Archives for 2011

Are You Lifting Too Much Weight In The Gym?

Wassup guys,

Today I have to get this off my chest because I don't want any of you guys to be like some of the guys I've seen at my gym.

You know the guys I'm talking about.

The guys who look brand spanking new to gym, barely look like they work out, and they're the ones who go and grab more weight than you do for an exercise.

I've seen this a number of times at the gym so far, and now that the weather is getting better, I'm starting to see these "guys" more and more often.

And after what happened to me yesterday I said "Enough is Enough".

So here's the story:

Yesterday, I was working on my "Pull" exercises as part of this strength training program I'm on, when this guy I've never seen before in the gym asks me to spot him.

(Note: I have been going to the gym the same time everyday for the past YEAR AND A HALF. Which means, if I haven't seen you there at that time before.... you haven't been going to the gym)

So of course I spot him on his exercise, which was Incline Dumb Bell Presses.

Problem #1: When I went over to give this guy a hand, I saw he was about to do this exercise with 70lbs Dumbbells.

Now I've been on a strength training program for the past 9 weeks or so and I "just" graduated to doing Incline DB Presses with 80 lbs Dumbbells. And this guy who looks like he barely works out, is about to do this with 70 lbs. That's a problem!

Problem #2: He asked me to help him lift the weight off his chest on the VERY FIRST REP.

Ok, it's one thing to give someone a "lift", like helping them unrack the Barbell if they're doing Bench Presses. and then it's something completely different to have someone lift the weight off your chest because the weight is too heavy for you to do so under you own power.

Problem #3: He was only going "half way" down.

I imagine you guys can picture how this exercise is done. It's pretty simple, you bring the weight down to your chest and you push up.

Since the weight was too heavy for the guy he was only able to go halfway down (if that) if he would have gone any further than there would have been an accident on our hands.

Problem #4: I gave him some advice and he didn't take it.

As helpful as I am, I'm somewhat reluctant to give advice to those who did not ask for it. Because in all honesty, most guys don't want to hear it.

They just want to do what they "think" they saw in a magazine one time and they'll be fine. But I saw that if this guy continues doing what he's doing, he's not only going to waste his time, he's seriously going to hurt himself or someone else (by picking a weight he can't fully control)

So, after his set I told him, "I think you're using too much weight for this exercise. You need to be able to go down all the way and feel a good stretch at the bottom" He looks at me and says "Ok, I think I'll try 60lbs next time".

First off, I think 60lbs would still be to heavy for this guy and second, he didn't even drop the weight he went back and did his 70lbs "whatevers" because those definitely wasn't Incline DB Presses he was doing.

Once I saw that he didn't take my advice, I told myself "That's the last time I spot that guy". And it's not to be mean or anything, hey it's a free country, if he wants to train improperly and waste his time at the gym so be it. But I refuse to let him waste my time as well.

 

Lesson of Today's Story:

3 Ways to Tell If You're Using Too Much Weight

 

 

1. If You Need Help Getting It Up

- If you need help lifting the weight from the starting position (i.e. off your chest) for the very first rep, then you're using too much weight.

2. If You're Struggling To Get AT LEAST 6 Reps On A Given Weight

- Remember, if you're goal is to build muscle then you should be doing 6 - 10 reps "roughly" each set. If you can't do AT LEAST 6 reps then you're using too much weight

3. If You Can't Keep Proper Form Using A Given Weight

- FORM IS EVERYTHING, if you can't keep proper form then you're wasting your time and you seriously put yourself at risk of getting injured on certain exercises.

Later on me and Jimmy will be posting some videos on how to do exercises with "proper form" so you guys know how to do these exercises with proper form and technique.

This is a REALLY IMPORTANT lesson you need to learn so I'm gonna take a page out of Jimmy's Workout commandments:

 

Work out your body, NOT YOUR EGO!

- This means PERFECT YOUR FORM FIRST, ADD WEIGHT LATER. I’d rather have perfect form and lift moderate weight on an exercise than lift a ludicrous amount of weight with terrible form.

I'll admit it, I was on of these guys myself. And it's EXACTLY what Jimmy said, I was working out my Ego rather than my body. In my eyes I didn't want to look like a "weakling" in the gym.

I had to learn some of my lessons the hard way, but it ultimately took getting advice from guys who had success building muscle and transforming their bodies to turn everything around for me. (Similar to what I'm doing with you guys right now).

So if you're one of these guys (or think) you're one of these guys who are using too much weight in the gym..... STOP IT!!!

You're only hurting yourself and killing your results in the long run.

Ok, I'm through venting, thanks for listening guys.

I hope you enjoyed today's lesson / rant.

Rich

P.S. -Let me hear what you think! Leave me a comment below if you agree, disagree or know of guys who are using too much weight in the gym.

Build Muscle Challenge March Update

Hey guys,

As you may or may not have noticed, I've made some DRASTIC cosmetic changes to the blog. I know, I know, it’s wayyyy overdue. But I’m glad with the results.

Aside from the cleaner look and feel there’s also a few features I’ve added that’ll make this blog THE SPOT to go to for muscle building advice.

New Feature #1... Your Comments

The first feature is this little WordPress widget called Comment Reply Notification. You don’t need to know what it is but here’s how it’s gonna help you.

Remember, my goal for this blog is to help you become BIGGER, STRONGER and more CONFIDENT through the body transformation process.

And the only way I can ensure that I’m helping you to the fullest is for us to interact. So at the end of every post, I’ll open the discussion for comments, questions, feedback etc. This is where you can ask a question about something you don’t quite get, add something you’d like to share, and so on.

This is the place to go to ask VERY SIMPLE questions. (If you’d like us to tell you EXACTLY what you’re doing wrong and help give you a game plan then fill out your What Am I Doing Wrong Questionnaire.)

My goal is to respond to EVERY COMMENT that I get on my blog. Because I know the more interaction you get with people who have gone through what you’re going through and have gotten results, like Jimmy and myself, the closer you’ll be to reaching your goals.

But what’s cool about that widget thingy is that it will email you once me, Jimmy or any of your fellow subscribers and readers reply to your comment as well.

So you’ll be instantly notified when someone responds to your comment.

(By the way, if you left me a comment on my recent posts then you'll see that I've replied to your comments and questions and you should've received an email from the widget thingy - let me know if you didn't because this is pretty important)

New Feature #2... Facebook and Tweets

The second new feature I’ve added was Facebook and Twitter buttons to every post. This is cool and it’ll help you out tremendously because this’ll help me gauge what information you guys want more of.

This goes hand in hand with the amount of comments a particular article gets as well. If we see more and more people interacting with a certain type of article or a certain subject that’s how we’ll know what to focus more on.

For example if we see that our Diet & Nutrition posts are getting alot of Facebook likes and “Tweets” (I can’t believe I’m a grown man using the word Tweets... very weird feeling), then me and Jimmy will start to focus in on more Diet and Nutrition related Tips.

So if you like a particular article, or post and you have a Facebook or Twitter account don’t be afraid to hit the Like and Tweet buttons to let us know that you like it. Plus if you feel that the information we shared will help someone you know, that will be a great way to spread the word and help someone else out, (which is what this entire blog is about)

My "Revealing" Update

Here's my "Revealing" update I've been telling you about. And it has to do with my new About page.

On this page I reveal my TRUE intentions for this blog and where I want to see it headed in the future, I also reveal some NEVER BEFORE SEEN pics of my 1st (40lbs in 4 Months) Transformation.

Yes, I finally managed to dig these photos out of my hard drive and post them up (after getting tons of requests to see these pics)

Warning: Part of the reason it took so long for me to post these pics is because, I really did start slacking off toward the end of my bulking phase and my waist line paid the price. (I basically stopped doing cardio, ate whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted)

Even though I was bulking and the goal was to build muscle and add some fat the end result was that I did gain ALOT of SIZE and MUSCLE but I gained WAY more fat than I should’ve. Which is why I decided to do things right this second time around.

 

Click here to read my REVEALING About Page and My SHOCKING Transformation Pics

 

Lastly, I also have an

IMPORTANT Big Announcement....

to make later in the week that will require you to take action on IMMEDIATELY if you want to continue receiving emails from me, yes it's that BIG (that's what she said - sorry been watching the Office alot lately 🙂 ).

Stay tuned for that announcement because it’s EXTREMELY IMPORTANT.

Train hard

Rich

P.S. - Let me know what you think of the new design and the new features and if there’s any other features you’d like to see added by leaving a comment below. Til next time guys.

My Secret Weapon Revealed

A few days ago I posted pics of my 2010 - 2011 transformation. If you missed it, here’s the  *Shocking* before and after pics, that have made ALOT of people’s jaw drop.

RECAP: If you could remember I gained 42lbs in 4 months which occurred back in 2009’ish. But going into 2010, I lost it!!! And the pics on this page are of my 2nd transformation I underwent after that DRAMATIC drop in weight from 2010 - 2011.

Then (175 - 180lbs) and NOW (217 lbs)

Unfortunately I don’t remember EXACTLY how much I weighed back in Feb ‘09, so I had to GUESS-TIMATE. (I know! I’m still kicking myself too, because that would’ve have been some good information to know comparing the “OLD” Rich to the “NEW” Rich)

But in all honesty even though that 2nd transformation was challenging and I did have to put ALOT of effort into it, building muscle almost became a joke this second time around.

Why?

Because of my SECRET WEAPON

So what is my secret weapon?

Is it.....

- The latest and greatest protein supplement? ... NOPE
- The hottest TV gizmo on the infomercials? ... NOPE AGAIN
- Special “Weight Gain” pills you see on the Internet? ... NOT EVEN CLOSE

The truth is My Secret Weapon isn’t a “WHAT”....... but rather a “WHO”

That’s right my secret weapon is a “Person”.

Yep, the reason why building muscle is almost like a joke to me now is because of my Training Partner / Weight Lifting Coach / Dietitian / Personal Trainer / Friend  named Jimmy.

My Secret Weapon: Jimmy

Current Height: 5' 7"

Current Weight: 184 lbs

A few quick facts about Jimmy:

1 - Jimmy is probably one of the biggest Mets fans I know.

2 - He LOVES craft beer (Jimmy can’t stand main stream beer AKA “nasty” beer (i.e. - Bud, Coors, etc) with a PASSION).

3 - He’s also a Certified Trainer

4 - And lastly he’s a BEAST when it comes to working out and putting on muscle. (I tell him, he’s like the Jackie Chan of building muscle)

How I Met Jimmy:

Back when I was 226 lbs about 2 years ago (after my 1st transformation) I used to see Jimmy in the gym, working out with some of his friends, who were BEASTS in their own right, but we never used to say anything to one another because we were too busy attacking our workouts in the gym.

So, last year (after I lost all the muscle) I moved into a new house off campus with my friend and a bunch of other guys and coincidentally that’s where Jimmy lived.

When I first moved into the house and saw Jimmy the first thing I said was “Hey, I know you, you used to workout at the gym on campus?” He looked at me up and down and said “Nooooo, I don’t think so, you don’t look familiar”. Then I told him that I used to be much bigger back then but I lost all the weight.

He looked at me up and down again. And then his eyes almost POPPED out of his eye sockets when he realized that the weakling that he was looking at (my before pic) was that 226lb guy he used to see in the gym a few months ago.

All he kept saying was “Dude, what the *&%$ happened, you used to be huge?

Once, OK.
Twice.... Alright
After hearing him repeat it a 3rd time I was like “OK, I get it!!!!” After that moment it finally HIT ME just how skinny I had gotten.

Well after that encounter, I told Jimmy that I was looking to get back to 226 lbs and he told me he was actually looking for a new workout partner, and in all honesty ever since that day the way I go about putting on muscle has NEVER been the same.

Throughout my transformation Jimmy has been a God Send. It’s like he has some kind of muscle building encyclopedia implanted inside his brain.

Jimmy’s helped me:

- Push myself further than I knew I could go
- Correct my form on virtually every exercise
- Build my under developed body parts
- Learn variations to tons of exercises that help build muscle.

I’ve learned things on all aspects of muscle building from Jimmy like:

- Dieting : What to eat, when to eat, what to avoid, how often to eat, pre workout nutrition, post workout nutrition.... (the list goes on)

- Exercise: What exercises put on the most muscle, how many reps you should be doing, how your form should be so you’re not wasting your time, which exercises are ESSENTIAL for each muscle group.... (the list goes on)

- Supplements: What supplements you NEED, which ones you don’t, what to look for when you’re buying supplements, what to avoid, which ones are a waste of money … (the list goes on)

- Cardio: How much cardio to do when you’re building muscle, how much is too much, what type of cardio you should be doing, which type of cardio will eat away at your muscles (the list goes on)

It’s MIND BOGGLING the WEALTH of knowledge I learned from Jimmy over these past few months.

So if you’re an impatient person like me, I’m pretty sure you’re like “Ok that’s nice Rich but WHO CARES??”

Well the reason I’m telling you this is because I have some AWESOME news.

When Jimmy found out, that one of the reasons I was busting my butt so hard was because I wanted to teach others how to do it (partially because when I first started out I didn’t have anyone to teach me) he was somewhat intrigued.

Then when I told him, I was running a blog with a few thousand subscribers, he became little more interested but for some reason he still didn’t feel like joining me.

Well, to make a long story short, it took some arm twisting, some name calling (ALOT of name calling actually) and a probably a case of some GOOD craft beer for Christmas but WE GOT JIMMY.

Even though, I called Jimmy ALOT of “sissy-girlie” names to get him to join in, I think its when he realized that he used to be a “REALLY” skinny guy himself and how hard it was for him years ago to find the right information and the right people willing to share it, that made him get AMPED UP to help this movement..... of Changing the lives of naturally skinny guys like us by training, inspiring, and motivating them to transform their bodies and boost inner confidence...... I call it: THE BUILD MUSCLE CHALLENGE (sound familiar? - more on this "movement" that later).

Right now I want you to do yourself a favor and read Jimmy’s quick bio. I’m certain you’ll find a few things in common with Jimmy. See what mistakes he’s made, how he overcame them because odds are they’re probably the same mistakes you’re making right now.


Click here to read Jimmy’s quick bio

Once you read it, you’ll come to see why I like Jimmy so much. And it’s because he’s a tell it like it is, kinda guy. If you’re slacking, he’ll let you know, if you’re not putting in the effort he’ll let you know, if you’re wasting his time..... he’ll definitely let you know.

So here’s how you’re going to benefit from all this in a BIG BIG WAY.

I told Jimmy that I get tons of emails on a weekly basis from guys telling me about all the things they’re doing and want to know why they can’t gain weight.

I MEAN, I GET ALOT OF THESE EMAILS.

Which is 100% ok, because it shows me that you guys are still fighting and making an effort to reach your goals. It also showed me that there’s ALOT of questions out there that you guys NEED answered. And since you don’t know the answers to these BURNING questions, it’s almost like an invisible MOUNTAIN that you can’t quite see, but you know it’s there blocking you from getting the results you want.

So me and Jimmy talked it over and one of the things we’re gonna be adding each week is a “What Am I Doing Wrong???” segment.

This is where YOU tell us EVERYTHING you’re doing, what your meals look like, how often your eating, what your workouts are like, how often you workout, your daily activity level.... etc. and we’ll break down EVERYTHING you’re doing wrong and most importantly we’ll give you an Action Plan on what you NEED to do to start seeing results fast.

When we sat down and hashed this out we knew we came up with something that is going to help ALOT of guys start seeing results almost immediately.

What’s cool about this is each week, we’ll post your questions and our responses on the blog so not only can you guys learn from us but you’ll see what’s holding other guys back (so you can learn from each other as well), which is what this entire community is about.

If you’d like to find out what your doing wrong and why you aren’t building muscle and gaining weight and you want us to answer your most burning questions when it comes to building muscle and give you a STEP BY STEP action plan on what you NEED to be doing to start seeing results FAST then click on the link below to fill out our quick “What Am I Doing Wrong?” questionnaire:


Click Here to fill out your "What Am I Doing Wrong???" Questionnaire ASAP

IMPORTANT: Please don’t wait to fill out your “What Am I Doing Wrong?” questionnaire..... WHY?

1 - Because I have over 6000 subscribers on my mailing list, who just received the same message you just received who are probably filling out the form right now as we speak.

2 - Jimmy and I are EXTREMELY busy, Jimmy’s a Grad student working on his PhD and I’m a full time student and have a part time job in between classes which means realistically it can be a while for us to get to your questionnaire if you wait too long to fill it out.

Trust me you’re going to be kicking yourself if you don’t take action now.

So with that, all I can say is 2011 is gonna be a FUN FUN RIDE. Let’s start it off strong.

Til next time,

Rich

P.S. - Don’t wait to fill out your quick “What the heck am I doing wrong?” questionnaire. This can literally be EXACTLY what you need to break through whatever obstacle you may be facing right now. Over 6000 guys just like you are going to see this message and Jimmy and I are SUPER busy, so don’t let someone else take your spot.

Click Here to fill out your "What Am I Doing
Wrong???" Questionnaire ASAP
.

P.P.S. - If you haven’t done so already, do yourself a favor and read Jimmy’s story. See what mistakes he made, how he overcame them (they may be the same mistakes you’re going through right now).


Click here to read Jimmy’s quick bio