Concluding Blog Post

Blogging has been very interesting this year.  I never saw myself as a person who would blog on any topic week after week and find myself interested in it, it just never seamed to me that I would find a topic worth writing about over and over.  Being able to write about my own topic was nice though and made it a lot easier to manage through the semester.  The freedom to write about your own topic really got me eager to write, well maybe not eager but I was not upset about writing.  Making sure to write about something that really interested me, I chose working out because that was the thing I did most in my life.  Week after week it I researched different lifting techniques for different muscle groups.  Some things I had already knew about, but I also learned a lot from this.  I learned much more about my topic.  I not only learned more about the topic that I was writing about, but I also learned things like in text citations and and in text quotations. Overall I think what I learned the most is how simple it is to write a big paper. 7000 plus words throughout the semester is what we averaged throughout all our work on our one subject.  What we did throughout this semester was not extremely hard work by any means, so knowing that I can now write a large paper really helps for my future.  I did not know that this was all adding up to show that you can write a paper by breaking it down into sections like how I did, but I do know that from this class it will make more successful with writing papers in the future.

Fitness. Full Body workout.

 Full Body Circuit

I have hit every main muscle group throughout my blogs, but now it is time to hit them all at once.  This blog will cover a quick full body workout that will hit every muscle in your body.  I am going to begin with my experiences that I have seen at the gym.  I rarely see people doing full body exercises at the gym.  People tend to focus on a few muscle group at once, which is fine, but fail to realize the significance a full body workout can give you. Lets say you only have time to go to the gym once or twice a week for whatever reason.  A full body workout will allow you not to get behind on a specific muscle group because you will be hitting everything on your body.

Have you ever seen those P90X videos or INSANITY videos? Well if you have, you'll notice they don't ever do bench or barbell squats or anything with HUGE weight or enormous bars required for the exercise, yet they are all so jacked.  They simply use body-weight or small dumbbells to exercise with. This full body workout I am about to show you is just like that. I go to Sport and Health in Stafford, and if you have ever seen somebody doing a full body workout there then you know the person doing it is always jacked or cut over half of the time, either way you know he/she works out. I am telling you this just to show you that even though you wont be doing the heaviest weights, doing a full body workout is excellent for muscle growth or simply just trying to shred some weight by burning calories and toning up a bit.

This is called a circuit exercise, you will "do 10 reps of each exercise, and complete as many circuits as you can in 15 minutes". According to the article once reps become easier and easier, just increase reps per set.

I will begin with Body weight Squats:

 "Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Lower your body as far as you can by pushing your hips back and bending your knees until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Pause, and slowly stand back up." This will workout your lower back as well as every muscle in your legs. 

                                        

Next exercise will be Judo Push-Up:

"Begin in a pushup position but move your feet hip-width apart and forward, and raise your hips so your body almost forms an upside-down V. Lower the front of your body until your chin nears the floor. Then lower your hips as you raise your head and shoulders toward the ceiling. Now reverse the movement and return to the starting position". This exercise works your calves, triceps, abs, entire back, as well as your chest (plus a little bit of forearm just because you're holding yourself up). 

     

The next exercise is my favorite which is the Sprinter Sit-Ups:

This exercise burns a lot of calories. The muscle groups it hits are your quads, abbs, lower back and upper back (trapezoid). Here is how you perform the exercise: Lie on your back with your legs straight and arms at your sides, keeping your elbows bent at 90 degrees. As you sit up, twist your upper body to the left and bring your left knee toward your right elbow while you swing your left arm back. Lower your body to the starting position, and repeat to your right.

And this is my circuit Full-Body workout that I like to use at the gym. Remember this thing hits 300 muscles, I was simply naming the main muscle groups people like to go for when workout out.  The first time I did this I was winded very quickly, and took many breaks. The following day my entire body felt like mush, so trust me when I say to take breaks. The easier it becomes the less breaks you will take, but no matter what you will get a great workout from this circuit!

"15-Minute Workout." Quick Full-Body Workout: Men's Health.com. Rodale Inc., 2012. Web. 19 Apr. 2013.

Fitness. intro

Chris Lovejoy                       

Professor Quinn

English 112

3 April 10, 13

The Full Fitness Guide

            You always hear about new years resolutions and when you do, getting “Fit” is always on their lists.  Whether you are trying to bulk up with some muscle or just trying to slim down and fit into those pants, then you will need to learn about the fitness required to do so.  Fitness, “Sound physically and mentally” http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fit?show=0&t=1365615775.  Working out to become fit is more than just lifting some weights and expecting results.  Lifting specific muscle groups should be a main focus as well as the amount of repetitions and sets you do.  Just remember to never forget proper form of the lift. 

            The cold hard truth about fitness is no matter how much you lift and cardio you do, intake of the proper nutritional foods is the key.  Healthy food, whether trying to bulk or trying to cut down, will help you see results incredibly quicker than ingesting your daily fix of Mcdonald’s , Chipotle, etc. Food is not the only thing that can really benefit you besides the obvious of lifting weights.  The right supplements can really increase a good workout to help improve overall goals like losing or gaining weight. Different supplements do different things, some better than others, but if interested it doesn’t hurt to try them out and see the effects they can give you.

During Workout Supplements

Intra-Workout supplement

Now that we have discussed the benefits of pre workout supplements, we will talk about intra-workout or during workout supplements. Lets talk about why you would benefit from taking an intra workout supplement. These supplements are meant to increase your "Pump". How they increase your pump is simple. Nitric Oxide is the key determining factor in how many nutrients reach your muscle cells as well as enabling how quickly your body can buffer lactic acid. Lactic acid is the "Burn" sensation you feel when working out which ultimately makes you lose strength. The more Nitric Oxide, the less burn, as well as the more nutrients. Your muscles need nutrients to use, so the more nutrients you get the more you can lift. See how this is starting to make sense? Supplements like Hemavol 
     

and supplements like Yok3d   

are the ones that will increase your pump while lifting. The main difference between these lifting supplements and pre workout supplements are that the pre workout supplements are meant to give you energy and increase heart rate. As I said before, the intra workout supplements are simply meant to help you maintain your pumps and not get sore during your lifts to allow you to lift for longer. The longer you lift the more you rip your muscles, the more they grow the better results you see.  I am a strong believer of taking these sorts of supplements to get all you can out of a lift. As long as you take the recommended dosage, you will be okay.

Supps... or no supps

Pre-Workout Supplements

To take workout supplements or to not? Pre-Work out, during, or after? How bad are they really? Some people believe they are bad for you, and some people really do not worry because the results out weight the consequences. Where do you stand on the matter?  There are supplements strictly for energy during the work out. Some of these workout supplements include Jack3d, NoXplode, and C4. Some of those supplements can still be purchased, while some of them cant. That is what I will be covering in this blog. 

                      

Do you see those bottles right above, yeah those ones, that is a pre workout supplement that is used more than any other in the world (USP Labs). The bottle on the left is the original Jack3d. It blew everybody's minds with the pre-workout pumps you could get from it. It has won many awards and was rated the best, yes I said was. That was all before it was reported "that it has been linked to high blood pressure, headaches, vomiting, stroke and even death." This is because of 1,3 dimethylamylamine, well at least that is the ingredient that USP labs took out of jack3d to create Jack3d micro which is there new product. 

How would you feel if you had a heart attack due to a product that you were taking and was given no warning towards the effects that could injure you? If you ask me, do not abuse a product and it will not abuse you. I am sure someone took to much of a jack3d and that is why they were injured. It increases your heart rate with the recommended dose, and when you take more that will just increase it even more. I am no doctor, but I bet a unnaturally high heart rate could cause you to go to the hospital. People abuse it after they know there is a recommended dose and get hurt then sue and get it taken off the market. Get a big check and are happy about it. I am all for the workout supplement, but that could be just me.

http://usplabsdirect.com/jack3d.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2194656/Jack3d-sports-supplement-banned-Britain-fears-lethal-effects.html

Shoulders part 2.

Shoulders

Today is your second exercise for shoulders. Remember we keep mixing up the different workouts because when muscle memory kicks in it gets easier to lift the same thing over and over. The easier it gets the less you're working out your muscle and less progress you make.  Your next 3 exercises will consist of the first two having 3 sets a peace with reps of 10,8,6.  The last exercise you do is going to be a burn out. Burn outs are the best way to cut a muscle up because you're doing light weight many more times then you would do a normal lift. The first exercise is Military press. 

- Military Press

This exercise is perfect for shoulders. Hits all parts of your shoulders as well as triceps and upper chest. Like I said above, you will be doing 3 sets with reps of 10,8,6. Always have a spotter handy, this is not an exercise you want to fail on and have all that weight drop on you. 

1. Sit on a bench with back support in a squat rack. Position a barbell at a height that is just above your head. Grab the barbell with a pronated grip (palms facing forward).
2. Once you pick up the barbell with the correct grip width, lift the bar up over your head by locking your arms. Hold at about shoulder level and slightly in front of your head. This is your starting position.
3. Lower the bar down to the shoulders slowly as you inhale.
4. Lift the bar back up to the starting position as you exhale.
5. Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.         

That is how you perform this exercise.

Next is Arnold Dumbbell press, and yes this exercise Arnold Schwarzenegger invented that is why it is called the Arnold dumbbell press. This exercise hits Triceps and Shoulders. Again you will do 3 sets with reps of 10,8,6. Go with whatever weight you can complete the amount of reps listed. This is how you perform this exercise:

1. Sit on an exercise bench with back support and hold two dumbbells in front of you at about upper chest level with your palms facing your body and your elbows bent. Tip: Your arms should be next to your torso. The starting position should look like the contracted portion of a dumbbell curl.
2. Now to perform the movement, raise the dumbbells as you rotate the palms of your hands until they are facing forward.
3. Continue lifting the dumbbells until your arms are extended above you in straight arm position. Breathe out as you perform this portion of the movement.
4. After a second pause at the top, begin to lower the dumbbells to the original position by rotating the palms of your hands towards you. Tip: The left arm will be rotated in a counter clockwise manner while the right one will be rotated clockwise. Breathe in as you perform this portion of the movement.
5. Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.

 - Arnold Dumbbell Press

The final exercise is called battling ropes. Here is how it looks before I even begin to talk about it because I know you're wondering what does this look like.
- Battling Ropes
This exercise is a burn out. You will not be going for reps here. You will do 3 sets, first set you will perform this exercise for 1 minute and 30 seconds. Second set you will go down to 1 minute, and third you will continue to go down to 45 seconds. Go at your own pace, go hard enough to make sure you are getting a work out but slow enough so you will complete the time per set. This exercise not only works out your shoulders but hits every muscle in your arms as well as your chest and core. Here is how you do it:

1. For this exercise you will need a heavy rope anchored at its center 15-20 feet away. Standing in front of the rope, take an end in each hand with your arms extended at your side. This will be your starting position.
2. Initiate the movement by rapidly raising one arm to shoulder level as quickly as you can.
3. As you let that arm drop to the starting position, raise the opposite side.
4. Continue alternating your left and right arms, whipping the ropes up and down as fast as you can. 

(all images taken from google) 

Back day part 2

Back/Traps

If you did the exercises in my last back and traps post then thats good! But it is time to change it up. Lets start with traps since I am really excited to show you this next exercise, Head Harness!

- Head harness raises

There is no better way in my opinion to grow your neck than using a head harness. You have to purchase this since it cant be done like shrugs, but the results are amazing! Do as many sets and reps as you feel comfortable since some people's traps are significantly stronger than others. I would start with 2 sets but go as you please. Try not to go too heavy with this exercise at first or you will be sore for a week I promise. 

I have recently start doing incline bench pull on back days. Some gyms have machines for this exercise where you can simply stack weight on, lift it off the stand, and you pull up as many time as possible before setting it back down on the stand which is perfect for lifting by yourself. - Incline bench pull

If your gym does not have this I also know another way for you to perform an alternative to this exercise but still great none the less. What you do is take a flat bench, put one end in the corner where 2 walls meet, lift the opposite end up between your legs while you squat and put as much weight as you feel possible than lift to your chest. I would love to show you a picture but I cannot seam to find one so hopefully I described it well enough for you to perform next lift. Both those lifts are great for working every part of your back, just watch out where you put your chest on the bench because some times you tend to lose breath depending on if your chest is too high on it.