Recently I had food poisoning, and it sidelined me for 4 days, and when your in a good lifting-groove, it’s the absolute worst! When you workout everyday, diet really well and your on the verge of breaking through a plateau is right when something happens to me – the flu, food poisoning, or some major life event that puts my bodybuilding plan on the back burner. I can almost count on it like clockwork, it’s pretty scary. Below are my 3 top tips for bouncing back from a plateau.
image: blog.aarp.org
1) Give your body ample rest – I know it sucks being out of the gym when your really committed, but the reality is when your too sick to get out of bed you will definitely be too sick to lift serious weights. How do you get over your sickness fast? Resting, pumping your body full of good, easily digestible foods, and try to take a lot of naps. A day or two after the ‘worst’ of the sickness, I like to do a very light cardio session (Stationary bike) to see how my body reacts/responds.
2) Easy back into it – Three days after your sickness, your not going to step foot into the gym and hit your personal best deadlifting. I like to do 1 complete upper body workout (Say on Monday) and 1 lower body workout (On Wednesday) before going back into my split. I also do something simple just to get the motion and feel back; 2x of 10 reps of basic lifts; flat bench press, military press, bicep curls, tricep pushdowns, and some more light cardio. For lowerbody, I’ll do some bodyweight squats, walking lunges, hammy curls and some calf raises. Keep in mind your entire body felt like death a few days prior, so your body is probably again, going to feel like death after your first two workouts.
3) About 10 days after your sickness you should be back to 100%, depending on the severity of your illness. I know when I get sick, my body is absolutely cashed. I’m sick for 3-4 days and it takes me 4-5 to recover, so realistically, 10 days later I’m back in the swing of things. being realistic, your going to lose a lot of weight, muscle, and will when your bedridden, but just come back and remember that nobody can hold you back if you really want it. Keep telling yourself that you’ll bounce back and become twice as strong and keep your head up.
Check out this CrossFit Workout:
http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/CrossFitHardCore_BionicWOD.mov
My thoughts (Without having done a true cross fit workout):
- CrossFit definitely builds stamina, perfect for MMA-type of training or boxing, etc.
- CrossFit will lean you out fast (Think “300″ type of physique vs conventional bodybuilder)
- CrossFit seems to have a cult-like following of advocates (I mean this in a positive light), and being part of a big group of people who are fans of something is fun.
- This type of workout is completely unconventional for the “normal bodybuilder” and by that I mean perform one set and rest for a minute or so and then continue. CrossFit appears to elevate your heart rate and keep it red-lined throughout the duration of the workout (Which burns mucho calories). Those of you with weak hearts or a predisposition may be at risk (Hey, I’m no Doctor but let’s be honest the workout above is pretty hard core).
- A brand new CrossFit gym is opening 2 blocks form my house and is offering free training for a month – this would make for an excellent Cross Fit experiment-type of program for me. I know it would be very interesting to measure this type of workout vs conventional bodybuilding + cardio. I’m stoked about being the human guinea pig for 30 days come June!
Image source: fitnessandmuscle.net
Game on.
Every bodybuilder and fitness competitor knows the importance of drinking water to flush toxins out of the body, but how about drinking water to clear acne? It’s true, while keeping your metabolism chugging-a-long, drinking copious amounts of the good H20 helps to clear you skin, which is important to bodybuilders, as we (The collective we that is) have a tendency to sweat a lot and acne starts to form, wither you like it or not! It stands to reason if you spend hours in the gym and on the thread mil, acne is bound to surface, gross, I know, but it is the reality in which we live in.
How much water should you drink? I like to fill up my 1.5 liter water bottle at least twice a day, if not 3 times. I have a tendency to sweat a lot (Circling back to my earlier point) when I workout, so I replenish my system frequently while I’m working out and lifting weights. Water also helps lubricate the joints, which as a tall weight lifter, helps a lot while I’m doing squats and heavy lifts. Lifting heavy and hard produces little bit of wear and tear on the joints, and water helps to ease the suffering. So to recap, don’t go long periods of time without drinking water, and don’t try to fit in your daily quota all at once either! Drink a glass or so every hour and within 2-3 weeks, your acne should improve.
Image source: akagreen.files.wordpress.com
The deadlift (Pictured below) is the absolute best exercise for building quality muscle. I like to refer Squatting, Bench Press, and Deadlifting as the “Holy Trinity” of bodybuilding as they are the 3 most powerful exercises in the business. Incorporate these 3 key exercises and you will find yourself making serious gains in the shortest amount of time and building muscle faster than you’ve been able to pile it on before. Another thing that the deadlift does is work secondary muscle groups, including your midsection so that you can get great abs fast and without spending hours crunching away on the ground.
A few tips when doing deadlifts are:
- Always warm up properly (2-5 minutes of light cardio to get the blood moving and follow that up with some brief stretching as to avoid injury)
- Check your ego at the door – Do you think that you can deadlift 350 pounds? Sounds great in theory, but always remember you can’t train at all if you are injured, so gradually work your way up to higher poundages. Practice makes perfect and form is KEY in bodybuilding.
- Keep an arch in your back – When deadlifting, form is very important because you don’t want to twist/pull or hurt yourself lifting heavy amounts of weight. Go slow, steady, and keep the proper form always.
- Quality Muscle Building Supplements – It takes quality food to help you grow in both size and in strength. As an active participant in bodybuilding, it’s wise to look into additional supplements to ensure your getting the nutrients and vitamins you need to continue to function at the best level possible.
Image source: genxxl.com
Building muscle is very difficult, and you need to create the right environment within your body to fuel your muscles. A lot of times people who are new to bodybuilding/fitness create a terrible metabolic environment by starving themselves or not taking in enough protein to support and repair their muscles so feel burned out or tired at times as a result of not taking in enough nutrients.
The debate for protein absorption has been going on since the 1970’s and bodybuilding started to become more popular and more mainstream. Everyone seems to have a different opinion on protein intake, however the general rule of thumb is to consume 1.5 to 2 grams of protein per body weight for intense weight training, so for example if you weighed 175 pounds your “baseline” protein intake would be in the range of 262.5 g on the “low” end and 350 g or protein on the “high” end.
If you are looking for ways in how to get lean, one thing to watch out for is that when consuming 350g of protein in 1 day, it’s easy to go crazy on the calories and an excess of calories can create additional body fat, no matter how much you are lifting. Often times protein powders (And other muscle building supplements) contain simple carbs (Sugar) for weight gain and for flavor, so you want to look for a “clean” supplement to help you reach your goals without a lot of carbs. Simply put, read the labels and consume wisely. How can you get great abs fast if your supplying your body with an extra 200-400 calories a day? In short, you can’t.
I see a lot of guys in my gym every single day lifting hard, but they look the exact same each and every time they come into the gym. If your wondering why that is – the key to bodybuilding and achieving your goals is really dialing in on your diet. You can only lift weights for an hour or so a day, but eating and dieting is basically a 24 hour process, 6-7 days per week.
In order to get lean fast and start building muscle, My friend and I have “invented” a good meal that we just refer to as “Fuel to get to the gun show” and it consists of:
1. 5 Egg whites
2. 1/2 cup oats (No sugar/unsweetened or as plain as you can get it)
3. 1-2 tablespoons of feta cheese
4. 1-2 squirts of Tabasco sauce (To taste)
What you do here is just toss all of the egg whites, cheese, and oats into the frying pan and cook it until the eggs have “glued” everything together. I know this isn’t the most appealing meal on paper, and it’s not one you want to serve to your sweetie over wine, but the sole purpose of this meal is just answering the question of “how to get great abs fast” and how to get lean!
The feta will add some fat (I always use reduced fat anyway so it’s not too much) and give it a little bit of taste and the hot sauce will make the foot editable. While I admit, this dish isn’t going to win any awards on top chef, but it will give you energy and is the best food to eat prior to a hard workout of squatting, deadlifting, or weighted dips.
