BEAUTY KLINIC

I had a subscriber who inquired:

“Is it possible to build strength, put on muscle and burn off fat if I don’t have a power rack and I only have access to a barbell? Not even an Olympic barbell, but one of those old crappy cement filled barbell sets”

I know exactly the weights this guy is talking about. I think most of us grew up with them right? They were basically cement weights covered in plastic, and over time the plastic busted up and the cement started to get busted underneath remember?

I guess I’m showing my age
Anyways

Yeah! Exactly! Even, an old-school equipment like the barbell can certainly make you achieve maximum strength and power!

You just need somebody to teach you exactly how. Fortunately you met me. And thank heavens I just read a large amount of Dan John’s awe-inspiring “From the Ground Up”.

In this outstanding little ebook Dan John explains the “Rapid Ascent Program”, which contains three workouts:

1. Power Clean

2. Military Press

3. Front Squat

And here’s how you did the program (from his book):

“The program was very simple. First, groups of four boys were given a bar. The bars were weighted from very lightmaybe 25 poundsup to perhaps close to 100 pounds. Each cohort of boys would lift one at a time, put the bar down, then the next boy would lift. The four would constantly move from lifter to watcherthe bar never stopped. The three sets (explained in just a moment) would not take very longin fact, sometimes it was hard to catch your breath in time for your next set.

The reps were very simple:

* First set: 8 repetitions

* Second set: 6 repetitions

* Third set: 4 repetitions

The goal was simple: once you got all 18 reps (8+6+4), you added weight. If you started with a bar that was excessively light, the succeeding workout, you would be bumped up to the next weight and a stronger group. (Needless to say, actual variations could include making a whole new group with more weight, tooor whatever necessary to make the group work together).”

Sounds simple doesn’t it?

That’s the beauty of this program!

You don’t need a lot of equipment to build strength, muscle and power all while increasing your cardiovascular fitness and burning off pounds of fat.

What you DO need is a little “do or die” perspective. You must make your mind up you surely WANT to reach your fitness goals, then you′ll find a way to utilize whatever equipment you have available to make it happen.

I love program in view of the fact that it follows the DoubleYourGains’ philosophy of training movement patterns rather than a bunch of exercises. The Rapid Ascent program has a press move (military press), a pull move (power clean), a squat move (front squat) and an explosive/hamstring move (power clean).

How to carry out the “Rapid Ascent” program for cardio and fat loss:

Coach Dan points out that you could also get a great cardio workout and burn some fat:

“To “hurry up” the trainingas if it was necessary, there were times when Mr. Freeman recommended combining the Power Clean and Military Pressesone clean and one press, repeated for a total of eight reps. this was done with a lighter weight. One could also do the Front Squats after the clean and presses, too. I have only done this onceand it was an amazing cardiovascular workout.”

So if you believe you don’t have enough equipment to get into your best shape and reach your fitness goals you are incorrect. You are incorrect. You are incorrect.

In fact, you don’t even need a barbell. You can get underway with the DoubleYourGains’ bodyweight program. You can do pullups on your door frame (for extra strong fingers) or just grab the top of a door and go to town (or a tree limb, anything you can hang from, etc) Have faith in me, if THAT workout gets easy for you - you will be a certified STUD.

After that, as soon as you get hold of good Olympic barbell set you can start the DoubleYourGains’ 3-5 Program.

Your spine is arguably the most important structure in your body, so it’s important to take care of it. Your spine gets a lot of compression from daily activities, gravity and general life. Add to that the extra compression you give it with strength training and you better start decompressing it.

Back health is extremely important, and I’m willing to bet most of you have back pain currently. I myself hurt my lower back about a year ago, and this is one of the methods I used to get it back to 99% (still sometimes gets tight or painful). I’ll do a complete post on why you have back pain and how to fix it later, but read this now.

What you want to do is follow a trouble-free decompression technique that helps to keep your backbone strong and mobile by helping it decompress to its original length.

Here’s all you need to know…

How To Do Spine Decompressions

You’ll need a pull-up bar to do your decompressions. After you have that piece of equipment, there’s two ways to go about this:

1. Take Gravity Boots: This is the technique that I employ. These are boots that you tie onto your ankles and have hooks on them so you can hang upside down from your pullup bar without harm and let your spinal column to decompress. I utilize Teeter Hang Ups Gravity Boots. An additional bonus is that with these boots I can execute reversed sit ups for my abs and other hip “upside down” exercises.

2. Hang With Your Hands: This is easy. Simply hang from your pull-up bar and relax all your muscles-hold it for as long as possible. The longer you hang the better shoot for at least 5 minutes and build up from there. You probably can’t hang that long, so here’s

How To Hang On Longer With Your Hands

The longer you hang the better, though your grip will most likely give out. While I would never suggest making use of lifting straps for your usual lifting, I recommend them for decompressions since it will allow you to grip longer. Prefer nylon-type lifting straps or lifting hook straps since they’re extra strong.

How To Ease Your Muscles So Your Backbone Decompresses

Your muscles need to be calm in order for your spinal column to decompress (staying tight won’t help). Here’s what to do whether you’re making use of the gravity boots method or the hanging from your hands method:

* Hang off the pull-up bar

* Take a deep breath and sustain it

* Tighten up your whole body (focus on abs, glutes and make fists)

* Hold your whole body tense for 5 seconds

* Let it all out, your breath and all the tension. Relax

When you do this you’ll feel your whole body relaxing and you’ll probably “drop” down a little bit. You’ll probably feel your back decompressing, especially the first few times.

How Frequent You Must Decompress

Every day is great. Though I have to admit that I don’t do it day by day always. But you certainly should aim to do it as much as possible. If you get tired hanging upside down you can read a book or something. It’s great to do these right after your strength training sessions, right after your settle down-think of it as a part of your cooldown.

I can practically assure you’re not front squatting enough or in any way. For some reason, you don′t see a lot of gym goers (particularly bodybuilders) making use of this time-tested workout.

Crossfit has gone a long way towards bringing it back (much like Justin Timberlake brought sexy back), but if you’re not doing crossfit - it’s probably not even on your radar.

This is a shame because if you want to achieve maximum strength and power build awesome quads sculpt a killer six-pack and save your “tweaked” lower back then you’re going to appreciate the front squat.

Here’s 2 reasons why you should front squat for a better body:

1. Get Better Quads - The front squat is an EXCELLENT movement to get bigger, stronger quads-probably the best exercise there is. Because you’re position is more upright, it emphasizes the quads more.

2. Get Stronger, More Cut Abs (Core) - Because you’re holding the weight in front of your body, and you must remain upright your entire core gets a great workout trying to stabilize the weight and keep you upright. If you find you’re leaning forward a lot when you back squat, you’ll quickly get stronger and fix this problem if you switch to front squats for a while.

Front squats aren′t just good for building a better looking body either! They’re also really good at just making you more fit and keeping you more healthy. What good is looking strong if you have to sacrifice your health in the process?

Here’s the five more reasons why you have to Front Squat for better well-being:

1. Makes Your Other Lifts Better - Because the bar is placed ahead of you, on your shoulders, the front squat is enormously like other exercises and strengthens the “base″ of those lifts/presses. Power Cleans, Overhead Presses, Overhead Squats, and so on all share the same “starting” position as the front squat. Getting stronger and more comfortable with Front Squats will help you in those exercises as well.

2. Bad Form Gets Self-Corrected - If you’re back squatting with bad form you can wrap up the exercise at the cost of causing harm to yourself. The advantage about front squats is the form is self correcting: If you’re not straight enough you’ll drop the bar if you’re not holding the bar properly you’ll drop it if you don′t keep your elbows up you’ll drop it. It’s a training that pretty much forces your form to be smashing.

3. Less Weight - When all is said and done, if you can defy your body with less weight (because you’re doing a harder training) then it is safer. Because the Front Squat is harder than Back Squats you won′t be able to lift as much weight. Which means a reduced amount of spinal compression.

4. More Natural Spine Position - You’re more upright with the front squat your spine is in a more balanced “straight” position. This combined with the fact you’re lifting a smaller amount of weight is beneficial for your spine in time.

5. Lower Back Approved - Most people have lower back problems and back squats aggravate these conditions. But because your upper body is mostly upright (instead of leaning forward like in a back squat) there’s less force on your lower back. I started front squatting after I hurt my lower back.

You most likely know by now that drinking beyond 1-2 drinks of alcohol (in any form) each day is NOT good for you. Here’s why:

* Body treats it like estrogen, which is your enemy

* Delays fat loss.

* Extremely high in empty calories.

* Mess up the quality of sleep.

* Dehydrates you (main cause of hangovers)

* Surely bad for your liver.

My expert advice: Don’t drink at all if you want to lose a lot of fat as possible and attain extreme muscle gains.

But let’s face it. This is the real world, and you probably like to drink as much as the next guy (the younger you are the more you probably like to drink). So here’s some tips to keep your muscle building and fat loss on progress when you choose to “indulge”:

Load up on Water

Loads of the bad stuff that comes from drinking can be restrained with water consumption. Alcohol dehydrates you, therefore drink plenty of water before, during (if possible) and certainly before hitting the sack. Moreover, alcohol helps your body do away with great amount of toxins you just doused it with in the form of alcohol.

Avoid Sugary mixers

Avoid sugary mixers in your hard alcohol. Having sugar while drinking alcohol is the worse thing you can do for fat gain.

No carbs

If you′re drinking alcohol don’t eat carbs beforehand, during or after. To sum up: The carbs get turned to fat much easier because your body is trying to process the alcohol. And Protein will stay with you longer so you won’t eat as much and the higher thermic rate makes it less likely to promote fat gain.

Follow the 1-2 drinks a day during weekdays

There’s already enough evidence to suggest that 1-3 drinks a day is good for you. If you love drinking a beer or two a day or glasses of wine or whatsoever, don’t worry about it. Try not to splurge EVERY night. If you′re going to binge

Drink hard only two times a week.

Such as Friday and and Saturday, or something like that. Here’s what to do: Don’t eat plenty during the day if you′re going to whoop it up that night. After that make sure you get some good protein into your system to help protect your stomach. In addition, some foods high in fiber like beans is good as well. It will remain with you and help you feel fuller, perhaps absorb some toxins-definitely help flush them out the next day when you “eliminate”.

Workout 2-3 hours before you get down

Because your muscles get depleted of glycogen after you workout doing this might make it easier for your body to turn even more of the empty calories you ingest later on that night into muscle, instead of fat.

Don’t eat too much once you get drunk

Most people drink till they’re really drunk, then get hungry and decide to eat a bunch of crap food. This is NOT going to help. Follow the protein tip above, and drink more water to help you feel full.

Amuse yourself with beer pong or other games

As a matter of fact, you could actually burn 20-30 calories in a “Vigorous” game of beer pong. You′ll almost certainly drink more though as a result. My advice: Drink a lesser amount to make your aim better - therefore you drink less during the game (because you′re winning) which overall leads to less drinking! Play “strip″ versions of these games for even more fun.

If you just want to get drunk, be disciplined

It’s NOT healthy (emotionally, mentally OR physically) to drink to “get drunk” but I realize this is why most people do it. They drink because they think it makes them more confident, more brave, or more well liked. That’s all bullsh*t, you really need to get your confidence issues handled, but I realize most people still do it.

Therefore if you′re drinking for “effect” then remember: be disciplined. Get a high alcohol spirit like Everclear or 151, cut it with ice and water, or do a couple shots, you′ll get drunk faster. And you won’t have to drink as much. (at least it’s better than drinking 36 beers right?)

I can’t believe I’m giving this advice, but I know people will still do it, so just be “efficient” about it and maybe it’ll help you not to go overboard next time.

Go for low-fat beers and wines

Light beers has the lowest calories. Dark stouts like Guinness are next. Followed by the rest. Red wines has reduced calories (and contain extra resveratrol), followed by the rest.

Things to do when you′re hangover:

Here’s some tips if you might be hangover in the morning:

* Stay away from NSAID’s such as aspirin, ibuprofen, and all that because mixed with the alcohol it is tremendously bad for your liver and stomach, and the like…

* Grab some water and Gatorade to restore electrolytes and all that…

* Take a multivitamin/multi-mineral to further replenish

* Proteins are great to comfort you such as eggs, bacon, and all that…

* Exercise moderately to sweat some toxins out (make sure you keep drinking water)

* Catch some z’s…

You know you wouldn’t though if you do

Decide to “over indulge” you should at least follow the guidelines I’ve set out here. The real issue you should address is:

“Why do I feel the need to drink too much?”

You′ll probably discover that it’s an issue with your self confidence not being able to say “no” to your friends or trying to “Fit in” or some other such nonsense. Or you don’t like reality and you′re just trying to escape from it by getting trashed. None of these things are good for you and you need to get these issues handled before you do some damage.

Aerobics (long, steady state sub-maximal cardio) aren’t smashing for various health or fat loss related benefits. I’ve already done a post on why aerobic’s inefficient for fat loss. In addition, I look into the health benefits of interval training against steady-state aerobics in my interval training for fat loss article.

Though I should admit aerobic exercise has its place. It can be a beneficial tool in getting rid of stubborn body fat in the areas males get it most (the abs) and females (butt, hips and thighs) But only if you do it on one of these two occasions (and I’ll explain why as well!):

Time #1 You Should Do Aerobics: After Interval Training

To start with, let’s look at what intervals and aerobics do in your body

Steady state go after heart rate cardio (aerobics). Utilizes fat for energy, but the problem is it takes a long time to exercise for the body to start making use of fat as energy for this kind of cardio.

Above average intensity interval training. Burns glycogen and releases fatty acids into the blood stream, but it doesn’t use those fatty acids for energy, which means they get redeposited into the fat cells.

Here’s how you obtain the both of best worlds:

1. Execute your 12 minutes or less of interval training

2. Hang about 5 minutes

3. Do 20 (maximum 30) minutes of steady state cardio (aerobics)

When you do it this way, the HIIT followed by 5 minutes rest guarantees a large release of fatty acids into the blood stream, which means you’re guaranteed to be burning fat as fuel when you do your aerobics! Neat huh?

Time #2 You Should Do Aerobics: After Weight Lifting

Intense weight lifting is very similar to Hight Intensity Interval Training in the effects that it has on your body, the fuel it uses, etc. So the only other time you should do aerobic cardio is after your weight lifting.

I recommend 20-30 mins of low-medium intensity steady state cardio after weight lifting.

Why You Must Know This

CNS overload: If you’re lifting weightily, concentrating on strength, doing low reps with heavy weights 3x per week, you’re working your central nervous system to improve your strength (for the most part). Interval training on your “off” days may be a burden for some people, steady state aerobics after weights is a good alternative if that’s you.

Stubborn fat: If you’re already around 10-12% body fat (guys) or 15-17% bf (women) and you need to get SUPER ripped, then you should employ the HIIT followed with aerobics in this case. It will help strip away those last stubborn pounds.