Author: Gym Junkiez

With all of the new years resolution-ers invading the gyms and resolving to be in the “best shape of their lives”, its important to have a plan of action. If you are a newbie and have no idea what you are doing in the gym, please find a good trainer that will teach you and hold you accountable. If you have some experience, this is for you! I am giving you some free game… . The only ask in return is that you stick to using moderate to heavy weight that allows you to complete each rep and each set with good form; and to failure or close to failure. Also stick to the structure of the training sessions for optimal results. Lets get this work!!!!!

Workout Notes

Before we get to the workout though, here’s some important points to keep in mind:

Lift Heavy

The days of going super high reps for ultra-light weight (i.e. pink dumbbells) are gone. Ladies; training heavy (moderately heavy) and looking like a man is A MYTH. Its almost impossible for you all to gain rock hard muscle and be as lean as men become. So leave that excuse at the door of the gym. You’re shedding fat here, not muscle. To keep your muscle while eating at a deficit. So ladies train with, at minimum, some moderately heavy weight. Guys, you will need to lift heavy f#%king weights.

Diet Clean Up

I’m not talking about washing your fruits and vegetables before eating them (i.e. “clean” eating). By “cleaning up” your diet, we’re talking about focusing on whole foods – lean meats, fruit, vegetables, whole grains, and healthy fats. Use junk food/cheat meals as a reward for a weeks (5+ Days of Hard work!).

A lean -sculpted physique is the goal, so that means curbing the daily cheats to get rid of the excess calories. We’re in deficit mode now, which means each and every calorie needs to count — there’s no room to waste on bon bons and Butterfingers.

Track Everything

Reiterating the two points above, you have to track everything — weights used on working sets, number of reps accomplished each set, how much you’re eating each day, and what you’re eating each day.

If you’re not monitoring what you’re doing in the gym and in the kitchen, you have no idea if you’re progressing with your training, stalling, under/overeating, or anything else. To truly succeed and make the most of these next 8 weeks, you must buckle down and track everything. Your end results are riding on this!

Commit

Cutting fat isn’t rocket science, you need to tightly monitor your diet and train your ass off. We’re burning off the goo here through a combo of high volume/intensity and heavy weight.

This isn’t easy by any means, and that’s where the last point comes in –COMMITMENT.

There’s going to be times when you want a drink with the gang after work or some cake with your co-workers during an office party. If this the reward meal for the week, then by all means; if not I strongly urge you not to! I mean, i cant tell you what to do and sure you can do that, but then again you can kiss your dream body goodbye. That drinking and bullshit doesn’t sound as “necessary” anymore does it?

Commit to your goal and pursue it with relentless, reckless abandon and you’ll be astonished at the end results!!!

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Now… It’s time to TRAIN!

5 Day Workout Program Outline

• Day 1 – Lower Body A
• Day 2 – Upper Body A
• Day 3 – Lower Body B
• Day 4 – Upper Body B
• Day 5 – Body weight conditioning**

Each workout for Days 1-4 will consist primarily of supersets – that is performing two exercises back to back with as little rest as possible between the two, then resting for 60 to 90 seconds. This accomplishes two things: you’ll get a tremendous amount of work accomplished in less time and your heart rate will stay elevated, helping increase the number of calories burned and burning more fat while still maintaining muscle.

**Day 5 is a high intensity day. Explosive movements with little to no rest between exercises for 25-30 minutes. You will have a choice between a body weight plan and a HIIT session called “Hell on Earth” created by Rheufit trainer Dion Rheubottom. My advice, for better results, try Hell on Earth!!

Ripped Body Workout Plan

Your training needs to burn excess calories and we’re going to do that through a variety of techniques and methods (high volume, supersets, short rest periods, etc.). Choose one compound movement and one isolation movement for the supersets you do until you make it through your entire workout. This is precisely what you need to get the results you’re after – a body no beach freak can resist!

Get ready, because it’s nothing but a grind from here on out. Do you have the heart and determination to get the results you want!!??!

** superset the first two exercises listed.. then the next two..

Monday
Lower Body A
Exercise	Sets	Reps	Rest
Barbell Back Squat – Drop set last set	3	8-12	60
Leg Press – Drop set last set	3	8-12	60
Barbell Romanian Deadlift	3	10-15	60
Dumbbell Reverse Lunge – Reps are per leg	3	10-15	60
Standing Calf Raises	3	20-25	60
Seated Calf Raises	3	20-25	60-90
Ab Wheel Roll outs	3	10-15	0
Hyperextension	3	12-15	60

Tuesday
Upper Body A
Exercise	Sets	Reps	Rest
Wide Grip Pull Ups	3	6-12	0
Incline Dumbbell Press	3	6-12	60-90
Bent Over Barbell Row	3	6-12	0
Flat Barbell Bench Press	3	6-12	60-90
Incline 2-Arm Dumbbell Row	3	10-12	0
Standing Overhead Dumbbell Press	3	10-12	60-90
Standing Dumbbell Lateral Raise	3	10-12	0
Seated Dumbbell Rear Delt Flies	3	12-15	60-90

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Thursday
Lower Body B
Exercise	Sets	Reps	Rest
Lying Hamstring Curl	3	10-12	0
Front Squat	3	8-12	60-90
Dumbbell Romanian Deadlifts	3	10-12	0
Bulgarian Split Squat – Per leg	3	10-12	60-90
Walking Dumbbell Lunges – Per leg	3	10-15	0
Swiss Ball Leg Curls	3	AMRAP	60-90
Hanging Leg Raises	3	8-12	0
Cable Chops	3	12-15	60-90

Friday
Upper Body B
Exercise	Sets	Reps	Rest
Neutral Grip Pull Up	3	10-15	0
Standing Military Press	3	8-12	60-90
Hammer Strength Row Machine	3	10-12	0
Low Incline Dumbbell Squeeze Press	3	8-12	60-90
Dumbbell Upright Row	3	8-12	0
Single Arm Cable Lateral Raise	3	10-15	60-90
EZ Bar Curls	3	8-12	0
Lying Triceps Extensions	3	12-15	60-90

Saturday
Bodyweight Conditioning (HIIT)
Exercise	Sets	Reps	Rest
Bodyweight Squats	1	30	0
Push Ups	1	20	0
Chin Ups	1	10	0
Jumping Lunges	1	20	0
Bear Crawls –	1	25 yards	60-90
Rest 60-90 seconds after each round. Complete between 5-7 rounds

Hell on Earth (HIIT)
Men – barbell with 95lbs or 145lbs Women – barbell with 65lbs or 85lbs
Exercise	Sets	Reps	Rest
Barbell Curl	1	10-1*	0
Deadlift	1	10-1*	0
Barbell Clean	1	10-1*	0
Standing Military Press	1	10-1*	0
Back Squat	1	10-1*	0
* 1 round is each exercise for 10 reps. Rest 15 seconds. Complete next round with 9 reps of each exercise… Each round subtract 1 rep until you get down to 1…..see the video below
Good Luck!

Note: Perform the bodyweight circuit going from one exercise to the next with as brief a rest as possible (5-10 seconds between the moves). Perform all reps for a given exercise before proceeding to the next one. Each week aim to reduce the number of breaks needed each week to perform all reps for each exercise, as well as trim the rest periods between circuits by a few seconds.

You won’t need to be slogging away on the treadmill anymore with this conditioning circuit to end each week!

Time to Shine!

Gym Junkiez do not want to be like everyone else in the gym. We do not want to train for months and stay the same . The time to start getting in shape is now! Whether you plan to hit the beach while its still hot, prepare for a shoot, or just become the best version of yourself, bear down for the next few weeks and really commit to your diet and training. When it’s time to remove your clothes, the new you that will stun everyone.
Let me know how this plan works out for you…. Till the next time gym junkiez, Train Hard!!!!!

It’s the beginning of a new year. With that comes a large group of people, called resolution-ers, that want to get in “The Best Shape of their Life”!

There is also a group of athletes that are beginning their preparations for the upcoming competition season! This means its time to get Lean!!

Men and women both desire to have the perfectly proportioned physique from top to bottom. For those that compete, that illusion of a tiny waists, broad shoulders, and sweeping quads/calves; the X-frame; is what wins shows!

For average gym junkiez, the only goal is to be in whatever shape that will produce the look of a small waist, and defined abs. The other body parts are gender specific goals (Men- big shoulders, big chest, arms, etc. / Women- flat stomach, small waist, big hips/glutes, etc.).

Regardless of the goal you are chasing, always be mindful of your waist. Keep a tight waist and make the most aesthetic physique possible. I am going to give you 5 principles to adhere to while working to accomplish your physique goals!

1. DO YOUR CARDIO! Small waist and abs will not be obtained without burning the fat around your midsection. While you cannot spot reduce, focus on losing as much bodyfat as possible. While strict dieting will allow people to acheive the goal of a small waist and visible abs, the reality is most people do not have iron clad discipline. So develop a habit of doing your cardio consistently. It doesnt matter if its low intensity or high intensity… pick a plan and follow it!
2. Don’t stop squatting and deadlifts: Squats and deadlifts do activate the rectus abdominis and obliques, but they DO NOT cause the waist to get thicker/wider. Electromyography studies have shown that the abdominal wall and surrounding muscles are activated while completing those lifts but actually do it to a smaller degree than direct abdominal work itself. If you need these lifts from a development aspect, stick to them. Squats are the king of leg development, and deadlifts… well I will talk about deads in a later post. Way too much to talk about when it comes to what deadlifts are actually for! But for now I will just say, most associate deadlifts with thick-wide back musculature. Be sure to keep that goal in mind when choosing exercises for your training program.
3. How to train abs!
   1. Do direct ab work for the rectus abdominis, both crunches and leg raises, even incorporating twisting movements in both of those exercises. You do not have to do a thousand reps either. Anywhere from 12-20 reps are more than enough if you focus on the squeeze of each rep!
   2. AVOID weighted oblique work all together to limit waist widening. Think about it, using weight builds muscle.. heavy weight; thick muscle! You do not want thick obliques! You will get more than enough activation in the obliques from the exercises mentioned next!
   3. MOST HELPFUL – Do daily abdominal vacuums to train the internal corset (transverse abdominis aka TVA). The best way to stay consistent at them is to do them as soon as you wake up; before you get out of bed (best to do them on an empty stomach). 5-6 sets for 15-30 seconds is all you need. If you do not know how to do vacuums properly, see the video of explaining how to do them at the bottom of this post.
   4. Train the functional bracing component of the core with isometric planks, side planks and bird dogs.
4. Don’t Rush Progress: Growing fast makes everything grow fast including your waist. Increased fat gain only leads to more inflammation, insulin resistance, and increased fat around the organs; meaning larger waist. It takes an extremely long time to correct issues with inflammation and insulin resistance so practice sound nutrition habits! Great segway to the next principle
5. Keep Digestion in Check:  The transverse abdominis works like an internal weight belt, supporting all the organs in place. Now, if we walk around all day long pushing out our gut and let that continue to happen year after year it could potentially stretch out the abdomen and leave you with a gut you can push way out in front of you. So, make food choices that keep food volume within a reasonable amount and limit gas and bloating. 

Stick to these principles and you will get that waistline that people will be envious of! Just be prepared to answer a lot of questions about how you did it! LOL!! Eat Smart, Train Hard!!

Stomach Vacuums

This exercise comes from IFBB Pro Branden Ray. He has developed some insanely dense back musculature, with a crazy V-taper! I added this exercise to my back regimen this week and the mind muscle connection was intense! As Branden describes below, it doesn’t require a lot of weight and you will get more out of this variation than with a conventional deadlift. Check out how he describes the exercise!

The whole purpose of doing rack pulls for back instead of full range deadlifts from the floor is to keep the lower body out of the movement. However, I can instantly tell when a rack pull is more legs than back, the hips come forward during the pull, the body becomes fully erect standing straight up, and then that extra little lean back at then end thing which mostly just squeezes the booty more so than the back. The loud plates rattle, the bar bends, the video gets double tapped, the chest gets pounded 🦍, everything going on but the back.

With my version of deadlifts targeting the back, my hips stay back because I’m leaning back on the rack. I’m stabilized so I don’t need any help from my lower body to overcompensate during the left.

I allow the bar roll forward under control which full stretches my back, especially my lats. I always believe that the deeper the stretch, the deeper the contraction.

Now, because my lower body and lower back are stabilized, I can focus on the stretch and contraction of the back without my erectors in flight or fight mode, meaning, trying to protect my discs from slipping and spine from snapping.

As I pull, I drive my elbows back and chest up, something that I learned from @thecharlesglass years ago to contract every muscle of the back. Pulling at the angle of my legs opposed to just vertically allows me to hit more muscles of the back. I only use 135lbs so don’t expect to go heavy because of the isolation. It’s all about the results, the end game. CHESS NOT CHECKERS

Gym Junkiez!!! I am a 270 pound bodybuilder. a Man’s man; and yoga was not something i considered “manly”. The sad truth is i knew the benefits of yoga would far outweigh my chauvinistic thoughts. I have to admit, when I first tried yoga, I loved the fact that pain i would feel in my muscles and joints has pretty much disappeared. I have come to realize that weightlifting and yoga are the Yin and Yang!

Many bodybuilders/ weightlifters lack flexibility and frequently complain of overall tightness in the body, especially upon waking in the mornings. I’ve trained in a lot of gyms and competed in over a dozen different bodybuilding shows. I know weightlifters and bodybuilders with a lot of muscle mass and look like the Hulk when they flex, but can’t touch their toes or scratch their own backs. Hell I was the brunt of those jokes for a very long time. When you have that kind of mass and potentially associated strength, but lack flexibility, you are setting yourself up for injuries.

I’ve seen it happen. Without stretching and elongating muscles, muscles and ligaments can be torn.

Why Yoga is Good for Weight Training

Lifting Weights without yoga doesn’t make sense. Have you noticed the increase massage parlors that offer stretching as a service? Or how NFL teams are looking into yoga as part of their weekly routine?

There are several reasons why yoga and bodybuilding complement each other. Here are the best three:

1. Yoga helps to lower stress. It not only helps the body, yoga also brings peace and relief to the mind. Lowering stress lowers cortisol, which aids in faster recovery time. Recovery is a very important factor in weight training for muscle growth. The more you can train a muscle the faster it will grow.

2. Yoga gives your muscles the ability to fire more efficiently without shutting down in response to stretched tendons. Mind – Muscle Connection

3. No more use for a weight belt.  The increase in core strength will teach you how to to use your abs — your natural stabilizers.

Different Kinds of Yoga to Try

Power Vinyasa yoga would be great if you are looking to strengthen your body and build muscle. This is the yoga for bodybuilders that they’d want to do on a non-weight lifting day. It’s gentle on the body and allows deep stretching while strengthening sans weights.

If you’re a bodybuilder experiencing chronic pain, you might want to look into Yin yoga. Yin lengthens connective tissue through relaxation and encourages joints to reach full flexion and extension. This type of yoga will alleviate muscular tightness and joint pain.

The third type of yoga great for aches and pains is Restorative yoga. This style of yoga emphasizes healing and realignment through supportive postures and sequences, and is awesome for people recovering from an injury.

A few poses to get you started on your weightlifting/ yoga venture are:

1. Legs up the Wall Pose

One of the best Restorative yoga poses, this pose will get blood flowing in the opposite direction and is great for people who travel, are on their feet a lot, or have desk jobs where their feet are always toward the ground. For those gym junkiez who squat and deadlift very heavy weight, this pose takes all of the pressure off of the spine and posterior chain.

To do the pose, find the nearest empty wall. Come to lie on your back, with your knees bent. Scoot your bum as close to the wall as you can, while you walk your feet up the wall. Eventually, your bum will be directly against the wall, with your legs resting along it above you.

You can either rest your hands on your belly, or spread your arms out on either side, with palms up, like a big “T.”

Stay here for as long as comfortable, and relax.

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2. Frog Pose

My personal favorite and the best hip opener stretch around. If you spend at least 20 seconds in this pose, your body will thank you.

To get into Frog Pose, start from Downward Facing Dog. Your knees should be slightly wider than hip-width apart. Keep your knees in line with your hips and slide them outward, sinking your hips down to form a 90-degree angle with your hips and knees. Your ankles should be aligned with your knees. Your shins should be parallel to each other. Point your toes towards your shins. Come down to your forearms.

To simplify Frog, stay on the hands, or decrease the width of your hips.

To advance Frog, get down on your elbows. Sink your hips down and back, decreasing the space between your hips and the ground. To advance even more, come down to your forearms by flattening and bending your elbows. Rest your chin or cheek on your hands.

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3. Half Moon Pose

Weightlifters often complain about digestion issues and tight lower backs. The half moon pose is a great way to get your digestion moving and releases tightness in the spine and posterior chain.

Standing with feet together, raise arms straight up and clasp hands with index fingers pointing up. Push hips left and bend to right, extending left side from hip to armpit. Hold for five counts. Return to center and repeat, bending to left. Return to center, drop head back, arms behind you, hands still clasped and bend backward as far as you can.

Breathe here for 5 to 10 breaths, and gently release on an exhale. Repeat!

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Are you one of those gym junkiez that trains hard in the gym and uses yoga to recover and relax. Share some of your favorite poses with us. Tag us @gymjunkiez17 on Instagram. Train Hard!!!!

I am going to go on a short rant. This post is dedicated to the ladies. Guys can benefit from it, but MOST of the time, men already understand what is being explained here.

Ladies! At some point during your lifetime, I’m sure you have made the statement “ I want to lose some weight!”. One question. What did you picture when you said you wanted to lose weight.. your body looking like this

   

   If the first picture is what you are aiming for then I offer a simple solution. Stop eating. You will lose weight! But in doing so you will be losing muscle mass, bone density, and water. Many of the times there is very little fat loss, If any! But if that’s the goal, I wish you the best in your endeavors.

If you chose the second picture, then the following message is for you!

When you say they want to lose weight.. what you really mean is you want to lose fat. If you are currently following a program or process that is not resulting in fat being lost then stop immediately and regroup!!!!!

The goal to successful weight loss is to preserve as much muscle as possible, or possibly even gain some, while at the same time lose as much body fat as possible. Your body fat % is a key indicator of your success, NOT the scale. In fact, stay off the scale.

I know Telling people to ignore the scale and their weight is not getting us any cool points but it’s the best advice you will ever receive, and for good reason. Too many times successful dieting is sabotaged because of a meaningless number on a scale. A scale does nothing other than measure the force of gravity on your body. Why should this matter at all? It can’t tell you if your clothes fit better, it can’t tell you if your body fat percentage has changed, and it definitely won’t tell you that you’re looking any better.

When you start dieting, it is imperative that you track your progress using methods other than the scale. You need progress measuring tools that are going to track fat loss – not weight loss. Body fat callipers, tape measures, pictures, clothes sizes, and people’s comments are all going to be more useful for you. Don’t worry about your weight – even if it goes up. If you’re looking better, you’re weight doesn’t matter. The only time it matters is when you tell your weight to someone who doesn’t understand the difference between weight loss and fat loss.

DO NOT… I REPEAT… DO NOT let someone else’s ignorance about “weight loss” discourage you from continuing to progress towards your goal

Preserve Muscle While Losing Fat

Alright then, if your goal is fat loss, you are going to need to focus on preserving muscle while losing fat. Notice I did not say gaining muscle, I said preserving muscle.

To prevent muscle loss, make sure you are following these basic guidelines:

• Get in enough calories for your body size and activity level. People tend to sabotage their fat loss progress by eating too little food and too few nutrients resulting in muscle loss. Once you start losing muscle, you are fighting an uphill battle to lose fat. This is one of the main reasons why diets fail. If you do not eat enough calories to maintain your muscle, you will begin to crave certain types of foods because your body signals the need for one of two things, sodium or sugar. Eventually you start having cravings for chips or cake, juice, etc. You eventually binge out because you can’t maintain that low calorie intake and in some cases develop a food addiction.

• Make sure those calories are nutrient dense by having them come from fruits, vegetables, meats, legumes, dairy, and whole grains.

• Aim for calories in the 10-12 times your body weight range. This is a basic rule of thumb… a starting point. You will eventually have to adjust your calories to keep progressing. If you want to know how to properly determine your caloric intake for weight loss, read The Post about Counting Macros

*******DO NOT DEPRIVE YOURSELF OF ANY ONE MACRO. All of these fad diets going around are BS. They work until you add the missing macro source back in and then you will be back to the drawing board. Losing Fat on a balanced diet will help you to maintain the process longer and more likely to keep the weight (fat) off*******

• Try to get in 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body weight, and divide that evenly among 5 meals.

• Eat enough carbohydrates to support your activity level. You can start at 150 grams and adjust from there.

• Fill the rest of your calories with fat – healthy fats and EFAs (essential fatty acids).

• Make sure you exercise and give your muscles a reason to maintain themselves. I highly recommend lifting weights. Yes ladies, lift weights! It is virtually impossible to look like a man from lifting weights. So please let it go.. that is the BIGGEST misconception about the gym. Lifting weights will help you maintain muscle mass and increase your metabolism. If you don’t , your body is going to shed that unneeded muscle and eventually you will hit a plateau. Force your body to preserve it and even grow it by giving it consistent stimulation.

Follow these basic principles and you will reach your true goal of not just losing weight, but losing that unwanted fat, and keeping your beautiful curvy muscular body! Rant over. Eat Smart, Train Hard!!!!!

Arm Training – ” I COMMAND YOU MF’ers TO GROW!!!!

Guys always wanna have big arms but rarely wanna do the work it takes to grow them. Ladies want “toned” arms but dont want to believe that they can achieve this by lifting heavier weights. Well ladies and gentlemen, I am challenging you all to finish this Arm Workout.  Don’t Punk out!!!

Grab the heaviest pair of dumbbells that you can do 8 reps WITH STRICT FORM and do the following in quick succession, without resting:

8 reps of dumbbell curls

8 reps of hammer curls

8 reps of cross-body curls

After the last cross-body curl is done, do a drop set by grabbing the next lightest pair of dumbbells (5-15 pounds lighter) and go through the same progression – 8 curls, 8 hammer curls, 8 cross body curls.

Then move on to triceps (NO REST):

8 Tate Press – lie on a bench with a pair of dumbbells and extend your arms towards the ceiling as if you were doing presses. Your palms should be facing your feet. Without moving your upper arms and bending only at the elbow, lower the dumbbells so they barely touch your chest. At this point, your elbows will be pointing straight out to the sides. Raise the dumbbells back to the starting position by extending the upper arms.  (Should look like the video below)

8 reps of overhead dumbbell extensions

8 reps of dumbbell kickbacks

After the last kickback is done, grab the next lightest pair of dumbbells for each exercise (it’s unlikely you’ll be able to use the same weights for each exercise!) and do another drop set by going through the same progression – 8 Tate presses, 8 overhead DB extensions, and 8 kickbacks.

After finishing with the first round of triceps, go back to biceps and do a second round and then do the second round of triceps exercises. DO THIS UNTIL YOU COMPLETE 5 ROUNDS

What makes this work out a beast is that there’s no rest between sets.  You go non-stop… and the Pump is INSANE!!! Do you have the balls to finish it!! Let me know if you survived in the comments. Train Hard!!!

The Challenge – Every Morning for 30 days! Before you begin getting ready for your day; Complete the Spell You Name Workout! If your name is less than 4 letters or less; go through the workout twice!

This will take no more than 10 minutes to complete and its a good way to get your blood flowing and metabolism firing.

I challenge the true Gym Junkiez to spell your First and Last Name!

Tag us in your workout posts @gymjunkiez17 !! Train Hard!!!!

Workout Challenge – Leg Day Blast

For the Gym Junkiez that love to train legs, or train legs with the purpose of growing an impressive set of wheels…. .this challenge is for you!!!

Warning – Do not attempt this workout with food or liquid still sitting in your stomach. Allow all food to digest and liquid to pass or it will come up before this session is over!

Today’s Leg Workout consists of 1 Giant Set of Heavy Weight being moved. 3 rounds! 10 Exercises; 12 reps each (except for leg extensions – 25 reps)! MAX Effort!!

Here we go!!!

LEG DAY

Warm up – 1 set of leg extensions – 75 reps (20,18,15,12,10 – rest 10 seconds between each set of reps) So it should be 20 rest 10 secs. 18 rest 10 secs. 15 rest 10 secs…. and so on until you finish the set of 10

Now that your knee’s and quads are nice and warm let the fun begin!

Giant Set List of Exercises

• Leg Extensions – 25 reps
• Lying Hamstring Curls – 12 reps
• Walking Barbell/Dumbbell Lunges – 12 reps each leg
• Seated Hamstring Curl – 12 reps
• Glute/Ham Raises on Lat Pull Down Machine** – 12 reps
• Hack Squats – 12 reps
• Leg Press – 12 reps
• Back Squat (or Safety Bar if your gym has it) – 12 reps
• Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift – 12 reps
• Dumbbell Goblet Squat – 12 reps

After each round take 2 – 2:30 Full Minutes of Rest. You will absolutely need every second of it.

**Glute Ham Raises on Lat Pulldown Machine

Once you finish the 3 rounds go ahead and find a nice corner in the gym to lay down in. And just to be on the safe side…. take a trash can with you!

I apologize for you having to walk like this but I promise the results will be well worth the pain you feel!

Let us know how you make out with this challenge. Tag us if you post the workout on social media. Train Hard!!!!

WORKOUT CHALLENGE – SHOULDERS

Everyone wants a nice set of shoulders. Men want big- capped-3d looking shoulders. Women want round-sexy shoulders. In either case they help to accentuate the look of a v-taper and a small waist! Regardless of the look you are going for you have to train the muscle. In order to develop those deltoids, you have to push as much blood as you can into all 3 heads of the muscle – the anterior (front delt), medial (side delt) and posterior (rear delt).

For an insane pump and crazy shoulder growth; try this shoulder routine. You will definitely know the meaning of mind – muscle connection after you finish … IF you finish!!! Try it and let me know how you like it!!!

Shoulder Routine

Warm-up – 4 x 12 Shoulder Dislocates (warms up the entire shoulder girdle)

Exercise 1 – Compound Movement – Dumbbell Military Press 4 x 12 60 seconds rest. Pyramid up in weight till you can no longer do 12 reps.

Exercise 2 – Side Laterals w Cables 4 x 12* 30-45 secs rest. Slow controlled reps. Hold each rep for a 2 count.

Exercise 3 – Reverse Pec Deck 4 x 15 30-45 secs rest. Squeeze each rep for a 2 count

Exercise 4 – Front Raise with Plate 4 x 12 30-45 secs rest. Hold each rep for a 1 count.

Exercise 5 – Dumbbell Shoulder Shrugs 3 x 15 30 seconds rest. Squeeze each rep for a 2 count

FINISHER – If you are one of the true Gym Junkiez and want to set yourself apart from everyone else in the gym… Try this exercise to finish your workout. Your shoulders will feel like they are going to explode. After a few sessions of this, you will definitely see some noticeable changes

The Victory Raise

3 x 20 with no more than 30 seconds rest between each set

1. Place a small resistance band around your wrists.
2. Lift the dumbbells from the low position to overhead, forming a “V” at the top.
3. Initiate the movement as a front raise with a neutral grip. As the movement progresses, spread your arms wider to end up with both arms forming a 45 degree angle with the body at the top of the movement.
4. Come back down the same way, controlling the weight for a good 3-4 second count. Do not release the tension completely at the bottom! Keep some tension in the bands to keep the muscles firing for max results.

Do the victory raise early in your shoulder or pressing workout. It will turn everything on and will make for safer, more effective pressing. Sets of 8-10 reps with a fairly slow eccentrics are best.

How It Works

This move basically combines all the benefits of a lateral raise, front raise, and band pull-apart. It hits all three heads of the deltoids as well as the rhomboids and lower traps. The band keeps the scapula properly aligned and you can’t compensate with the upper traps, making it a lot more effective at recruiting the delts.

Try this routine out. Post a clip from your training session and tag us @gymjunkiez17 on IG or use the hashtag #gymjunkiez

 

 

Sodium tends to get a bad rap when it comes to health and fitness. But it shouldn’t. Here’s the deal…. Sodium helps to regulate a number of key functions in the body, including muscle contraction, nerve function, blood volume, and acid-base balance. When you decrease your sodium intake, your body will compensate by excreting potassium, which will cause a decrease in the fluid volume of your muscle cells. This hurts their ability to grow. Increasing sodium intake, therefore, can increase muscle size by adding more fluid volume. A higher volume of intracellular fluid also increases protein turnover, further spurring growth. Another mechanism through which sodium can increase strength is by increasing extra-cellular fluid levels (fluid outside the cell membrane), which in turn improves the leverage in your joints, allowing you to move more weight on lifts. These increases in fluid volume both inside and outside the cell have also been shown to reduce the incidence of muscle strains and tendon injuries by decreasing the friction exerted upon these tissues. Finally, many critical amino acids are sodium-dependent. This means they are able to enter a muscle cell only when accompanied by a sodium molecule.

So what does all of that mean…… Use Salt to Improve Strength and Gainz!!

DO NOT use table salt, instead use Sea Salt or Pink Himalayan Salt

 

Try this for a Pre-workout stack for a week and if it does not give you some of the most insane pumps and strength increases. Your next post workout shake is on me!!

5 grams of Creatine 

8 oz of black coffee

6 shakes of Sea Salt or Pink Himalayan Salt

Drink this 30 minutes before you begin your work out.

To help with muscle gainz. Add 6 shakes of Sea Salt or Pink Himalayan Salt to your post workout shake or  to your post workout meal!

***Your post workout meal should always be protein and some form of fast digesting carbohydrate. Fat should be next to nothing!!***

 

Try this for a week. Let me know how you feel. Drop a comment on this post. Till next time.. Train Hard!!!!