Brett's Random Thoughts- The Frat Boy Workout

So my college is starting class again and for the first time, I’m not starting class with it. However, I had to come visit my friends and old roommates who were starting classes. It happened to be the first day the campus gym was open. I was feeling a bit egotistical so I thought I’d revisit my old stomping ground, possibly frighten the new freshman making their first visit to the gym. When I arrived I immediately shook my head, placed

my head in my hands,and let out a long and disappointed groan.

I haven’t seen that many guys attempting

to train

just chest, triceps, and biceps, or maybe I just

forgot

how pitiful a college gym looks sometimes.Not only were these want-to-be

metros all training chest, tris, or bis, but their form, technique, and

everything else important about lifting was freaking terrible. It was a nightmare…

Here are just some of the idiot details I took sight of:

A kid on the flat bench press with way too much weight than he can handle, doing quarter reps… no not even quarter reps… I think the bar was maybe deviating an inch each rep.

But that’s not the best part…he had a spotter and 3 goons cheering him on!! Like he was actually doing something good….

A kid doing alternating dumbbell curls again with more weight he could handle. I think he was working every muscle except his biceps. You know what I’m talking about, it’s the curl that starts with a huge back swing to start the dumbbell, a full hyperextension combined with

a calf raise and partial sissy squat, then a reverse grip anterior deltoid raise, the dumbbell then crashes on the kids upper chest,

and finally it plummets down to the start as if to spit in the face of the negative rep.

To finish off the trifecta of misery we move to the tricep cable pushdown. H

ere we have two

cases….First, a gentleman who once again has too much weight and appears to be doing a static lock-out but if you look close he’s doing micro partial reps. Second, guess what…with too much weight, doing what you may think is a cable pullover, but he insists it’s a press down. Starting at the forehead, a full body thrust with a jump, yes a jump, and once its down comes the completely invisible negative that sends the weight crashing back down on the stack, and the kid’s hands flying back up to his forehead. It’s like they are trying to turn a press-down into a di

p, or a jumping jack….
So I am going to attempt to help these guys out. Firstly, I will say that

I would never suggest an individual to only train chest, bis, and tris. I would suggest you work your full body, EVERY muscle group, at least within the week. BUT, if you are in the frat boy mood, here is an effective and fully explained frat boy workout just for you.
As a general rule if you are training for size you want to stay in the 6-12 rep range, and if your focus is more for strength and power you want to go lower in reps and higher in weight, however this still means performing reps with correct form and range of motion.

Generally the typical “Frat Boy” is more concerned with appearance, so I assume they are only concerned with focusing on size rather than power

and strength.

Chest: The focus on your chest workout should be on the upper chest. Most guys think its all about the supine, or flat, bench press, but you need to work the entire muscle to create the greatest appearance. An overdeveloped lower chest and underdeveloped up

per chest does not always look aesthetically pleasing, more like boobs sometimes. Targeting the upper chest will give a much fuller appearance in your chest.
Incline Bench Press (Dumbbell or Barbell)- 4 sets 15-6 reps. Try to find a weight where you can get a full range of motion and will not need a spot for at least 8 solid reps. Keep

your butt down on the seat too!! Lifting your butt only turns it into a flat bench and puts you at risk of injuring yourself. NO BOUNCING EITHER. Control the weight as you lower to your upper chest, feel the stretch, and explode back up.
Hammer Strength Plate loaded chest press- 4 sets total. Again 15-6 reps. If you can’t get 8 its ok… just rest lighten up the weight and go again. Even though it’s a machine, have a spotter, who can help you with force reps. If you get stuck completing the set, have them

help you through the sticking point and keep going. REMEMBER THE NEGATIVE!! Don’t just drop the weight back down, control it as it comes to the start position just before it touches the rack. Pec-Dec Flys- 4 sets total. This exercise is very form specific. A lot of guys go too heavy and have to lean forward while performing the set. Don’t let your ego get in the way of your workout. Keep your back against the pad and complete full reps. Again DON’T CHEAT THE NEGATIVE. Shoot for 15-10 reps on this one.

On to Biceps. There are 3 exercises for biceps that I consider a must in order to grow your arms. I’ve stuck by these for years and they have kept me quite satisfied.

Standing wide grip straight bar curls- Aim for 4 sets of 10. Now this is o

ne exercise that you if you take seriously other will take you seriously, if you look like a jackass (like the example above) others will consider you as a jackass. FORM IS CRUTIAL. Stand up straight with the bar at your hips, tighten your abs and lower back (your core), and bring the bar up to chest level. DO NOT drop the bar on your chest. This only takes the tension off the muscle, instead hold it an inch or two away and squeeze your biceps as hard and you can. Now concentrate as you lower the bar slowly to your waist again. On the last one or two reps I will allow you to cheat a little, and only a little. Another option would be to not

cheat and let your spotter help you up through the full range of motion.

Alternating Dumbbell Curls- 3 sets 10-12 reps each arm. Just like above keep your form. Don’t look like a jackass, swinging rocking. You will get better results keeping form than you will going too heavy and looking like an idiot.
Seated Preacher Curls (Machine or w/ EZ bar)- 2 sets 8-15 reps, 1 set burnout

(drop sets, or strip sets). I know it sounds repetitive, but don’t swing and control the negative movement.

Now that biceps are blasted, and now that you’ve given your triceps a little rest its time to blast them too. Since you have already use quite a bit of triceps during your chest workout, you do not need to do more than 2 or 3 exercises. But three exercises that I love, and work well for me are skull crushers, dips, and cable pushdowns.

Skull Crushers- 2-4 sets of 8-12. Lower the bar slowly to your head. The key here is

to keep your elbows tight to your body and not flare them out. You want your upper arms to be straight up or even a little leaning toward your head. You want to feel a full stretch and not just drop the weight down, you also run the risk of damaging your face…..hence the name. At the top position squeeze your tri’s and repeat. DO NOT lock out your elbows, keep a slight bend in the

m and keep the tension on the muscle, not the joint. Locking out your elbows may put unnecessary strain on your joints, you also run the risk of hyper-extending your elbow (bending it the other way….OUCH!!!)
Dips- Shoot for 2-4 sets of 10-15 reps and if you can do more with CORRECT FORM, then add

weight. Either slip on a belt with the chain to attach a plate or dumbbell too, or simply cross your legs and have a partner wedge a dumbbell between them. Lower yourself slowly trying to keep your body upright and your elbows tucked in at your side. When your upper arm reaches parallel to the floor, drive through the base of your hand and straight through your elbows to pick yourself up. At the top of the movement pause a second, squeeze your tri’s as hard as you can and repeat. Lowering yourself below parallel may strain your shoulders and cause injury. Also at the top of the movement DO NOT lockout your elbows, keep a slight bend in them.

Cable pushdowns- 2-3 sets 10-20 reps. Use this last exercise as a burnout exercise. Going to heavy on this exercise puts your body as risk of injury, plus if your dips are heavy enough you shouldn’t be able to go very heavy on these. This is a very concentrated exercise, forearms starting at parallel with the floor, extend down to yourwaist (NO LOCKING OUT), squeeze hard, and return to start slowly. Make it burn!!! If you start swinging or letting your arms rise all the way up and using body momentum to get it back down, YOU DESERVE A SLAP IN THE FACE. Keep your core tight, your back straight, your head up, and keep your form!!

So I hope this helps all you guys out there. If you’re new to training don’t get sucked into ego-lifting. Respect the weight, respect the workout, and respect yourself… I will certainly respect you for it..DON"T BE A JACKASS WITH TOO MUCH WEIGHT

-Brett


Picture references:
http://captionwit.com/wp-content/caption/Embearassed-bear_SXsXT_r.jpeg
http://strength-oldschool.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/badbench.jpg
http://img166.imageshack.us/i/bicep4wt3.jpg/#q=bicep%20curl-%20cheat%20rep

Damn That DOMS!

Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness

Exercise is one of the greatest activites we can participate in for ourselves, for our bodies, for our physical and mental health, and for our lives. The benefits of exercise as part of our daily lives are well known and is becoming more and more popular each day. Whether by weight training, yoga, group exercise, resistance training, cardio workouts, playing sports, or just walking the dog, any form of exercise in your life is time well spent. Now and then we try a new exercise, or increase a weight, a time, an intensity, and yea, we get sore. Sometimes the soreness is barely noticeable if at all, and sometimes its hard to get out of bed the next day. It all depends on what you're doing. Everyone works at different levels, and everyone has their own individual strengths, weaknesses,and goals. This article will get a little scientific about why we get sore, what happens, and how to help it. I'm not trying to scare anyone away, some things described below sound much worse than they really are. And provides such great and irreplaceable benefits to our health and our lives.

I recently was talking with a gym member upon finishing my leg workout and the member said to me, “Good luck walking tomorrow, and good luck sitting down the next day.” I replied with “Yea! Damn that DOMS!” She looked at me with an utter look of confusion. “DOMS,” I said, “You know, Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness.” She still had no idea what I was talking about, and I realized a lot of people don’t know what the heck I was talking about. So here is an article all about that soreness (DOMS, Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) you get, what it means, and what you can do about it.

(Damaged muscle hurts, multiply this thousands of times and its clear why)

The symptoms of DOMS are all too familiar with us gym-goers. The discomfort, the small range of motion, loss of strength, and feeling like you are bruised down to the bone, are all symptoms that we experience again and again after workouts. Usually the symptoms are at their worst 2 or 3 days after a workout.

The actual pain we feel is from inflammation and muscle damage. When we are working out we are not getting bigger, not getting stronger, not improving our muscle. When we are working out we are breaking down our muscles, tearing them, hurting them. Our muscles are made of fibers that contract and release to create our movement, but when we lift weights we make little tiny tears in the fibers, called micro-tears. When we workout we are intentionally tearing our muscle. Doesn’t sound weird?!! When the muscle starts healing it gets inflamed and scar tissue needs to form to repair those micro-tears. This is what causes the pain.

The way I see it, a workout does to our muscle, what getting punched in the arm does to our bodies. You get punched and it hurts, you work out and it hurts (in a good way). The next day your skin is bruised after getting punched and is sore to touch, and after a workout your muscle is sore to move, touch, and not functioning as well as it was yesterday. YOUR MUSCLE IS HEALING, just like your bruise is healing. Your muscle is inflamed, and micro-torn, Of course it will be sore. Now it needs to be given time and an opportunity heal.

(Proper rest and recovery makes damaged muscles bigger and stronger)

So you ask, “Are there ways to advance the healing process, or just take the edge off of the pain?” Some people usually would take an ibuprofen or acetaminophen (Tylenol), thinking that might help. Unfortunately, research has shown that these drugs do not help repair muscle, and may actually diminish muscle strength by retarding protein synthesis in the muscle. (RUN FITNEWS)

Another tactic that people may take is getting a massage. And the result: IT WORKS! GO FOR IT! Research shows that massaging a muscle that has just been exercised decreases the pain normally associated with DOMS, it will also make your mood a lot better! (RUN FITNEWS)

My own personal advice to you: REST, EAT, and REST.
If you punch a bruise every day will it heal? NO, it will only get worse. Same applies to your muscle. If you intensely work out the same muscles everyday and don’t give them a few days to rest, they will not heal, will not grow, and will not achieve the strength they could have by allowing them to recover, heal, and rest. You may actually cause serious harm to your muscle and health if you don’t give yourself recovery time. You may lose muscle as a result of training it too often. SO REST UP! My advice is to give at least 2 full days of recovery, so if you worked your chest on Monday, you wouldn’t do any intense chest exercise until Thursday.

Also, a healthy and nutritionally balanced diet is vital for muscle recovery and progress. If a muscle is not getting the right fuel, it will not perform well, and not have the progress you want for it. Look on this website for articles about some great food choices.

Brett Azar


Clinical J. Sports Med., 2008, Vol. 18, No. 5, pp. 446-460
Sports Med., 2003, Vol. 33, No. 2, pp. 145-164
Br. J. Sports Med., 2003, Vol. 37, No. 1, pp. 72-75
Med. Sci. Sport Exerc., 2003, Vol. 35, No. 6, pp. 892-896
Running & FitNews (RUN FITNEWS), 2008 Sep-Oct; 26(5): 6-7 (3 ref).

Sandbata Officially Welcomes Brett Azar

Sandbata is proud to announce the addition of Brett Azar to the Sandbata Athletics staff. Brett is a recent graduate from the University of Rhode Island and has earned an undergraduate degree in Exercise Physiology. He is currently preparing for his NSCA CSCS certification and will be joining the Sandbata training staff early this fall. His interests range from bodybuilding, sport specific testing, to advanced team periodization. Brett's commitment to the pursuit of physical excellence is why we are excited to have him join our growing team. Without a doubt, he leads his life by example; being a nationally ranked bodybuilder, gives him invaluable insight as a coach to the internal motivation and commitment required to become an elite athlete.