Everything you need to know about High Intensity Interval Training

High Intensity Interval Training workouts have become fairly popular during the last few years replacing, to some extent, the other forms of cardio when it comes to burning fat. But why is it that more and more people prefer High Intensity Interval Training exercises? Which are the benefits of this cardio workout in comparison to steady-state walking, running on the treadmill or cycling? And how could this be a benefit to your hardcore bodybuilding workout?

Let’s take a closer look and see what HIIT is all about, and the benefits that it brings to the table.

What is High Intensity Interval Training?

High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). It differs from the high intensity training of Mike Mentzer, where he would utilize heavy sets and the utmost intensity on each rep. Instead, HIIT became quite the popular form of cardio during the 1990s. A well-known researcher in the field at the time was the Japanese sports scientist Izumi Tabata. Tabata conducted extensive research on interval training and concluded that the health benefits from traditional cardio can also be achieved by combining high intensity and low intensity intervals in the same workout.

After Tabata, many sport scientists researched interval training and shaped it to what it is today. High Intensity Interval Training is a specific cardiovascular exercise that combines brief intense intervals of aerobic activity with longer recovery periods of less intense activity. In HIIT the high speed intervals can reach an intensity of 8-9 on a scale of 10 and can last from 30 seconds to 5 min. The low speed intervals can reach an intensity of 4-5 on a scale of 10 and usually last longer than the speed intervals (for example, 30 sec of fast sprint followed by 1 min of light jogging).

Before the actual HIIT a 5 minute warm up is done in order to get your body ready. Also at the end of the exercise a 5 minute cool down is performed to bring back your heart rate at normal levels. The entire HIIT session can last between 4 minutes and 30 minutes and this is why it is an excellent from of cardio for those who don’t have much time available.

Because HIIT exercises are physically demanding, building up your training program gradually is the best thing to do. In this way you allow your body to cope with the increased effort and avoid potential injuries. Once you have followed several weeks of HIIT and your body is used to the additional workload, try to maximize your benefits by exerting yourself during the high intensity intervals until you feel a slight burning in your muscles (anaerobic zone). Alternatively you can shorten your recovery intervals if you don’t exert yourself to the extreme during the high intensity periods.

What are the Benefits of HIIT Exercises?

There are many benefits of High Intensity Interval Training exercises. HIIT is known for aiding in the following benefits:

– Improves your aerobic and anaerobic fitness
– Reduces your abdominal and subcutaneous fat (fat under the skin)
– Increases the number of calories you burn after the exercise
– Increases your general metabolic rate
– Increases your fat burning potential
– Requires less time for the same results
– Decreases the amount of muscle lost

Now, the issue with a lot of cardio exercises is that often it will not burn enough fat, and can sometimes burn off muscle. However, HIIT helps to preserve muscle while burning fat, a bit better than your standard cardio workouts.

Is HIIT a Safe Workout?

High Intensity Interval Training workouts are really beneficial but can also have their disadvantages. While they are a great way to improve your stamina, doing an HIIT more than twice a week, especially if you are a beginner, can put great stress on your body, and have adverse affects. Too much stress on the body can result in difficulty gaining muscle mass and burning fat. Therefore it is better to incorporate HIIT into your training gradually, and then ramping it up as time goes on. Another thing you could do is to start with longer periods of recovery that you can gradually make briefer as you increase the intensity of your workout.

To put it simply, doing too many interval trainings a week can increase the metabolic stress in your body leading to opposite results from what you had expected, and no one wants that. Therefore when you use HIIT you should allow adequate recovery time in order for your body to replenish its energy resources.

Last but not least, HIIT exercises are not ideal for beginners or people with cardiovascular problems. This is why if you belong to any of these categories, you should ask your doctor first before performing an HIIT.

HIIT Workout Example

Below is an HIIT workout example that you can apply to any kind of cardio you like (walking, running, cycling or stair climbing).

HIIT workouts can vary widely depending on the level of difficulty and the focus you want to give, so this is not meant to be taken as the only way to do things. The best thing that you can do is try to experiment with shorter and longer high intensity and low intensity intervals and see what best matches your body. Another great idea is to alternate steady-state cardio with HIIT training. In this way you can get the maximum benefits for your body and bring your training to the next level.

When trying to cut and get lean, HIIT can be the perfect way for bodybuilders to prevent losing muscle as they cut the weight. If you haven’t tried the technique and need some help with cutting the weight and saving the muscle give this workout a try.

Wrap Up

Overall, HIIT training is a style that can bring a lot of benefits to the table, and has become recently popular in the fitness industry. Do you think that HIIT training is a good addition to the bodybuilding workout?

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Long-Term Fat Loss: Is the Afterburn Effect Burnt Out?

Have you ever heard of the Afterburn Effect? Basically, the premise of it is if you work super hard you can get your body to burn tons of fat even long after you’ve finished workout and left the gym for the day. It is apparently how all these big guys stay lean.

This is something I heard about in a gym while I was training a few years ago. I remember thinking to myself that I’ve heard of that effect before and I had never looked into it much. I knew what EPOC was (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption) and that is a real thing, but can you actually burn a significant amount of calories that would lead to fat loss or at the very least the maintenance of fat loss long-term? Let’s find out!

Weight Loss Maintenance

You’ve probably been training for a decent amount of time, and once you do you start to realize that achieving goals is one thing; holding onto them for long periods of time is a whole other animal. It’s true that when it comes to muscle mass, it takes far less volume to maintain it than it does to build it (I’ve covered volume thresholds for hypertrophy in a previous article) [1]. However, do the same rules apply to fat loss?

If we’re talking about long-term weight-loss maintenance in the general population, success, as it’s defined by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, is losing 10% of initial body weight and keeping it off for at least 1 year [2]. If you’re in the field, maybe you’ve had clients that have difficulty with weight-loss maintenance, or maybe you’re having trouble with it yourself. In either case, we might look to training techniques as a way to improve our chances without making huge changes to diet – and this is where we might run into some problems because:

The Type of Training Matters

The word intensity gets thrown around a lot and depending on who you’re speaking to it could mean anything from weight used, to how fast your heart is beating, to even just your general perception of the workout. Personally, if we’re in the context of weight lifting, the intensity will always mean the load you are lifting. For circuit training and various forms of HIIT, then I’ll replace that with the percentage of max heart rate.

So let’s talk about high effort, high HR intervals. This would be the obvious choice for the afterburn effect considering how much you need to push yourself to remain at consistently high output. That leads us to a study by Kelly et al. that tested two cardio-based HIIT workouts and their effects on energy expenditure and resting energy expenditure (this is the one that matters for afterburn).

Both groups completed a HIIT cardio workout with one group performing the workout for 10-minutes and the other for 40-minutes. In terms of total energy expenditure and resting energy expenditure post-workout, the results favored the longer duration workout which is not surprising, but that REE increase amounts to a measly 92.9 extra kcals burned [3].

Definitely not the long-lasting calorie scorcher we’re looking for here.

Alright, Let’s Get Jacked Instead

Well, I’m glad cardio intervals weren’t the answer here because now that saves me from having to do them. Besides, the more muscle you have the more calories you burn right?

A study by Hunter and colleagues researched just that in elderly participants. The reason I prefer this study population is that in most cases they already have inadequate muscle mass which means we can potentially observe significant changes. These folks were training 3x/week and getting yolked! The average increase in fat-free mass was 2kg while losing 3.4% body fat within 26 weeks.

Not bad at all.

The researchers measured REE before and after the study was complete and found a “significant” improvement in REE totaling a whopping 81 kcal extra burned per day [4]. That’s maybe half a hard candy – nowhere near enough to get these grannies and grandpas in speedo-shape (though that rarely stops them).

You know what, maybe they just weren’t working hard enough. They were pretty old, and I like to work way harder than that!

Push it to the Limit

I know what you’re thinking – your lifting workouts are way harder than cardio intervals or what those seniors were doing during their sessions. Where are the alpha workouts?

That’s where good ol’ Hackney and colleagues come in to save the day. They know what you want and they’re going to give it to you: an all-out savage lifting workout. It might not be exactly what you’re used to, but they included two groups of participants (trained and untrained) as well as incorporating eccentric tempos, multiple movements per set, and long sessions. We know these sessions were grueling because they also measured creatine kinase levels post-workout which is a direct measure of muscle damage and most of these guys were into very high levels, especially in the untrained group.

The results indicated a very high increase in REE even 72 hours after the workout which would be exciting, however, if you have read my previous article on training to failure, you can already suspect that there’s more at play here than simply creating enough extra calorie burn to reduce body fat. As the authors put it:

“Prolonged elevations in REE between 24 and 72 hours post-exercise may be triggered by factors associated with DOMS and the overall muscle-repair process. … The extent of the elevation was more pronounced in the UT group, indicating a greater degree of muscle damage.” (Hackney et al. 2008)

So, that spike in energy expenditure is due to your body working overtime in order to recover and remodel muscle tissue from the damage the workout caused.

These results are in line with a 2012 paper by Paoli et al that tested high-intensity resistance training versus traditional training in resistance-trained men. These guys were already decently advanced since the average body fat percentage was 8.5% (but I’m not very confident in that number). This training was a rest/pause style training so the participants were using intraset pauses to be able to lift a heavy weight many more times than they would have been able to without the rest. The results showed a solid 452 kcals/day extra that were burned post-workout.

However, while the results are impressive, the authors concluded the same outcome as Hackney and colleagues; the large increase in REE was more than likely because the post-workout re-synthesis of protein is very energy expensive [6].

Final Word

You can never go wrong with wanting to do more work, and no one can fault you for trying to get away with as much as possible in terms of results. We all want to live in a world where we can go to war in the gym and have the resulting effects of that workout continue for a day or two. In some ways they do – but not in the way that we used to think. That being said, here’s what we’ve learned:

Pure cardio-based workouts will burn more calories during training than weightlifting will, but any increase in energy expenditure afterward is minimal and subsides within an hour. While age-related decreases in fat-free mass reduce energy expenditure, increasing the total amount of muscle mass within realistic values doesn’t seem to have a significant effect on increasing REE. What does seem to have the biggest effect on increasing REE post-workout for up to several days is a large amount of muscle damage – the two downsides to this in my opinion are 1) You would have to live in a constant state of debilitating soreness, and 2) your body is too good at adapting to stimuli that you would run out of ways to create that damage. There is also the law of diminishing returns to think about.

There is definitely more room for research to be done on this subject. The studies that are presently available do not all measure REE the same way which can also lead me to wonder if they’re using certain methods in order to confirm their hypotheses.

Finally, I think this is just another way to confirm that there is no perfect workout method. In terms of impressive results, nothing will beat progressive overload, consistency, and eating for your goals.

References:

[1] Bickel, C. Scott, James M. Cross, and Marcas M. Bamman. “Exercise dosing to retain resistance training adaptations in young and older adults.” Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise 43, no. 7 (2011): 1177-1187.

[2] Wing, Rena R., and Suzanne Phelan. “Long-term weight loss maintenance–.” The American journal of clinical nutrition 82, no. 1 (2005): 222S-225S.

[3] Kelly, Benjamin, James A. King, Jonas Goerlach, and Myra A. Nimmo. “The impact of high-intensity intermittent exercise on resting metabolic rate in healthy males.” European journal of applied physiology 113, no. 12 (2013): 3039-3047.

[4] Hunter, Gary R., Carla J. Wetzstein, David A. Fields, Amanda Brown, and Marcas M. Bamman. “Resistance training increases total energy expenditure and free-living physical activity in older adults.” Journal of applied physiology (2000).

[5] Hackney, Kyle J., Hermann-J. Engels, and Randall J. Gretebeck. “Resting energy expenditure and delayed-onset muscle soreness after full-body resistance training with an eccentric concentration.” The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research 22, no. 5 (2008): 1602-1609.

[6] Paoli, Antonio, Tatiana Moro, Giuseppe Marcolin, Marco Neri, Antonino Bianco, Antonio Palma, and Keith Grimaldi. “High-Intensity Interval Resistance Training (HIRT) influences resting energy expenditure and respiratory ratio in non-dieting individuals.” Journal of translational medicine 10, no. 1 (2012): 1-8.

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10 Minute Full Body Workout You Can Do At Home

Work, tight schedules, bad weather can be amongst the many reasons why you might have to skip the gym. Not going to the gym should not be a reason for skipping your workouts. If you can’t go to the gym, bring the gym to yourself.

If you think a “10-minute-workout” isn’t for you, you are overestimating your abilities. Just because these are short workouts, doesn’t mean they are going to be easy. These workouts are intensity packed and will get you to your knees in 10 minutes.

1. Burpees – 30 Seconds

Perfecting the correct Burpees is a great way to start this 10-minute workout. 30 seconds of this exercise will make you realize what you have signed up for. This exercise is a total fat buster and will help you shed those extra kilos.

2. Squat Jumps – 30 Seconds

Now that your body is warmed up, squat jumps will pump all the blood into your legs. You need to make sure you’re following a complete range of motion in this exercise. Try going as deep as you can during the squats.

3. High Knees – 1 Minute

In this exercise, you mimic running while standing at a fixed point. Raise your knees as high as you can and try staying on your toes throughout the exercise. Keep your core tight and maintain a steady pace.

4. Push-Ups – 30 Seconds

We will be focusing on building upper body strength in this workout. If you have a problem performing 30-seconds of push-ups, feel free to perform assisted push-ups with your knees on the floor. You can also take a couple second rest to recover during the set.

5. Jumping Jacks – 1 Minute

Jumping jacks are incredibly efficient at burning calories and improving your agility. Performing this exercise for a minute will be a test for your cardiovascular system. You will know where you stand by the end of this one minute.

6. Squats – 30 Seconds

This is a high-intensity workout, you aren’t allowed to rest or slow down during your working sets. Squats are a compound movement which can help gain overall strength and muscles in your lower body.

7. Plank – 1 Minute

Planks are an indispensable exercise if you want a strong core. Most people make the mistake of hanging their crotch low or forming a bridge with their butt while performing this exercise. Your body should be in a straight line throughout this exercise.

8. Rest – 30 Seconds

You will appreciate this rest time more than ever before. Use this time to have water or lie down. Make sure you don’t slack and use some extra time. Get back to your workout when the clock hits 30 seconds.

9. Mountain Climbers – 30 Seconds

Mountain climbers will work your core and abs. This exercise is great if you want to build a shredded midriff. Maintain the same intensity throughout the exercise. Don’t stop before the time is over.

10. Shoulder Presses – 1 Minute

You don’t need weights for this exercise. Stand straight and mimic performing dumbbell shoulder presses. No weight shoulder presses might sound like a joke, but wait until you perform this exercise. Your shoulders will be on fire once you’re done.

11. Crunches – 1 Minute

Crunches are a staple in most cardio intensive workouts. Place your feet flat on the ground and your upper body should be perpendicular to the floor at the top of the movement. Exhale and squeeze your abs at the top of the movement to make the most of this exercise.

12. Lunges – 1 Minute

Perform bodyweight lunges for 30 seconds on each leg. This exercise will get your heart rate soaring and will help develop muscle definition and clarity in your legs. Your wheels will be filled with lactic acid at the end of this exercise.

13. Plank Pile Jumps – 1 Minute

This is the last exercise in your high-intensity workout. You should use everything you have left in the tank for this exercise. Start in a planking position, bend and jump your knees into your hands landing in a crouch on your toes. Return to the starting position and repeat.

Can you perform this workout without taking additional rest time? Let us know in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow Generation Iron on Facebook and Twitter.

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Work to optimize your physique and see great bodybuilding gains.

There’s no doubt that hard work is one of the most important elements behind any athletic endeavor and the science of perfecting your physique is incredibly important as you seek gains. There are no cheats that will help you easily become a star fitness athlete. But of course, this doesn’t mean that blind hard work pays off either and that is particularly true for bodybuilding.

It takes a very careful consideration to both nutrition and exercise to truly sculpt the body into something masterful. Behind all that hard work there is a science backing every decision up. Building your physique is an art form, like a sculptor molding a piece of stone into a marvelous statue. It is here at this intersection of art and science that a bodybuilder lives, carefully working with amounts of dosages of food and supplements while crafting their muscles to look symmetrical and uniform.

While it is true that some muscles do grow faster than others, and everyone is different so this may manifest itself differently, the right approach can take you a long way and lead you to those gains you seek the most. Understanding why you work so hard will pay off in the long run for you need to know the specifics of what you want to become. Having this goal in mind is exactly what you need most to see effective and worthwhile gains.

Let’s dive into the science of perfecting your physique and how best a bodybuilder can prepare for training and competition. Going beyond just hard work requires diligence and close attention to detail for again, both science and art sometimes require that fine tuning. At the end, you will have a physique others will most certainly envy.

Who’s In The Video

Ben Pakulski is a professional bodybuilder from Canada with some top finishes on the pro circuit. His work ethic and dedication to the bodybuilding craft has led him into other ventures outside the gym like a degree in Kinesiology and an author of a book surrounding bodybuilding and nutrition.

Dr. Jacob Wilson holds his doctorate in exercise physiology with other degrees in sports nutrition and sports psychology. A published author and dedicated researcher, his role is to conduct tests and see what is the most useful form of training and nutrition when it comes to competitive athletics.

What They Had To Say

Cardio

Dr. Wilson made it clear that running was one of the worst things for a bodybuilder to do. Not only does too much cardio limit muscle growth, but it will show a decline in strength as well. He makes this clear with an example involving Ben Pakulski.

Ben has massive legs and clearly needs to lift big weight with exercises like squats and the leg press to keep up his size. If Ben were to run longer distances, he would lose that valuable leg muscles and therefore, no longer be able to lift as much weight as he needs to during his heavy exercises.

Dr. Wilson says the best form of cardio is high intense cardio, or what most people refer to as high intensity interval training, where you will lose fat, raise your metabolism, and gain muscle. You get your heart rate up, don’t sacrifice gains, and still accomplish a fantastic workout (1,2).

Examples of high intensity interval training can range from burpees, high knees, or mountain climbers, all the way to hill sprints or bike sprints. This is really a preference of what you would like but the benefit to so many options is that you can pair certain exercises together to create a great combination and craft a well-organized training routine. As long as your heart rate gets going and you start to see amazing gains, the combination of exercises is all just a preference to you.

Supplements

In this video, Ben discusses supplements and what he believes is best to take. He starts with protein powder for those post-workout needs. A great protein powder will work to enhance muscle growth and repair those worn-down muscles, so they heal and grow back stronger. Along with this, it will enhance recovery and can lead to weight loss or better weight management since protein helps keep you full for longer with less snacking or cravings (3,4).

Glutamine is an amino acid found in your body and serves as the building block of protein. Ben makes it known that this is good to take either post-workout, or first thing in the morning and on an empty stomach. Glutamine works to enhance healthy gut function, improve muscle growth, and aid in other bodily functions to improve your health, wellness, and performance (5).

To keep up on your health, Ben talked about spacing vitamin C throughout the day with meals, while also taking a multivitamin. Vitamin C as we all know is a immune booster, along with other benefits, and a multivitamin can allow for those missed nutrients, or ones we are deficient in, to enter our bodies so we stay on top of everything we need most (6).

Lastly, Ben talks about using L-carnitine as an effective supplement for moving fatty acids and turning them into fuel. Through the mitochondria, this works for energy and can play a role in your metabolism and weight management, something that will aid in your physique perfecting goals nicely (7).

Wrap Up

The science of perfecting your physique is something all bodybuilders and athletes should take note of. What this can do is greatly enhance your ability to see gains and sculpt that desired physique you want most. On top of everything else, you will be confident in knowing you have done everything you can to give yourself the best chance at success when it comes to training, a healthy lifestyle, and competition. By following some advice from bodybuilder Ben Pakulski and Dr. Jacob Wilson, you have a better idea of how to best tackle those physique goals to craft that shredded and toned aesthetic.

Let us know what you think in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow Generation Iron on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. 

*Images courtesy of Envato

References

1. Laursen, P.; et al. (2002). “The scientific basis for high-intensity interval training: optimizing training programmes and maximizing performance in highly trained endurance athletes”. (source)
2. Ito, S. (2019). “High-intensity interval training for health benefits and care of cardiac diseases – The key to an efficient exercise protocol”. (source)
3. Pasiakos, S.; et al. (2015). “The effects of protein supplements on muscle mass, strength, and aerobic and anaerobic power in healthy adults: a systematic review”. (source)
4. Pasiakos, S.; et al. (2014). “Effects of protein supplements on muscle damage, soreness and recovery of muscle function and physical performance: a systematic review”. (source)
5. Cruzat, V.; et al. (2018). “Glutamine: Metabolism and Immune Function, Supplementation and Clinical Translation”. (source)
6. Carr, A.; et al. (2017). “Vitamin C and Immune Function”. (source)
7. Pooyandjoo, M.; et al. (2016). “The effect of (L-) carnitine on weight loss in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials”. (source)

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How To Build Strength Without Adding Weight

For many of us, the coronavirus outbreak has brought about quarantine. The gyms have now closed and most exercise is now restricted to the comfort of our own homes.

If you have a home gym that is equipped with barbells and weights, with a few adjustments, you will likely find that your training is relatively unaffected.

However, many people do not have a home gym or access to a range of weights. As a result, it is much more difficult to program your training and workout effectively.

This article will detail three methods that will help to effectively develop your strength without having to rely on weights.

The Importance of Intensity

By performing the same workouts continuously at the same intensity, your body will fail to adapt optimally as it can comfortably deal with the training stimulus.

With all physical training, you must gradually increase the intensity of the workouts which will consequently force the body to adapt and advance in strength (1).

The most evident method of increasing workout intensity is to increase the amount of resistance being lifted. However, with limited equipment, you will have to find other ways of doing this.

There are a number of manipulations highlighted below that can be used in your training to add intensity and facilitate strength and fitness improvements.

Method 1 – Increase Training Volume

The two most important training variables are volume and intensity. Intensity refers to the load that is being used while volume is the total amount of work performed.

With most training programs, the intensity is represented as a percentage of your 1 rep max whereas the number sets and reps constitutes volume.

It is very difficult to calculate the amount of resistance to use when the only training tools you have are bodyweight and bands. Consequently, the focus should shift to adding volume.

One great positive with this method is that it is very simple to apply to your training. Very simply all that you need to do is gradually add more reps or sets to each exercise.

With that being said, you may well reach a point where it may be counterintuitive to add more reps.

For example, if your goal is to improve strength, performing sets of 20 or more reps may not be best as a higher rep range appears to develop muscular endurance rather than strength (2).

If you do reach this point, it may be worthwhile finding another method that will increase training volume. Alternatively, instead of adding sets and reps, you could manipulate training frequency which is simply the number of times that you train per week.

Adding in an extra workout per week will significantly increase the total training volume for the week and facilitate strength progress.

If you were in the gym lifting extremely heavy loads, high-frequency training is not sustainable for most.

However, with many home workouts, do not subject you to extreme loads and high intensities. Therefore, it would be possible to train much more frequently without the risk of burnout or injury.

The following is an example of how to effectively add volume over a three-week training period:

Week 1 – Start with a standard 4-day powerlifting split program that contains two upper and two lower-body days per week

Week 2 – Increase the frequency to 6-days – three upper and three lower sessions per week

Week 3 – Double up on either upper or low body days so that you now train nine times per week.

Method 2 – Increase Movement Speed

Adjusting the tempo of a movement can also alter intensity. While this method is a little more controversial, if applied correctly, it can be highly beneficial for strength.

If you are performing conventional bodyweight and band exercise, this method can be quite challenging to apply.

For example, performing sets of two or three push-ups won’t achieve much regardless of how quickly you perform the reps.

Therefore, it may be worthwhile incorporating something known as plyometrics into your training. Very simply, plyometrics are explosive exercises that demand speed.

One of the best things about plyometrics is that they typically do not require equipment and they can be effectively used to develop your big compound lifts like the squat, deadlift, and bench.

If you do decide to add plyometrics into your workouts, exercise caution. Considering the explosive nature of the exercises, the body is subjected to a great amount of force.

Consequently, the risk of sustaining an injury is higher, especially for beginners. Ideally, you want to start off with the basics and gradually build up from there.

Here are three basic plyometric exercises that are highly recommended for the beginner:

Single-Leg Running – This is a superb exercise to begin with as it is low-impact and very straightforward to master. As the name suggests, simply attempt to run using only one leg.

To start by performing 3-5 sets of 10-20 reps per leg. As you improve, considering increasing the number of sets and reps.

Squat Jumps – Descend into a squat and hold the bottom position for a moment before powerfully exploding into a vertical jump. Land safely with core tight and repeat.

Start with 3-5 sets of 15-25 reps. Once you feel proficient, consider moving onto the box jump or depth jump.

Clapping Push-Ups – Drop the chest to floor as you would with a conventional push-up. Powerfully drive to propel the body up, quickly perform a clap, and land.

In terms of volume, focus on a fixed number of sets and attempt to increase the number of reps performed with each set.

Method 3 – Modify Exercises

Many of us are having to make adaptations during this quarantine period and the same goes with our training.

The final method of making progress is to modify exercises. There are a number of alterations that can be made such as performing new exercises & variations and adjusting technique.

Studies have shown that varying the exercises used in your training is a highly effective method for accelerating strength progress (3).

Therefore, experimenting with different movements and positions can allow you to make great progress despite the limitations that you face.

When doing this, make adjustments that enhance your range of motion or change the emphasis of exercise to weaker muscle groups.

Here are some examples to demonstrate how this method can be applied:

– You may start with conventional push-ups. As the weeks progress, you may want to move onto variations such as diamond, wide-grip, decline, or paused push-ups.

– For those who have a barbell, there are a number of squat variations that can be performed including high-bar, low bar, and front squats.
– With resistance band exercises, you could move onto isolation exercises, such as flyes and pullovers, rather than performing compound exercises such as rows and presses.

Final Word

You don’t need to have barbells, dumbbells, and weight plates to build strength; it is possible to make significant progress with limited equipment. However, if you are looking to make changes, it is critical that the intensity is gradually increased by using these three methods.

References:

1 – Lorenz, Daniel S.; Reiman, Michael P.; Walker, John C. (2010-11). “Periodization”. Sports Health. 2 (6): 509–518. doi:10.1177/1941738110375910. ISSN 1941-7381. PMC 3438871. PMID 23015982.

2 – Schoenfeld, Brad J.; Peterson, Mark D.; Ogborn, Dan; Contreras, Bret; Sonmez, Gul T. (2015-10). “Effects of Low- vs. High-Load Resistance Training on Muscle Strength and Hypertrophy in Well-Trained Men”. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 29 (10): 2954–2963. doi:10.1519/JSC.0000000000000958. ISSN 1533-4287. PMID 25853914.

3 – Fonseca, Rodrigo M.; Roschel, Hamilton; Tricoli, Valmor; de Souza, Eduardo O.; Wilson, Jacob M.; Laurentino, Gilberto C.; Aihara, André Y.; de Souza Leão, Alberto R.; Ugrinowitsch, Carlos (2014-11). “Changes in exercises are more effective than in loading schemes to improve muscle strength”. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 28 (11): 3085–3092. doi:10.1519/JSC.0000000000000539. ISSN 1533-4287. PMID 24832974.

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Change your body composition and sculpt that shredded aesthetic.

We all want that shredded aesthetic, but too often do we not fully understand body composition and what it actually means. This baseline knowledge of body composition that many of us have is a great foundation, but at the end of the day, knowing what it is and how best to improve it, or totally change it, can go a long way.

You hear about body composition, body fat percentage, and all of those terms but just how much do you actually know? And do you know enough to change and improve it? While most of this reflects a strict lifestyle of working out, eating right, and keeping other aspects of your lifestyle in check, it is possible to improve your body composition so you see those results you want most.

Let’s get into this and talk body composition, body fat percentage, and how to best improve all of these for the best gains possible. By the end of this, you will have set yourself up for what matters most, and that being a well-sculpted and well-worked on physique.

What Exactly Is Body Composition?

Body composition in the measure of fat, muscle, and bone as it pertains to an individual. This does not necessarily have to do with how much you weigh, but rather what your body fat percentage is. So, two people weighing 200 lbs. will have different body compositions depending on a number of factors. To make things simple, losing fat and gaining more muscle is putting you in a more healthy spot (1).

Related: How To Burn Stubborn Body Fat

When it comes to your body fat and measuring your body fat percentage, there are a few factors to consider that can help us understand this. Sex and gender, age, how active you are, and what your lifestyle is around food, among others, can influence your body fat percentage so knowing all of this information and how it affects you is more than important to know (2).

Best Ways To Improve Body Composition

Knowing the best ways to improve your body composition can go a long way and should not be overlooked as an effective way to see great gains. All of these tips are achievable and it just takes you wanting to work at it and setting the best goals to get there as fast as possible.

• Set A Realistic Goal

To start, setting a realistic goal for yourself is super important. Too often do we make massive goals that are simply unreachable. We start to fail and fail and ultimately give up because we aren’t hitting our goals. Smaller battles help win the larger war and by setting these smaller, more attainable goals for yourself, you start to hit bigger goals, and ultimately, that end goal.

• Focus On Strength Training

Changing your body composition requires you to focus on lifting weights. Strength training, and doing so effectively, will build muscle and through this, you start to see better development and an overall sense that your muscle growth is starting to show. When you take your shirt off and see more definition than before, it only makes you want to work harder (3).

Keeping a journal of your weights so you can see progress is important, but you also need to be increasing in weight to continue to build as much muscle as possible.

• Work With HIIT

High intensity interval training (HIIT) is a great form of cardio that allows you to lose fat while also building muscle. Longer, more steady forms of cardio will build endurance, but you start to pull from muscle stores for energy which can be costly. Focusing on more intense forms of cardio still build endurance, keeps on that lean muscle, and works to burn more calories so you actually see weight loss results (4).

• It’s All About The Kitchen

This could not be more true. Working out only goes so far if your diet is not on point. What happens in the kitchen and what food you make for yourself greatly impacts body composition and how this is handled. Eating right is incredibly important and while it is okay to cheat here and there, having the best quality food in your diet goes a long way. Don’t let all that hard work go to waste once you step back into the house.

Related: Straight Facts: Pros and Cons Of The Most Popular Bodybuilding Diets

• Don’t Let Sleep Slide

You absolutely cannot let sleep slide, for sleep is a vital part of our bodies and the recovery process. If you are someone looking to keep on lean muscle, then focusing on sleep and giving yourself the best chance at recovery can go a long way. Don’t let sleep slide and really work to emphasize this in your routine (5).

• In Supplements We Trust

Supplements can be a helping hand when it comes to changing body composition and with the right approach to supplementation, a quality product can go a long way. Whether that be a protein powder, pre-workout, fat burner, or many more, you will see results.

National Bodybuilding Co. Strongest Fat Burner

National Bodybuilding Co. Strongest Fat Burner

National Bodybuilding Co. Strongest Fat Burner

National Bodybuilding Co. Strongest Fat Burner is a great supplement for weight loss and optimizing muscle building. A clean, high-quality, and science driven fat burner allows for optimal benefits.

Shop National Bodybuilding Co.

National Bodybuilding Co. Strongest Fat Burner is a clean, effective, and powerful product designed to target stored fat and deliver high amounts of energy to boost all of your goals. With 10 great ingredients, this supplement works for a host of benefits to maximize the effects of your fat loss journey. Strongest can optimize muscle building and recovery to maintain that lean muscle, cut your appetite so you are comfortable yet still able to lose weight, ignite fat loss to see those desired body composition changes, and provide for real energy boosts by burning extra calories and stored fat.

Price: $58.00

Check out our list of the Best Fat Burners for more great fat burning products!

Wrap Up

Changing your body composition may seem challenging but it is absolutely possible with the right approach. Knowing the best tips and how best to attack this can go a long way so put your focus on the right things. The best approach to this is optimizing both fitness and nutrition so you see those results you want most.

Generation Iron may receive commissions on purchases made through our links. See our disclosure page for more information.

Let us know what you think in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow Generation Iron on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. 

*Images courtesy of Envato

References

1. Wells, J.; et al. (2006). “Measuring body composition”. (source)
2. Gallagher, D.; et al. (2000). “Healthy percentage body fat ranges: an approach for developing guidelines based on body mass index”. (source)
3. Seguin, R.; et al. (2015). “Strength Training Improves Body Image and Physical Activity Behaviors Among Midlife and Older Rural Women”. (source)
4. Heydari, M.; et al. (2012). “The Effect of High-Intensity Intermittent Exercise on Body Composition of Overweight Young Males”. (source)
5. Carneiro-Barrera, A.; et al. (2020). “Body Composition Impact on Sleep in Young Adults: The Mediating Role of Sedentariness, Physical Activity, and Diet”. (source)

The post Best Ways To Improve Your Body Composition For That Ultimate Physique appeared first on Generation Iron Fitness & Strength Sports Network.

Get that beach bod ready with these summer shredding tips.

The summer months are around the corner and now it’s time to show off that beach body and these summer shredding tips can help. If you were someone who hibernated all winter and maybe let your diet slip, fear not. The top tips for shredding can get you back on track and seeing those gains you want most.

The winter months can be hard. Trekking through snow and cold temperatures to have to hit the gym. It feels like more of a process than actual enjoyment. And if you are someone who maybe slacked off a bit, what you will find is that you might not look as beach ready as you would like.

The top summer shredding tips on the other hand can get you looking and feeling great and without these tips, you may find yourself floundering through spring only to be dissatisfied come those sunshine summer months. Your shirt off can prove to everyone that you were willing to put in work and get that beach body ready for viewing.

Let’s jump into the top summer shredding tips so you can better prepare yourself for when you want to go shirtless. The right approach to making this happen can make your life a bit easier and allow for only the best gains to unfold.

Top Summer Shredding Tips

By following these tips, you will find you can better tackle those goals and allow yourself the ability to see great gains. While it may be challenging to stick to all of these all the time, know it is just until you see that summer shred and get that body beach ready.

• Effective Workout Plan

You need to make sure your workout plan is working for you. This means a nice mix of strength training and high-intensity interval work to enhance both muscle building and cardio. What you will find is that by building effective muscle and working towards increasing high intensity intervals, you burn fat without suffering any muscle loss (1). With too much cardio, you start to diminish strength gains and ultimately will lose that definition you want most.

• Healthy Diet

We know that healthy diet can mean a lot of different things for a lot of different people. But what we mean by this is to maximize protein and not sacrifice the other two macronutrients (2). At the end of the day, a well-balanced diet is imperative to a summer shred. If you restrict too many calories thinking you can starve yourself to a shred, it won’t work and you will not see gains.

• Give Your Body Rest

Your body needs rest and it needs to recover overall as well. What you will find with better recovery is you will feel better and you will give your body the time it needs to recuperate and heal. By feeling better and more loose, you won’t be so tight and wound up so as to cause unwanted stress and you will move better in the gym, thus giving yourself a better workout.

• STOP Tracking Your Weight

Tracking your weight will only lead to obsession. It is good to know how much you weigh. But when it comes to a summer shred, pay attention to how you look and feel as opposed to how much you weigh. Muscle weighs more than fat and sometimes it isn’t a question about losing weight, but instead about losing fat.

• Use Supplements

Using supplements is absolutely key in a summer shred and what you will find is there are certain supplements to aid in your goals for the most effective shred. A protein powder is exactly what you need post-workout to see great gains for muscle growth, recovery, and fat loss while a pre-workout can give you energy and muscle pumps for that pre-workout boost (3,4). Plus, to aid in that summer shred, a fat burner can kickstart your metabolism and work to suppress your appetite for better gains to fat loss.

• Hydration!

Staying hydrated is key for it helps with all of the above tips. For exercise, it will keep those muscles hydrated and moving efficiently to see great gains and optimize recovery. When it comes to diet, what you will find is this can increase satiety and work for overall better support. For its role in weight loss and overall better recovery, staying hydrated is absolutely key in allowing you to shred and optimize all forms of training for the best results possible (5).

Featured Shaker Bottle For Increased Hydration

We wanted to share a high-quality shaker bottle so you see the best gains possible and actually want to stay hydrated. With a great design and overall excellent durability, this shaker bottle is worth every dollar in efforts to help you shred and keep you hydrated.

Ice Shaker 26oz. Shaker Bottle

Code GENIRON For 20% Off

Ice Shaker 26oz Shaker Bottle

Ice Shaker 26oz Shaker Bottle

Ice Shaker 26oz Shaker Bottle is a great shaker bottle for those looking for durability, portability, and the best mixing for those training and hydration needs.

Shop Ice Shaker

Ice Shaker 26oz Shaker Bottle is a kitchen grade premium stainless-steel cup perfect for training and everyday use. This no sweat bottle keeps everything dry, the odor resistant stainless steel allows for longevity and no foul odor, and double wall vacuum insulation allows drinks to stay hot for up to 12 hours and cold for 30 hours or more. Great for mixability, you will find this shaker bottle tackles any and all of those needs and can hold 26oz of any desire beverage.

Price: $34.99

Check out our list of the Best Shaker Bottles to make sure you keep up with all your hydration needs!

Wrap Up

As these warm summer months approach, these summer shredding tips are exactly what you need to succeed. By focusing on the right approach and working to maximize your shredding goals, what you will find is you can effectively shred with these worthwhile tips. That beach ready body may seem farther away than it is and by looking ahead and thinking positively about your prospective gains, you will absolutely get there with the right plan of attack and top summer shredding tips to follow.

Generation Iron may receive commissions on purchases made through our links. See our disclosure page for more information.

Let us know what you think in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow Generation Iron on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. 

*Images courtesy of Envato

References

1. Roy, M.; et al. (2018). “High-Intensity Interval Training in the Real World: Outcomes from a 12-Month Intervention in Overweight Adults”. (source)
2. Leidy, H.; et al. (2015). “The role of protein in weight loss and maintenance”. (source)
3. Frestedt, J.; et al. (2008). “A whey-protein supplement increases fat loss and spares lean muscle in obese subjects: a randomized human clinical study”. (source)
4. Gonzalez, A.; et al. (2011). “Effect of a Pre-Workout Energy Supplement on Acute Multi-Joint Resistance Exercise”. (source)
5. Shirreffs, S. (2009). “Hydration in sport and exercise: water, sports drinks and other drinks”. (source)

The post Best Summer Shredding Tips To Get You Beach Body Ready appeared first on Generation Iron Fitness & Strength Sports Network.

There are ways to keep up with your cardio while working out at home.

Cardio might not be the most appealing type of exercise in the world, but it’s an important part of a healthy and well-rounded exercise routine. Keeping with your cardio can be a burden, but there are ways you can incorporate it into your daily workouts to make it more manageable.

If you’re still working from home, this is a great time to think about how you could incorporate exercise throughout the day since you no longer have going to the office taking up so much of your time.

Tip #1: The kettlebell is your friend.

Weight is your best friend when it comes to doing indoor cardio. Since you don’t have that much space to move around, the best trick is to utilize weights to force your body to break a sweat. The kettlebell is one of the best workout tools in this respect. You can do rapid kettlebell swings to get your heart rate up while standing in living room watching TV or on a Zoom call.

Doing twists while holding a kettlebell, when done rapidly, can also increase your cardio and help you lose weight! If you want to get serious about doing indoor cardio, definitely make sure you have one of these on hand, or an equivalent weighted tool you prefer like a medicine ball.

Tip #2: Sneak cardio into your strength training.

If you’re one of those people that absolutely dreads doing cardio, there are ways you can sneak cardio exercises into your strength training workouts. Simple modifications to common workouts are key. You could try doing five minutes of HIIT in between exercises as a way of getting cardio in while continuing to do whatever workout you normally do and enjoy.

Tip #3: Try jumping jacks, jump rope, and other ways of working out that don’t use equipment.

One of the biggest challenges of doing cardio at home is that — if you don’t have a home gym — you don’t have access to any of the fitness equipment like treadmills or rowing machines that make indoor cardio a breeze. You can still get cardio in at home with some tried and true classics like the jump rope.

Make a commitment to do fifteen minutes of jumping jacks before you start your day or before you go to bed. A jump rope is a cheap and easy way to do cardio in your house whenever you have the time. Remember, it’s the man that makes the workout, not the equipment.

Tip #4: High knees will help you break a sweat.

High knees are a cardio fundamental. It gets the blood pumping and you can do it pretty much anywhere. Plus, it burns fat in a pretty fast amount of time, so as long as you do it rapidly and with intensity you don’t even have to do it that long. Better yet, do it in small but intense bursts throughout the day to burn the most fat.

Tip #5: Don’t rely too much on HIIT for cardio, since it will disrupt your gains in strength training.

Lots of people choose HIIT as their weapon of choice when it comes to getting cardio in and it’s easy to see why. It’s quick, effective, and it gets the job done. But HIIT workouts can actually slim you down and decrease your gains from strength training since the exercises are designed to make your body more lean. If you’re trying to do cardio without sacrificing gains, make sure to not overdose on HIIT.

The post Top 5 Tips For Keeping Up With Your Cardio Indoors appeared first on Generation Iron Fitness & Strength Sports Network.

Cardio is definitely one of the building blocks when it comes to exercise.

Unfortunately, not everybody can tolerate long jogs. In fact, for those of us who prefer going to the gym to lift weights or use the equipment, running on the treadmill can become a huge chore. Unfortunately, however much you might hate running, there’s no running from the truth: cardio is an essential component of bodybuilding and fitness that needs to incorporated into your workouts if you’re looking to maximize results.

But for those of us who truly dread going for a run, here are five easy ways you can add cardio into your workout without running.

1. Indoor Rock Climbing

If the monotony of running bores you, say no more. This isn’t a staple at most gyms but Google if there’s an indoor rock climbing gym near you; they’re around. Rock climbing requires the upper body to be in a state of constant exertion, which gets your heart rate up and keeps it up at an intensity equal to or better than going for a jog. So, if you find yourself avoiding the chore of more conventional cardio workouts, this might be a fun one for you to try out.

2. Boxing

All forms of boxing are another great source of cardio. If you go to the gym with a spotting buddy, try turning him into your sparring body and go for a couple rounds of boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai — anything works. If you’re more of a lone wolf type in the gym you can try just punching the bag for a solid twenty or thirty minutes; that’ll get your blood pumping better than a relaxing jog in the park.

3. Try the rowing machine.

The rowing machine is a great piece of workout equipment available in almost any standard gym across the country that doesn’t get a lot of love. The truth is, the rowing machine has so much to offer: it’s a great source of cardio because of the adjustable tension in the bands, and it also gives you a great workout in your upper arms and back that you wouldn’t simultaneously be getting if you just go for a jog. What’s not to love?

4. Biking or stationary bike

This is a pick-your-poison type scenario. If the reason you hate jogging is because you don’t like being outdoors, than biking isn’t likely to help you get more cardio in. A stationary bike might be a good fit for you since they’re also available at almost any gym and can be knocked out in tandem with whatever workout you happen to be doing there.

However, if you’re looking to get some fresh air or be in nature, a long bike ride — try challenging yourself with an incline if you’re really looking to get your heart rate up — might be just what you’re looking for.

5. Jump squats or burpees

Finally, if you’re a fan of HIIT, this type of cardio infusion is more your speed. Jump squats and burpees, when done rapidly and in small amounts, can really increase your cardio and overall gains from your workouts. If biking or rock climbing seem like too much of a new time investment, this is an easy way to take whatever existing workout you’re working with and inject some cardio inside.

The next time you’re strength training, challenge yourself by doing 20 seconds of jump squats or burpees alternating with 20 seconds of rest for about 5 minutes — you’ll be amazed at how fast it gets your blood pumping.

The post Need Cardio But Hate Running? Here Are 5 Others Ways To Cardio-Infuse Your Workouts appeared first on Generation Iron Fitness & Strength Sports Network.

Reasons For Performing Full-Body Workouts

If you’ve been following a program where you train a single or double muscle group 5-6 days a week but can’t see desired results, it’s time you consider switching to a full-body training routine.

When we say ‘a full-body workout’, we’re referring to a workout where you train at least three muscle groups in a single training session which should include both your upper and lower body.

Break The Plateau

Performing the same workouts over and over again can lead you to hit a plateau. If you know anything about muscle plateaus, you’ll know it’s better to avoid one rather than finding ways of breaking it.

Following a full-body training routine can help you break and/or avoid a plateau. You should add variety to your full-body sessions so that your muscles never get used to your training program.

Improves Your Cardiovascular Health

Many serious lifters dismiss the full-body training programs calling them some CrossFit WOD fad which will go away soon. The high-intensity training style isn’t given its fair share of credit when it comes to its testosterone boosting, cardiovascular, and CNS health improving benefits.

Most resistance training approaches don’t put your cardiovascular system under stress as there is plenty of time to recover between exercises. The full-body workouts can improve your overall health by using HIIT routines.

Burn Fat

If you’ve ever performed a full-body workout, you’ll know that it can be exhausting. The good news is, the annihilation after a full-body training session can be incredibly effective in melting your body fat like butter.

If your primary goal is to shed weight and lose some inches from your waist, you should follow a full-body program. The HIIT workouts are also great for bros who’re prepping for a contest or want to improve their muscle definition.

Hit Failure Every Time

Leaving the gym without a pump can be depressing. While following a low-moderate intensity workout, variables like mind-muscle connection, rest between sets, form come into play which can hamper your muscle pumps.

On the other hand, you’re almost guaranteed to get (and maintain) a nasty pump during your full-body workout because of the sheer intensity of the training style. If you shy away from hitting failure in every workout, the full-body workouts are sure to cause a paradigm shift.

Shorter Workouts

Many people never get on the fitness bandwagon because they can’t take out 2-3 hours for a workout every day. Following a full-body workout is the perfect solution to this problem as you’ll wrap up your workouts within 45-60 minutes.

Since the full-body workouts have ample bodyweight exercises, you’ll never have an excuse for missing a training session. You could train in the comfort of your home early in the morning, late at night or anytime in between.

Do you train on Sundays? Let us know in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow Generation Iron on Facebook and Twitter.

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