How To Work Legs Like An Instagram Star

Posted on November 17, 2015 by maxedoutmuscles

“Dude, how much do you bench?” This is by far the most overrated question that anyone who works out has heard.

For some reason, a majority of people only think about upper body workouts like the bench press and bicep curls. While there is nothing really wrong with this, it does give us evidence as to why so many gym goers are top heavy.

So what happens when a man decides to ditch his bro bible and live in reality where training legs is of equal importance? Cory Gregory happens!

Cory Gregory, for those of you who don’t know, started the popular squat every day challenge and has had tremendous success! He is an example of how hard work pays off. For today’s post, we won’t talk about any of that.

We’ll talk about something more amusing, and that’s when your top heavy bros still won’t train legs. So here is what you can do to not train legs, but still look like you do on Instagram:

Take a selfie!

First, you have to take a selfie! You can’t actually be looking at yourself in the mirror; that would be creepy. This is how you let people know you’re doing squats, but as soon as you take the photo you can re-rack the bar.

Here’s an additional tip: Don’t let people know that the bar is empty. Keep the photo up close and let people imagine that you’re squatting 405 while holding your phone. Better yet, just lie and say you are!

Take a picture of the heavy weight you’re doing

Or better yet, take a picture of the heavy weight you can’t really do! Put it on Instagram with a caption like “I love leg day xoxo” or “Leg day 😍” and people will know you’re serious.

…well, they’ll BELIEVE you’re serious.

So keep calm and train legs, or just lie and say you did. Either way, this was completely for humor and I hope you enjoyed today’s post.

A Belated Monthly Progress Report

Posted on November 16, 2015 by maxedoutmuscles

Today is the day! I stress this sentiment every day. Every day is the day to make progress and record results. Every day is another day to be the best that you can be! To read one of my best posts that stresses that sentiment, click here.

Now, I’d like to share with you some results I have made in the gym! I haven’t done this in a couple of months, and I was intending to make a monthly progress report. However, the journey of a natural lifter requires perseverance and results do not always come every month. Without further ado, I give you my (semi) monthly lifting report:

This is what I could lift 3 months ago!

Legs:

I can now easily rep out 225(102 kg) on squats! I am really proud of that and I can quickly becoming strong enough to do 275 as a one rep max. I am hoping to achieve that weight soon so I can set my next SMART GOAL for 315.

I don’t quite know the weight conversion but I can now max out all of the leg machines and I am using the leg press where I typically throw on a lot of plates. Today I put 360 lbs(163 kg) on the leg press and went for reps. I had a good time working my legs this Sunday afternoon and I am happy to share those results!

Back and Biceps:

As I’ve said some new personal records on leg day, I also set some new records on back and bicep day.

Yesterday was my back and bicep day, and I managed to lift heavier on my deadlift than ever before! I did 315 lbs(142 kg) for EIGHT reps. I didn’t attempt to go higher because usually I can only do three reps at that weight. I was tremendously proud and surprised that I could do so much more! (ALSO, A LITTLE DISCLAIMER: I count deadlifts as a main workout on back day because they work every muscle on your posterior chain. You could count them as a leg workout or a back workout, or even a shoulder workout because they work almost every muscle in your body)

I immediately went on to do bent over rows and knocked out 185 lbs fairly easily. I did some shoulder presses with 55 lb dumb bells and managed to get about six good reps.

Keep in mine that the bicep work I am about to talk about is all dumbbell work and not with a barbell as in the picture above. My barbell curls are about 80 lbs now. When I went on to my biceps, I managed to get about eight strict curls on each arm with 40 lbs. When I did restricted curls, I only aimed for 30 lbs and did them nice and slow to get really feel that burn! 🙂

Chest and Triceps:

Here is where we hit all my plateaus! I am only getting slightly stronger in this group, but some of my reps are feeling less forced so I am assuming that I am near the end of this long plateau. I am only at 185 lbs (83 kg) on bench press and struggling to get four reps, and that’s where I’ve been for months now.

I am under the impression that it’s an easy fix, though! I feel like I have neglected some tricep work and that is why my bench press and (other) tricep related exercises are lacking. I have been hitting them hard and, as I said, the reps feel less forced. I am almost to the point of maxing out my local gym’s chest fly machine and I feel that, when my triceps catch up, I’ll be able to do a lot more weight in all my other chest-tricep exercises.

Conclusion:

I’ve been training hard, and sometimes I don’t see huge results while other times I see remarkable results! As I’ve said in the past, consistency is key. Just remember, if you work out hard for a long time you may not see the results you want…

..but if you don’t work out at all, you will see NO results! Keep moving forward and have some MAXED OUT MUSCLES!

Five Creatine Myths Exposed

Posted on November 13, 2015 by maxedoutmuscles

With all the misinformation that is being passed down, we talked about 10 Fitness Myths That You Might Still Believe last week! Here are FIVE common myths regarding creatine:

Myth #1: Creatine will make your belly fat when you stop taking it

Contrary to what some people believe, creatine will not make you store fat anywhere on your body when you stop taking it! Fat is actually stored due to an excessive caloric intake. As you eat more calories than what your body needs, it stores them calories as fat for any possible oncoming genocide.

So it is safe to say that the fat isn’t caused by creatine. Sadly, that means that “creatine makes you fat” is probably just a scapegoat used by someone who doesn’t want to diet or add more cardio.

Creatine doesn’t make you fat. Donuts do. ..image by newgrounds.com

Myth #2: Creatine will make you store too much water weight

This is partially true! However, I add this to a list of creatine myths because of how exaggerated this statement often is! While creatine will add water weight, it won’t make you look like you’ve been on prednisone for five months!

If you’ve ever been on prednisone or any other corticosteroid for illness, you’ll understand. The moon face you get from those is all water weight, and creatine won’t do that. In fact, creatine will help you build some nice muscles so the pros will far outweigh the cons! 😉

“I should have never taken creatine!” 😦

Myth #3: Creatine is bad for your kidneys!

..image courtesy of iheartguts.com

This is the most common myth regarding creatine and it’s understandable! I get the logic behind it: Creatine works, therefore there has to be something seriously bad about it. That’s how steroids are, and even preworkout recommends you take a week off now and then to avoid some bad side effects. However, countless studies have shown that creatine is actually healthy and won’t harm your kidneys. In fact, this next myth is going to shock you..

Myth #4: Creatine is NOT natural

Contrary to this myth, creatine is completely natural and can actually be found in some of the foods we eat on a daily basis but in small quantities. Creatine is found in different forms of meat, and if you eat red meat you will have plenty of creatine phosphate saturation.

..Epic Chris Farley image is courtesy of pinterest.com

Myth #5: Creatine Needs To Be Cycled

Absolutely not! Creatine saturates your muscles so when you’ve taken it consistently it starts to have its charm. If you take a week off every so often you are actually just dehydrating your creatine stores and not getting the most benefit from creatine.

I use 10 Grams of the GNC brand of creatine every day.

Thanks for reading! Remember, those are just five myths related to creatine. Always receive your information with a grain of salt, and do the research yourself so you know what you’re putting into your body.

10 Fitness Myths That You Might Still Believe

Posted on November 8, 2015 by maxedoutmuscles

In today’s world, information is at our fingertips. While this is a blessing, it can also be a lead to a lot of misinformation. Here are ten fitness myths that you might still believe!

Myth #1: Squatting Is Bad For Your Knees!

Don’t shy away from doing barbell squats next time you go to the gym! While many people have said in the past that squats are bad for your knees, that is 100% false. Doing squats will actually build strong muscles to support your joints rather than causing injury.

Myth #2: Up The Crunches If You Want A Killer Six Pack!

Actually, crunches won’t do you any good in attaining that chiseled look you are going for! While you may build up ab muscle, those abs will never show unless you have a lower body fat percentage. Having abs is, in fact, almost entirely a matter of low body fat. This is followed by genetics, but don’t use genetics as an excuse not to try.

Myth #3: Stretch Before Your Workout

While stretching after your workout is a great idea to avoid injury and soreness, stretching before your workout could actually cause injury! That isn’t a guarantee but some studies have shown that doing stretches before you work out actually destabilizes your muscles. Try doing a warm-up before your workout to get the blood flowing and you will be much better off.

Myth #4: You Can Spot Reduce Fat

I’ve gotten into (polite)arguments about this all the time, and it is the question I get asked most through my email: “Can you spot reduce fat?” The answer is no! You may store fat more in some areas due to genetics, but that doesn’t mean crunches can burn off the extra stomach fat. Try a good resistance training routine, some good cardio, and a great diet to drop your body fat percentage, feel great, and look better!

Myth #5: Test Boosters!

Raise your hand if you are guilty of buying test boosters! **I guiltily had to raise my hand since I was naive starting out** There is actually no evidence to support the possibility that natural test boosters actually work! The only thing I am certain of with test boosters is that they are a waste of money. Know that you aren’t buying actual prohormones or steroids so they won’t work to raise you testosterone level over natural limits, and if your testosterone is so low you think you absolutely need the help….then you could probably just get a prescription for real testosterone therapy.

Myth #6: Lifting Weights Will Make You Look Like A BodyBuilder

A lot of women don’t want to look weights because they are afraid of looking “bulky”. Trust me, due to genetics and hormones you won’t get that bulky look. You’ll look fine unless you start taking steroids and other than that, you’ll be able to control how far you take it in the weight room! So keep calm, and keep lifting!

Myth #7: Sweating Means You Burned More Calories

Sorry to rain on that sweaty parade of yours…

While sweating can sometimes be a great indicator of a hard day’s work in the gym, it can also mean that it was just really hot. Sweating is your body’s physiological response to being overheated. Nevertheless, keep working hard in the gym and keep sweating and you will burn more calories through perseverance.

Myth #8: Running is Bad For Your Knees

I did a little bit of research on this and found that running actually isn’t that hard on your knees! The knees of older runners compared to other people of the same age were of no worse condition. I would like to add that you should probably still wear a nice running shoe and throw in some squats!

Myth #9: Muscle Weighs More Than Fat

This is just funny! I read this on someone’s blog post one day and had a real laugh, because I’ve even said this before(and I bet some of you have too): “Muscle weighs more than fat?” How though? How much does a pound of muscle weigh? A pound. How much does a pound of fat weigh? A pound.

Muscle is leaner than fat! But it certainly doesn’t weigh more!

Myth #10: Cardio Will Give You A 48 Hour AfterBurn

The statement itself is true, but you don’t benefit nearly as much from this afterburn as you think. Some experts say that you will only burn 20 extra calories a day! Weight training will give a slightly higher afterburn but it still isn’t anything significant. Therefore, if you really want to lose weight you’ll probably just have to do more cardio or add intensity! If you still don’t lose weight, then try dropping your calories.

..and there you have it! Ten fitness myths that you may have still believed! I hope you benefited from reading this post!

Train hard and train smart! Make sure you have some maxed out muscles!

What Is Killing My Gains?

Image

“Why have I been working out for TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AND STILL CAN CURL MORE THAN I SQUAT!?”

I doubt anyone in history has ever said that! I doubt anyone actually will…BUT now that I have your attention, I want to talk about gains and why some of us aren’t having any.

You may have been lifting for a while and hit a plateau, and you may even seem to get weaker. These things happen, but as long as you stay consistent

you will grow stronger.

Maxed Out Muscles

About as strong, in fact, as this stick figure that I hastily drew in Microsoft Paint. Look at those biceps!!

However, he did skip leg day which I would say is pretty bad!

Now jokes aside, all of us hit plateaus or walls in our training and it can be pretty depressing. I know because this has happened to me, and is happening to me now. So I write today as optimistic as I can! I don’t know from experience that I will overcome this plateau, but I am optimistic!

Without further ado I want to list some possible reasons why I, or you, are hitting a plateau and how I, or we, can overcome this:

Diet

Diet is probably the easiest to call out because, without proper nutrition, how can your body grow? There is a lot of controversy on diet(feel free to post your opinion in the comments). A lot of bodybuilders and strength coaches say you should eat whatever your basal metabolic rate calls for while eating a gram of protein per pound of body weight. However, some text books say you should eat no more than 60% of your body weight in protein and other people recommend 50 grams a day.

I personally feel that the gram per pound approach will be most effective for me personally. This is because, when I look at other people who have been bodybuilding(natties included), I notice that most heavy lifters recommend eating a lot of protein. A lot of them have good aesthetics too, and it doesn’t look like they converted any excess protein into fat.

Simply due to my own preference and based off what I have seen I will choose the gram per pound method. Again, feel free to comment your own opinion below and I suppose I will show you how mine works over time 🙂

Complacency

This is my other point and what I feel is the kicker for me lately.

As I work full time, have a part time job, and enjoy some time to relax..

it gets REALLY hard to even want to lift on some days. It even becomes difficult to write these posts on other days. However, I am consistent and self-motivated! No matter what life is tossing me, I will strive to continue what I started. Now, it has become depressing to work out and see little results lately but as I’ve been consumed by other things I realize that it is a feat in and of itself that I’ve made it to the gym and maintained.

..and I’d like to add that today I worked out hard!! And it felt GREAT! So no more complacency in the gym, and a better diet is not my recommendation; no complacency in the gym and a better diet is my prescription!

It’s always time to continue fighting the resistance we have in front of us and put our best foot forward! Today is that day, and so is tomorrow.

Do your best and make some gains!

How Stress Can Make You Fat

Posted on November 3, 2015 by maxedoutmuscles

Yesterday I was working a DJ shift at the radio station where I work part time. I wanted to read some interesting health news articles and I stumbled upon two that were really relevant to what I talk about on here.

So, I decided to share them with you:

Clearing The Clutter Could Help You Lose Weight

To read the story, click here. According to Dr. Jennifer Ashton, an ABC News Senior Medical Contributor, making a lot of messes and being overweight are linked. This would be on account of you having the mess due to a stressful life, and the stress affecting your metabolism and causing eating disorders. She says “Clutter usually represents chaos and confusion.”

In response to this information, I’d say it’s a great idea to clean up your messy desk and your car. Clean up those messes and relax! Maybe then you can avoid unnecessary stress and live a happy, healthy life.

Studies Probe Whether Sleep Deprivation Can Affect Your Weight

To read the story, click here. According to a study shared by ABC News, sleep deprivation and weight gain may have a definite link. They noticed that overnight shift workers had worse metabolisms and tended to burn more muscle than fat. The people who slept less than 5 hours a night and were sleep deprived burned more muscle than fat. Those who were not sleep deprived burned twice as much fat. Those who sleep less tend to be more stressed, and have less control over their weight.

The article says a lot about the weight gain and how working over night and doing shift work is the problem. The article suggests that these things are “all in a night’s work.”

In conclusion,

I read these and determined that there is one huge underlying factor: STRESS! Keep the stress low and be mindful of your body’s well being, and you can be more fit! Other than just mental and emotional stress, there is physical stress which you are bound to have if you aren’t getting enough sleep. Limit all of these forms of stress and pursue a lifetime of health and wellness.

I would like to add that maybe it’s sometimes necessary to work long hours, eat unhealthy because you don’t have time to cook, and sleep less….

but is it worth your health? Is it worth dying at a younger age? Count the costs and value yourself!

Join The Conversation On Weights And Repetitions

Posted on October 28, 2015 by maxedoutmuscles

JTC: Join The Conversation

Weights and Repetitions

Hi All,

Today I was at the gym with a friend of mine and it was back and bicep day! I lifted really heavy on my back workouts. I started with some deadlifts, followed by bent-over rows and some bent-over dumbbell rows as a superset with dumbbell shoulder press.

Finally, I had finished my back routine and had done:

A final set of deadlifts at 315 by 3 reps.

A final set of bent-over rows at 165 for 6 reps.

A final set of bent-over dumbbell rows at 70 for 5 reps on each side.

A final set of dumbbell shoulder press at 55 for 5 reps.

When I had finished and my buddy had finished his leg routine, we wanted to work out together on biceps. He had a routine in mind for curls and I had never actually done it that way before. I decided to take his word on it and lift with him. What I noticed was really interesting:

We did EZ bar curls with 55 lbs for 18 reps, followed by 16 reps, followed by 14 reps, followed by 12 reps, by 10 reps, by 8 reps, and finally 6 reps. By the last set my arms felt obliterated! He said he loves working out that way because it helps him cut.

I noticed something else though and this is just theory…

But maybe occasionally doing higher reps and less weight helps you work stabilizer muscles and other muscles that don’t typically get as much attention. I, not only, noticed that my biceps were sore but also my forearms. I thought to myself,

“If my forearms are getting this much work from higher reps, why don’t I typically do this?”

So that was just my thought, and my theory after today’s workout. I have been lifting for about six months and I am definitely interested in what you think!

So let me know! I want to hear from you fitness gurus, athletes, personal trainers, and gym shaman. I want to hear what all of you have to say on “HIGH WEIGHT-LOW REP” and “LOW WEIGHT-HIGH REP”.

First of all, what do you do more? High weight-low rep? Or low weight-high rep?

Also, why do you choose to work out that way?

What is your opinion on my theory that doing higher reps may help work different muscles that aren’t as involved when we lift higher weights?

Please let me know! Feel free to comment below and join the conversation.

Hard Work Produces Greatness

Posted on October 23, 2015 by maxedoutmuscles

Yesterday I stated that there is never a bad time period in your life for lifting. When I say that, I don’t mean you can’t take an occasional day off. I am just saying that you should meet all of your challenges with a fight. Have a drive for success and greatness, and you will be there someday.

You will be great.

However, you have to work for it! In fact, no matter what you want to “be” in life you will have to work for it. If you put in the work, it will be worth it. Set your sights high and work hard! So in respects to everyone, including non-lifters, this applies to all of us. Here’s some examples:

Want to be a hard working, family person? Then get a job, work hard at it, save money, meet someone, and invest everything you’ve got into making it work!
Want to be a professional athlete? Then constantly train and exercise, diet, stay away from drugs and alcohol(good tip for everyone), and take your sport seriously.
Want to be the kindest person you can be? Then practice! Keep a smile on your face all the time and treat others with respect.

Notice that those three things are completely unrelated! But it’s all relevant to the point that you will have to work hard and practice to be the best!

I come to this point that hard work is the one of the most important things(if not the most) and I want to leave you with another quote by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

SMART Goals For Healthier Eating

Posted on October 15, 2015 by maxedoutmuscles

As I mentioned in an earlier post, SMART goals are used by businesses and many professionals in achieving whatever goal they have set for themselves. SMART can be used for any goal ranging from fitness to business, and it works well for your accomplishments. Today, I wanted to focus on something very specific for a post to you but also because that is the first thing you have to do when setting SMART goals. Without further ado, a SMART goal is this:

Specific – goals are very specific and include detail of what, why, and how the goal should be accomplished.
Measurable – goals should have tangible evidence of how to tell whether you’ve completed them or not.
Achievable – the goals should be very possible and not impossible. If a goal is impossible it is likely to only discourage someone. If the goal is obtainable then the person achieving the goal may feel very proud of themselves once they finish.
Results focused – there should be a clear explanation for why you’re completing the goal. Also, there should be a definite result from completing this goal that can impact you or your work.
Time bound – there should be a set date for when you need to complete this goal. Your goal should have some urgency involved to its completion.

And today I want to talk about eating healthier to become a healthier, happier version of yourself!

become a healthier, happier version of yourself!

I don’t often hold the idea that you “are what you eat” in a physical sense but I do believe that if you eat awful food all the time you will feel a lot worse than if you eat clean. With that being said, it’s best to set these SMART goals now so you can enjoy the benefits of clean eating as soon as possible.

First, you will want to map it out like I did above…I will do this again in actual terms of eating healthier and some of you who enjoy fast food will be able to use my SMART goal to become healthier.

Goal: No longer eat fast food and no delivery.

Specific – Begin avoiding fast food restaurants and delivery places like domino’s in order to lose weight and feel better
Measurable – Each day you should be able to say that you didn’t eat out anywhere. If by the end of each week your number of fast food trips is going down until it is eventually zero, you are doing great! Good job!
Achievable – Absolutely achievable. People give up fast food all the time. If you want to make sure you can give it up without relapsing, try to replace the fast food with some other kind of healthier option that you enjoy. If you’d normally buy a cinnabon delight pack at Taco Bell, buy some strawberries at the grocery store. If you’d normally buy a pizza, buy a chicken breast at the grocery store and put any kind of seasonings on it that you would like!
Results Focused – You are striving to achieve this goal because avoiding fast food will make you healthier, and will also make weight loss easier. After a few months of clean eating, you should feel incredible! You should feel like a million bucks in comparison to how you feel eating out!
Time Bound – For the purpose of this goal, you don’t want to set a specific time frame to be “done” with the goal as you would with some of your other projects. For this, once a month look back at how you are doing by avoiding fast food and eating out, and try to continue in the right direction!

I encourage you to set SMART goals for yourself and achieve them! You may not struggle with the example I listed above, but you can always find a new SMART goal to create that could help you boost your success rate by 100%!

Find Balance To Become More Fit

Posted on October 13, 2015 by maxedoutmuscles

There is a lot of talk in the fitness world regarding weight training vs cardio, diet vs exercise, and paleo vs vegan!

All of this crazy talk about which side of every fitness debate you should choose, but you should probably try to choose…

All of the above!

Weight Training or Cardio

Weight training is an excellent way to increase strength and can be used for hypertrophy. By lifting heavy weights and working out consistently over a period of time, you will achieve great results. Weight training has also been proven to actually strengthen your structural integrity and protect your joints, as long as you are lifting with proper form.

Cardio is an excellent way to increase endurance and burn fat. By running or walking, or riding a bike consistently over a period of time, you will achieve great results. I’ve also, personally, noticed that when I go for a run and do some cardio I manage to work out a lot of the stress I have. It seems that we hold a lot of tension in our bodies and some intense cardio like running could be just what you need to go the extra mile(see what I did there?).

Basically, if you choose to do both for a period of time you can be a strong person with nice, tone muscles with barely any fat and you can be as calm as can be! What’s not to love about that? I notice when I’m just lifting weights, I’m often angrier and it isn’t enough activity to keep me from gaining fat at any amount of calories. If I simply rely on cardio, I become fairly skinny and in the past it caused my joints to suffer. Here’s a picture of me running cross country my junior year:

Running from all the gains I didn’t have 😉

Now we have another end of the spectrum

Diet VERSUS Exercise

Should I do a lot of exercise and train frequently or should I just drop my calories below my basal metabolic rate(BMR) and wait patiently for the fat to fall off?

You should do both! Some of us are just genetically wired for losing weight to be difficult. I know that I put on weight somewhat easily. If you drop your calories a little bit, and add some form of exercise you will lose weight and you will lose it faster. I also mentioned earlier that I experienced cardio as something that was therapeutic for me in the sense that it reduced stress. Those benefits are also great and I think that having reduced stress due to some form of exercise will help you stay positive during all the trials and tribulations associated with losing fat.

Paleo vs Vegan

This one was more of a joke! (haha) Anyways, I don’t really see the need in following any kind of fad diet unless you really believe it has some sort of profound effect on you.

If you choose not to eat meat and dairy because of ethical or dietary reasons, go vegan and be happy! If you choose the exact opposite route and want to eat bacon and cheese, go ahead cavemen!

Do what makes you happy with yourself when it comes to dieting and do your research. If it’s anything extreme just make sure you follow a doctor’s advice and get your blood work done.

But with dieting, as well as the rest of this post, just find balance. I don’t see the need to cut out anything I like as far as food goes, and neither should you. To join in on the conversation with dieting, click here.

Overall, find balance in your life with fitness and nutrition and you may become a happier, more healthy version of you.