Bring It On...with Jen Heath

Training Bodybuilding
61

[quote]thenanger wrote:
G’Day Jen,
Just wondering what your thoughts are of the old saying ‘Just worry about getting stronger and size will look after itself’. I am asking this because I seem to be going around in circles with my training.

I have tried split training and am currently performing full body using Chad Waterbury style programs.
I recent article on T-Nation pointed out strength numbers for different lifts and I was average at best on most lifts.

Should I just concentrate on the big lifts for a while till I get my strength up or continue with more traditional bodybuilding programs?

My goal is to put on 5 kilos of muscle. I am a shift worker and do suffer from mild anxiety which I believe could hinder my recovery.
Thanks for your time.[/quote]

If I were in exactly your shoes, I would pick TWO weiht training days and do them every three days…on those days I would divide out the main movements such as bench, deads, squatting, pullups, etc…and really focus on increasing strength there. Low reps, sufficient rest between sets.

I would also split the REST of my body up. For instance:

Day 1 Monday: Squats, Pullups plus arms

Day 2 Thursday: Bench, Deads, delts and calves

Then repeat day 1 again on Sunday and do 2 on Wednesday, etc…

This way you can hit everything HEAVY and get stronger…>Stronger muscles ARE bigger muscles! Just be sure to eat lots of clean calores :slight_smile: Take BCAA and creatine and drink lots of water, and don’t scrimp on sleep.

Other days you can do light cardio for cardiovascular fitness and recovery :slight_smile:

Work em…and work em hard. DOing this will mae you strong! After doing that for a month, you can do some higher volume training…cause a lot of damage, and build mega doses of muscle.

62

[quote]Jen Heath wrote:
thenanger wrote:
G’Day Jen,
Just wondering what your thoughts are of the old saying ‘Just worry about getting stronger and size will look after itself’. I am asking this because I seem to be going around in circles with my training.

I have tried split training and am currently performing full body using Chad Waterbury style programs.
I recent article on T-Nation pointed out strength numbers for different lifts and I was average at best on most lifts.

Should I just concentrate on the big lifts for a while till I get my strength up or continue with more traditional bodybuilding programs?

My goal is to put on 5 kilos of muscle. I am a shift worker and do suffer from mild anxiety which I believe could hinder my recovery.
Thanks for your time.

If I were in exactly your shoes, I would pick TWO weiht training days and do them every three days…on those days I would divide out the main movements such as bench, deads, squatting, pullups, etc…and really focus on increasing strength there. Low reps, sufficient rest between sets.

I would also split the REST of my body up. For instance:

Day 1 Monday: Squats, Pullups plus arms

Day 2 Thursday: Bench, Deads, delts and calves

Then repeat day 1 again on Sunday and do 2 on Wednesday, etc…

This way you can hit everything HEAVY and get stronger…>Stronger muscles ARE bigger muscles! Just be sure to eat lots of clean calores :slight_smile: Take BCAA and creatine and drink lots of water, and don’t scrimp on sleep.

Other days you can do light cardio for cardiovascular fitness and recovery :slight_smile:

Work em…and work em hard. DOing this will mae you strong! After doing that for a month, you can do some higher volume training…cause a lot of damage, and build mega doses of muscle. [/quote]

Thanks for the advice, looks like a great plan!

63

hi Jen im looking up for adivice here, im looking to add bout 7-10 kilos of lean mass here while minimizing fat gains coz i still wanna wair my pants =p Im not desperate for a quick fix anyways. Im currently 146lbs @ 18% BF standing at 5’6 =/ Well as for my nutrition I think got no problems. Im currently eating clean at a range of 3000-3300calories(still waiting for 2 weeks to decide if theres a need to jack it up) @ 40carbs-40protein-20fat range. I still cant increase my calories quickly since im still recovering from my overexercsing on little calories but its making a quick bounce-back.I’m also looking for improvements for lower body strenght. heres an outline of what im doing.

Day1: jog outdoors usally for 45mins
Day2: Back / triceps day
Day3: usually i jog but im thinking of sprints as an alternative
Day4: Chest / biceps
Day5: jog again
Day6: abs and some low intensity cardio @ 20 mins
Day7: Legs / delts day

as for my lifts im currently doing compound exercises @ 8-6-6-8 reps.
any advice would be greatly appreciated

64

Hey Jen, I post a question on the muscle sorority forum in the pregnant exercice thread that you started a while back, I don’t know if you miss it but I would really like your input on it. I didn’t repost the question here because it is rather a long question.

Thanks
Neo

65

I also have another question but this one is more for me personnally. What do you recommend for someone that is a beginner and really weak. You see because of various reasons (namely stress) I have been pretty sick for almost 6 to 8 month, not training eating 2 maximum 3 meals a day and I am looking to get back in the game. Problem is to me now doing 15 push-up is now hard. My cardio is completely off, plus right now I have a new born baby so my sleeping schedule is all mess up.

I’m a bit embarrassed to say all this and ask for help on training because I am a trainer but to tell you the truth I never had a client that mess up :slight_smile: It’s like the task is to big and I don’t know where to start.

Also I am a bit afraid because 2 or 3 months ago I started training again and my health kind of went down a bit so I guess that I’m afraid it will go down again.

What advice would you give?

Thanks
Neo

66

Neo,

 It sounds like your adrenal glands and your HPA axis is screaming at you!  Stress from having a baby on top of not getting enough in quantity or sound sleep is wreaking havoc on your body.

Remember, most people think of training as a stress reliever, but actually it is another stressor. Your body doesn’t know the difference b/t running from a tiger, not getting enough sleep, or training. The hormonal response will be the same.

Work on your diet, sleep, stress factors, and introduce a SMALL volume of training. Check out some of Poliquin’s stuff on introducing training after adrenal fatigue.

67

[quote]neoplasme wrote:
I also have another question but this one is more for me personnally. What do you recommend for someone that is a beginner and really weak. You see because of various reasons (namely stress) I have been pretty sick for almost 6 to 8 month, not training eating 2 maximum 3 meals a day and I am looking to get back in the game. Problem is to me now doing 15 push-up is now hard. My cardio is completely off, plus right now I have a new born baby so my sleeping schedule is all mess up.

I’m a bit embarrassed to say all this and ask for help on training because I am a trainer but to tell you the truth I never had a client that mess up :slight_smile: It’s like the task is to big and I don’t know where to start.

Also I am a bit afraid because 2 or 3 months ago I started training again and my health kind of went down a bit so I guess that I’m afraid it will go down again.

What advice would you give?

Thanks
Neo[/quote]

I am going to second what was just saud above, and add in some other things as well…

Because of all the stress, your body is just on survial mode. It is time to remind it that there is plenty…plenty of sleep, plenty of water, plenty of food, plenty of happiness, plenty of everything.

Take your body weight, multiply it by 10-11, add 250. That is a good number of calories to eat on a non -training day for generalities.

If you train, maybe add another 300 calories or more if you go for a longer period of time and burn more than that.

The thing is that you don’t want to be at a deficit now. Make SURE you are eating enough.

When you do train…after giving birth, while the ligaments and tendons are trying to get put back in order, it high intesity exercise and interval training can be highly stressful, and not only that, uncomfortable.

Stick with steady state cardio outdorrs or on the machine, and maybe include a little rise in heart rate if you are feeling good. The maint hing, is that to get stronger you will need to let your body readjust, and feed it when you burn calories. This wil only INCREASE your metabolism, and make it a lot oeasier for you to kick it into intesnse gear later on :slight_smile:

You’ll do great, and I’ll answer your pregnancy thread too! Sorry it has taken me so long. I have been slammed!

Jen

68

thanks Jen good advise but I just wanted to clear something up (I know I am going to look more weak but here goes) I am not a women. It’s my wife that got the baby. I am fealing stress because of a lot of factors. but thank you for the advice.

Also I read that Don Alessi recommend taking some TRIBEX for adrenal fatigue what do you think?

Thanks
Neo

69

Neo,

  I'm not sure which Poliquin article it was in(or maybe even one of his books), he recommends ZERO cardio when recovering from adrenal fatigue/exhaustion.  If you go to his website, there are several good articles on adrenal fatigue.  He works closely with several physicians and naturopaths, so he really knows his stuff.

As far as TRIBEX, that will certainly raise testosterone, which can become depleted by stress. But you would be better off with lots of vitamin C and some adaptogens.

Rhodiola is a great adaptogen that helps modulate cortisol output, i.e., if it needs to be lowered, it will lower it, or if it needs to be raised, it will raise it. There is an amazing product that I take called Botanobol by Natura Health Products that has a combination of adaptogens.

This stuff is really potent and feeds the adrenals. Most importantly, remember that the largest stores of vitamin C are in your adrenal glands. I take about 10 g divided throughout the day. More than this and it will both stress the liver and will not be absorbed. Hope this helps! I read a ton about natural medicine, so if you have questions, don’t hesitate to ask. Hopefully, I can help!

70

Thanks Rehab… but just to make sure, you say to consume 10g of botanol or vitamin C?

BTW the TRIBEX thing is not form Poliquin it is from Don Alessi here is the thread.
http://www.T-Nation.com/readTopic.do?id=459847

Thanks for the info.
Neo

71

Hi Jen-

I had a question about the Rest Pause workouts you mention in your off season manual. You mention that you use that as one day a week when you’re on the full body. Can you explain exactly how these are done? Is this workout usually shorter than your others?

What is it good for? Size? I’m wanting to try doing it just to mix things up but I wasn’t sure how to pick what weights to start and if it means you do 5 sets of 12 resting 20 sec between each set and then do 3 sets of those or only 1 for each body part?

Another thing is that I’ve been trying to do is spread my calories out better. I tend to always get in the pattern of restricting during the day and eating a bit more at night. In general how much do you think is too much to eat in one sitting? And how much do you eat at night? (Like in the last 5 hours before bed)

Thanks!

72

Jen, hows your husband doing?

73

[quote]sarah1 wrote:
Hi Jen-

I had a question about the Rest Pause workouts you mention in your off season manual. You mention that you use that as one day a week when you’re on the full body. Can you explain exactly how these are done? Is this workout usually shorter than your others?

What is it good for? Size? I’m wanting to try doing it just to mix things up but I wasn’t sure how to pick what weights to start and if it means you do 5 sets of 12 resting 20 sec between each set and then do 3 sets of those or only 1 for each body part?

Another thing is that I’ve been trying to do is spread my calories out better. I tend to always get in the pattern of restricting during the day and eating a bit more at night. In general how much do you think is too much to eat in one sitting? And how much do you eat at night? (Like in the last 5 hours before bed)

Thanks!
[/quote]

I just call it my rest pause day. It is a day to work on Muscle DENSITY. Yes, it is much shorter of a workout, I usually do HIIT afterwards for 12-15 minutes.

I just perform the movement at 10 reps, with pauses at the top of each rep, wait 20 seconds, and go again. If I can’t get 5, I lower the weight. Reps are always inbetween 5-10.

I have lots of philosophies here, but my general rule is don’t go to bed starving…take some BCAA and some protein like cottage cheese before bed. IMO - There is no time limit to cutting off ood. It is all about 24 hour totals. Slow processing protein is the best thing to eat before bed, imo :slight_smile: i.e. a shake would not be preferrable to chicken or cottage cheese.

As too eating too much in one sitting. I don’t know if there are any magic numbers here, but for me…a LARGE meal in my off season, after beastly training would be anywhere from 500-800 calories.

When I am cutting, I try and keep it to 200-300 calories per meal, and just any old time, I average about 300 calories per meal.

Everyone is so different you know? :slight_smile:

Thanks for asking and have a good one sarah!

Jen

74

Without keeping it ALL the way, he has lost in 2.5 weeks, 7 lbs of fat.

He has been sometimes eating a whole meal or two more than the ONE per day he originally said. Out of the 17 days or so that he has been doing this he has had about 5-6 days where he has had more than 1 whole meal…and remember…

The Velocity Diet is really NO meals until the weekend. So what he has been doing is HIGHLY modified :slight_smile:

If he gives me permission, I’ll post his pics when he is through :slight_smile:

Jen

75

[quote]Jen Heath wrote:
Without keeping it ALL the way, he has lost in 2.5 weeks, 7 lbs of fat.

He has been sometimes eating a whole meal or two more than the ONE per day he originally said. Out of the 17 days or so that he has been doing this he has had about 5-6 days where he has had more than 1 whole meal…and remember…

The Velocity Diet is really NO meals until the weekend. So what he has been doing is HIGHLY modified :slight_smile:

If he gives me permission, I’ll post his pics when he is through :slight_smile:

Jen[/quote]

that’s not bad at all, I could never do the v diet, no way in hell. I like steak (top sirlion), chicken, salmon, etc way to much to even consider giving it up.

76

[quote]coloradosteve wrote:
that’s not bad at all, I could never do the v diet, no way in hell. I like steak (top sirlion), chicken, salmon, etc way to much to even consider giving it up. [/quote]

Haha! I could do it I love protein shakes, and spending less time cooking food and more time doing something else sounds good to me! But steak, salmon, and sweet potatoes are my mass helpers right now!

Hows it going Jen?