Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Ripped Like Rambo the Supplement Edition

Wanna Get Yoked Up out Yo Mind?


Of course you do...


This particular blog post is a follow up from my last blog post Ripped Like Rambo .  Check it out first to get caught up to speed.

If you are a Jedi Master at applying the Plus 1 rule, Use Big Movers and Hardcore body weight exercises and Practice Consistency and Intensity recommendations.... CHEERS TO YOU!  You my friend are ahead of the game.  So what else can you do to improve your quest for rippedness???

Now pay attention... Because what I am about to say here is crucial for any type of success in performance, body composition, or life.  Yes, I said life because its that serious....

Rule numero uno for getting ripped:  Nutrition/clean eating.

Rule number 2 for getting ripped:  Nutrition/clean eating.

Rule number 3 for getting ripped: Everything else.

NUTRITION IS KEY!

If you do not have your nutrition squared away it will be very hard to see results.  If you have any questions about proper nutrition feel free to email me at steve@versusstrengthandconditioning.com

I will gladly answer some questions for you.  Oh, and any coach at Versus is more than equipped to help you with any questions.

Anything else I can add?

Yes!  Supplements!  I am hesitant to address supplements because I know how our society works.  Folks, lets be honest.  We are always looking a quick fix.  We are always looking for the fastest, easiest, or dare I say laziest way to go about earning our fitness... "Hey do you have a pill I can take so  I can lose 50lbs in 2 weeks."

Sorry Charlie.  Homie don't play that.

Before you rely solely on supplementation of any kind, please remember you must have your nutrition squared away!!!

Here is a basic list of my CYA Supplements:

1. Multi Vitamin-  Ask any Doctor anywhere, "Should I be taking a multi vitamin?"  99.9% of them will say yes.  No I haven't polled 1.5million doctors and I don't have empirical data, but use your noggin and take a multi vitamin.  Also, the CDC released a study (the data is 6 years old) citing Americans are doing pretty dang good on the vitamin front!  GOOOO USA!

2.  Fish Oil-  I had an ER doctor tell me once... "Steve, eat fish oil like its candy."  Fish Oil has many many benefits.  Check out this FISH OIL blog post to edu-mah-cate yo'self.

3.  Protein Powder-  There are 1.8 billion different types of protein powder out in consumer land.  So which one should you buy?  Good question!  What are your goals, when are you planning on taking it, are you lactose intolerant, are you gluten intolerant, are you from planet crypton?  If you answered yes to the last question... you're silly.

I'll do a entire post dedicated to protein powder but for now just focus on this:

Low Sugar, Low Carb and first ingredient needs to be "whey protein isolate", thats if you don't have any allergy problems with whey.  MORE ON THIS LATER.

Now Here is a List of my Ripped Like Rambo Supplements:

1.  Anabolic Steroids ( I kid.  I kid.)  I did have a professor in college tell me once, "Steve, anything that is banned or outlawed works.  Its creates and unfair advantage for the athlete.  Its outlawed because it WORKS"

The REAL Number 1.  Multi Vitamin- yup again.

2.  Fish Oil- yup again.

3. Protein Powder- More to come

4.  Pre/During Workout Drink- Basically a combination of Protein and Fast acting carbs.  If weight loss and muscle gain is your goal, check out BCAA supplementation instead.

5.  Creatine Monohydrate-  Creatine is one of the most widely researched supplements out there.  Google it and find out!  However,  I tend to stay away from all the fancy versions of creatine because there isn't enough science out there to support the "newness" or the higher price tag.  So, I stick with regular old creatine by PRO LAB.  If you turn the bottle around it has only one ingredient and that makes me happy inside.  I could write about this all day, so I will dedicate more time to creatine in the  Protein Powder Blog post.

So here are some key take aways:

1.  Get your nutrition in order
2.  Get your nutrition in order
3.  Take a multi vitamin, fish oil and protein powder to CYA
4.  Add in some creatine and a pre/during workout drink!

As always, you need to check with your doctor before starting anything new.  But do you think Rambo checked with a doctor before putting on his boots and kicking terrorist butt?

-Nope

But seriously ask your doctor about any of the above info for his or her approval.

Saturday, March 23, 2013

iam VSC Challenge results



THE CHALLENGE WAS:
On January 26th, 10 people were selected to be on “Team Steve” and compete against two other teams in a 6 week nutrition and performance point based challenge. Each week to earn points, team members had to complete and turn in extra homework assignments, keep a food journal, and complete Saturday Team workouts. If you did not complete a homework, missed a team workout, had mess up in the food journal or did not turn in anything, there were point deductions. To kick start the challenge we had a benchmark workout which we retested at the end. A point system was based off of how much weight you used in the benchmark and if you went up in weight for the retest, improved your time, or both. Combining all points from the 6 weeks, the team with the most points after the final workout was the winner!


TEAM STEVE RESULTS:
All of my team did amazing! Everyone improved mile times, lost some serious weight and crushed the retest of the bench mark workout with heavier weight and new PRs! I was so proud to coach a fantastic group! Here are their fantastic end of challenge stats!

Kristen-

beginning mile time was 7:22
ending mile time was: 7:16

Cut a minute off time from the Final Workout and also used a heavier weight for the Final Workout!

Josh Moore-

My major accomplishment is I was able to run my fastest ever mile at 7:29 at 270 pounds. That was a minute improvement.

Beginning mile time 8:30 min mile
Ending mile time 7:29 min mile

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Abs Abs Abs

Here is a nice little article on developing abs: Click Here

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Do you want to get Ripped like Rambo?



 How do you build lean muscle mass?  We all want to know this.  Here are few quick, easy and straight forward tips that you can add to your routine.  You will see results immediately if you follow this simple advice.  Ditch the crazy drop sets, negatives, complicated rep schemes etc and get ready to grow.

1.  To build lean muscle mass you need to get stronger.

If you go to the gym and continue to lift the same set of dumbbells you always lift, you will never get stronger.  Your body adapts to stimulus that you apply to it.  If you want to build muscle you MUST apply new stimulus and force your body to adapt to new stress and stimulus.  How?  Simple.  I call it the "Plus 1 Rule".  

If you lifted 100lbs ten times last week, try and lift 105lbs eleven times this week.  Maybe 105lbs is too heavy and 100lbs feels just fine.  Stick with 100lbs but add more reps.  Always strive to add more reps and more weight over time.  Basic rule of gaining lean muscle mass!  

Take Away:  Plus 1 Rule

2.  Use multi joint movements and grandpa exercises. 

If your workout routine consist of bicep curls, tricep kick backs and calve raises... it will be very hard to add any serious amount of muscle.  However, if you replace those simple finishing movements with exercises that move multiple joints at one time... now we're talking.  I like to call these multi-joint exercises "Big Movers".  Dead Lift and its many variations, Squat and its many variations, Press and its many variations,  Pulls or Rows and its many variations are all BIG MOVERS.  A friend of mine said this one time, "What do you think will help you more in a bar fight, a 40lb dumbbell curl or a 400lb dead lift."  My response was, "Dude, did you get in a bar fight last night."  But you get what I am saying.  Big Movers recruit more muscle!
Grandpa exercises... Say what?  When my grandfather joined the military he was strong.  Why?  Because he worked in the fields all day.  Even with all the field work he told me he still found the military PT Test hard.  The "Old PT Test" circa 1946 had pull ups, burpees, push ups, situps, jump squats, and sprints!!!  So taking the advice of grandpa and using hardcore body weight exercises like pull ups, push ups (tons of variations), squats (single leg if possible), handstand push ups, dips, muscle ups, etc... will build awesome lean muscle mass!

Take Away:  BIG MOVERS and Hardcore body weight exercises with the added plus 1 rule!

3.  Consistency and Intensity

If you plan on going to the gym 3 times a MONTH... stop reading now.  Building lean muscle mass is measured in MONTHS and YEARS not days.  If you love going to the gym, hit it hard 3-4 times a week and really bust your butt... you will see results.  However, if you are the type of person that doubts your training program, switches from the latest muscle and fitness program to the 5-3-1 program, to the double reverse pyramid program and back to the westside barbell conjugate system... Dude, get ready for some setbacks.

Take Away:  Plus 1 rule, Big Movers and Hardcore body weight exercises and Consistency and Intensity

If you follow these simple rules you will get results!  So, is there anything else you can do to help speed up the process?  What about supplements?  Check back next week for what supplements I believe can push your progress to the next level.  Until then strive to be Ripped Like Rambo #RLR!