Author: HUMANFITPROJECT EDITORS

The 4-week Winter Bulk Up workout plan

Winter does have its advantages. And one of the best is that you can set yourself up to be your at your biggest and leanest once the warm weather swings back around. The trick is to use the winter to Bulk Up, then transition into an aggressive shred during the spring. This gives your body a change it needs. You’ll be able to eat more, and to some degree, rest a bit more as well.

Program designer Tim McComsey (@TimMcComsey) says there are three main components to the Bulk Up:

If you’re very new to working out, check out our best exercises for men and women to learn proper form.

1. It’s focused on large muscle groups such as Chest, Back, and Legs. You will train them twice per week. Smaller muscle groups like Shoulders, Biceps, and Triceps are secondary. The beginner of each week will be the most challenging, the middle-to-end is scaled back as though it’s a tapered recovery without going easy.

2. The rest periods between exercises are longer to enable ample recovery from heavier, bigger lifts. You’re looking at 60-90 second between sets versus 30-45 seconds which you would see in a weight loss plan.

3. The Bulk Up plan revolves around “straight sets” versus the use of “super-sets” or “tri-sets”. Once you complete a set of an exercise you will rest, then repeat for the prescribed number of sets that follow. This is another strategy to allow for ample recovery. The only time “tri-sets” will be used are for short ab/core workouts at the end.

Before you get started, check out this piece on intuitive eating and this one on Tim’s grocery store essentials for building lean muscle.

DAY ONE: Chest, Shoulders & Triceps

1. *BB Flat Chest Press
2. *DB Incline Chest Press
3. Push Ups
4. *DB Standing Shoulder PressSeated DB Lateral Raise
5. Cable Tricep Press Downs with Straight Bar
6. DB Bent-over Tricep Kick Backs

Sets, reps & rest protocol
* 4 sets x 8 reps : 90 seconds rest
3 sets x 10 reps : 60 seconds rest

The Tri-set Finisher
Complete 3 sets of with 30 seconds rest between each one.

7A. Hanging Leg Raise x 12
7B. Decline Bench Reverse Curl Up x 12
7C. Swimmer Kicks x 30

DAY TWO: Back & Biceps 1

1. *Pull Ups
2. *BB Bent-over Rows
3. *Cable Free Motion Wide-grip Pull Downs
4. *Seated Free Motion V-bar Rows
5. BB Shrugs with 1 second hold
6. BB Standing Curls
7. Seated DB Hammer Curls

Sets, reps & rest protocol
* 4 sets x 8 reps : 90 seconds rest
3 sets x 10 reps : 60 seconds rest

DAY THREE: Legs 1

1. *BB Squat
2. *BB Deadlift
3. *DB Forward Lunge
4. *Glute Ham Leg Raise
5. Standing Calf Raise
6. Seated Calf Raise

Sets, reps & rest protocol
* 4 sets x 8 reps : 90 seconds rest
3 sets x 10 reps : 60 seconds rest

The Tri-set Finisher
Complete 3 sets of with 30 seconds rest between each one.

7A. Free Motion Cable Torso Rotations with Straight Bar x 15 per side
7B. Side Plank Up-Downs x 15 each side
7C. Decline Bench Weighted Russian Twist x 15 per side

DAY FOUR: Chest, Shoulders, & Triceps 2

1. *Standing High Free Motion Crossover Fly
2. *Flat Bench DB Fly
3. *Machine Cable Fly or Band Fly
4. *Standing DB Front Raise
5. *Seated DB Shoulder Press with Palms-In
6. DB Bench Tricep Skull Crushers
7. Weighted Bench Dips

Sets, reps, & rest protocol
* 4 sets x 8 reps : 90 seconds rest
3 sets x 10 reps : 60 seconds rest

DAY FIVE: Back and Biceps 2

1. *Chin Ups
2. *Single-arm DB Row
3. *Free Motion T-bar Pull Downs
4. *Two-arm DB Row
5. *Seated DB Shrugs with 1 second hold
6. Cable Rope Curls
7. Cable Crossover Curls

Sets, reps, & rest protocol
* 4 sets x 8 reps : 90 seconds rest
3 sets x 10 reps : 60 seconds rest

DAY SIX: Legs 2

1. *Sissy Squats
2. *Slide Board Hamstring Curls
3. *Narrow Stance BB Squats
4A. Standing DB Calf Raises
4B. Weighted Walking Calf Raises

Sets, reps, & rest protocol
* 4 sets x 8 reps : 90 seconds rest
3 sets x 10 reps : 60 seconds rest
A/B indicates superset

Continue Your Gains with The Size, Strength, and Shred Cycle

December 18, 2017
8 high-intensity fat-burning workouts to work off holiday weight gain

Let’s face it: there’s no out-training a bad diet. You just can’t do it. No matter how hard you try—at the end of the day—the war on extra weight is won in the kitchen. But a couple big holiday dinners aren’t a bad diet—they’re just a couple big holiday dinners. You can put those to use. Here’s how:

If you eat “clean” consistently, 7 days per week for several weeks at a clip without a “cheat” then a big holiday splurge won’t make much of a difference. It’s a blip in the grand scheme of things. Take on a couple of these high-intensity fat-burning workouts below and your metabolism will be revved back up to normal. No prob.

However, if you “cheat” a bit more frequently or you tend to go into a dietary spiral around the holidays, then you need to be a bit more strategic. We suggest reduce your carbohydrate intake the week of and the week before the holidays by about half. A big holiday dinner would act as a “reset” of sorts. Go hard on the workouts below.

Another option would be to get on the Holiday Workout Schedule. There are big lift days for maximum muscle gain and interval days for accelerated fat loss.

The Too Much Stuffing Workout

with @MarinelliMuscle

Jumping Jacks x 30 sec
Bodyweight Squat x 30 sec
Incline Push Up x 30 sec
Plank x 30 sec
Reverse Lunge x 30 sec
Superman x 30 sec
Rest 60 seconds. Repeat x 3

The Pumpkin Cheese Cake Workout

with @LouieFitNYC

Butt Kicks x 30 sec
Side Lunge x 30 sec
Close-grip Push-up x 30 sec
Star Jump x 30 sec
Bridge x 30 sec
Plank Push-up x 30 sec
Rest 60 seconds. Repeat x 3

The Food Binge Fat-Burning Workout

with @TimMcComsey

Ice Skater x 30 sec
Jump Squat x 30 sec
Russian Twist x 30 sec
Walking Lunge x 30 sec
T-Push-up x 30 sec
Knee Tuck Jump x 30 sec
Bicycles x 30 sec
Rest 60 seconds. Repeat x 3

The Don’t Be a Lazy Slob Holiday Workout

with @Mike_Simone

Jumping Jacks x 30 sec
Plank Row/Renegade Row x 30 sec
Thrusters x 30 sec
Sit-up x 30 sec
Push-up x 30 sec
Jump Squat x 30 sec
Dumbbell Deadlift to Lateral Raise x 30
Rest 60 seconds. Repeat x 3

The Pre-Food Coma Workout

with @MarinelliMuscle

High Knee x 30 sec
Push-up x 30 sec
Burpee x 30 sec
V-up x 30 sec
Pile Squat x 30 sec
Side Plank Up-Downs x 30 sec
Rest 60 seconds. Repeat x 3

The Calorie Bomb Workout

with @LouieFitNYC

Band Squat Shoulder Press x 30 sec
Side Hops x 30 sec
Band Alternating Chest Press x 30 sec
Walking Lunge with Twist x 30 sec
Split Squat Jump x 30 sec
Swiss Ball Roll-in x 30 sec
Star Jump x 30 sec
Rest 60 seconds. Repeat x 3

The Feel-Better-After-a-Workout Workout

with @TimMcComsey

Mountain Climber x 30 sec
Plank Row/Renegade Row x 30 sec
Split Squat x 30 sec
Split Squat Jumps x 30 sec
Dumbbell Lateral Raise + Squat x 30 sec
Cross Punching x 30 sec
Rest 60 seconds. Repeat x 3

The Party Detox Workout

with @Mike_Simone

Side Hops x 30 sec
Dumbbell Alternating Row x 30 sec
Dumbbell Deadlift x 30 sec
Jump Squat x 30 sec
Dumbbell Push-up x 30 sec
Leap Frog/Broad Jump x 30 sec
Band Shoulder Press x 30 sec
Rest 60 seconds. Repeat x 3

November 24, 2017
The 5-day holiday workout schedule for staying in great shape
Yeah, we get it: you’ve got to live a little, enjoy a cheat meal or two, hell, maybe even a couple of drinks. Finding that balance, they say. But the truth is: if a lean physique is your number one priority then you’d better believe that back-to-back-to-back binge dinners and hard partying can do some damage—and quicker than you think.

Have your pie, potatoes, and stuffing. Drink your beers and stay up late. Just don’t complain if you pushed it too far and those abs you started to see are smoothing out.

HFP expert contributor John Gioffre has the plan to keep you covered.

How the holiday schedule works

The workouts are only about 30 minutes, but those 30 minutes are going to be spent using up every calorie of pie, potatoes, and stuffing. And because you’re most likely tight on time, the plan is built around big lifts, extremely low (or no) rest periods, and bodyweight exercises.
- The big lifts like your squats, deads, and presses, will use up the most amount of calories. Structuring them with very short (or no) rest periods will bump up the intensity.
- The bodyweight circuits are quick, effective ways torch calories and ignite your metabolism without needing to schlup (or rush) it to the gym. All five workoutsshould take approximately 30 minutes each.
How to follow the schedule

Hit the gym every other day for the big lift workouts. In between gym-days use the bodyweight circuits to keep your metabolism in overdrive mode. For example: Monday, Wednesday, Friday in the gym and Tuesday and Thursday from home. To further increase the intensity of these workouts you may completely remove the rest periods.

You may also like: The Detox Workout Plan

Day One: At the gym

Complete all of the exercises in a circuit for five rounds. Or rest 30 seconds between exercises.

Hack Deadlift 10 reps
Dumbbell Row 10 reps
Barbell Push Press 10 reps
Pull Up 5-10 reps

Day Two: At home

Complete all of the exercises in a circuit for five rounds.

Air Squat 30 reps
Close-grip Push Up 25 reps
Leg Raise 20 reps
Hand Crawl 15 reps

Day Three: At the gym

Complete all exercises in a circuit for five rounds. Or rest 30 seconds between exercises.
Barbell Front Squat 10 reps
Dumbbell Chest Press 10 reps
Dips 10 reps
Kettlebell Side Squat 10 reps

Day Four: At home

Complete all exercises in a circuit for five rounds.

Kettlebell Swing 10 reps
Kettlebell Clean 10 reps
Kettlebell Squat 10 reps
Sit Ups 10 reps

Day Five: At the gym

Complete all exercises in a circuit for five rounds. Or rest 30 seconds between exercises.

Back Squat 10 reps
Lat Pulldown 10 reps
Incline Bench Press 10 reps
Dumbbell Front Squat 10 reps
November 14, 2017
The 3-day Monster plan for size and power

This is called the Monster plan because that’s exactly what it will do to you—turn you into a monster. If you’ve been training several days per week or doing a lot of high-intensity interval stuff for the last few months, this is a nice block of change. Month after month, week after week of continuous bombardment of the muscles with volume and intensity would wear anyone down. Let’s use the next 30 days for size and power. And the way to do it effectively will require a change in thinking, and programming.

Watch Brandon Da Cruz (@brandondacruz_) demo one of his programs below.

Introducing: The Monster Plan

How it works

Now that you’ve fully accepted the fact that sub-5 or 10% body fat all year isn’t necessary, and quite frankly, understand that it could also be burning you out—your new mass and power plan could still take some getting used to.

You’re going to be working out three days per week. Structured as one day on, one day off. But don’t let the three days fool you into thinking life just got easy because after the first week of this program you’re going to pay close attention to the tempo of your repetitions. Instead of simply lifting start to finish, you’re going to follow a “3/1/3/1” tempo for higher repetition exercises (above 6). And for lower repetition exercises you will follow a “2/1/0/1” tempo. Essentially your “power” exercises in the low rep ranges will be explosive, and your “growth” exercises in the high rep ranges will be slower, controlled movements.

For both of these, you’ll feel it in the morning. We promise. And make sure to follow the rest periods—you’ll need them.

Attempt to either increase the weight, or the number of reps each week as you progress. You want to build monsterous size, but don’t be a monsterous lug head—increasing weight by very small increments like 5-pounds can surprisingly go a long way.

Understanding tempo training

If you’re bench pressing high reps for 3/1/3/1, it’s 3 seconds on the way down, 1 second with the bar at your chest, 3 seconds on the way up, and 1 second at the top. If you’re bench pressing low reps for 2/1/0/1, it’s 2 seconds on the way down, 1 second with the bar at your chest, an explosive push on the way up (0 seconds), and a 1 second pause at the top.

Workouts & Directions

Day One: Push

1. Flat bench press: 3 sets of 4-6
2. Incline DB press: 3 sets of 8-10
3. DB shoulder press: 3 sets of 4-6
4. BB wide-grip upright row: 3 sets of 8-10
5. DB lying tricep extension: 3 sets of 4-6
6. Weighted dip: 3 sets of 8-10
* Rest 60 seconds between sets

Day Two: Legs & Abs

1. DB goblet squat: 3 sets of 4-6
2. BB landmine squat: 3 sets of 8-10
3. Alternating lunge: 3 sets of 8
4. DB stiff-legged deadlift: 3 sets of 8
5. Weighted rope crunches: 3 sets of 10-12
6. Hanging leg raise: 3 sets of 15
* Rest 60 seconds between sets

Day Three: Pull

1. Weighted pull-up: 3 sets of 8-10
2. BB bent-over row: 3 sets of 4-6
3. Single-arm DB row: 3 sets of 6-8
4. Face pull: 3 sets of 8-10
5. BB curl: 3 sets of 6-8
6. DB alternating hammer curl: 3 sets of 8-10
7. DB shrug- 3 sets of 8
* Rest 60 seconds between sets

SPONSORING PARTNER

October 27, 2017

The basic body transformation plan that’s souped up with experiments

You’ve mastered the basics and have cycled through several programs, but yet again, you’re looking for something “new” to see how far you can push your body’s physique. For this basics+science plan from rising fitness star Ian Canrobert (@CanrobertFitness), you’ll be incorporating the compound movements you’re already familiar with, but with a dedicated “focus” for each exercise. As what would be expected from a basics program, compound lifts will be the meat and potatoes of your training and will also be supplemented with specific accessory work.

The “new factor” you’ve been looking for will be the exercise “focus”. Each of the focused-approaches to your lifts will help you grow in multiple departments including power, strength, muscle hypertrophy, muscle endurance, stability, mobility, and flexibility.

HOW IT WORKS

This program “focuses” consists of mechanical tension, muscle damage, metabolic stress, accommodating resistance, occlusion training, and intra-set stretching. Here is a cheat sheet:

Mechanical tension (MT): big lifts, heavy weight, low reps.
Muscle damage (MD): various lifts, slow-controlled repetitions for placing the muscle under maximum time under tension.
Metabolic stress (MS): various lifts, quick repetitions for maximum blood flow.
Accommodating resistance (AR): use of bands or chains to keep resistance on the muscle throughout the range of motion.
Occlusion training (OT): also known as blood-flow restriction to increase pumps and growth
Intra-set stretching (ISS): statically holding an exercise in the finished position to improve hypertrophy and mobility.

*Rate of perceived exertion (RPE): how you physically feel will be how you determine how much weight to use.

The plan is structured into a five day split broken down into a push, pull, shoulders, legs, and a weakness/supplemental day in between shoulders and legs). The weakness/supplemental day may range from foam rolling and myofascial release to mobility work to a few sets of a lagging body part of your choice.

DIRECTIONS

For the first two weeks you may slightly increase your weight used on lifts, however, the focus should primarily be on adapting to this as a new training plan. In the third week will you may “overreach”, which means increasing the weight you use and volume of sets you perform. In the fourth week, it’s advised that you come back down to a moderate weight and volume to regain mental and physical traction so that your performance won’t suffer in the coming weeks. Repeat this cycle over a long-term period of 14-22 weeks.

This program will last for a suggested 14-22 weeks (allow the first two weeks for finding a groove that works best).

Rate of Perceived Exertion Cheat Sheet (RPE)

10 – Very energetic – Hard/Heavy
8 – Good energy – Heavy/Heavy
6 – Moderate
5 – Moderate
4 – Moderate
2 – Fairly tired – Easy/Light
0 – Exhausted – Easy/Light

THE WORKOUTS

Day 1: Chest/triceps

Focus	Exercise	Sets x Reps	Goal Weight	Rest
MT	Flat barbell bench press	4×6	RPE 9	2-3 minutes
MD, AR	Flat barbell bench press + chains	4×8-12	RPE 6	1-2 minutes
MD, ISS	Incline DB press	4×8-12	RPE 7	1-2 minutes
MS, ISS	Incline DB fly	4×15	RPE 4	30sec-1min
MD	Incline wide/narrow pushups	4x AMRAP	RPE 4	1-2 minutes
MT	Cable straight bar press downs	4×6-8	RPE 7-8	2-3 minutes
MD, ISS	Incline DB skullcrusher	4×10-12	RPE 6-7	1-2 minutes
MS, OT	Cable rope tricep extensions	4×15-20	RPE 3-4	30sec-1min

Day 2: Back/biceps

Focus	Exercise	Sets x Reps	Goal Weight	Rest
MT, AR	Deadlift	4×6	RPE 9	3 minutes
MS	Single arm DB row	4×8-12	RPE 7	1-2 minutes
MD	T-bar row	4×12-15	RPE 5-6	1-2 minutes
MS, ISS	Lying incline bench single arm cable pulldown	4×10-12	RPE 4	1-2 minutes
MS	Cable rope pull through	4×15-20	RPE 3-4	30sec-1min
MT	Wide grip bar curls	4×6-8	RPE 7-8	2-3 minutes
MD	DB hammer curls	4×8-12	RPE 6	1-2 minutes
MS, OT	Close grip cable straight bar curls	4×15-20	RPE 3-4	30sec-1minute

Day 3: Shoulders/abs

Focus	Exercise	Sets x Reps	Goal Weight	Rest
MT	Seated DB military press	4×6-8	RPE 8-9	2-3 minutes
MS	Standing BB overhead press	4×12-15	RPE 4-5	1-2 minutes
MD	Bent over isolated DB lateral raises	4×8-12 each side	RPE 6	1-2 minutes
MD	Bent over DB posterior flies	4×8-12	RPE 6	1-2 minutes
MS, ISS	Cable rope posterior face pull	4×15-20	RPE 3-4	30sec-1min
MT	Side cable crunches	4×8-10 each side	RPE 7-8	1-2 minutes
MD	Decline bench weighted side crunches	4×10-12	RPE 6	1 minute
MS	Seated bench DB jack knives	4×15-20	RPE 4-5	30sec-1min

Day 4: Weakness – FREE DAY

Day 5: Quads/calves (alternate with ham week)

Focus	Exercise	Sets x Reps	Goal Weight	Rest
MT, AR	High/low bar barbell back squat	4×6	RPE 9	2-3 minutes
MD, OT	DB split squat (each side)	4×8-12	RPE 7	1-2 minutes
MD, ISS	DB goblet squat	4×10-12	RPE 6-7	1-2 minutes
MS	Lunge	4×15-20	RPE 4-5	1 minute
MS	Moon jump lunge	3x 30 sec	RPE 4-5	30sec-1min
MS, ISS	Seated calve raises (machine or w/ barbell)	5×15-20	RPE 4-5	30sec-1min
MD, ISS	Standing calve raises	5×8-12	RPE 6-7	1-2 minutes

Day 5: Hams/calves (alternate with quad week)

Focus	Exercise	Sets x Reps	Goal Weight	Rest
MD, AR	Barbell Romanian deadlift + chains	4×8-12	RPE 7-8	1-2 minutes
MS	Barbell Romanian deadlift on box	4×12-15	RPE 4-5	1 minute
MD, ISS	Lying DB hamstring curl	4×8-12	RPE 5-6	1-2 minutes
MS, OT	Banded prone hamstring curls	4×15-20	RPE 3-4	30sec-1min
MS, ISS	Standing calve raises	5×12-15	RPE 4-5	30sec-1min
MD, ISS	Seated calve raises	5×20-25	RPE 6-7	1-2 minutes

October 18, 2017

9 reasons your body is just kinda staying the same

There’s nothing more frustrating than getting up every morning, looking in the mirror and seeing zero results. Here are some areas where you could be going wrong.

Your expectations are unrealistic

Building muscle is just like anything else in the world you want to get good at. It takes time and practice. You can certainly make great, noticeable gains within a couple weeks; cover model status—not so much.

You’ve got no idea where you stand

Knowing how much you bench, squat, overhead press, and deadlift isn’t for the pissing contest with others. It’s your personal benchmarks. You don’t need to be lifting more, or performing more reps with each session, but weekly gains (even if minuscule) mean you’re on the right track. If not, your program may need modification. Here are three expert tips are increasing your bench press.

You train rogue

Until you get to a certain level of fitness, writing and programming your own workouts isn’t advised. Solid trainers know the appropriate amount of exercises, sets, reps, and rest you need to stimulate maximum growth. Bench pressing and curling all night isn’t a program, it’s a problem.

You run too damn much

If your goal is to build muscle and you’ve been lifting for weeks, haven’t gotten stronger, or gained a pound. Stop running, or get off the elliptical. If you’re afraid you’re not getting enough cardio, start doing circuits or supersets—it will elevate the heart rate enough. If your goal is to lose weight, you’re not focusing on building muscle enough. Long story short: more cardio time could be spent lifting weights. Try our cardio replacement workout.

You’re letting stress unravel you

Your boss is crazy nut job, your girlfriend is one, too. You’d better get your emotions in check because it messes with your hormones, focus, and ultimately, your results in the gym.

You’re completely clueless when it comes to your diet

OK, great. Happy to hear you’re taking protein shakes. But do you have any idea how much food you’re actually consuming? You don’t necessarily need to know the exact number of calories you’re taking in, but you should at least be able to accurately recite back what you ate in the day down to the serving amount. Those little bites of random stuff here and there all add up. (Here’s a list of approved office snacks—and the ones to avoid) If your weight is holding steady and you can’t notice more bulk in areas like the arms, chest, shoulders, and back, then you might want to bump up your serving sizes slowly. On the flip side, if you’re not losing the stubborn fat, there could be a lot of “hidden calories” you’re consuming and don’t even know it. This list of dietician-recommended grocery store essentials should help with lean body gains.

You’re not putting in an honest workout

Partial reps, or half reps do have a place, but not if you’re doing it on the regular. Drop the weight back a bit and make sure you’re going the full range of motion on an exercise to activate as many muscle fibers as possible.

You’re thinking small

If you’re cranking out curls and kickbacks, but won’t go near the squat rack, you’re going to have a mass-building problem. Compound movements like squats, deadlifts, the bench press and overhead press recruit multiple muscle groups, and are what really stimulate growth. Suck up the thought of being uncomfortable and get it done.

You’re too much of a gym rat

Try and stay awake for 24-hours and see how you feel the next day. Yeah, it would suck. Same concept applies to hitting it in the gym, if you’re spending hours and hours working out and not taking rest days, you’re going to wear yourself out. Or worse, get hurt.

Get the most out of your routines, check out our 10 guidelines to working out from someone who’s made every mistake in the book.

October 14, 2017
The 3 beasts workout plan for strength, size, and power

This plan is broken into two main parts: an upper body workout and a lower body workout. An abdominal beast workout will supplement the upper and lower body days. We’ve picked big compound moves to get the most amount of work out of each session. A variety of rep ranges were also chosen to get a mix of strength, size, and power.

In week one, the upper body beast is done twice (Monday & Friday) with the lower body beast done on Wednesday. In week two, reverse the order. The lower body beast is done twice (Monday & Friday) with the upper body beast done on Wednesday. The abdominal beast can be added to the end of each main workout on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

FOCUS NYC trainer Ryan Heffernan demos the lower body beast, FOCUS NYC trainer and powerlifter Luis Tejada has got the upper body beast, and Mike Simone performs the abdominal beast.

THE WORKOUTS

The Upper Body Beast

1. Barbell Chest Press – 5 x 5
2. Pull Ups – Weighted – 5 x 5
3. Barbell Standing Shoulder Press – 4 x 6
4. Barbell Shrugs – 4 x 6
5. Weighted Dips – 3 x 8
6. Barbell Bicep Curls – 3 x8

*2 minute breaks on 5 x 5 exercises
*90 second breaks on 4 x 6 exercises
*60 second breaks on 3 x 8 exercises

The Lower Body Beast

1. Barbell Sumo Squats – 5 x 5
2. Barbell Straight Legged Deadlift – 5 x 5
3. Barbell Front Squats – 4 x 6
4. Barbell Sumo Deadlifts – 4 x 6
5. Barbell Squats – 3 x 8
6. Glute Ham Leg Raise – 3 x 8

*2 minute breaks on 5 x 5 exercises
*90 second breaks on 4 x 6 exercises
*60 second breaks on 3 x 8 exercises

The Abdominal Beast

1A. Weighted Hanging Leg Raise – 3 x 8
superset
1B. Wheel Roll Out – 3 x 8
Rest 45 seconds

2A. Floor Hip Thrusts with Twist – 3 x 12 per side
superset
2B. Swiss Ball Oblique Side Bends – 3 x 12 per side
Rest 45 seconds

3A. Swiss Ball Weighted Overhead Crunch – 3 x 8
superset
3B. V Crunch – 3 x 8
Rest 45 seconds

October 13, 2017
Shredded dietician Tim McComsey’s grocery store essentials for lean body gains

There’s plenty of healthy foods out there, but healthy food and food that’s for fat loss are two separate things.

We asked long-time HFP contributing expert Tim McComsey for a handful of his essentials for staying lean and lifting mean.

Motivation for the morning… the five day timeless bodybuilding plan with @timmccomsey. #humanfitproject @mike_simone @rrp_hfp

A post shared by humanfitproject (@humanfitproject) on Apr 30, 2017 at 9:14pm PDT

McComsey is the face of several HFP-produced programs such as the Winter Bulk Up, the Spring Trim Up, and the Timeless Bodybuilding plans

Salmon

Salmon has high quality protein and high amounts of omega-3 fatty acids. Protein is ideal for protein repair and regeneration on a daily basis and the omega-3’s can decrease muscle-protein breakdown after workouts, improving recover. Salmon has less saturated fat than other high protein foods making it more ideal to consume. The Omega-3 fatty acids in Salmon protects us from heart disease and have been shown to do everything from decrease triglyceride levels to lower blood pressure.

Olive Oil

Olive oil is rich in monounsaturated fatty acids These fats actually help lower a person’s total cholesterol level and LDL cholesterol level, or bad cholesterol. When used in moderation, olive oil provides more health benefits than negative health issues. The advantages of olive oil range from improving heart health to better skin and hair.

Eggs

Calorie for calorie, you need less protein from eggs than you do from other sources to achieve the same muscle-building benefits. The reasoning is that eggs have the highest biological value—a measure of how well it supports your body’s protein needs of any other food. The yolk contains vitamin B12 which is important for fat breakdown and muscle contraction so the yolk is a must to eat. They are jammed pack with vitamins and minerals (riboflavin, folate, vitamins B6, B12, D, and E, and iron, phosphorus, and zinc) making them a healthy food choice. Don’t fear the egg as we know now that the amount of cholesterol we eat has very little impact on blood cholesterol levels.

Almonds

Vitamin E is loaded in each crunch of an almond. One of the best sources of alpha-tocopherol vitamin E which is the form best absorbed by the body even better than supplements. It is an antioxidant that can help to prevent free radical damage after workouts. The fewer the free radicals the faster our muscles can recover. Almonds are high in monounsaturated fats, the same type of health-promoting fats as are found in olive oil, which have been associated with reduced risk of heart disease.

Chicken Breasts

Chicken is normally the staple for a healthy diet. It’s a lean source of all necessary amino acids and can be prepared in a variety of way. A six-ounce chicken breast yields 54 grams of protein and four grams of leucine, the amount needed to max out protein synthesis in a given meal. Choosing chicken breasts or thighs with the skin removed and little visible fat will yield the best results.

Quinoa

Quinoa is an ancient grain famous for its protein content. Quinoa contains all nine essential amino acids, the amino acids that your body can’t make. They’re also key for improving fitness and muscle definition. Quinoa contains three more grams of protein per cup than brown rice, and brown rice doesn’t contain all the essential amino acids.

Don’t forget… water

Muscle is nearly 80% water. A little variation in body water can affect our energy levels and how we feel. If we are dehydrated our workouts and recovery will be impaired. Our metabolism will actually will slow down if we are slightly dehydrated as our organs can’t and won’t function as efficiently. Water is important for us to have to aid in our body’s ability to burn calories for fuel. Often times we think we are hungry really when we are thirsty. By drinking some water when you have the feeling of hunger you can save extra calories by not eating the snack you would have eaten originally.

October 6, 2017
5 changes to consider when your workouts start to suck

Everyone goes through a stage of not wanting to train or has experienced some level of fatigue. The following tips will get you fired back up.

1. Force your muscles to learn something new

Take a break from gym/cardio routine you’ve been doing for the last 6 months and try a class for a week or two where you don’t have to think for an hour. It doesn’t matter what kind of class it is, but chances are you’ll feel a different kind of sore in the morning. Hey, you might even surprise yourself and enjoy it.

2. Train the stuff you hate to train

We all have muscular weaknesses. You may not even know that you have a weakness until you go through an evaluation either by yourself or by someone else. Sometimes we have these weaknesses based on genetics, but in most instances we develop these weaknesses ourselves by continuously focusing on the same body parts and exercises for extended periods of time. Weaknesses and imbalances can, and most likely, will, lead to injuries down the road. Work with your local coach or trainer to identify your weaknesses and start allocating more time on them. Stay tuned for our story on weakness training.

3. Use some new tools for the job

Adding an external stimulus to your normal routines can cause a change in momentum, movement, or tension to add variation to a simple exercise. These stimuli can include chains and/or resistance bands. When you add chains to an exercise, as the weights are lowered to the ground, the resistance is decreased, and as they are raised, the weight increases. This added stimulus will also cause the bar to move differently than without it, causing stabilizers, neutralizers, agonists and antagonists to work in a different way that has proven benefits. Resistance bands can help maintain the eccentric or downward movement of the exercise because the movement needs to be stabilized throughout the motion being executed. These additions also help powerlifters increase their maximal lifts. Check out this chest workout video for something called “the crazy bell press”

4. Stop wasting time undoing your hard work

Exercising is all about progressive overload on your muscles for them to repair themselves, increasing in size to be able to endure the next stressor they will be put up against. A typical gym session should never really last much more than an hour for the average individual. If you find yourself in the gym 2 hours at a time, 6 or 7 days a week, there’s a problem with the quality of your workout. You don’t need 4 different exercises for each muscle group every time you hit the weights. You want to be able to strive through the workout and not just survive. This is where quality is much more important that quantity. When the quality of your workout decreases, so will other things – your form, your drive, your progress. Maintain your form, focus on making the most out of each repetition, each set and each day.

5. Turn down the intensity a couple notches

Rest is one of the most important keys to taking your training to the next level. High-level athletes will have a “de-load week” incorporated into their training. When you exercise, you are breaking down your body, if you continue to break down your body without giving it the proper time to recover and heal, you will never truly reach your maximum potential and you can put yourself at a higher risk for injury. This rest should not only be included during the week of normal and high intensity exercise, but should also be included as an entire week of low intensity exercise to allow your body to reset and begin the next phase of your gains.

October 3, 2017
25 unconventional exercises that are worth experimenting with

Maybe you’ve been working out forever. You’ve got your routines down, and at this point it’s just getting it in and getting out. But at some point boredom is inevitable and change is needed. We dropped by FOCUS NYC to meet up with trainer Ryan Heffernan for him to give us the quick run-through on 25 exercises you probably have never tried in your life. And if you have, well, congratulations.

The Exercises (in order of appearance in the video):

1. Medicine Ball Pushup (feet and hands on ball)
2. Incline Medicine Ball Pushup
3. Single-Arm Anterior Rotation Press (seated on Swiss ball)
4. Eccentric Push Press
5. Plate-Loaded Bench Dip
6. Barbell Single-Arm Push Press
7. TRX French Press
8. Zottman Curl
9. Off-Set Pullup
10. Incline Dumbbell Shrug
11. Band Retraction Hold (for traps)
12. Inverted Kettlebell Curl
13. Single-Arm Barbell Row (using landmine)
14. Barbell Suitcase Deadlift
15. Jefferson Deadlift
16. Single-Leg Barbell RDL
17. Super-Band Pull-Through
18. Zurcher Squat
19. Pause Front Squat
20. Single-Arm Plank
21. Half-Kneeling Pallof Press
22. Feet-Elevated Wall Plank
23. Snatch-Grip Deadlift with Jump Shrug (traps)
24. TRX Rotation
25. Side Plank with Shoulder Abduction

This content was originally published on MENSFITNESS.com

September 25, 2017