Tip of the week Tip: Eat enough cholesterol
There is no correlation between cholesterol intake and the levels of bad cholesterol in your blood. You need cholesterol to increase your testosterone levels.
The cholesterol - testosterone connection
Testosterone is made from cholesterol. There is no other way for our body to produce testosterone naturally. Therefore, if you abstain from cholesterol, you can be sure that you are compromising the production of one of the most powerful muscle-building hormones: Testosterone. It's time to give up egg whites and chicken breast.
But cholesterol is bad!
What about the potential health consequences of cholesterol-rich foods? Recent research shows that we may have been completely wrong in our views on cholesterol in the past. There appears to be little correlation between dietary cholesterol intake and blood cholesterol levels. This is especially true when carbohydrates are minimized. These studies also show that people with higher cholesterol levels tend to live longer.
Don't get this wrong: you should not deliberately try to raise your serum cholesterol levels. Neither should you worry about eating too much cholesterol. Eat mostly organic foods, minimize starchy foods, eat plenty of vegetables, use a fish oil supplement and exercise regularly.
What you should be concerned about is your serum triglyceride levels. High cholesterol levels have been shown to be a major red flag when it comes to potential cardiovascular problems and disease. Minimize your triglyceride levels by reducing your total carbohydrate intake, consuming omega-3 fatty acids and green tea daily, and spending at least 5 hours per week doing a mix of resistance training and energy system training.
Eat more eggs and less poultry
I eat with Pavel Tsatsouline more often. I'll never forget the first time. I ordered chicken tacos. When I ordered them, he gave me a threatening look and said "Chicken will make you weak." He then told me that whole eggs are good for two reasons. First, they are excellent for helping you build muscle and strength. Second, they keep chickens from being born
He's right. Whole eggs, beef, shrimp, cheese and other cholesterol-rich foods are essential to maximize your testosterone levels.
Tip: Build biceps with 5-3 countdowns
This is one of the best training methods for biceps. It's very different, but very effective.
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-build-your-biceps-with-5-3-countdowns
This method is known as the 5-3 countdown method. Although it can be used for almost any lagging muscle group, it has proven to be particularly effective for lagging biceps. Here's how this method works:
Overview
Perform several training sessions per week during which you tighten your biceps hard under load for a predetermined period of time, followed by isometric holds with repetitions through the full range of motion.
The execution
After warming up, move on to cable curls. Cable curls work better than barbell curls in this method.
- Curl the weight upwards and hold it in the highest position. Tense your muscles hard for 5 seconds (this is the first isometric hold of the exercise. Then perform 5 normal repetitions through the full range of motion without pausing. Pause for just 10 seconds and then move on to the next step.
- After the 10-second pause, do it again, with the isometric hold now only lasting 4 seconds. Then perform 4 normal repetitions and pause again for 10 seconds.
- Repeat one more time, holding the isometric contraction for only 3 seconds and then perform 3 normal repetitions.
- All of the above is one set. After this, rest for about 3 minutes and perform a total of 3 sets.
Frequency is the key
Three of these sets of one exercise is all you need for your biceps that day. It may not seem like much, but the magic here is in the frequency. Perform this program three to four times a week with at least one day of rest between each biceps workout. You can also train other muscle groups on this day, but always start with the biceps training as it is a specialization plan.
Many trainers also like to use this method for triceps on the same day. Tricep presses on the cable with a rope grip work quite well with this method.
Explanation
It is optimal to combine the longest isometric contractions with the highest number of repetitions. You do most of the work when you have the most energy and then the duration of the isometric contractions and the repetitions decrease to take account of the accumulation of fatigue.
Tip: Avoid these training mistakes
Do you want to become more muscular and stronger? Then you need to eliminate these bad habits.
By Paul Carter
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-avoid-this-major-training-mistake
Have you ever thought the following? "I'm doing program X and getting good results. Hmm, maybe I should switch to program Y and try that one."
Think about this for a minute. You're already getting good results, but you want to try something else...to see if you get good results? That doesn't make sense. How about sticking with what's working and making minimal changes when progress stalls?
Stop hopping from training program to training program
Training program hopping is out of control these days. Why? Often it's a matter of imitation. People see someone very muscular and naturally ask what training program that person is using. They say there are no secrets to working out, but there are some. Here's one of them:
Copying someone else's training program will not make you look like that person. Don't change a program that's already working well for you because you're having a bout of penis envy.
Most strong exercisers have something in common - they have a good intuition about what works for them and they use this as a basic guideline for their training over the years. Six-time Mr. Olympia Dorian Yates has changed his training program exactly three times since he started bodybuilding. Three times. He found out what worked for him and used it to his advantage until he was forced to make changes.
The lesson
Don't jump from program to program if what you're doing is working. Find a set of common sense principles that work for you and spend your years planning your training around them. This foundation is the source from which you can draw to continue making progress.
Tip: Start every training session with a strength exercise
Focus on a heavy basic exercise and then perform some supportive training.
By Christian Thibaudeau
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-start-every-workout-with-a-strength-move
Focus on the exercise and not the muscle group
Base each training session on a basic exercise and not on a muscle group. And depending on how you perform on that exercise, use supporting exercises to eliminate the weak points. You don't need to spend a lot of time working on your natural strengths because these are sufficiently trained by the main exercise. It's the weak links in the chain that need extra work.
If you have dominant quadriceps and a weak gluteus, then you don't need much (or any) extra stimulus for the quadriceps as they will already be getting plenty of stimulus from squat training. If there is a personal strength, then your body will tend to use it more during squats.
Your supportive training should therefore be chosen in such a way that it strengthens the weak links in the chain of your main exercise. The main exercise also serves as a diagnostic tool to tell you what you need to correct and as an evaluation tool to tell you whether the supporting exercises are fulfilling their purpose.
Start with the main exercise, choose a strength exercise that addresses your weak point and then perform one to three smaller targeted exercises to strengthen the individual muscles. Don't waste volume on muscles that are already dominant. Your body only has a limited capacity to adapt.
Examples
Divide your training week into these four training sessions:
- Deadlift and supporting exercises
- Bench press and supporting exercises
- Squats and supporting exercises
- Overhead press and supporting exercises
You don't have to use these exact exercises, but a very closely related variation should be the center of your workouts.
Tip: Prioritize for maximum results
Muscular, strong exercisers do this. Lean, weak exercisers do not. Here's a hard lesson you need to learn.
By Paul Carter | 06/19/16
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-prioritize-for-maximum-results
The best way to be bad
The best way to get average results is to try to do everything at once. You understand the concept of "long time" under the bar.
Ask unsuccessful exercisers about their goals. The list will be longer than the menu at McDonalds. "Well, I want to get rid of fat in X area. I also want to bench press X kilos and build up X centimetres on my arms and become more muscular overall and take part in a bodybuilding competition and then take part in a powerlifting competition..."
Six months later, nothing has changed for these people. They haven't made any progress and they haven't achieved any of their goals. They are not more muscular, stronger or leaner.
Instead, do the following
Choose a goal and focus all your energy on achieving it within a realistic time frame. If you're trying to get defined, don't whine about a few drops in strength here and there.
Are you trying to increase your bench press performance or do you want to get lean for the beach? If you want to gain a few inches on your arms, you should be aware that you also need to build muscle mass across your body, and you can prioritize your arm training for a while. After all, you won't find anyone who weighs 70 kilos and has 50-something upper arms.
The lesson
Stop dancing at several weddings. Do what really muscular guys do: focus on one thing and give it your all to achieve that goal.
Tip: Follow the 2 day rule
This easy-to-follow guideline will maximize your recovery and ensure that every training session leads to gains.
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-follow-the-two-day-rule
There are two guidelines you should follow if you
- Train hard and heavy
- Are an experienced exerciser
1. do not train more than 2 days in a row
Even if your goal is to maximize your muscle mass, your program should be based on getting stronger at the big basic exercises. To put your body in the best possible position to perform these exercises at a high level during each training session, it's best not to train more than two days in a row.
Yes, it is possible to train more often, but your performance will suffer on the third training session. The only way that will work in the long run is to keep one or two of these workouts fairly light. If you plan to train hard every session - if you plan to do basic exercises and supporting exercises - then you should avoid training more than 2 days in a row.
Remember that it's not about how much you can do and get away with it - it's about training at the highest possible level every time you go to the gym. If you're not working to improve in some way at every training session, then you're just wasting your time.
2. don't take a break two days in a row
Having trained athletes at a high level for years, I can say this with certainty: when athletes do a Monday/Tuesday/Thursday/Friday training program, the first training session of the week will always be their worst. You might think that after a weekend off, an athlete would be well rested and should perform better. This is not the case.
Even if a person is physically rested, performance will suffer because the nervous system is sluggish after 2 days off and it is harder to activate the nervous system during the training session. This is the reason that under normal circumstances (apart from illness and injury) I strongly recommend never resting for two days in a row.
How you can apply these rules
- Monday: Training day 1
- Tuesday: Training day 2
- Wednesday: No training
- Thursday: Training day 3
- Friday: No training
- Saturday: Training day 4
- Sunday: No training
This is the training split that should allow you to complete the highest number of training sessions with maximum quality per week.
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/diet-fat-loss/tip-eat-enough-cholesterol
By Chad Waterbury