Tag transformation

How To Do A Smith Machine Squat

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I was recently asked by a dear friend and client about the proper way to do Smith Machine squats. There is a safe and very effective way to do squats on the Smith Machine which will maximize recruitment of the glutes, hamstrings and quads.

Your torso should be in line with the Smith machine rack during the squat movement. A good way to check your form is by looking in the mirror from a side view to check your alignment. Tuck your tailbone in slightly but make sure to keep your back neutral. In order to keep everything in line with your upper body, you need to make sure that your feet are far enough forward. You can place your feet close together, shoulder width apart, or at a wide stance.

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Keep in mind that if there is a slant to the Smith Machine apparatus that you will have a tougher time keeping your back in line with the slant, in which case you will favor keeping your upper body completely perpendicular to the floor instead. Make sure to keep your back NEUTRAL the entire time.

When you push the bar up, you will only go up halfway. Concentrate on squeezing your glutes and pushing through your HEELS. On the down phase, you will come down beyond 90 degrees (around 60 degrees at the knees). Move slowly and deliberately. If you are doing these correctly, you will feel a stretch in your hamstrings and glutes.

Too Much Cardio: The Skinny-Fat Trap

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Donatella Versace vacations in SardiniaThis blog post is dedicated to all of you who think that by doing massive amounts of cardio with no weight training, you will somehow keep yourself trim and tight. People who are of normal weight but who lack curvy, tight muscle because they do not lift weights often develop a palpable frustration. When I hear someone complain about feeling flabby despite doing tons of cardio at the gym, I want to SCREAM, “PICK UP A WEIGHT!!!”, because I know that this is a key component which is missing in their regimens. For those who don’t like weights, use resistance bands or the resistance of your own body weight and do SOMETHING that will challenge your muscles and create those microtears that lead to the development of new muscle.

I have actually seen some of the regulars at the gym I have frequented for many years descend into that skinny-fat trap because all they do is climb onto treadmills, bikes and elliptical trainers, perform boring steady-state cardio, then drive home without ever lifting a weight. Over time, they look more and more deflated as the aging process slowly but surely shifts their lean mass to body fat ratio in an unfavorable direction. Who wants to be mushy? If you don’t want that, it is time to stop wasting your time in the gym and become smarter about your training. You need nice, full, curvy, sexy muscles under skin to lift sagging areas such as the buttocks, chest, arms, and belly.

For those of you who are still timid about lifting weights, or who perhaps don’t know a thing about such activity, hire a trainer. Once you start to get used to challenging your muscles, it is important to establish a routine in which you are lifting regularly. If free weights (dumbbells and barbells, kettlebells and medicine balls) intimidate you, just use the machines that are scattered around the gym until you feel comfortable enough to venture into free weights.

I know that there are many of you who are concerned about looking overly muscular or about gaining pounds instead of losing them, so let’s address those concerns. If you think that by embarking on a weightlifting regimen, you will suddenly grow ridiculous amounts of muscle that would rival Popeye, think again. What you will develop is better muscle tone which will pull your skin tighter and give you a lifted, tighter, more toned appearance. You will actually end up looking more compact as a result of building a modest amount of muscle. If your concern is based more on the fear of seeing the number on the scale increase, relax. It is more important to monitor your progress by how your clothing fits. If you are accustomed to living in a skinny-fat body, you should notice over time that your pants clothing will fit differently, probably looser in the waistband. You should notice that your shorts and pants fit differently and that your butt line is higher than it was before you began training.
Squats versus none

If you are slender but flabby, it is time to switch up your thinking and embrace the idea of building muscle through lifting weights or performing exercises with your body weight as resistance. Of course if you want to like a deflated balloon, keep doing massive amounts of cardio and no weights. It’s your decision!

Holding Yourself Accountable

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It can be very difficult to stay on track with a structured meal plan or training regimen. Heck, I have even heard people talk about how difficult it is to remember to take daily supplements or to floss regularly. The parent inside of each of us often struggles to keep everything in line so that guilt doesn’t set in. When we fall off track, it can be very easy to rationalize the errant behavior, reasoning that perhaps we needed the extra carbs or needed to take a day off training after all.

Just-Do-It-NowFor those of us who are in the fitness world, especially those of us who compete, there is so much structure to our regimens that it is easier to keep ourselves in line. We are conditioned to keep our blinders on and stay the course with food and training. But those who are not immersed in the world of fitness and bodybuilding tend to struggle more with a regular regimen. If no specific fitness or health goal is defined, people tend to zigzag with their regimens, adding more unscheduled fun meals, more alcohol, and more missed trips to the gym.

If you are one of those people who tend to fall off track more easily, there are some guidelines which you can follow (listed below) which will help to keep you in line. More importantly, however, you need to remind yourself WHY holding yourself accountable is beneficial. When you hold yourself accountable, you stoke a fire that propels you towards your health goals. By staying on track, you develop a “can-do” attitude which extends into all areas of your life.

Do somethingHere are some tips on how to keep you on track with your eating habits and exercise plan.

1. Train with a trainer. When you work out with a trainer, you become accountable to that trainer. You need to show up and do the work!
2. Train with a friend. Similar to training with a trainer, when you and a friend agree to meet for a workout, you hold each other accountable. I always recommend setting a day and time and then prohibiting each other from cancelling, no-showing or rescheduling.
3. Prep and pack your food in advance. Prepare your day’s food the night before and store it in individual serving containers so that you can easily pack them into a bag the next morning.
4. Keep junk foods and snacks out of your kitchen. If you have tempting foods in your kitchen, you risk sabotaging your own efforts to stay on a healthy eating plan.

Remember that you can maintain focus on healthy patterns. Keep your eye on the prize!

Ignore The Haters! An Article For Those Who Compete

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Original post can be found at http://www.rxmuscle.com/rx-girl-articles/9306-ignore-the-haters.html

ignore-the-hatersMany of you ladies are well acquainted with the rigors of contest prep and understand the level of intensity and commitment required. Some of you are fortunate enough to have a great support network in which partners, family, coworkers and friends are in your cheering section and encourage all of your efforts. Unfortunately, however, some competitors may have to deal with people who discourage them or in some fashion try to interfere with their prep. I have heard husbands complain that their wives spend too much time in the gym or cannot eat restaurant meals with them. A few of my clients have lamented that family members or friends actually got angry with them for training so hard or for being so driven. The less the hater knows about the world of bodybuilding, the harsher the criticism becomes, usually as a result of ignorance and the perpetuation of erroneous stereotypes about bodybuilding.

I once had a client who almost talked herself out of competing as a reaction to her ultra-conservative mother’s opinion of bodybuilding contests. Her mother was horrified by the idea that women actually got onstage in bikinis and was deeply resistant to the idea of her daughter doing such a thing. It did not matter that her daughter was in her 30’s with children of her own. What was so sad was that everyone else in my client’s life was supportive and encouraging. For once this woman was paying attention to herself instead of doling out her energy to her spouse, children and parents, and it met with resistance.

Another frequent complaint, and one which I have heard personally, is one in which the loved one bitches about how stupid it seems to chase after a national qualification, IFBB Pro Card or Olympia qualification. Those who do not compete cannot fully appreciate the reasons competitors have to reach for that carrot. The drive is deep and in most cases incredibly personal. There is no question that competing can be extremely expensive, and it can be very frustrating to deal with less than stellar placings which push us to do more contests in order to reach our goals. It is also true that the allure of a Pro Card can fool some competitors into thinking that attaining Pro status will deliver much more than acceptance into the prestigious IFBB ranks (such as supplement company contracts, magazine covers, etc.). However, if you are realistic and are pursuing the next level of achievement for your own personal reasons, then declare that when someone tries to criticize you. My advice is to dig your heels in and fight for your right to do something that is inspiring and empowering.

You may have people in your life who believe that you are getting too ripped and muscular. Invariably the people who make such remarks are not weightlifters, so they do not understand the mentality of those who lift and thus are not comfortable with the idea of building and sculpting muscle. If you are in a bulking phase, your appearance can be especially jarring for those who do not appreciate muscle, and the negative comments are likely to increase in frequency. It’s no surprise that those of us who compete tend to hang out with other lifters in an effort to be surrounded by like-minded individuals who can relate to what we go through and who won’t fling negative comments about our muscularity or vascularity our way.

Perhaps you only deal with minimal criticism but still have trouble processing it. I know that the majority of you who compete have been in situations where family, friends or coworkers have tried to convince you to abandon your strict meal plan, telling you that “just this once” won’t hurt you. They may even resort to accusing you of being a stick in the mud for not caving into peer pressure. It is at times like these that you need to remind yourself of your goals and that adherence to your meal plan is an insurance plan to being on point when contest day arrives. You know that every time you fall off the wagon, so to speak, you jeopardize everything you have spent the past few weeks or months to build. Why do yourself such a disservice only to appease others? Do not bother yourself with what they think, because it is not worth it.

Consider the reasons why you compete and what kind of satisfaction you get from competing. Are you really going to let the people in your life drag you down and criticize you for doing something that you enjoy? Remember that your journey is not only about physical transformation, it is also spiritual. You are all grown women with minds of your own, so STAND YOUR GROUND!

Work Out Like You Are In a Race…Every Time!

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Gym BeastWhat is it with people who go to the gym and spend several minutes between sets chatting with others, checking text messages, and finding other distractions which deter them from starting the next set? I am not kidding when I say that I train rapidly, resting only 30 seconds between sets or supersets, and I do this all the time. That is part of the reason why I do NOT want to chat at the gym. Believe me when I say that I am thinking about my next set while I am resting. I do not allow random thoughts to creep in because they can throw me off, especially if they are anxiety-provoking. When in the gym, distractions and worries MUST be pushed aside, because there is nothing to be gained from fretting over life’s trials during that brief time. I figure that my task at the gym is to WORK OUT with the focus on myself. I have the rest of the day to tend to my responsibilities and to others.

I wear earbuds and listen to tunes on my iPod, and I move quickly from one exercise to the next when supersetting. It still amazes me how many people will interrupt me when they can see that I have earbuds on! Another thing that helps to keep me moving rapidly is my busy schedule. I almost always have somewhere I need to be immediately after my workouts, so I focus on getting things done. Even when I am not prepping for an upcoming contest, I work out quickly and with intensity. Recently, someone approached me at the gym and said that he had never seen someone work out as intensely as me, and that it was an admirable thing. This same person assumed that I worked out all day, every day. I honestly do not have that luxury, and besides, I firmly believe that you do not and should not train for lengthy periods of time in an effort to train effectively. I usually complete my lifting regimen in 30 to 75 minutes each day.

Here is a tip if you are having trouble moving rapidly through pyramids or supersets: Line up all the equipment you will need and move quickly from one exercise or weight to the next. If you keep re-racking weights between sets, you will waste time.

Make Sure To Visit The Muscle & Performance Magazine At Olympia This Weekend!

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Muscle & Performance Magazine is enjoying a tremendous year with Muscle & Performance, Black Belt and The Box magazines, and will resurrect Oxygen, Reps and Musclemag magazines as a result of its acquisition of RKP recently. I am so honored to be working this booth again this year! M & P Mags