Scientific, Reliable, & Trustworthy Fitness Advice

Almost everyone uses some sort of lifting split when they go to the gym.  Although you don’t need to use any split at all, especially if you are a beginner (see Hypertrophy Specific Training), it is usually a good idea to do so if you are an intermediate or advanced lifter.  However, all splits are not created equal.  There are some splits that work quite well and others that end up hurting your results.

In this article I’m going to go through some different common bodybuilding splits and note the advantages and disadvantages of each. Read More »

 

Alright, so as I already discussed in When to Lift With Lighter Weights, lifting heavy is still your best bet for continued progress over time, but incorporating lighter sets in towards the end of the workout might not be such a bad idea.

This article is going to discuss a method that can be used when lifting lighter in order to get the most out of each rep.  See, the problem when you lift with lighter weights, as opposed to heavy weights, is that the beginning of your set doesn’t really recruit all of the muscle fibers, especially the fast twitch ones that grow the most.  In order to recruit the type IIb muscle fibers (the ones that grow the most), at least one of these 3 things need to happen: Read More »

 

Every year there is more and more research that comes out to answer the ultimate question: How do we build more muscle and lose more fat?  Even though is seems like we are continually getting closer to the answer of this question, most of the time, the basics stick.

To lose weight, have a negative net calorie balance. To gain muscle, have a positive net calorie balance. The basic, compound exercises still work, probably best. Eat the protein. Drink the water. Eat good food. Exercise with intensity. Do hard work.

These are the time tested and trusted basics.  These will never go away, no matter what new scientific study or breakthrough supplement comes out.  Most of these basics are normally followed, all except one: Do hard work.

Don’t get me wrong. Many people might try to find ways to get around some of the basics above, but actually doing hard work is probably the most often neglected.

Don’t get me wrong.. again. Most people think that they are doing hard work, and most of the time they actually are. The problem comes with which *type* of hard work they are doing.  What I am going to address specifically in this article is aerobic work while, err, lifting weights. Read More »

 

Heavy weights, low reps, long rest breaks.  That’s how you get stronger, right?  In order to get stronger, you have to keep lifting heavier and heavier weights – at least that’s what all the strength coaches say.

For the most part, I completely agree. You are not going to get anywhere unless, over time, you increase the poundage on the bar for the same about of reps.  Unless you are hopped up on drugs or have some weird mechanical advantage with your tendons, in order to get bigger muscles, you need to get stronger.  But.. sometimes is it OK to use lighter weights and more reps?  Current research says “yes!”

The main problem with using lighter weights is that people just use them at the wrong times or in the wrong way. For example, you should never do pyramids by doing light weights and progressively moving to heavy weights.  To start off this article that gives reasons for using lighter weights, let’s take a quick look at an experiment: Read More »