- Don't exceed 5-6 reps on most of your warm up sets. Your first
set could consist of a very light weight for 10-20 reps just to get
loosened up and get the blood flowing but beyond that you want to
keep the reps low. The reason for this is that you don't want to
build up too much lactic acid or accumulate too much fatigue with
your warm ups.
(I personally like to perform one set for every fifty lbs of working weight. For example, if my working weight for squats for the day is 405, I would do bodyweight squats for a set of 15 or so, then the bar for about 10 reps, then 95-135lbs x 5, then 185 x 3-4, then 225 x 2-3, 275 x 2-3, 315 x 2, 365 x 1, 405 x workset. Thats 8 sets of progressively more weight and less reps to prepare for the big weight)
- Don't stretch before your workout in the hopes of preventing
injury. This doesn't work. The only benefit of stretching before a
workout is to help you get into positions you might not be able to
reach (such as a full squat) because you are tight in specific
areas (such as the hamstrings and hip flexors). But stretching for
the sake of injury prevention is an outdated idea and doesn't
really work.(I have spoken about this before, stretch to feel better and to optimize your positioning)
Analyze This
- Don't over-analyze and over-think everything you do in the gym.
This never gets you anywhere. Don't worry if the incline of the
bench is supposed to be 50 degrees or 55 degrees. Don't worry that
if you don't supinate at exactly the right time that you won't
activate your biceps optimally. Don't stress out about the exact
grip width on the bar. If someone tells you that a 16? grip on the
bench press hits your triceps better than anything else, but
because of an injury or anatomical difference you can only
comfortably use an 18? grip, don't sweat it. People over-think
themselves to death and they never get anywhere because of it. Go
to the gym, get stronger, go home, eat, sleep and repeat. Don't
turn it into advanced calculus. That is one of the best muscle
building tips I can give you.( I have had several clients and athletes ask a million questions over the most mundane and simple tasks. I know they just want to get better, but my response is usually, "Just pick it the hell up!")
- Always train both sides of the joint with equal volume. Therefore
if you do six sets per week of pressing exercises you need to do
six sets per week of pulling exercises. If you do two sets of curls
you should do two sets of triceps work. And so on and so on...(I speak regularly on having balance in your training. That does not mean performing overhead squats on a slackline. It means balancing your training volume and work of all parts of the body. But one thing I recommend, is to eliminate weaknesses. This can be done by adding sets or reps to your weaker muscles. For example, if your chest and pushing muscles are far stronger than your back and pulling muscles, you might want to double the volume of pulling sets as pushing sets, giving you a 2:1 ratio of pulling:pushing until your weaknesses are balanced out)
- If you can't get your forearms to grow, try hitting them with
more frequency than other muscle groups. They can easily be trained
three times per week and recover without any problem. Also, try to
hold the bottom stretched position of wrist curls for 3-5 seconds
per rep. When you finish training the forearms, hit them with a
deep stretch for both the extensors and flexors for 30-60 seconds.
These muscle building tips should get the forearms to grow.
(While I rarely ever do any forearm wrist curls, I do lots of other grip work like plate pinches, db holds, fat bar holds, bar rotations, wrist rollers, etc. I agree that the forearms can handle more volume than other body parts. I feel the same about the calves, the neck, and the abs. These smaller exercises can be done at the end of the training session. One idea I like to employ is doing smaller exercises like neck extensions, wrist rollers, hammer leveraging and calve raises between heavy work sets of compound exercises like squats and deads. I don't like to superset heavy powerlifts with another compound lift often because it is just too damn demanding and recovery is difficult. However, performing a smaller exercise like some ab drills or calf exercise could be perfect between heavy ass sets to keep you busy without killing yourself and making the next set dangerous.)