of Myo-Rep sets which can be broken down into any rep and set combination depending how heavy the weight is. For example: (5+5+5+5) = 20 Total Myo-Reps (6+4+4+4+2) = 20 Total Myo-Reps (8+5+4+3) = 20 Total Myo-Reps Auto-Regulated Myo-Reps Another variation of Myo-Reps that is best used over 6-8 week training blocks to help manage fatigue and recovery are known as “Auto-Regulated” Myo-Reps. By prescribing a set number of Myo-Reps to perform after each 10-15 second rest period, and stopping the exercise once that number is not reached, the training volume for any particular day is auto-regulated based on recovery and energy levels. For example, using the rule of 4 Myo-Reps following each rest period would look something like this; Perform an ‘activation’ set of 8-10 reps, rest 5 breaths over no more than 15 seconds, then get 4 Myo-Reps. Rest another 5 breaths over no more than 15 seconds, then get another 4 Myo-Reps. Continue this pattern until only get 3 Myo-Reps are achieved on a set and then stop. This “Auto-Regulation” will differ depending on energy and recovery on any given day as follows Week 1 Chest: (Good Energy/Recovery) Set 1: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 repsMyo-Reps: 1 2 3 4Myo-Reps: 1 2 3 4Myo-Reps: 1 2 3 4Myo-Reps: 1 2 3 4 Overview: Total of 26 reps performed in 2 minutes, 16 effective Myo-Reps Week 4 Chest: (Poor Energy/Recovery) Set 1: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 repsMyo-Reps: 1 2 3 4Myo-Reps: 1 2 3 Overview: Total of 17 reps performed in 1-2 minutes, 7 effective Myo-Reps Workout Programming Myo-Reps extend the efficiency of conventional sets and can therefore be applied to any exercise selection. They also require no change of equipment or weight making them highly suitable for athletes who prefer not to rely on training partners. The added volume of Myo-Reps make them extremely effective during 4-8 week hypertrophy cycles, particularly for lagging muscle groups that require additional volume to spurt new muscle growth. However, Myo-Reps can severely stress the central nervous systems (CNS), impede recovery, and increase DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness). They are therefore not optimal for power athletes or bodybuilders focused on increasing pure strength. Advantages Muscle tissue is very efficient at producing the force required for resistance training and will essentially recruit smaller fibres first and save the most powerful muscle fibres (those with the greatest growth potential) until they are absolutely needed – usually towards the end of a conventional set. With conventional sets of 8-12 reps, activation of these larger muscle fibres will only occur on the last 2-3 reps. This activation begins to decline immediately following a conventional set with a typical rest period of 2-5 minutes, with the smaller fibres taking over once again at the beginning of the next set. Using Myo-Reps immediately following the ‘activation’ set does not allow the smaller fibres to recover and is an effective way to sustain full activation of the powerful muscle fibres that have the greatest potential for hypertrophic growth for a longer period of time. Myo-Reps are therefore highly effective at increasing the muscle growth gains (hypertrophy) that athletes seek without spending nearly as much time and energy as compared to traditional straight sets. Comparing Conventional Straight Sets to Myo-Rep Sets clearly highlights this advantage: Conventional Sets Set 1: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 (rest 2-3 minutes) Set 2: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 (rest 2-3 minutes) Set 3: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Overview: Total of 29 reps performed in 7 minutes, with only 9 reps effectively activating the largest muscle fibres Myo-Rep Set 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 (rest 15 seconds) Myo-Rep 1: 1 2 3 4 (rest 15 seconds) Myo-Rep 2: 1 2 3 (rest 15 seconds) Myo-Rep 3: 1 2 3 (rest 15 seconds) Myo-Rep 4: 1 2 3 (rest 15 seconds) Overview: Total of 23 reps performed in 2 minutes, with 16 reps effectively activating the largest muscle fibres Example Workout (Hamstrings) Stiff Leg Deadlift Warm Up Sets: Use a light weight for 10-12 reps Working Set: Working set of 6-8 (+12 Myo-Reps). Use a heavy weight that allows you to hit failure at 6-8 reps, rack the weight for 4-5 breaths then get another 2-4 reps. Rack the weight again for 4-5 breaths and get 2-4 reps. Continue until a total of 12 Myo-Reps are completed. Seated Hamstring Curl Warm Up Sets: Use a light weight for 12-15 reps Working Set: Working set of 12 (+15 Myo-Reps). Use a heavy weight that allows you to hit failure at 12 reps, rack the weight for 4-5 breaths then get another 4-6 reps. Rack the weight again for 4-5 breaths and get 4-6 reps. Continue until a total of 15 Myo-Reps are completed. Dumbbell Stiff Leg Deadlift Warm Up Sets: Use a light weight for 12-15 reps Working set of 15 (+20 Myo-Reps). Use a heavy weight that allows you to hit failure at 15 reps, rack the weight for 4-5 breaths then get another 6-8 reps. Rack the weight again for 4-5 breaths and get 6-8 reps. Continue until a total of 20 Myo-Reps are completed.