With the popularity of The WeekEND Workout article I wrote a few years back I thought I would switch gears and fit our workouts into most of our work-weeks, so we could be more productive during the week and have the weekend to kickback with our family.
For a lot of us busy dads trying to stay fit it’s not that we can’t find time to squeeze in 3 or 4 workouts during the week but it’s trying to string together a consecutive hour or two during the work day to complete our workout.
Because let’s face it, most serious workouts usually take an hour to complete after you factor in a proper warmup, a few warmup sets for each exercise and then some cooldown stretching. Then if you prefer to train at a gym, you have to tack on time for commuting and hitting the showers.
But if you’re like me you love how better you feel on the days you DO workout; before, during and after, so recently I bumped my training up from 3 days a week to 4 but cut my workouts almost in half by hacking away the time wasters and focusing on just ONE lift a day during my workout. This took my workouts from 60 minutes to 30 minutes including warmup and cooldown; something you shouldn’t cut out of your workout.
By reducing the QUANTITY in your workouts you have to make up for it in QUALITY so the peck deck or bicep curl machine will not count as a lift in this program. You need to pick the big multi muscle movers, like squats, deadlifts, bench presses, standing overhead presses, chinups, pullups, and dips.
There is a reason why powerlifters and olympic lifters stick with these basic pushing and pulling exercises, because they make you bigger and stronger faster than “feeling the burn” on the leg curl machine.
Just knowing you have only ONE lift to do allows you to train more often, even up to 5 days a week if you prefer, and gives you laser like focus to follow the proven muscle building method of progressive overload by gradually breaking personal lifting records each and every week and adding a fews extra pounds to the bar or pushing out an extra rep.
So here is the One Lift a Day Template to build maximum muscle in minimum time. By sticking to the “3-5″ formula you get the results you want with the flexibility to fit any man’s schedule.
Choose one main lift 3-5 days during the work week, hit it hard for 3-5 reps of 3-5 sets and get on with your day knowing that no muscle will be left behind by the end of the week.
If you want to focus more on getting stronger in specific exercises stick with the same lift choices for 4 weeks. If strictly building bigger muscles is more your goal, choose a different exercise lift each week.
Monday- Standing Barbell or Dumbbell Shoulder Press
Tuesday- Barbell Deadlifts or Dumbbell Deadlifts, or *Chinups
*Wednesday OFF or – Chinups or Pullups
Thursday- Barbell Bench Press or Dumbbell Bench Press (flat, incline or decline) or Dips
Friday- Barbell Back Squat or Front Squat or Box Squat
*For a 4 day split you can choose chinups as a main lift on Day 2 or for a 5 day split choose only chinups or pullups on Day 5
But wait! No curls or crunches?
Don’t let the simplicity fool you, chinups and deadlifts will give you brawny biceps and forearms and standing overhead presses and squats will strengthen and stabilize your abs better than rolling around on the dirty gym floor.
So don’t worry about being a weekend warrior and keep your work and workouts for the workweek so you have the weekends to rest and recover with your family.
Because being a strong dad means more than just lifting weights…
As a long time foodie and pizza lover I have finally made the primal leap to making pizza without using traditional flour for the dough. Yes, even whole wheat flour as it’s a better choice than processed white flour but still full of gooey gluten, which is causing us more gastric distress and auto immune conditions than most people realize.
So after a trip to our local Bulk Barn I picked up some Coconut Flour. Yep, coconuts can give you milk, oil and now even healthy gluten free flour!
But after reading many recipes, blogs and forum comments on working with coconut flour for pizza dough, I realized it’s not as easy as replacing your regular flour cup for cup with coconut flour.
So thanks to this YouTube video I discovered for Perfect Primal Pizza I found a simple recipe for Coconut Crusted Pizza.
To make this a nutritional powerhouse pizza I tossed on some rotisserie bbq chicken, green bell peppers, mushrooms, sun dried tomatoes, pineapple and fresh oregano.
The crust was slightly crisp and the garlic herb crust tasted great with a hint of coconut sweetness.
It was the perfect portion to feed me, my wife and our 2 year old daughter and as my pic above shows, the finished product turned out great and I am happy that I now can make pizza even healthier thanks to Coconut flour.
Coconut Crust Chicken Pizza
4 omega 3 eggs
1/2 cup of coconut milk (or full fat milk)
1/3 cup coconut flour
1/3 cup flax meal
Add any spices or flavors you’d like to get a tasty crust.
1 tbsp oregano
1 tbsp basil
1 tbsp garlic powder
Make sure you watch this pizza recipe video to get some must need tips for the perfect coconut crust pizza and easy cleanup, cause I love cooking but hate cleaning!
-Preheat oven to 350F and line a baking sheet or pizza pan with TWO sheets of parchment paper. One on top of the other.
-Add coconut flour to bowl and whisk it to remove lumps. Add rest of dry ingredients and then add eggs and milk. Whisk all ingredients well.
-Pour dough batter onto top sheet of pizza pan lined with parchment paper.
-Bake for 10 minutes and remove dough. Pick up and flip the dough over onto the bottom layer of parchment paper by holding the top level of parchment paper.
-Place back in oven and bake other side for 10 minutes.
-Remove cooked dough and top your pizza with sauce and toppings.
-Broil for 5 minutes, or until cheese is browned and crust is crisp.
-When done, remove from oven and slide off of parchment for serving and easy cleanup!
Here’s an awesome arm workout that I have been having fun with during my short Dad Fitness “meathead” style muscle building program.
It involves Wave Loading and Antagonistic Supersets to build strength AND build muscle at the same time!
It’s been a LONG time since I did some bodypart training and had an “Arm Day” but it’s been really fun to go old-school in the gym for a few weeks and focus on building some rock-solid muscle.
…and with these new techniques I can definitely see a difference in my muscle size and density after a few short weeks!
So if you’re looking for a NEW workout to build bigger and stronger arms give this one a try and you will be bursting out of your shirt-sleeves in no time!
Awesome Arms Workout
A1 Close Grip Preacher Curls, (7,5,3 Wave Loading), 1st wave set of 7, 5, 3, 2nd wave, set of 7, 5, 3, 90 secs rest
A2 Close Grip Bench Press, (7,5,3 Wave Loading), 1st wave set of 7, 5, 3, 2nd wave, set of 7, 5, 3, 90 secs rest
B1 Incline Hammer Curls, 4 sets of 6-10 reps, 60 secs rest
B2 Decline EZ-Bar Tricep Extensions, 4 sets of 6-10 reps, 60 secs rest
C1 Zottman Curls, 3 sets of 10-12 reps, 60 secs rest
C2 Rope Tricep Cable Pushdowns, 3 sets of 10-12 reps, 60 secs rest
A1-A2 means do one exercise set, rest and perform second exercise set, or if you’re in a rush for time don’t rest at all in between exercise supersets!
PS. If you want a cool new muscle building workout program from one of the most innovative trainers in the fitness industry, Nick Nilsson has just
released a program called “Mad Scientist Muscle – Build MONSTER Muscle With Science-Based Training” and I have to say, this looks like his best program yet.
Anyway, definitely check this out now! This info could seriously save you YEARS of muscle-building frustration
==> Mad Scientist Muscle (click here now to check it out)
Keep your surf boards for the beach dudes, I have a better wave for you that will build muscle and strength faster than you thought possible…
I started a new muscle building Dad Fitness workout routine yesterday.
Yep, this routine is specifically geared towards muscle hypertrophy, which is just a fancy name for muscle-growth…
After getter leaner and more athletic this summer with my training I am now going to focus on building some solid muscle mass over the next few months.
I am still only training 3-4 hours a week but these workouts include more sets and reps and some advanced training techniques like partial reps,double contraction reps, or iso-dynamic contrast reps.
Yesterday’s Chest and Back workout was a doozy because I am using this one weird training trick that I have found to work better than any
other when it comes to building bigger and stronger muscles.
Just by applying this ONE technique in your training I am sure you will increase your strength the very FIRST workout!
Ride the Wave
I was first introduced to Wave Loading years ago by strength coach Charles Poliquin. Wave loading refers to a lifting technique where the weights and reps change with every set within a wave. A wave is usually a group of 2-3 sets. Normally 2 waves are performed when training for muscle size, while 2-4 waves can be used when training for strength. The goal is to try to use heavier weights with each new wave.
Over the years I have found this to be the BEST method for building muscle and getting stronger INSTANTLY in the gym.
Wave loading works by activating your body’s nervous system, which is basically your body’s information superhighway for sending signals to your working muscles.
It simply tricks your mind and body into lifting heavier loads, which in turn can lead to more muscle.
For example, you might be able to bench press 5 reps of 200 lbs normally, but after doing a wave load you would probably lift at least 210lbs for 5 reps in the very same workout!
The opportunities to use wave loading are endless for size and strength but here is an example from my currrent muscle building routine.
A1) Incline Dumbbell Press
Wave 1 (1 x 7 reps @ 60lbs, 1 x 5 reps @ 70lbs, 1 x 3 reps @ 80lbs)
Wave 2 ( 1 x 7 reps @ 65lbs, 1 x 5 reps @ 75lbs, 1 x 3 reps @ 85lbs)
90 seconds rest
A2) Parallel Grip Pullups (bodyweight with additional weight)
Wave 1 (1 x 7 reps @ 10lbs, 1 x 5 reps @ 20lbs, 1 x 3 reps @ 25lbs)
Wave 2 ( 1 x 7 rep @ 15lbs, 1 x 5 reps @ 25lbs, 1 x 3 reps @ 30lbs)
90 seconds rest
Don’t do more than a couple wave loaded exercises in one workout as it puts a lot of stress on your nervous system and pay attention to getting enough recovery between workouts with proper nutrition and a good nights sleep. Probably not a good workout routine for sleep deprived new dads!
But if you are sick of slaving away in the gym for months trying to add more plates to the bar, give wave loading a try and get bigger and stronger faster than ever before…
These maybe the dog days of summer but it doesn’t mean you should be laying around the house like your favorite pooch.
So here are 3 new fat loss strategies that I followed this summer that allowed me to get leaner and stronger without the effort of dieting or doing long boring cardio.
Fat For Fuel
This first one happens in the kitchen not the gym. Say goodbye to grains for your breakfast and start the day with a meal consisting of proteins and fats only. The protein and fat will help keep you full and more alert during the morning without the mid-morning carb crash. It also supplies muscle building protein and fat to fuel your workouts. Try some Omega 3 eggs scrambled with scallions and cheese or go classic with steak and eggs. Don’t be afraid of fat, it was around long before bread!
HIIT The Hills
You keep hearing that HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) is the fastest and most effective cardio to burn fat. Now it’s also super convenient, thanks to Hill Sprints. Being outdoors it requires only you and a pair of running shoes. Sprinting up hill in short bursts of around 20 seconds seems to almost frighten the fat off your body and anyone can try it because the nature of sprinting uphill is more self regulating due to the increased resistance than sprinting on flat ground. The recovery is also built in as you walk back down the hill. This means there is less chance of injury and a greater chance of intensity, which is the real secret to burning fat.
Track Your Time
I might of mentioned this before but it bares repeating because I still hardly see anyone doing this in the gym. Track your time in between your working sets with your watch (not in your head). Most properly designed workout routines should dictate specific rest periods anyway, so follow them, they are there for a reason! Very rarely should you be resting more than 90 seconds in between sets, unless you are competing for the world’s strongest man. For fat loss the shorter the better. Resting only 30-60 seconds in between sets keeps your heart rate up and your mind on the muscle so you can be on the fast track to fat loss.
So follow these Laws of Leanness this summer so you are even fitter this fall…
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