You’ve tried every weight loss trick and diet out there from the Atkins to the Paleo and it just doesn’t work. You can’t stick to it for long and no matter how hard you try after a while the weight just creeps back on.
I could be wrong but you are probably just over complicating things and making your life too damn hard. Below is a list of 8 quick tips that if you follow, or even adopt just some of them you WILL lose weight. I’m not saying they are easy but they are simple. Follow them for a couple of months and watch the inches fall away just in time for Summer.
Cut Out Sugar as much as possible: Sugar is a killer both in health terms and from a calorie and weight gain perspective. Stop putting sugar in your tea and coffee, stop eating cakes, sweets and chocolate and watch the rapid change in your body.
Stop Drinking Fizzy or Sweetened Drinks: We all love a nice refreshing coke now and then but it is loaded with sugar and loaded with calories. In fact almost ALL artificial drinks and even many fruit juices are packed with calories. Wherever possible stick to water, black coffee, green tea’s or other completely natural drinks. Even be careful with fruit juice which is often full of sugar.
Cut Out White Carbohydrates: What are white carbs? Well most breads, pasta, potatoes, white rice. Believe me, if you can cut back heavily on these ingredients, especially the bread, then you will notice a rapid difference. Stick to sweet potato, brown rice, beans (all types) and veg for your carb sources.
Cut back on Alcohol consumption: Yep unfortunately folks booze contains loads of calories. Beer, wine, mixers, even spirits are a) not great for you and b) pile on the pounds. You don’t have to stop completely but cut back as much as you can.
Ditch processed and packaged foods: Generally speaking if it comes in a packet, has pictures and a label with ingredients on it, it won’t be good for you. Almost ALL processed food contains chemicals, preservatives, hidden sweeteners and processed fats. Just avoid them. Buy fresh fish, meat, poultry and vegetables. You may need to spend a bit more time (not much) but if you cook it yourself and don’t eat from packets i GUARANTEE you will lose weight.
Fill your house with healthy snacks: We ALL get the munchies from time to time and you are lying to yourself if you think you can be good 100% of the time. So when you want a snack you grab a choccy bar and worry later. However if you have bags of nuts, banana’s, apples, a small bar of high cocoa dark chocolate within easy reach then you can satisfy your short term craving and not feel too guilty about it.
DON’T skimp on food or miss meals: I know this sounds strange but cutting back on food and missing meals will not help. If you cut calories too drastically and too quickly your body will start to store fat…and you don’t want that. Eat regularly and eat well BUT make sure it is healthy. Fresh fish or meat/poultry and LOADS of veg, salads, beans.
Move it, Move it: It’s pretty obvious really but the more exercise and activity you do the more calories you burn. Of course working out is important but actually it’s the small things that add up over a period of a lifetime. Always take the stairs, not the lift or escalator. Walk the 10 minutes home instead of jumping on the bus. If you are going somewhere walk quickly don’t stroll. Carry stuff from the DIY store don’t get a trolley. It’s an attitude of mind really. Always try to use your body and take the harder option, it really really pays off.
That’s it. 8 simple things that you can start to implement in your life that WILL make you lose weight. Now I am a realist and this is a blog for Ordinary people. I can visualise the large “GULP” you are all taking at the thought of all those things you need to give up. However this is a long term plan and the odd blip or weekend break out is not going to harm you. Read this previous post here which explains why if you are consistent in your approach you can allow yourself the odd naughty moment. If you can regularly adopt 5 or 6 of the points above and use them 80% of the time then you will be well on the road to a slimmer, lighter, healthier and better version of yourself.
I’m in the process of writing a book, the title of which will be “Drink Beer and Get Fit”. I can sense fitness professionals around the world throwing their hands up in horror at that title and castigating me for setting a bad example. If you’ve followed my blog you will know that I am approaching Health and Fitness from the perspective of an ordinary person and the truth is that most ordinary people will not live the life of a fitness model or a monk and WILL sometimes indulge in a beer or three or bottle of wine. Below is an extract from the first chapter of the book. I hope you like it and it strikes a chord with you. If it does then please let me know in the comments section.
Chapter 1. The First Step-Knowing what you Want.
So I’m guessing that if you’ve bought, borrowed or possibly even stolen this book you must have a reason. Maybe you just love Beer, saw the word in the title and couldn’t resist. Maybe it made you curious “can I really drink Beer and get fit? How does that work?”
More likely however you are unhappy with some aspect of your health, weight, shape or fitness and want to do something about it? Right? It must be or why else would you be here.
It’s important though that you really think about what it actually is that you want to achieve. You can change your lifestyle and change or improve your health, fitness, size, shape and weight in many different ways. What you actually want to achieve is important because it will to some extent dictate what you need to do and how to go about it.
So let’s break down some of the most basic needs and desires that might be driving you.
Weight:
Most people are slightly overweight to some degree but the changes you need to make to your lifestyle will be to a large extent dictated by just how much weight you want to lose. It is possible to become much fitter without actually losing much weight. You will still be healthier, stronger, fitter, but may still be carrying some extra blub around your middle, chest, arms and backside. You may be happy with that. Losing weight may not be that necessary, either because you are already close to where you want to be, or because you are comfortable the way you are. That’s fine, be true to yourself and certainly don’t be led by the images you see in magazines and the media.
However there are a few points to bear in mind. Carrying an extra stone around won’t do you too much long term harm but two, three stones or more, anything bordering on or straying into the territory of obesity will definitely have long term health effects as you get older. Diabetes, Heart problems, knee and joint issues and just general length of life are all directly linked to being heavily overweight and without wishing to lecture you, you really should think about doing something about it.
If weight loss is your key aim then the food and dietary parts of this book are the bits you should pay attention to and actively try to incorporate into your lifestyle. That is not to say that you should ignore the fitness chapters completely, in fact they go hand in hand. Following the tips and tricks around food and diet will 100% help you lose weight, however if you incorporate that alongside the fitness advice in other chapters two things will happen.
Firstly it will be easier to lose the weight and you will lose it faster. Not only that but it will be easier to keep it off. Why is that? It’s very simple really. Exercising burns calories, the more calories you burn the more weight you’ll lose. It really isn’t a Stephen Hawkingesque concept. Not only that, but the exercise will help to fire up your metabolism. Certain types of exercise which I’ll explain later not only burn up calories whilst you exercise but light a forest fire under your metabolism which mean that your body will continue to burn calories at an increased rate for many hours after you stop exercising. How cool is that? You can be sitting on the sofa watching Masterchef and lusting after all the food you can’t eat (only kidding) and still have a firing metabolism that is eating calories and weight hours after you left the Gym or got off the bike.
Secondly and more importantly the exercise itself will start to repair, improve and counteract the adverse health effects that we already discussed. Your heart and lungs will become healthier and work more efficiently, your joints and muscles will become stronger thus improving your mobility and the likelihood of Diabetes and other similar diseases will decrease.
Fitness:
Again this is an area where you really need to give some thought to what it is that you are seeking to achieve. Are you trying to get fit for a specific reason or event such as doing a 5/10k charity run, playing for a 5-a-side football team or climbing Everest? Or are you, as most people are, just seeking to be a fitter, stronger, leaner version of your current self. It’s also very important to be honest with yourself. We may all have grand dreams (I still cling to the hope of becoming world Middleweight boxing champion) but the reality is that was never ever a possibility let alone now that I’m 47.
That is not to say you should set your sights too low or not too dream, but do be aware of your initial limitations and set yourself some goals that for an initial period at least are achievable. What do I mean by that? Well you know yourself far better than I possibly can. If you currently get out of breath walking to the bus stop a little too fast then quite clearly your initial aims need to focus around improving your general fitness and aerobic capacity so that you can walk and do some decent exercise without getting out of breath or collapsing at the bus stop. In fact if you are very unfit, have had health problems or are very overweight it’s always sensible to have a quick chat to your doctor before starting any exercise regime.
Alternatively if you are already reasonably capable and can run, or possibly already play some sport then absolutely set your eyes on the horizon and have some ambitious goals. I have a friend who is a fantastic Personal Trainer and he has achieved some amazing things with some of his clients. Taking them from injuries and disabilities or extreme obesity, to running marathons, losing half their body weight, transforming their body shape. It can be done, anything is possible, but you need to have a plan and be realistic at the outset. In a later chapter I will cover the subject of your mindset, mentality and how one of the most critical things you can do is alter how you think about challenges and your attitude to your life, your health, your diet etc…..but that’s for later. All good things come to those (that read the chapters in order).
Shape:
If you eat better over a period of time and also exercise then inevitably your shape will change, and for the better. So why am I giving this a separate category? Well because when I refer to shape and people who want to change their shape I guess I am talking more about the people who have some sort of a goal in mind. We may not be talking Arnold Schwarzenegger type ambitions but certainly you’d like to add some muscle, possible reveal some abdominal muscles, even achieve that wide shoulder , v tapered look that athletes and superhero’s have.
So can that be done? You bet. Of course it depends to a degree on your starting point but you CAN get there. To lose weight and become fitter as outlined in the two sections above you need to work hard and be reasonably dedicated. To dramatically change your shape and become muscular and/or lean and sleek you need to do exactly the same thing but just work a bit harder and change how you exercise slightly.
Again a degree of realism is the key here. If you are 55 years old and carrying an extra four or five stone around with you then sculpting a six pack and arms that Hercules would be proud of is a big ambition that is going to take a great deal of work and some serious dedication. However I am not here to put you off, in fact I’d positively encourage you to think positively, set goals and work your butt off to achieve them.
That’s it, that’s part of the first chapter. I hope you enjoyed it. There is much more to come and I hope to have the book done and published by the end of the year. As i said earlier I’d welcome your comments. If you like the sound of it then please subscribe to my emailing list on the website. That way you won’t miss any more posts and all subscribers will get the first notification of availability as well as fantastic chances to get freebies of the book and other offers to follow. Once again, thanks for reading.
So you want to improve your fitness and become stronger and healthier but can’t get to the Gym. Maybe you just don’t have the time to get out for an hour, don’t want to lay out the money (some gyms are very expensive these days), or one of the most common reasons is embarrassment. You may not feel confident in a Gym environment as you may not be completely sure what you are doing or could feel self conscious about your shape….
All of these are valid reasons for millions of people. However that doesn’t give you a reason to kop out and do nothing. As I’ve said in previous articles, you can do fantastic workouts that will transform your body and health from the comfort and privacy of your own home. However in order to do that effectively it would really help to have a few bits of kit and equipment to help you achieve your goals.
Listed below are 5 pieces or types of equipment that will help you do all the exercise you need to tone, flatten and pump your body as well as improving heart and lung function and general health. Most of these are relatively inexpensive, easy to source (Amazon) and easy to store.
My number one choice is a good set of resistance bands with handles. I probably shouldn’t advertise but something like thiswould be perfect.
They are very easy to use and enable you to literally do dozens of different types of exercises that very effectively mirror a weights or resistance training programme that you could do in a Gym. Many Gym goers sneer at them but unless you are already a hard core gym bunny who throws a lot of weight around you genuinely can do as much as you could do in a gym and the various bands add degree’s of resistance (weight) up to a fairly decent level. For women, beginners or youths they are particularly fantastic. Just check out Youtube for examples of the training you can do.
A set of Dumbbell’s or possiblly Kettle Bell’s. This is by far the most expensive item in my list. However if you prefer real weights to bands and want to shape and tone your body then a good set of dumbbells are a fantastic addition to your home fitness kit. What you buy will to some degree depend on how strong you are and what you want to do with them. Personally speaking, adjustable ones that you continually need to keep changing the weights on bug the hell out of me but they are a cheaper option. Otherwise like me go for 4 or 5 different weights. For beginners, those only looking to tone, or some ladies then you can keep it fairly light A set of dumbells that comprise or can be adjusted to 1.5kg, 3kg, 5kg and 10kg is fine. For guys or those looking to add some muscle then I’d say something like 4kg, 7kg, 12.5kg and 20kg would be perfect.
A professional style skipping rope. What?? A skipping rope? That’s a kids toy isn’t it? Very far from it actually. Some of the fittest professional sportsman on the planet, professional boxers and MMA fighters swear by them. Skipping well is not easy and when you start you will be deeply disappointed in yourself and tempted to ditch it. DON’T!! Persevere, keep practising and you will improve and when you do the benefits are fantastic. 10 minutes of skipping is a brilliant cardio workout. It gets your heart pumping, your metabolism racing and also tones your legs, forearms and even shoulders. Honestly, it’s a great exercise.
A Swiss gym ball, exercise ball, fitness ball…they have lots of names but you all know what i mean, an inflatable shiny ball. They may seem a bit naff but they work. They are great for a variety of abdominal exercises, good for stability exercises for your core and can also be used to support your body whilst using your dumbbells and weight training. Again this is a very cheap piece of equipment. Make sure you do not buy a ball that is too big, especially if you are a lady or smaller guy.
An Abdominal roll out wheel. Again not the most well known piece of equipment but fantastic for toning and shaping your abs and building deep core strength. It will also increase shoulder strength if used correctly. Another relatively inexpensive item although i’d recommend spending £15/20 and buying one that has good recommendations and is fairly robust so that it lasts some time.
That’s it. 5 very simple, cheap (apart from the dumbbells) and easy to buy equipment that will transform your home workout programme and help you to transform your body. There are lots of other things you could buy ranging from pull up bars to full home gyms, but seriously, you don’t need them. More home work out programmes will follow in later posts so get buying and lets get you ready to rock and roll in time for Summer.
Now go off and enjoy your Easter eggs without any guilt.
I posted this (see below) a few days ago and had a great response. However it’s Easter and I’m in a good mood spending the time off with my kids etc. So I’ve decided to extend the offer to EVERYONE! Yep that’s right, everyone who goes onto my Blog website www.ordinaryguyfitness.comand signs up onto the email subscription service will be sent a free Pdf on how to eat, what to eat and when to eat to stay lean, mean and shed fat. Don’t hesitate, do it now.
Hello again Ladies & Gents,
As you may know this is a relatively new venture for me but I am really passionate about spreading knowledge and information on how to be more healthy, fitter, stronger and leaner. I want it to grow and as I’ve already said on my website www.ordinaryguyfitness.com I am completely honest about the fact that at some point I’d hope to earn some money from this venture. I see nothing wrong with that. I spend my time and provide you guys with some knowledge, tips, motivation and hopefully some entertainment. In return at some point in the future I will hopefully earn some money for my efforts. If that doesn’t float your boat or you disagree then don’t read the rest of this post, i totally understand. However if you feel that is fair then please do read on.
In order to grow my websites presence and build it’s following i need to attract as much traffic to it as possible. That means you, your friends, your friends friends and as many people out there in the big wide world as possible. I’m also very keen to make sure that those of you who enjoy my posts don’t miss out.
So with that in mind I have a new feature on the site which is an email subscription service. Simply go to the main page on my site ,look at the menu on the right hand side and you’ll see the email subscription box. Enter your email, hit subscribe and follow the instructions. You will then receive a simple email each time a new post comes out so that you don’t miss out. Don’t worry I’m not going to bombard you. I do have a real life and two to three posts a week is about all I will manage so i won’t be filling up your inbox.
As a little incentive I’ve come up with a fantastic FREE GIFT for the first 20 subscribers. You will receive a short healthy eating tip sheet and blueprint that tells you how and what to eat, when to eat and what to avoid to stay lean, mean and lose flab in time for summer.
I haven’t done this before and hope it works so watch this space. You’ll never know unless you try right????
Anyway, i hope you appreciate me being honest and up front about my motives and as always i welcome any comments and will do my best to answer.
So come on don’t hesitate, go to the website and Subscribe now….Please!
The dreaded Bingo wings, dinner lady arms (no offence to dinner ladies), bat wings….whatever you want to call them, most ladies hate them. With summer coming and the time to ditch the jumpers and break out the T-Shirts, summer dresses and even the Bikini’s upon us, many women look in the mirror and sigh discontentedly at the site of those “soft”, flabby and sometimes even saggy bits. It’s not just the backs of your arms, it’s your bum, your thighs, your belly and your waist…….aaaargghhh!!!
Well don’t panic you CAN do something about all of these problems and right now. Mid March gives you time to do something about all of these areas before we properly hit Summer in June.
Firstly, without wanting to sound like a broken record, you all know that what you eat and drink, your diet and nutrition generally is going to play a big part. This isn’t a diet article so i won’t bang on about it but if you can eat cleaner, cut out the processed crap, cut back on sugar, drink less alcohol and ideally also do some cardio based work thenyou are going to start to lose fat from all of those wobbly areas listed above that you hate.
However in this blog I’m going to focus on what exercises you can do to tone, firm up and add some tightness or even a bit of muscle to those soft bits. First an honesty alert. This is going to take some work. Not necessarily a huge amount of time, 20 to 30 minutes a day will do the job but during that 20 minutes you HAVE to work hard and it will be sore. No pain no gain is a cliché but it’s also true……Right, ready? Here we go.
Baggy Arms: Most women don’t spend much time in everyday life using their Tricep muscles which is the muscle that runs down the back of your upper arm. It is the musclethat extends your arm from a bent to straight position and are also the muscles you use when pushing things away from your body. It is this muscle that you need to work hard and tone up to avoid having baggy, saggy arms. So logically any exercises that involves pushing or better still straightening of your arm against resistance will work this muscle. Here are three you can do at home with no equipment.
Lady push ups: The push up or press up is a great Tricep exercise IF you do it right. The trick is to keep your hands no more than shoulder width apart and as you go down towards the floor keep your elbows tucked in close to your side. Aim for 3 sets of 8.
Chair Tricep Dips: Another great exercise for really isolating the backs of those arms. Initially start with the easy version which means your feet will be quite close to you. Make it harder by gradually moving your feet further away as you get stronger. Also be careful not to come down past a 90 degree bend in your arm or you may damage your shoulder. Aim for 3 sets of 12.
Overhead Tricep extension: This is a brilliant exercise that really stretches and tones your Tricep muscle. If you have access to some weights (At home or gym) just use a light dumbbell initially (maybe 1.5 or 2kg) If you don’t have access to a dumbbell then a bottle of water (500ml, 750ml or even 1 litre) will do the job to start with. Aim for 3 sets of 12 reps. Each day pick 2 of the exercises and do the number of sets listed. Keep rest time between sets fairly low (max 1 minute). It should only take 6/8 minutes total.
Now for your thighs and bum!! Waheey, everyone wants great thighs and a shapely backside don’t they? Again though it’s not easy, your diet is very important but you also have to work hard. Your Quads (front of leg), Hamstrings (back of leg) and Glutes (backside) are some of the biggest muscles in the body and as a result need to be worked hard to change them.
Lunges: There are a number of different variations of the lunge, all of which work a slightly different part of your thighs and backside. Therefore I’d recommend doing a different one each day and rotate them. Initially start without any weight until you feel comfortable and can control the movements. Then as you get stronger add in some weight, but don’t go too heavy. It’s more important to go low when you dip down and really squeeze the muscles as you push back up. Start with 3 sets of 12 (6 on each leg) and work up to 3 sets of 20.
Squats: As with lunges there are many different variations, both with and without weights. To really strengthen and tone your legs you will need to use some weight at some point. However, initially you can do a perfectly good job just with body weight. Again try to use some of the different variations and change each day to work different parts of the leg and backside. Keep your back straight, chest up and head & eyes looking ahead and up. Push your butt backwards and lower it towards the floor, do not lean forward and topple over your feet. If using bodyweight do 3 sets of 12 to 15. If you progress to using some weights do 3 x 8/10.
Hip Thrusters/Glute Bridge: Hip thrusters or the Glute bridge as it is sometimes called is an excellent exercise for toning, firming and shaping your bum. Again it needs to be done correctly and the key thing here is to really focus on squeezing and engaging your Glute or Bum muscles as you push up and at the top of the exercise. Go for 4 sets of 15/16 when using both legs and 3 sets each side of 7/8 when just using one leg. Again i would choose 2 of these exercises to do each day and again it should take less than 10 minutes.
Finally lets get to your stomach and core. The truth of the matter (yes i know the truth hurts) is that if you are carrying a fair amount of excess weight and have a very flabby stomach and waist area it is pretty hard to really tone and shape it without losing some of that weight first. However you can do core and stomach exercises that will pull in and tighten your abdominal and core muscles underneath the soft tissue and simply by pulling you tighter it will give the illusion of having lost a couple of inches.
The Plank: The king of core exercises. Again there are loads of variation and the video shows a few that are all great for women and will work your entire core, ab and waist area. Initially just focus on the plain front plank until you gain some strength and then after a week or so try some of the variations. Everyone’s core strength varies but initially aim for 4 sets of 20 seconds at a time (with only 30/40 seconds rest in between). If that is too hard just do 15 seconds but the aim should be to get up to 45 seconds+ to really make it work. Concentrate on really squeezing everything tightly, your stomach, thighs and butt in particular.
The Hip Lift: This works deep core muscles and lower stomach muscles. Concentrate on keeping your legs straight above and thrusting upwards with your pelvis and lower stomach. If it helps you can slightly place your hands under the edge of your bum/thighs to support yourself. Aim for 3 sets of 10 with 40 seconds rest in between.
Russian Twists: I’ve no idea why they are called that, invented by a Russian i guess. Initially start off doing this without a weight, but again as you get stronger add some weight in. Either use a small dumbbell, a kettle bell or even just a 2 litre bottle of water. Aim for 3 sets of 8 on each side. Concentrate on keeping your feet raised just off the floor and lean very slightly back with your torso which places tension on your abs and core. As with the above choose two exercises each day and rotate them. Again this should only take 7 or 8 minutes tops. With Ab exercises try to keep rest between sets minimal for maximum effect.
That’s it ladies. 20 to 30 minutes each day and believe me in two months you will really notice the difference. Your wobbly arms will be firmer and leaner. Your upper legs and bum will definitely be tighter and shapelier and your waist and midriff will have been pulled in ad you will look slimmer. The key here is hard work. You need to push yourself. As you get better either increase the number of sets and reps or add in some more weight. Just doing the same thing day after day and not improving will halt your progress.
No seriously, i do need your help. It’s all very well me writing these posts, offering advice and giving opinions but it’s all coming from me. What i really want to know is what EXACTLY would you like to see on a site like this, what are your ideas. When you are scrolling Facebook or Twitter, rummaging around on the web, looking at other fitness, health or diet sites, what is it that really GRABS your attention.
Tell me, i really want to know. What are your interests and what would stop you in your tracks for 5 minutes from your busy days and make you read an article. Do you want more specific training routines? Tips on losing weight? Specific diets? Ways to incorporate health and fitness into your daily routine? I’m here to help and keen to provide the information that you want.
Would you be interested in my daily routine (what i eat – good and bad-, how i train, how much booze i drink etc? Do you want tips on equipment to use, training techniques, specific exercises? Do you want more focus on alternative health and fitness themes? Give me some ideas.
This is a call to action. Please, pretty please, tell me what that one thing you’d love to see is. If you could wave a magic wand and think “if only someone could show me how to….” or “If only someone would tell me….”. Just ask and it’s yours…….well maybe, depends on what you ask, but I’ll definitely try.
The whole purpose of this is to be interactive. It’s for ordinary guys and ordinary girls who are going about their daily lives and just want to improve, to be better, fitter, healthier, stronger BUT who also do have a life and need to work around that.
So come on, take 2 minutes, hit the comment button or email me. Tell me “what you want, what you really really want” (Ok no more song jokes i promise).
I’m sitting at my laptop waiting, DON’T disappoint me!
Ok so maybe we can’t all look like Arnold, but we can dream right? The summer is coming, T-Shirt season is upon us and most guys would love a little extra muscle in the parts that show. However it isn’t quite as easy as just grabbing a couple of dumbbells and doing curls until your arms fall off. There is some theory behind gaining muscle and particularly in trying to gain it quickly.
Firstly a little bit of science. In order to gain muscle or at least to shed some fat and show off the muscle underneath, you need to eat right AND get your body, it’s metabolism and hormones working the right way to produce that muscle. To do that you need to do a few things. Concentrate on eating high protein, lean foods such as Chicken, Turkey, Fish, lean red meat, nuts, beans and lots of vegetables as well as good carbs such as Sweet Potato and brown rice. Cut back on Acohol, ditch sweet/fizzy drinks and restrict white carbs such as bread, pasta, potatoes etc. Not only will eating this way provide your body with the right nutrients to build muscle but it will also help fire up one of the most important hormones in your body, Testosterone. If you can increase your Testosterone levels naturally it becomes far easier to both gain muscle size AND shed fat.
The second way to boost your T levels and therefore your muscle building potential is to do the RIGHT exercises, ones that will stimulate your entire nervous systems and FORCE your body to produce more testosterone and grow muscle. So what are those exercises? Well I have listed 6 of the best weight and body training exercises below that if you can hit hard 3 times a week for 2 to 3 months you should be in great speedo shape by the time the weather finally warms up. (This assumes you live in England like me).
They key thing here is to focus on “compound” exercises. Those are exercises that use multiple body parts at one time and force your nervous system, muscles and metabolism to respond. I know the temptation is to focus on your arms but believe me, if you follow these lifts and steer clear of isolation exercises like curls you will gain more muscle, more quickly than you thought possible. If you go to the Gym three times a week do all 6 exercises for only 3 sets of 8-10 reps at as heavy a weight as you can manage for that number of reps, you will gain strength and size very quickly. Don’t do more, you will only injure yourself or overload your system.
Click on the links highlighted in red for demo’s of the exercises. Forgive the cheesiness of a couple of these videos.
The Deadlift: One of the best exercises you can do. It works your entire back, your traps, Your legs, glutes (butt) and hip flexors. However, be careful. It is a complex exercise and if done wrongly can damage your lower back. Take it slowly, use strict form and use a weight that is heavy but manageable. You are not trying to break world records, just build some muscle.
The Squat: I love squats, no idea why, i just enjoy doing them. Squats will again work your entire lower body, thighs, glutes etc but will also actively engage your core muscles meaning you’ll improve your abs without even working them directly. Again focus on good form and use a weight that will allow you to squat as deeply as you can. The closer your arse gets to the floor the more muscles you will engage and it is also better for your knees. Squatting also gets you blowing and is great for cardio and your metabolism.
Bench Press: Everyone loves the bench press right? Well not necessarily. The bench is famed for building chest size and strength but actually that is not what it is best for. A barbell bench press actually works the triceps and deltoids (Shoulders) almost as much as the chest. However it is included here for precisely that reason, it is a compound movement that uses a number of muscles.
Military Press: This is a fantastic exercise to add shoulder size and width, grow your triceps and also builds great core strength which stabilises your body as you push the weight above your head.
Bent Over Row: This works your entire back as well as biceps and will help give you that deep wide looking back that fills T-shirts as well as promoting overall body strength. It will also work on bicep strength and size which I know you all want. You can use an overhand or underhand grip but do not go with too heavy a weight and keep strict form.
Pull Ups/Chin Ups: This is a fabulous but very tough exercise to conquer and build up any volume on. If you can use it correctly, do it regularly and start to do some decent numbers it will give you fabulous Lats to create that wide V-shaped, narrow waisted look that we all want. It is also one of the best exercises you can do for biceps but is often overlooked. Wide grip pull ups work best for a wide back and chin ups for your biceps. If you are new to this exercise a good way to do it is to do sets of just 2 to 3 reps and aim for 5 to 6 sets with only 30/40 seconds rest in between, then build up to longer sets and more reps as you become stronger.
That’s it. It seems too simple to you I’d imagine but believe me if you do this full routine 3 times a week and push yourself as hard as you can in every session as well as eating the right food you will shed fat and grow muscle like you wouldn’t believe. To finish each work out I’d add in 3 sets ofhanging leg/knee raisessuper setted with 3 x 45 secondplanks. Then do 5 minutes of HiiT (High Intensity Interval Training) on either the rowing machine or running machine. Basically go as fast as you can for 30 seconds then as slow as you can (or stop) for 30 seconds and repeat for 5 minutes.
The whole work out should take no more than an hour max. After 2 to three months you will probably get bored and need to add more variety into the routine but by then you will have added an inch to your arms, 2 inches to your chest, have a wider back and shoulders, jeans busting thighs and will have lost 2 to 3 inches from your waist.
Have fun, take care and remember i really would welcome any comments or questions,
John
PS: I realise that this is called Ordinary Guy Fitness and that many of the people in these video’s are very far from Ordinary guys or girls but that’s the nature of the internet and YouTube. It doesn’t change the fact that you, as an ordinary person can do all the same exercises that they can.
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