Three mechanisms of hypertrophy

Three mechanisms of hypertrophy

Mechanical tension, metabolic stress and muscle damage.

1️⃣Mechanical tension - You want to generate the largest muscle force possible through a full range of motion.

2️⃣Metabolic stress ("the pump") - To optimise metabolic stress you need to maintain constant tension on the muscles. Focus on the pain building up in that muscle, stay with it and embrace it. This way, as blood gets pumped into the muscles by the arteries, the steady muscular contractions will prevent the veins from letting blood escape, resulting in high levels of metabolic stress and cell swelling.

3️⃣Muscle damage - This is focusing on the negatives. It happens with slow negatives, extended range of motion and high tension in the stretched position of the muscle. Doing a random exercise that you haven't done in a while also does the job.

The best lifts are those that can be manipulated to target each of the three mechanisms. The basic big lifts do the trick - squat, deadlift, hip thrust, bench press, military press, pull-up/pull-down and row. These exercises should feature highly in anyone's programming and tweaked accordingly to hit the three mechanisms.

In summary, you can use these three mechanisms in a single disgusting workout, or cycle through them over the course of a week

Superman

Superman

If you are anything like me then you might have grown up watching all the superheroes on TV kick some serious ass….

Now there is no superhero more super than Superman.

We all wanted to grow up to be strong and to look like a superhero, well I know I did. Maybe I just wanted to run around with my pants on the outside of my trousers……I was a confused child, but I defiantly wanted to be strong that’s for sure.

The problem is for us mere mortals we are not simply born with our strength, we need to work on it, consistently work on it. Day in and day out we need to work on it!!!!

Like Superman we all have our kryptonite…. unlike superman our kryptonite is not a mineral property from the planet Krypton, it’s actually the fact that we are lazy by nature. Most of us want to avoid pain, avoid pressure and stay in our comfort zone.

However, if you want to look like Superman or Superwomen then you’ll need to get outside your comfort zone!

Whether you want to build strength, build muscle or simple shred fat, this takes hard work, discipline, motivation and passion, all attributes Superman does have.

Your journey to have a superhero physique and reach your genetic potential starts with your mindset.

Think about what you want and why you want it, then get yourself in a motivated state and push yourself to reach heights you never thought possible.

Results driven?

Results driven?

Are you results-driven?

If you are anything like myself you might be driven by results.

Not all results are purely body composition, some are performance, others are purely mindset.

The problem we have is people don’t give themselves time to get the result they seek.

Having said all that, if you give both nutrition and training your absolute 100% best, then I can almost guarantee you will see results and see them fast.

Once you start to see results, this then motivates you to keep pushing forward and most importantly you then know that it WORKS!

I started training 13 years and I didn’t start seeing results until I really pushed it with both my training and nutrition.

What most people do is they kind of eat well and kind of exercise in the gym, they then get demotivated when they don’t see any results.

Yes genetics play a big part, but you will not get anywhere close to your genetic potential unless you give it 100%.

I personally have lower testosterone levels than my 4 year old daughter, but I’ve still managed to develop a decent amount of muscle tissue and come 2nd in a strongman competition (with questionable deadlift form), you can also reach your goals, all it takes is a lot of consistency and a bit of hard work!

“What do I need to do to lose fat?"

“What do I need to do to lose fat?
I don’t eat much or eat bad food, but I still don’t seem to lose any body fat!”

- Are you currently following a nutrition plan?

- Any foods in your diet making you feel lethargic?

- How active are you (including your job)?

- How many times a week are you training?

- How many of those sessions are you actually training?

- What are your weekends like?

- How many calories are you consuming each day?

You NEED to be ready to work hard!

You NEED to be ready to work hard!

How do I lose body fat and build muscle without eating clean, training, or doing anything that gets me off my ass?

Now..... as crazy as this question is, a lot of people do ask this!

They don't ask me, they don't ask their friends, they simply ask themselves.

There are a lot of people who want something but are just not willing to work for it.

If you're one of these people who are looking for an easy way to get the results you want then just let my friend explain something to you. His name is Reality.

Reality: "if you want something you NEED to be ready to put in the work!
if you want to not be weak then you need to train like you're strong! 
If you want to lose body fat you need to stop eating like you're fat! 
If you want to run like a marathon runner then you need to do what marathon runners do, you run!......You run some more!......You join a running club that allows you to run! 
If you want to look like an athlete then you need to train like an athlete!"

Now I haven't done this post to rant or to put anyone down, I've done it to motivate! The sooner you understand how much work you'll need to put in the easier and then more enjoyable your journey will be because you're now prepared.

If you think it's going to be easy and you only give it 50% effort then you're setting yourself up for disaster.

Happy training!

Smaller or more athletic

Smaller or more athletic?

This is a question I often ask clients when they are on a fat loss journey.

Smaller/skinny guide:
-Eat less calories
-Do a lot of training which burns a lot of calories
-Train frequently 4-8 times per week
-Eat majority of your carbohydrates around training days

Athletic/toned guide:
-Control calories (enough to optimise muscle development and recovery)
-Focus on building muscle in the gym
-With your cardio you need to focus on developing performance (aerobic capacity, lactate threshold, max heart rate etc), not just burning calories
-Train like an athlete (train hard, track progress and strive to get better and better)

Far be it for me to tell people how they should look or strive to look. However training to look like an athlete is a lot healthier, rewarding and results in a lot more sustainable physique due to the increase in muscle tissue.

Now I didn’t want to put a picture of a skinny girl vs an athletic girl on this post, I believe Facebook already has plenty of half-naked fitness professional. So here is a picture of a kitten instead, everyone likes kittens.