Pretty much every session I do with clients have a big emphasis on getting stronger. If you want to get in amazing shape you must must must get stronger. There is zero point in moaning about belly fat, chest definition or any area you feel you need more work in when you can’t do the basics well and are not constantly focused on getting a little bit stronger week on week, month on month.
For you to even ask the question – “I hate my fat stomach what exercises do I need to do?”, tells me so so much about your level of understanding of both training and nutrition. You see I have delt with lots of clients that want or wanted to get lean, fit and defined yet would not man or woman up to getting stronger so instead they went back to lifting the same weights, doing more cardio and then making half assed attempts on their diet. The end result is that they go around in circles looking for another method when the obvious one was staring them in the face – get bloody stronger, stop kidding yourself on your diet as it’s no where near as good as it needs to be and get your heart rate up from time to time.
These are the same people that when asked what training they are following they reply with – well I don’t really use a proper program as such or they are using a very complicated program with bugger all intensity. When a guy or girl comes to me and they can’t do full length press ups for 10-20reps, pull ups for even just 5+ reps (guys) inverted rows for 10+ reps (girls), squat well, deadlift with good form etc my response is always going to be – well what do you expect when you can’t do the basics.
For example, last week I did a deadlift workout with a sandbag carry pulling 145kg for 51 reps and a carrying a weight up and down the gym a few times all in under 10mins. Whether you are a guy or a girl you have to understand the kind of work that is involved in doing that.
To be honest if I got the vast majority of typical gym goers to put my weights away after that session it would be a tough workout for them! I mean when you see people in gyms faffing about with light dumbbells, lots of cardio, doing excessive amouns of biceps curls, bench press and core work it makes me think – could they even be strong enough to carry a bunch of 20kg plates back across the gym floor and do this safely without hurting their back?
Get stronger pleeeease
I no longer work in a typical gym and so at times I forget that people don’t follow set programs, don’t get any stronger, get shit#y guidance and generally train with less intensity than they display dancing at a wedding! For me it’s the norm to have guys and girls pulling well over body weight deadlifts, squatting well, banging out pull ups, chucking a kettlbell around, sprinting up and down a road and just generally going at it hard. I love it when I see my clients evolve from a body that is soft and flacid to one that is tight, toned and for then to stare at their reflection in the mirror and know they have worked their butt off to look that good.
If you really want to be in great shape you must get stonger and there are three ways you can do that –
1. Mental – watch any video of anyone that is in great shape and they is absolutely no question they they have supreme mental toughness. I believe this is NOT something that you are born with. Yes some can have better genetics than others but there are lots of examples of people that were brilliant at a junior level but let it all slide as they got older. I mean so what if you were great at rugby when you were 18yrs old. You are now possibly older, fatter, couldn’t run for a bus and please stop talking about your past like you were some kind of star. People only care about the impression you are making now.
Getting in superb shape requires that ability to turn off the part of your brain that says STOP when the going gets tough. This is something that clients of mine learn in every single group session as they do. When they see others around them pushing hard and keeping it going it makes them realise that they can too. It is a skill I have learned and still learn in all of my workouts and it is not something I have done on my own. I needed someone to tell me I could do one more rep, round etc.
If you want to become mentally tougher for your sessions then simply tell yourself to do one more rep when the going gets tough, set a target on what you want to achieve, train with others, watch something motivating before hand or simply get in there and attack the session. Without exception the people I know and train that have and will get in great shape are mentally tough and come back for more every time. You are not going to get stronger because you put in one really tough session, you need to be able to do that over and over again. I have stayed in great shape and continue to gain strength because I am more consistent than you are and I love the challenge. So get mentally tough if you want to build more strength.
I am a massive fan of Female top level crossfitter Miranda Oldroyd and in this video just look at the section from 1mins to 1.30mins – THAT is showing mental toughness, concentration and dedication.
2. Pyhsical – No surprise here really as if you are to build more strength you must lift progressively heavier weights. You are a guy that would love to add 1-2stone of muscle to his frame? Well let me tell you that you aint never going to get there if you keep returning to your sessions lifting the same weights week in week out and you are avoiding the big compound movements like the squat, deadlift, pull up, bench, overhead press etc
I have lost count the number of skinny guys I have spoken to that could tell you the in’s and out’s of every supplement yet have rubbish numbers i.e. they don’t even deadlift, use the leg press all the time and have an ‘arms day’ when training. Come on guys, I have never seen a lean guy pull a double body weight deadlift and not look impressive!
I couldn’t care what program you use to get stronger. Use my programs, use
Jim Wendlers 5,3,1 – http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance/how_to_build_pure_strength
Starting strength – http://startingstrength.wikia.com/wiki/Starting_Strength_Wiki
Westside for skinny bastards – http://www.defrancostraining.com/articles/38-articles/60-westside-for-skinny-bastards-part1.html
Hardgainer – http://www.hardgainer.com/
I just love Dan John http://danjohn.net/ also –
“Oh, I know, everyone is an expert on weight gain. The Internet is flooded with 145 pound skinny-fat experts.
Here’s a summary of their mass-gaining methods: Stick a bunch of big words together in a row, or pull out a thesaurus and just jam synonyms into every sentence. Bam! Your audience will instantly grow bigger.”
There are any number of ways to gain strength but the rule should be always keep it simple, add weight slowly, change the exercises, reps, sets up every few weeks and finally STICK TO THE DAM PROGRAM. Do not or stop being a program hopper, stick to the program for a good 6-12 months and you will get strong.
Train with others or read up on people that you admire. It’s like the great Dave Tate said –
“That’s why there’s so few people who are doing this shit and why it helps to be around people with similar goals. They understand. It’s a rare breed, man”.
3. Technique – it amazes me the number for people that want to get stronger yet have never and I mean never had someone look at their form while lifting. Some people will spend hundreds of euro on gym membership fees, gym clothing, equipment etc yet waste increased strength potential because they won’t go to see somone that actually knows what they are talking about.
I was asked this week by the sales team in a gym I was a member of as to why I did not rejoin their massive, €800+ per year facility and the primary reason was being sick to the stomach seeing people all around me lift weights and train with such bad form or structure while their trainers looked on.
You can add a massive amount of strength by simply fixing simple aspects of any lift. At the very least you should video yourself doing the big compound lifts every now and again and learn to recognise good and bad form.
For example, the guys I work with in www.crossfit.ie have been putting together a great collection of videos on lifting form so have a look back over the workout section of the site for tips on the major lifts. This one is on the overhead squat –
The message is simple really you are either getting stronger or you are getting weaker. I am as proud of my female 50 something clients pulling a 40kg deadlift as I am of my male clients doing a double body weight deadlift but overall they all know they must lift heavy stuff with good form, put in the effort and repeat.
Lift, lower, repeat
Please work on this or forever be ignorant to what acutally works. I love this video by the founder of Crossfit Greg Glassman to emphasise invincible ignornace.
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