High Frequency Training Part 2, A revolutionary training method: Fat Loss

When it comes to programming and training clients 90% of them are looking to cut, lean up, get ripped, tone ect. When a client comes to me with these demands I have one goal in mind: Maximum results in minimal time. How do I achieve this? High Frequency Training. In part one I established that quite simply, the more often you train without exceeding your ability to recover, the faster you'll achieve your goal. On the surface HFT seems like a training system that encourages a trainee to workout with an excessive frequency which could potentially lead to over training and over use injuries, but this system is smarter than that, it has effective methods to combat these issues. All these methods are based around the most important factor associated with HFT, fatigue management. Its only through fatigue management techniques and methods that training at a high frequency becomes possible. Here the insight to my own spin on the revolutionary training method you've all been waiting for.

Commence the program with 4 workouts a week preferably 2 days in which you train twice that day, rest 2-3 days between each double session day at first and cut the rest each week by adding single day workouts in between that will eventually progress into double day workouts.
Rome wasn't build in a day. The key point here is progression. This correlated directly to the S.A.I.D acronym, Specific Adaptation to Imposed demand. In order for your body to adapt to the high training demand (the frequency) of this program you must start off with a solid foundation of sessions and build up a workout capacity from there. Our body is capable of much more work (in this context workout capacity)than we give it credit for. Think of how many tradees who work between 50-60 hrs a week, balance a wife and kids with potentially a few workouts of their own every week, and they complete all this with a diet of beer and burgers, and some people complain that 5 sessions a week is too much? Compared to the tradee's lifestyle HFT is a piece of cake!

Always use an explosive concentric (contracting) phase and don't accentuate (focus) the eccentric phase, just control it.
I use this principle for 4 reasons. Firstly, explosive contractions possess the ability to recruit the type 2 b muscle fibres which have the most potential for strength and growth and overall muscle recruitment. Secondly it has now been proven that explosive muscular contractions are directly correlated with higher levels of overall calorie expenditure than slow lifting (for the burn), meaning that your going to burn more calories during and after your workout if you lift explosively. Thirdly, muscle soreness has been far more significantly associated with the eccentric phase of an exercise as opposed to the concentric (the concentric phase would be the lifting phase in a bicep curl, the eccentric phase would be the lowering phase of the weight once its been lifted). When an individual minimises the eccentric phase of an exercise it effectively allows them to perform more volume without excessive amounts of soreness a day or 2 post-session. This is why after eccentric training workouts you have a deep soreness for the next 48-72 hours. Lastly using an explosive concentric contraction can actually stimulate rather than fatigue the CNS (central nervous system) this leads to the potential lifting of heavier loads and if used correctly allows a trainee to train at a higher frequency with less accumulative fatigue. A great example of the above principle applied practically is evident in the sport of Olympic Weightlifting. Many of the top Olympic weightlifters, notably from Eastern European countries like Bulgaria and Hungary, are known to train with a very high frequency and with loads between 90-92.5% of their 1RM (one rep max). They achieve this due to the eccentric-less nature of the 2 Olympic lifts, the clean and jerk and the snatch (both do not possess an eccentric phase) coupled with low rep use and never working to failure. Many claim drugs and being an Olympic athlete are the reasons as to how this is possible, but this type of training is based on physiologically efficient methods that individuals without performance enhancing drugs can incorporate into their own training regimes with great success. This is what I do with my clients and it achieves results, fast.

When it comes to exercise selection pick 3 pairs (6 total exercises), vary exercises every 2-4 weeks but always stick to these rules: For the upper body use supersetted antagonistic pairing and superset lower body squatting movements with upper body isolation movements. 
Exercise selection is important but not as important as the fashion in which you perform them. Your 6 total exercises will consist of 5 compound movements and 1 isolation. 4 compound moves will be upper body orientated (2 pushing exercises like shoulder press and push ups and 2 pulling exercises like pull ups and dumbbell rows) and 1 will be a squat variation. The upper body isolation exercise can be either tricep, bicep or forearm specific and will always be paired with a squatting movement. Why isolation exercises on a cutting program? Simple: they produce significantly lower amounts of overall CNS fatigue, we superset them with a squatting variation because the squat is already a neurally and physically demanding exercise we dont need excessive amounts of accumulative fatigue so we pair a demanding squat compound move with a relatively less neurally-taxing isolation move. As mentioned earlier it links back to the most fundamental factor associated with HFT, fatigue management
      Pair upper body movements antagonistically and superst them. Antagonistic supersetting  simply means pairing two exercises that work opposing muscle groups and perform them back to back with no rest, back and forth until you've completed your max number of sets. An example of an antagonistic superset would be performing a set of pull ups followed by a set of shoulder presses with no rest in between until you reach your max number of sets. for each exercise.
After choosing your exercises pick a weight you can perform for no more than 7-8 reps but use low reps to focus on explosiveness, never choose less than 2 reps and never more than 5 reps. 3 reps is ideal for fat loss.
This goes hand in hand with the need for explosive contractions. Obviously when it comes to lifting explosively with a moderately heavy weight your not going to be banging out sets of 20, unless endurance is the goal. This particular HFT program is designed specifically for fat loss. For cutting use a 7-8RM and perform your ideal number of reps per set which is almost always going to be 3.

Use the rep speed of your selected rep range (chosen from above) in order to auto-regulate fatigue.
This is the KEY to HFT. Instead of using muscular failure (the point where you can't physically perform an additional rep on any given exercise) to dictate set termination as many trainees do, simply stop your set when the speed of the rep was not as fast as the previous rep. This allows your body to auto-regulate performance based on how your feeling that day. On days you feel good you will do more sets as your speed of movement will remain constant for longer, on the days you don't feel that good your body will naturally decrease your speed of movement earlier during your sets and restrain itself from over-training all while not having thinking about it! This performance auto regulation allows for efficient management of fatigue and in turn serves as an opposing force to Injury and over training.

Keep your total number of sets above 5 but never more than 8 per exercise, if you complete 8 sets of an exercise without a decrease in the rep speed then terminate the exercise, continue with the other one in the pairing and increase the weight by 2.5 kgs (or 5 pounds) next time you train the movement you hit 8 sets on.
No need for explaining, this ones self explanatory.

So to recap:
-Start with 4 workouts a week preferably 2 days in which you train twice that day, rest 2 days between each double session day at first and cut the rest each week by adding single day workouts, then eventually progress those single workout days into double day workouts.
-Lift explosively, don't focus on the eccentric
-pick 6 exercises; 5 compound 1 isolation, then divide them into 3 pairs. Use antagonistic supersetting for 4 upperbody compound movements, and superet an upper body isolation move with a squatting variant. Change the exercises every 2-4 weeks to avoid overuse injuries.
-Calculate your 7-8 RM for the above exercises, and perform sets of 3 reps
-Use rep speed to dictate set termination in order to auto regulate performance and reduce accumulative fatigue. You will never work to failure.
-Keep your total sets between 5-8 per exercise. If you can reach 8 sets of 3 reps without a rep speed decrease terminate the set, finish the other exercise in the pair and add 2.5 kgs to the exercise you reached 8 sets on at the next workout.

There you have it, a comprehensive evaluation into the HFT methods used to regulate fatigue in order to make one of the most efficient fat loss programs ever produced.

What you NEED to know about Protein

You should now all know that you need to eat less calories than your burning in order to loose weight. You should also know that the 3 main nutrients (in no particular order) and their calorie value per gram are as follows:

Protein: 4 calories/g
Carbohydrate: 4 calories/g
Fat: 9 calories/g

Now it's the protein that I want you to take a particular interest in. Protein has the highest thermic effect out off all the above macro-nutrients. So why should you care? Protein takes the most calories to digest out of any nutrient. So while a gram of protein pre-digestion may have a caloric value of 4 per gram, due to the energy required for the body to digest that gram of protein that gram isn't 4 calories at all, its closer to 2.5-3.
Doesn't sound like much does it? Let me put it in perspective.

Lets take a common breakfast meal bacon and eggs on toast
(The numbers are rough estimates so you can merely understand the concept and may not be the true calorie value)

4 whole eggs: 30g protein, 15g fat, 0g carb
5 medium  pieces of bacon: 50g Protein 25g fat 0g carb
2 slices of wholemeal toast: 5 grams protein, 0g fat 30g carb

Now due to the fact that protein=4cals/g carbs=4cals/g and fat =9cals/g the above would be added up as follows:

Eggs: 30x4+15x9=255 cals
bacon: 50x4+25x9=425 cals
toast: 5x4+30x4+140 cals
Total: 255+425+140=820

Now if we take into account that proteins actual calorie value is between 2.5 and 3 cals/g theres a difference in total calorie value. To make it fair I'll use the number 2.7 as its in between the above bracket. Here are the new calculations.


Eggs: 30x2.7+15x9= 216 cals
bacon: 50x2.7+25x9= 360 cals
toast: 5x2.7+30x4=133.5 (rounded to 134)cals
Total: 216+360+134=710

As you can see there is a overall difference of 110 calories between the two. Now lets say you had this meal 3 times a day (breakie lunch and dinner) along with 3 snacks for a total of 6 meals eaten every 3 hours. That would mean that, even for someone who has calculated the exact amounts of macro-nutrients down to the decimal point, due to the fact they haven't factored in metabolic digestion they have actually encountered a 330 calorie deficit (110x3 of the above meals). And that's not including the snacks either! So that number could potentially be 500+ calories that the individual has failed to account for!

So how does this affect you? It can be both a positive and a negative thing depending on whether you are bulking or cutting.

Bulking: You should all know now that to gain eight you should have a caloric surplus, meaning you are consuming more calories through food than you are expending through physical activity and daily bodily function. When your bulking you will have a perceived calculation of what your total calorie intake may be. So here's a hypothetical: (again these numbers are a rough estimate and not necessarily based on the actual number of required daily calories so don't apply the following to yourself just because you are a similar weight, actually find out for yourself) lets say a motivated bloke keen on looking the part weighs 90kgs. In order for him to maintain that 90 kg bodyweight he needs to eat 3000 calories a day. This same bloke has a goal to gain 5 kgs in order to reach 95 kgs. In order for him to achieve his weight-gain goal he must achieve a caloric surplus. As a result he raises his calories from 3000 a day to 3500 a day for 6 weeks in order to reach his goal. Now this guys very motivated to achieve his goal so hes educated himself a little on nutrition so hes very precise about what he eats and more importantly the macro-nutrient breakdown of each meal. So he's gone and calculated every gram of Protein, Fat and Carbohydrate hes consuming in this caloric surplus. Lets say that he was actually eating the bacon and eggs on toast meal FOUR times a day with 3 snacks. Now when you apply the fact that protein is actually around 2.8 cals/g not 4 cals/g that extra 500 calories (from 3000-3500), fundamental in achieving his goal of 95kg body weight, now diminishes by 440 (remember how there was an 110 total calorie difference in the meal explained earlier, just times that by the number of times this blokes consuming that meal, 110x4=440). So now that 500 calorie surplus is a 60 calorie surplus (500-440). Now when you factor in those 3 snacks hes having. Your 500 surplus could potentially be back to only maintenance level, in other words you wont gain any weight whatsoever!!!! All because of one little fact that you didn't account for! The solution? When on a caloric surplus still consume high amounts of protein but increase your quality carb intake at breakie peri-workout (before after and during workouts) and lunch.

Cutting: For cutting the fact that protein=between 2.5-3cals/g as opposed to 4cals/g is highly beneficial. As established in the bulking article, if you calculate your protein intake and multiply that number by the perceived calorie value which is seen as 4clas/g (but you guys know otherwise now!) without even knowing it you have actually achieved a deficit! So when it comes to protein intake for cutting, keep it as high if not higher than you would if bulking so as to take full advantage of this hidden nutritional factor.

One of the best exercises for size and strength in the upper body part 2

So we established that for most people that the push up is generally a poor exercise choice when building muscle on the upper body framework. We also highlighted the reason for this was due to the fact that almost every person I have come across doesnt perform the pushup to maximise the muscles they are trying to target i.e the chest and shoulders. Well Im now going to teach you how to do a pushup correctly. Not only will this make the pushup harder but you will instantly notice a difference in the stimulation of the correct muscle groups.

Positioning is paramount. Guys many of you don't feel your pecs as stimulated as you should after pushups, theres a reason for this. One of the main functions of your chest is to bring your arms across the body. To give you an idea; stand up, open you arms out wide and pretend you were about to get crucified. Now bring your arms across the body so that the palms of each hand are making contact with eachother. Now I want you to puff out your chest like a bodybuilder at the beach, pull your shoulder blades back and then force them down as if you were trying to place them in your back pocket. Now squeeze your hands together as hard as you can. That my friends are your pecs at work!

The real push up: The two keys are:
 Consciously (not literally) squeeze your hands togther as hard as possible during the whole set as this mimics the main chest function as mentioned above. And at the top of the position push the ground as hard and far away from you body so that you pull your shoulder blades apart, this targets the ever forgotten seratus anterior muscle that will contribute to shoulder health.

The set up:

Get into a girl push up position (on your knees)
Place your hands shoulder with apart
Lock your scapula and pull them down as hard as possible, maintain this position
Turn on your core as if doing a plank
Angle your hands to the right at a 45 degree angle so that your thumbs and index fingers form what looks like the Nike tick
Push the ground as hard and far away from your body as possible so that you pull your shoulder blades apart
Hold the above position but now consciously (not literally) squeeze your hands together as hard as possible this will make sure the tension is on the pecs.
Now lift your knees off the ground and get into a normal pushup position while focusing on following all of the above instructions
Perform for reps, remember Consciously squeeze your hands together as hard as possible during the whole set . And at the top of the position push the ground as hard and far away from you body so that you pull your shoulder blades apart on every rep.

Stay tuned for part 3 which will include other variations and in future a sample workout!

One of the best exercises for strength and size in your upper body part 1

If I told you that I know of an exercise that will build a large barrel chest, cannonball delts, thickly developed triceps what would your guess be?

The bench press? Nope. Okay maybe your thinking there must be a twist so perhaps its the incline bench press, decline? floor press? The dumbbell variations of all these exercises? Unilateral variations? Nope all wrong. The answer is the push up.

Now most of you probably think push ups are far too easy, maybe even a few of you think it can't build appreciable amounts of muscle. To be honest for most people this is actually a very accurate assumption. But theres a reason for that, and once this reason is dealt with, you've got yourself an exercise that lives up to the title of this article. The reason is simple, not many people know the proper way to execute a push up that maximises the targeted muscle groups. Many claim they cant build big pecs from performing push ups, this is due to the way they perform the push up not because its an ineffective exercise.
Part 2 will describe how to correctly perform a push up to maximise results. Stay tuned!