GLUTES & CALVES

I'm choosing to pair the glutes and calves together on this post,  the calves do not require a whole lot of variation to work them thoroughly and -- as with all lower body muscle groups -- they are worked through almost every lower body exercise. 

Again, with all lower body exercises there is a high potential to use slacking form.  Be sure to keep your back straight with all exercises and if you need to, don't be afraid to lower the weight.

Barbell Squat

The squat is one of the most traditional exercises and it is also one of the most effective lower body workout.  If you want to develop a strong and full lower body...you need to squat.

 

Set 1: 15 - 20 reps
Set 2: Increase weight, 10 - 15 reps
Set 3: Increase weight, 10 - 12 reps
1 min rest in between sets.

Wide Barbell Squat

While doing a wide stance squat you want to have your toes pointing outward.  With all squats you want to go down to where your hip and knees are parallel.

 

Set 1: 15 - 20 reps
Set2: Increase weight, 10 - 15 reps
Set 3: Increase weight, 10 - 12 reps
1 min rest in between sets

Glute Bridge ( Hip Thrust )

The glute bridge really focuses on squeezing the glutes at the peak of the contraction.  You will want to pause at the top of the movement for a few seconds before coming back down.

 

4 sets 15 - 20 reps
30 sec rest

Wide Stance Dead-lift

You will want to take a similar stance as the wide squat, point your toes out and as you bring the weight up drive your hips through the bar and squeeze before returning it to the ground.

 

Set 1: 12 - 15 reps
Set 2: Increase weight, 8 - 10 reps
Set 3: Increase weight, 6 - 8 reps
1 min rest in between sets

Anterior Leaning Lunges

While doing this type of lunge it is important to focus on keeping your form, the position this will put you in will make it tempting to curve your back.

 

3 sets 15 - 20 reps (one lunge each leg = 1 rep )
40 sec rest in between sets

Standing Calf Raise

As mentioned above the calves do not require many variations of isolating exercises for them to grow.  The standing calf raise can be done many different ways, either standing flat, hanging off the edge of stairs for more stretch, with machines or with a barbell on our back.

 

4 sets 15 - 20 reps
30 sec rest in between sets

Leg-Press Calf Raise

The leg-press calf raise or toe press, can be equivalent to doing raises with a barbell on your back however I prefer it more as it allows you to put more weight and stress on just the calves.

 

Set 1: 20 reps
Set 2: Increase weight, 15 reps
Set 3: Increase weight, 12 reps
1 min rest in between sets

Seated Calf Raise

The seated calf raise help to target the lower portions of the calf.

 

Set 1: 15 - 20 reps
Set 2: Increase weight, 12 - 15 reps
Set 3: Increase weight,  10 - 12 reps
1 min rest in between sets

Resources
Nick Tumminello, Add Mass To Your Ass, musclemag.com. Web.  N.D. 20 April 2014.
Pauline Nordin, 8 Moves To Get The Perfect Butt, Bodybuilding.com.     N.D. 21 April 2014.
Alex Stewart, The Top Five Exercises For Increasing Calf Mass,Muscleandstrength.com.  N.D.  21 April 2014. Workout Of The Week, What Is The Best Calf Building Workout,Bodybuilding.com.  25 Sep 2006.  22 April 2014.
All pictures provided and owned by Jordan Kinney

INTERVIEWS

I recently had the chance to interview a personal trainer/amateur bodybuilder, and an average gym goer that has body building aspirations.


Keith ( Trainer )

What is your favorite muscle group to work on?

Legs are probably my favorite to train. While you only need to train your legs about twice a week, they are the most important muscle group to train as they enable the rest of your body to grow. When training a large group like legs, your body is forced to release more amounts of testosterone and HGH (Human growth hormone). So in turn the extra amounts of hormones released will not only aid your legs but also every other part of your body.


If you had any advice to give newcomers to the gym what would it be?

Get in a good mindset, working out is just as much a mental game as it is physical. Have a plan, get in there and push yourself to your limits and beyond. Some people just workout until they feel a burn or until they get fatigued, but your results come from pushing through the burn and forcing yourself to go the extra mile.


Can you give some tips for those in the gym that want to put on some muscle mass?

In order to maximize the results from the work you do in the gym you need to have a good diet and you must consume enough protein, generally about a gram to a gram and a half per pound of body weight. You also need to consume a lot more calories than you normally would in order to gain size.


What motivates you to work out so rigorously and made you want to become a personal trainer?

Reaching my own personal goals tends to motivate me enough, I compete in competitions every now and then but I just really enjoy being in the gym to better myself. As well as bettering myself why not apply my knowledge and coaching to help others also, so being a personal trainer seemed to be the only thing that made sense to me.


Some people like to work one muscle or muscle group a day (ex: day 1 chest, day 2 back etc...) and some like to work more than one a day. Is there any strategy you have found in your experience that may work best? Or does it depend on the person's goals they want to achieve?

Typically in order to bulk you muscles you want to train one muscle group a day, this allows you to put 100% effort and concentration into fully depleting that muscle. Training more than one a day will yield results but you won’t be able to put on the amount of mass as you would otherwise. If you want to build lean muscle or cut down, then training more than one group will work but you shouldn't lift as heavy.


Josh ( aspiring body builder )


What is some advice you can give people who are wanting to start working out?

The best advice I can give a beginner is to obtain as much knowledge in nutrition and fitness as you can, be excited, explore options. Fitness is not something someone just can go and do, it is a lifestyle and there is true science behind every aspect of it no matter what your end goals are. The number one piece of information that I think every beginner needs to know is diet, our bodies are working machines down to the microscopic level. Just like a car, if you do not keep it maintained with the correct fluids and you try and put water in the gas tank, it won’t run and will fall apart, our bodies run in the exact same way, they are fueled by what we put in our mouths, the better the understanding of metabolism, correct portion control, times, and food times is the only way to meet your goal. Your end results come from 70% diet and 30% hard work.


Can you explain under training and over training and how they might affect gym-goers?

Under training can be comprised of many different things. One is to train doing the same exercises over and over and over again, your body can get use to a routine and your progress can slow down or even stop completely. Also, doing the minimal amount of work until you are winded, once again you are only doing what you are comfortable with, the only way to create a better you, is to push yourself past your limits, and intern this will raise your limits equaling visual and physical results. Over training can be one of the most detrimental to ones’ progress and like under training has a few different aspects. One being training so much that you do not give your body time to rest, a rest day is just as important as being in the gym itself. The resting period is when your gains and changes are basically being applied. The soreness is the muscle that you have torn, during your rest period your body is working hard to repair and rebuild all of the muscles that you have been working on. On the other hand if you over train in the means of pushing your body WAY past its limits, doing weight that is to heavy and or loosing form will lead to immediate injury, and everyone is smart enough to know that if you are injured, you can’t train, and if you can’t train, you’re not making any gains.


What are some helpful tips for people that want to start dieting?

Dieting is quite complex but can be summed up in some fairly Lehman’s terms for the beginner. When you say diet, it doesn't mean just the type of food that you are eating but also how you are eating it. Your metabolism is controlled by how much you are taking in, for example: if you eat only three large meals a day your body takes the food and instantly stores it as fat to feed off of for the next several hours before it gets its next meal, this intern slows your metabolism down because it doesn't have to work as hard to store the food as opposed to using the food and breaking it down completely. So the objective is to eat several small meals a day so the body understands that it will get food again within an hour and a half or so, this makes the body instantly metabolize the food instead of storing it. Now your body is no longer storing the fat, and your metabolism is working overtime to break down all the food you are feeding it. The rule of thumb is, your meals should be the size of your fist, don't ever eat till your full, and never let yourself get hungry, and it’s as simple as that. Once you have that down you can build off of that foundation and start customizing the food in those meals as your knowledge grows about health and fitness, the better the food you put in, the better the results.


How often do you work out a week?

Generally separating your muscle groups into about 5 days of training and giving yourself 2 days off is a good happy medium for beginners and more advanced individuals.


Do you prefer to train one muscle group a day or more than one? Why?

I prefer to train one major muscle group a day with maybe a secondary muscle with it. The reason for this is for complete muscle concentration, and maximum growth. What I mean by maximum growth is that your body can only produce so much fresh blood to your muscles at one time with enough nutrients to help that muscle get its maximum growth, once you have trained one major muscle group and try to move on to a second, your body will already be depleted of its resources.


What are the benefits of training heavy vs. training light?

The concept of "weight training" can be quite complex also. Depending on your goals, you will need to change your weight that you are using in the gym, and you will need to have a firm understanding on your own body and know how to read what it is telling you. Your basic explanation though is, heavier weight with fewer reps (8-10) is your basic formula for mass building, and lighter weight with 15-20 reps is considered more of a lean muscle building exercise.

Metabolism and Weight Loss Tips - Infographic

HAMSTRINGS

The hamstrings are a crucial part of the legs that sometimes get neglected.  They help with extending the leg at the knee joint and curling it back in, they also are key in providing power in lifting/jumping/running.  So if you want to be all out stronger and faster, don't skip the hamstrings.

With all lower body workouts -- as with any workout -- form is crucial, keep your back straight!  If you can't maintain good form lower the weight.

Dead-lift

The regular dead-lift will incorporate just about every muscle in the legs, but it does have more emphasis on the hamstrings.

 

Set 1: 12 reps
Set 2: 10 reps
Set 3: 8 reps

Stiff Leg Dead-lift

Similar to the regular dead-lift, the stiff leg version focuses even more on the hamstrings.

 

Set 1: 12 reps
Set 2: 10 reps
Set 3: 8 reps

Leg curl

The leg curl is one of the best exercises to focus on the hamstring the most.  You can do this lying down or sitting depending on what kind of machine you have available.

 

Set 1: 15 reps
Set 2: 12 reps
Set 3: 8 - 10 reps
Set 4: 6 - 8 reps

Plate Drag

Similar to the leg curl, you can do these in combination with them.  If there is no machine available for the curl you can substitute in these.  Simply find a weight,  lay down, and grab onto something so you don't slide towards the weight.

 

Set 1: 12 - 15 reps
Set 2: 8 - 10 reps
Set 3: 6 - 8 reps

Resources

Matt Biss, Bodybuilding.com's 10 Highest-Rated HamstringExercises, Bodybuilding.com. Web. 29 May 2013. 9 April 2014.
Alex Stewart, The Top 5Exercises For Increasing Hamstrings Mass, Muscleandstrength.com. Web. N.D.  9 April 2014.
All photos owned and provided by Jordan Kinney.

QUADS

The quadriceps are made up of 4 different muscles and are located on the upper or front portion of the thigh.  It is difficult to train a part of the leg without incorporating the other leg muscles as well, since most leg exercises are a compound exercise.  However I will do my best to give you exercises that single out different parts of the legs the best.  We will do pyramid sets with almost all leg exercises, increasing weight and lowering reps with every set.

Leg Extensions

The leg extensions wont necessarily build mass onto your quads by themselves, they are more of a tool used in collaboration with your other leg exercises.  The Leg extensions will help to tone your quads and are used as a warm up for most -- before they begin the working exercises -- and in between exercises or at the end of a routine to help flush blood in and out of the quads.

Pick a weight appropriate for each rep count, remember you want a good burn on the last few reps of each set.

Set 1: 15 reps. 
Set 2: 12 reps.
Set 3: 8 reps.

Leg Press

The leg press is one of the best exercises to do if you are wanting to focus on the quads as much as possible as they don't recruit from the other leg muscles as much as , say, a squat.

Set 1: 12-15 reps. 
Set 2: 8-10 reps. 
Set 3: 6-8 reps.

Hack Squats

Hack squats are a fantastic exercise.  It might take a bit to get used to the form they require but when it comes to blasting your quads, this is one of the workouts you need to do.

Set 1: 12-15 reps. 
Set 2: 8-10 reps. 
Set 3: 6-8 reps.

Dumbbell Lunges

With lunges you want to make sure you step far enough out and go deep enough to get a good stretch in the thigh.

Set 1: 15 reps. 
Set 2: 12 reps. 
Set 3: 10 reps. 
Set 4: 8 reps.

Resources

Matt Weik, The Best Quad Building Tips & Workouts On The Forums.  Bodybuilding.com.  Web.  8Jan 2007.  8 April 2014.
Simplyshredded.com, Jay Cutler Answers 10 Questions About His Quad Training,SimplyShredded.com.  Web.  N.D.  6April 2014.

All photos owned and provided by Jordan Kinney

PROTEIN PODCAST

Give it a sec after hitting play... :)
Might want to lower the volume the audio seemed a bit loud.

CHEST

There's nothing quite like the feeling of leaving the gym with a completely blown out chest.  Your pectorals are one of the biggest muscle groups in the body and therefore demand your attention and care to shape these potentially massive plates of muscle to the shelf of meat you desire.   Building your chest is important as it is linked to your shoulders, back, arms and core.  When people think about training the chest the one thing that pops into their head is the...the bench press, the almighty infallible bench press.  But is the bench the best workout for your chest?

No, while the bench is a great exercise to use don't think that you can do a few sets of flat bench and be done.  So what were going to go over are exercises that use both dumbbells and the barbell versions of bench style exercises, along with others as well.

Barbell Flat Bench

The flat bench as mentioned above is the king of the chest workout.  It is very effective in developing the middle portions of the chest.  A lot of pros like to use the flat bench as part of their warm up or around the mid-point of the workout.

 

Light Weight

• 4 sets
• 15-20 reps
• 30 sec rest

Medium Weight

• 4 sets
• 10-12 reps
• 30 sec rest

Heavy Weight

• 5 sets
• 5-7 reps
• 1 min rest

Dumbbell Bench Press

One of my favorite exercises and a very effective one at that.  What these allow you to do that is so different from the barbell version is range of motion. Increased range of motion mean more stretching of the muscles through the contraction and more work for the muscles.   Adding in simple dumbbell variations of exercises will help your muscle growth exponentially.

 

Medium Weight

• 4 sets
• 8-10 reps
• 30 sec res

Dumbbell Flys

Another Dumbbel Exercise that uses inreased range of motion.  While performing the chest fly try not to spread your arms out too far as it will cause strain on the tendons and front delt and can cause injury.

 

Light Weight

• 3 sets
• 12-15 reps
• 30 sec rest

Medium Weight

• 3 sets
• 8-10 reps
• 30 sec rest

Incline Chest Press

The incline chest press works out the upper portion on the chest and can also be done with dumbbells for an increased range of motion.

 

Light weight

• 4 sets
• 15-20 reps
• 40 sec rest

Medium Weight

• 3 sets
• 8-10 reps
• 30 sec rest

Incline Chest Flys

These chest flys are similar to the flat bench style but targeted towards to upper portion of the chest.

 

Light Weight

• 4 sets
• 15-20 reps
• 30 sec rest

Medium Weight

• 4 sets
• 8-10 reps
• 30 sec rest

Decline Bench Press

The decline bench is a fun exercise personally and I'm not sure why I enjoy it so much.  It can be a bit awkward at first if you've never done these as they require you to lie in an inverted position.  The decline movements workout the lower portions of the chest.

 

Medium weight

• 4 sets
• 8-10 reps
• 40 sec rest

Heavy Weight

• 4 sets
• 5-7 reps
• 1 min rest

ResourcesAlex Stewart, 5 Chest Workouts For Mass. Bodybuilding.com. Web. 16 Sep 2009. 3 April 2014.
Shawn Perine, Chest Master:How Arnold Schwarzenegger Built The Best Chest Of All Time.  Simplyshredded.com. Web. N.A. 2 April 2014.

All photos owned and provided by Jordan Kinney.