Albert K. Park

                    

        I made an attempt to dedicate this morning to some reading but ended up getting lost in the depths of youtube watching everything from 50 tyson videos (You need to see this) to clips of the world’s strongest kid. Don’t judge me, we all do it. After realizing an unproductive hour had gone by I got up off my ass and made it to my gym, for some activation/stretching drills.

50 tyson video - Try not to laugh.

                        15 minutes of forced stretching is no fun especially after doing a lower body intensive workout the night before so, I decided to treat myself. Some people treat themselves to some sweets or extra carbs, I treat myself with an arm day!

                        Last week, I remembered reading an article by Dave Tate on the Band Man, Dick Hartzell. It covered the incredible benefits of training with bands and had a sample arm workout that could, in 4 -6 weeks, add an inch to your pipes. Anything Dave Tate says, I usually shut up and follow. So I dropped the usual barbell curls and skull crushers for this short but intense arm-blasting workout.

                        With a medium sized band, I worked both biceps and triceps in 2 supersets. The first was band hammer curls with tricep pushdowns and the second was band palm up curls with overhead tricep extensions. By the time I was done, I had a crazy pump and my veins were popping like a junkie after their first relapse out of rehab.

                        Before you start, you need to find one good overhead anchor point for the tricep pushdowns and the overhead tricep extensions. A pull up bar will work perfect. For the curls, your feet in a shoulder width stance will work as a great anchor point.

      Perform each exercise with fluid motions and go immediately to the next exercise in the superset before taking your rest. Rest 1 min before repeating. I recommend an active recovery rest, planks worked awesome for me.

      Remember that although you are performing each rep with a fast and fluid motion you want to contract all your muscles so your body stays rigid. You will quickly realize how much muscle recruitment working with bands requires.

I performed both supersets for 3 sets. Try 2-3 sets.

            Grab the bands in a neutral grip and perform full motion reps. Full motion means all the way down to your lap and all the way up to about your shoulders. Be sure to move from the elbow and not let the elbows move backwards.

            When performing this exercise make sure to squeeze your ass and abs in order to stay in full control. Lock the arms out completely at the bottom of the movement.

            This time, the grip will be holding the band with your palms facing up. Again complete a full range motion while squeezing your butt tight.

            Perform the tricep extensions in a split stance making sure to keep the abs contracted. This is one movement that can get out of control if you don’t keep your entire body contracted.

           

            This is an opportunity for you to try an effective training style and get a real pump. Don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone and try something new. You have been doing dumbbell curls for the last 5 years, one workout is not going to take you away from them.

             Not only do bands require an intense amount of muscle recruitment, it will allow you to hit full muscle fatigue. You have to continually look for different ways of adding resistance in order to improve. Here is one to help you take it to that next level.

                       

            

            As a trainer it is important to sit down and pick the brains of potential clients. Why are they training? What goals do they have? What is the motivating factor behind why they came to me? All these are pretty much standard questions that I ask in an initial consultation. Most answers usually start off with I want a six pack, I want to lose 10 pounds because I’m going on vacation in a month, or the most common and vague answer, I just want to get in shape. I love this last one, gives me so much insight into the individual.

                        I will admit sometimes I get so caught up in my client’s progress and being on their team I forget to ask myself the same questions. I was reminded of this today when I met with a new client for a meet and greet. As we got to know each other, I asked one of my go-to questions. What is getting in shape and the results worth to you?

                        I will tell you right now that it’s not easy for me to get lost in a moment (epic movie scenes don’t count) and let my mind start running off into the labyrinth of my imagination, especially during a client consultation but it did. I couldn’t stop it. It just took off like tiger woods making his getaway in the escalade. What, too soon? Don’t worry I love the guy. In the middle of her response, I was asking myself the same thing. What is all this training and fitness worth to me?

                        We trainers often get a bad reputation. It’s not all about the beach muscles, hair gel (I sport a buzz cut by the way), and yelling “1 more rep”. For me, my health/staying fit is worth all the money and hard work in the world. By continually striving to improve, I am practicing what I preach so I can lead by example and help more people. My fitness is going to determine how much energy I have for everyone who believes in me to help them and it’s going to motivate me to work just as hard in the other areas of my life. So I need to be at the top of my game!

                        My mind took off so fast, I was thinking about being healthy in order to offer my unborn kids a father who would have enough energy to always be there for them. This was an instant red flag for me to come back to reality (although it was true). Earth to Albert, what the fu*k are you thinking about these days.

                        As we concluded our assessment and she went home, I was left alone with my thoughts again. I got real philosophical at this point. Life comes at you fast and often times we get caught up in all the bullshit and end up going through the motions like zombies. We lose sight of the purpose and let the passion leak until the engine light comes on.

                        If you’re looking for a fire to be lit under your ass or you’re an individual who relies on hits of motivation to keep you high. Try just stopping everything for 5 minutes to just sit and think. What is this all worth to me? It will either be a punch in the stomach or a pat on your back (gold star for you). Either way I bet you will think back to when you started and get reunited with the things in your life that motivated you to start changing.

                        Fitness is definitely a path with tons of ups and downs. Kind of like a jersey shore episode. In the midst of all the chaos, it is imperative to revaluate your goals and think about what being fit is worth to you. I bet you come to realize that it’s worth a lot more than you thought. Without stopping to think, you may find yourself just going through the motions and repeating Gym, Tan, Laundry. 

            We can all get burned out training with the traditional rep and set schemes. Does 8 reps of 3 sets sound familiar or how about 6 reps of 4 sets? Yes, we were all taught to weight train this way and if you walk into any gym in the country you will find people working out this way. The problem is that without increasing resistance and continually changing exercises the results stop coming.

            Dan John (Strength & Conditioning Coach) says in Never Let Go, “programs will be effective for 4-6 weeks, you need to change it up.” So how long have you been training with 8 -10 reps? If you’re not monitoring maximum rep percentages and training with a specific program you can be slowing down your progress. A lot of us will get done with an exercise feeling you could have done more weight or one extra rep. This is an instant red flag that something needs to change, more resistance. Weight and reps are not the only ways you can increase resistance. You can make the workout more difficult by experimenting with tempo, complex movements, supersets, and more challenging exercises.

            Are you feeling a little lost yet? No worries just breathe and keep reading. At Hocevar Performance, my clients use a variety of training methods. One method that is great for fat loss and gaining lean muscle mass is training with time. Training for time ensures a full out effort without the guesswork of how much weight to use, since we will be incorporating body weight exercises, and offers an opportunity to continually improve.

            For most exercises I start clients off with 40 seconds of work and a 20 second break or 50 seconds of work and a 10 second break. This basically means that you will be working hard, performing as many reps as you can in the work period and then resting for the specific amount of rest time. We will usually work with 2-3 rounds without stopping.

            Training with a specific time schedule will be a rude wake up call. Kind of like your alarm clock after the third snooze. Take the opportunity to track your progress as well. See how many reps you get the first time you do the workout, than after a week try it again. I bet you that you will see improvement. There is nothing like training with goals.

            Try this full body workout that utilizes a 50 seconds of work and 10 seconds of break time.

            This is a 5 minute Rapid Fat Loss Circuit that will allow you to push yourself to your full potential. The workout will also give you an opportunity to set some goals (beating your previous number of reps) and go after them. An important note is that when you train with time, you really do get out what you put in. Intensity is everything and you are the only one who controls how great your workout can be.

            Pushing your tempo and intensity can be a difficult aspect in training especially if you are training with rep and set schemes. I warn you now that when you train with time not only will you fatigue your muscles, you will be sweating. I often get cursed out, evil stares, and sometimes a physical threat when I put my clients through these timed training sessions. Don’t worry, they aren’t crazy, they’re just working hard. Please feel free to curse my name when your trying this new training method out!