Personal Training Notes

General

  • Be aggressive/intense. You have to tear down the muscle to rebuild it

  • Do the exercises you can do the most weight with. You’ll need to recruit more muscles and use more strength to do them.

  • Aim for 6-8 reps. Go to failure.

  • Add more weight when you can do 8 reps comfortably, then you're probably back at the 6 rep range

  • 4 working sets per exercise

  • warm up: zone 2 cardio for 3-5 minutes

  • warm up for an exercise, lighter weight for a few reps

  • 2-3 minutes rest between sets

  • If your workouts are getting too long, do less sets/exercises rather than sacrificing rest

  • If you're out of gas, take 3 big breaths and try another rep

  • Shoulders and arms don't need much rest, so you could work them 4x a week, unlike chest, back, quads, hams

  • Consider push, pull, legs, push split

  • Add leg extension to leg day, it works a muscle that squats don't (rectus femoris?)

Diet

  • Aim for slightly above maintenance calories for body recomp (+200 calories)

  • 1500 calories is way too low if you're body building

  • Trainer likes Naked or Transparent Labs whey

  • Eat 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight daily, spread even over four to five meals

  • Eat 2-4 grams of carbs per pound of bodyweight daily, spread even over four to five meals. Low to no fat carbs like rice, potatoes , vegetables.

  • Drink half your bodyweight in water daily

  • Meal Prep to ensure daily calories and protein are met

Exercises

Bench Press

  • Exaggerate chest up

  • Pin shoulders back

  • Sternum is the target

  • Use the safety pins

  • Only move your elbows

  • Don't move your shoulders

  • Did 115 lbs for 6 reps

Incline Bench Press

  • aim for 45 degree angle

  • you'll have to reach behind your head a little

  • exaggerate chest just like normal bench press

  • 1 from the back, 3rd vertical pin, 13 safety’s, 8 for the starting pin

  • 13 safety pins, 6 for the incline

  • Roll back to chest lift off

Hex Bar Deadlift

  • keep knees back at the bottom (it hurts otherwise)

  • take a deep breath, make everything tense

  • arms should be tense, locked

  • lift with your chest

  • tap at the bottom, go back up

  • Move chest and lock in lower back

  • Chest should should be higher than lower back

  • Lift it slow at the bottom, don't jerk the bar off the ground

  • Let air out at the top

  • Normal trap bar weighs 45 lbs, Rep open trap bar weighs 70 lbs

Chest Fly

  • use machine

  • bring hands together

  • pause under tension when your arms out wide

  • Start at pin 3 on the fly machine

Pull up

  • Use the box to help you to the bar

  • Do 4 sets of max reps (currently ~5 reps)

  • use neutral grip if elbows hurt

  • Drop weight at the knees, then pull

Squats

  • Push knees out wide 14 safety 2 35s 115 x 6

  • Everything I knew about fitness is a lie

  • Belt - when your back hurts

Row bent over

  • Start at the top Pull to the sternum Soften knees a bit

  • Squeeze your shoulders together

  • Don’t start with your shoulders lower than your back

Tricep dips

  • Pop up

  • Lean forward

  • Don’t do assisted

  • Aim for parallel

  • Make it your first exercise in a workout since it's so tough

Walking lunge

  • Forward and down at the same time

  • 8 reps then 30 seconds, 8 back, rest

  • Imagine you’re about to put the weights next to front foot

  • You can immediately pop back up

Tricep cable

  • Butt back

  • Don’t move elbows

Machine rows

  • Lean forward

  • Don’t lean back so much

  • Squeeze the back

  • Hit your body

  • Deep breath in and pull

Workout Schedule

  • 3 or 4 Days a week

  • 4 working sets per exercise

  • 6 to 8 reps per set

  • 2-3 minutes of rest between sets

Day 1

  1. Pin Bench Press

  2. Dips (Only for 3 sets)

  3. Seat Fly

  4. Alternating Dumbbell Curl (Optional)

  5. Cable Tricep (Optional)

Day 2

  1. Box Pull-ups

  2. Barbell Row

  3. Lat Pulldown

  4. Alternating Dumbbell Curl (Optional)

  5. Cable Tricep (Optional)

Day 3

Only 6 reps for each

  1. Pin Squat

  2. Hex Bar Deadlift

  3. Dumbbell Walking Lunge or Step Back Lunge

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