Today I want to talk about the importance of high volume leg training. Every once in a while I train my legs with lots of volume to cause confusion and to shock the muscle. Now, this has to be done correctly and with the correct weight and form or it’s pointless and counter-productive. If the weights you use to start with are too heavy then your form will suffer and you will never finish the routine. I will set up the volume routine below and I’d like to have everyone try and finish it this week on leg day.

Ok, we have 4 stations. 

1. leg extensions
2. lying hamstring curl 
3. leg press 
4. squat rack

Now for the rotations.

• The first rotation you will hit 50 reps at each station with the exception of the squat rack. Control all reps but with a heavy enough weight to challenge yourself. Go from each station with no rest. 
• After the third station you will hit squats with a challenging weight for just 25 reps. 
• After your last station which is squats you can rest for 2 mins before…
• You start the next station again for 40 reps.

Below is an easy to follow outline. Each set you will add weight and drop reps. Have fun.

1. leg extension: 50, 40, 30, 20, 10 reps
2. hamstring curls: 50,40, 30,20,10 reps
3. leg press: 50,40,30,20,10 reps
4. squat: 25, 20,15,12,10 reps

Take you time and try and finish this 600 rep leg routine. I promise you will feel it for a week.

Now go train your ass off!

More often than not, I wish I could lose weight without having to go to the gym, and though there’s no magical way to do it, there are several activities that can easily act as effective summer workouts, and as you are mostly having fun while doing these, you don’t even realize that its a workout! Whether you need to stretch those tired muscles, increase flexibility, or burn calories and seriously lose some weight, there are tons of summer workouts to choose from. And with the added benefit of doing these in fresh air, enjoying the summer heat, the trees and the mountains, and the sheer joy of being one with nature, you are more likely to attain better results than burning calories running on your treadmill at the gym!

This is 1 of 3 articles that I’m sharing about outdoor exercises. First up is water exercises. Be sure to check back for the other 2 articles soon!

ROWING & KAYAKING 

Rowing is a great aerobic exercise for total body workout, as it involves use of many muscles of the arms, legs, abdomen, and torso. Also, it has minimal stress effects on back and body, as opposed to running or cycling. Those who love water sports should definitely try to go rowing or kayaking in a nice lake or a bay.

Of course, the more adventurous people seeking a real workout can go into the sea and try rowing against the waves, which will burn a large number of calories in a short amount of time.

While rowing, lean back from your hips while pushing back with your legs and torso. Bend your arms as you pull on the oars until your elbows pass behind your chest and the handles are an inch from your stomach, keeping your back straight the entire time.

Kayaking is one of my favorite activities, especially during summer, as most of the camp-sites have lakes or inland bays that offer a great view and a great workout!

SWIMMING & WATER AEROBICS 

Swimming uses almost all of your major muscle groups, and it places a vigorous demand on your heart and lungs. The major advantage of swimming is that its an overall body exercise, and it boosts your metabolism. When your metabolic rate goes up, you burn more calories. And more calories burned means faster weight loss.

Swimming is not as effective for weight-loss as running or cycling, because when you are in the pool you don’t heat up and sweat as much as you do on land, and your body does not have to work hard to cool you down as much once the exercise session concludes. Also, you feel more hungry after a swim-session than after a gym-session, so you might tend to eat more. So the post-workout effect of swimming is lesser than that of other activities.

Nevertheless, swimming helps builds endurance, muscle strength and cardiovascular fitness, without being harsh on your joints. Lots of people have found swimming to be a form of meditation too when you just let your body relax and swim with a very low effort.

I hope this has given you insight into some outdoor exercises that you can do in the water. Next up, I’ll break down running, hiking, trekking and jogging. Check back to the ISS blog often! 

Ron “H20” Waterman

Hey Everyone

I hope that you are well and in good health. I know that I am constantly encouraging people to exercise and eat healthier, not just so you can improve your physical appearance and health, but to help improve your mental health as well.

In my case exercise has been a key factor in controlling my stress levels, and in a lot of ways I find it very therapeutic. In the busy world that we live in today it is very easy to feel yourself getting overwhelmed and/or stressed out, which if experienced over a long period of time it can later lead to forms of anxiety or depression and from there it’s all down hill. But research has consistently shown that physical exercise protects against depression.

By no means is anyone perfect. We each have our own strengths and weaknesses along with different body starting points. Some people get discouraged more easily than others while some have a stronger sense of determination and won’t stop until a goal is met. Either way you can’t really feel good unless your brain is functioning well, a healthy brain equals a healthier mind and clearer thinking. For more information on the exercise and brain connection, read OhYeah! Girl Sarah Hoots’ post on the OhYeah! blog. 

Now train hard, for your physical and your mental health!

Hello MPR fans and friends.

Let me start off by saying thank you for all the positive feedback and support from the photos and videos I was featured in at FIBO 2012. I feel very blessed to be asked to be onstage with the best bodybuilders in the world at FIBO. Thank you!

Last week I was asked by a gym member what I did to sculpt my abs for competition. He asked if I did thousands of crunches and sit-ups. I paused for a minute and realized that this gentlemen along with numerous athletes and countless people probably believe that this is the way to get abdominal definition.

The truth is, we all have perfectly built abs. Most people have no idea that you can not spot reduce fat in the abdominal area by doing a target exercise for that area. Let me say this again… You can not do thousands of sit ups and expect to see your abs.

Quite honestly, I’ve never done an ab exercise while preparing for a bodybuilding show. Truth! Never. The body is made of two parts. The upper and lower body. Each half is held together by your “core” and is perfectly built. Squats, dead lifts, walking, getting out of bed requires your core to be activated. We all do ab work every single minute of our day. Fact.

Now here’s the problem. The layer of fat that hides your abs has to be burned off before you can ever see those beautiful abs. Perfect diet along with the proper cardiovascular training will strip fat away from the entire body. Eventually you will melt away that abdominal fat and see those pretty abs. So, if you want to do ab exercises go ahead, but don’t expect to see them unless the above information about diet and cardio is implemented. Then you will see those abs without doing thousands of pointless ab exercises.

Be smart, educate yourself and then get to work. Good luck, train hard and get those abs that you desire!

Hey ISS friends and fam!

I hope that you are all enjoying nice weather wherever you are! I have been enjoying some much needed time off from training. For the past two weeks I have been doing only mild cardio to give my body a little break from all the training I put in during competition prep.

It’s such a relief after each competition to kind of let go a little and veer off from such strict dieting and training habits. But at the same time I have been really careful to not let myself get out of control with any binge eating. The last thing I want is to be walking around with a tummy ache looking and feeling bloated! Not a good feeling, believe me, I KNOW.

So in order to keep myself from falling too far behind in between competitions and photo shoots I make sure I keep up some type of maintenance YEAR AROUND. No matter what! Because at the end of the day when all the photo shoots and competitions are done, I will still be stuck with this same body, so why not try to preserve it as long as possible?

If you practice being fit and healthy more times than not your chances can only get better and who knows, you just may even be adding on to the longevity of your life. To me that’s a winner right there.

Train insane or remain the same….

Hello Everyone!

Let me start off by saying I miss the United States and our great country. As I write this blog, I am currently flying home from the 2012 FIBO Expo in Germany. The show was a smash hit again for MPR and OhYeah!. Our booth was swamped once again with the coolest fans from Europe and across the world. They absolutely loved our OhYeah! bars and I quickly educated all the fans I could about MPR Aminos.

I had a great time and definitely soaked in the experience of the biggest international health and fitness expo in the world.

Thursday afternoon I beat the world record for isolated wrist curl. At first I went up to the competition booth for fun and to see what the contraption was all about. The owner of the contest company asked me to try for the world record and I easily lifted the weight. It was very heavy at 62 kilos which is over 130+ pounds isolated on one wrist and forearm.

Saturday morning the officials let in thousands of excited and curious fans from all over the world. The general public day is Saturday and it’s the busiest day. Some of the top bodybuilders in the world were asked to go on the main stage to throw out various samples from America’s top supplement companies. I was very excited to be asked to join the likes of Ronnie Coleman, Lee Priest and Roelly Winkler. We were introduced to the raging crowd and we all hit impromptu poses too. Shortly afterward I threw out samples of MPR Aminos to a sea of excited and energetic fans from around the world. The music was pumping loud and the building was rocking. I definately had a great time.

The FIBO Expo finished on Sunday with another busy day. On Sunday the crowds came in with one thing on their mind it seemed—buy as much stuff as possible. The European fans loved our OhYeah! bars and all of our products, and they showed it by literally clearing off the shelves of all products. The whole experience was a success once again and I feel very happy about being able to be a part of it once again. I thank everyone at ISS Research from the top to the bottom for putting this team effort on. Special thanks to Dave Rose and Jonathan Fay for putting up with me and making this another awesome trip! Thanks guys!

Now, get up and go train you ass off!

Hey ISS Fam !!

Wanted to give you all a little sneak peek from one of my training sessions with Dwayne. In the video you will find just a few of the workouts that we go through. One of the things I love most about training with Dwayne is that we are constantly changing things up. Whether we are training for a show, event or photo shoot, we always keep in mind whatever my “trouble” areas are and pay special attention to those parts. Mostly for me that area is my upper legs and thighs, I constantly struggle in this area especially as the more I get (I hate this word) older.

Always keep in mind that whatever your problem area(s) may be, you cannot sculpt the body you want on training alone, belive me I’ve tried. If you add clean eating and proper supplement intake to your regimen you will be sure to see much quicker results.

Train Hard!

Dieting can be difficult, and while we all have tried it, fewer of us succeed than fail. When I first starting dieting to lose weight I made 1 critical mistake—ignoring the portion size factor.

I learned how to read nutrition facts and and often looked at fat and sugar. I would see “low fat” or “sugar free” and think it was healthy and I could have as much as I wanted.  So I would eat large portions of sugar free ice cream or reduced fat potato chips in a larger portion, and justified it because I was eating lettuce and all natural chicken all day. Then, to my amazement, I wouldn’t see any progression in my weight loss! I’d think, “I can’t believe I haven’t lost any weight yet! I have been eating so good!”

Now I pay more attention to portions and look at foods as a whole, and not as just one (or the lack of) ingredient. 

Nick TVG Smith