Maximum Effort

           As I have discussed already, my goal with the majority of my workouts is to achieve hypertrophy.  Hypertrophy is the best of both worlds between strength training and endurance training where you will see an improvement in both strength and size.

            For a quick recap if you have come to the blog late, powerlifters have rep ranges of 3 to 5 reps lifting practically their 1 Rep Max with every set and there are long rest sessions in between to dump that lactic acid out of your muscles. People looking to burn more fat should be performing rep ranges of around 15 to 20 with most exercises because the muscles are under tension for longer time and that results in more calories burned. (This is really the rep range that I should be doing because I want to strip that layer of fat and not necessarily get bigger.) But if you want the best of both worlds, your target rep range is between 8 and 10. I have said that you want to perform those first eight reps slowly and with surgical precision. Then if you have to cheat to get Reps 9 and 10, that is perfectly fine. However, if you can achieve 12 reps (while still maintaining good form), it is time to increase the weight by 5 pounds.

           But now let’s talk about those reps. I think there are times where we get too mentally conditioned by counting. I often wish I could have a partner that would just watch me do exercises and count my reps for me. Imagine just focusing on going to muscle failure, lifting as much as you can as many times as you can, and then turning to your partner and asking, “Okay, how many was that?” Then if they say 12, you increase the weight.

           Many times we give up at 10 because that is the prescribed number of reps when really you might have three more in the tank. But mentally, you know the goal is 10 and you stop at the 10 count. It is like the scene in the book Jurassic Park where they had the computer set to account for many raptors they thought they had, never thinking that there could be more raptors on the island than just the ones they created. You count to 10 when really you can get 12 but you stop because you have reached the mental limit instead of the true physical limit.

           This is where you really have to learn to listen to your body and be willing to push beyond the pain. With some exercises this is considerably easier to do. With things like Dumbbell Curls, it is rather easy to go until you just cannot physically lift that weight anymore. Exercises like Barbell Squats or Barbell Bench Presses are much more intimidating because what if you drop the weight down and you cannot push it back up? That is usually what a spotter is for but what if you are like me and you work out by yourself? That is one of the major disadvantages.

           Now, some will tell you – and I agree with this – to leave one rep in the tank. If I am performing my first set of Barbell Bench Presses, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to compromise my second and third sets by going overboard on that first set. If ever there is a time to push beyond those limits, I try to reserve for that final set before switching to that next exercise.

           However, if you want true hypertrophy, you cannot just slap on any weight, perform 8 to 10 reps, and expect to achieve it. You want to perform those 8 to 10 reps with a heavy enough weight that you cannot perform 15 reps. If you can perform a weight for 15 reps before achieving muscle failure but you are only doing 10 reps, you are not working as hard as possible. That is going through the motions. That is being lazy. And that is the antithesis of Furyan Strength. Remember, you are working to the maximum of your ability. I don’t care if the guy beside you is doing 100 pounds and you are only doing 50. If 50 pounds is the maximum of your ability, be darn proud that you are pushing yourself to the edge of the envelope. That is how you become the hardest worker in the room. That’s how you achieve Furyan Strength.

Morning v. Evening Workouts

           The answer for what time you work out is inevitably going to be up to you to decide depending on your situation and there are pros and cons for both scenarios. For my schedule, evening workouts are just easier for me.

            I think the problem that a lot of people do not understand about small town life is that the town that I live in has very few amenities. Adair, Oklahoma has a population of about 800 people. Sure, there is the school, some convenience stores, and we just got a Dollar General a few years ago (woo, uptown living!) but my home town is pretty small. So you have to go into “town” to get real services – say grocery shopping at Walmart. So while I live in Adair, I commute to Vinita which is approximately 24 minutes door to door. But I get to go 65 almost the whole way and I never ever have to fight traffic. Getting from one side of Tulsa to the other would probably take as long for most people to commute during rush hour. So I love my small town life.

            Thankfully, the Wellness Center where I work out is less than a mile from my office. So it doesn’t make fiscal sense to run back home after a workout. Now, I have worked out in the morning on days where I know the evening is going to be crunched for time. I do admit that I enjoy them. I can work out on an empty stomach, which means my body is eating fat stores for fuel. But then I cannot eat my standard three eggs and sausage prepared at my house. It means I have to buy breakfast which I hate.

            I can shower at the gym but my body feels like a furnace after a workout so even with a cool shower, I am still sweating into my work clothes. That I do not like. It means I have to pack a long a towel, work clothes, toiletries, and such. That just does not for a fun day make.

           If I want to do a protein shake after, I would have to haul my blender to the office or buy one to keep there. What am I? Rockefeller over here?

           There is always that looming specter waiting with his Grim Reaper-style scythe. Of course, I am talking about the clock.     Whenever I work out in the mornings, I always feel like I am looking at the clock saying, “Okay, if I stop now, I still have time to shower and can make it to work on time.” I just don’t like that feeling.

            Now, I will say this. Some days are rougher than others. That phone won’t stop ringing. The stresses of the job can wear you down. And by the time 5:00 rolls around, you just want to go home. By working out in the morning, you don’t give opportunity for excuses to derail a workout. And if you are worried about being tired and sore after a workout, I find it is the exact opposite. I feel like working out before work gives me more energy throughout the day. 

            Eventually, I would love to get to the point where I am doing both morning and afternoon workouts but, point blank, I like sleep too much. I know The Rock is up at 4:30 in the morning for his cardio… and that is probably one of the reasons I don’t look like him.

            So you have to weigh the advantages for yourself. Me personally? I am sticking with afternoons after I get off work. You have to inevitably decide what is best for you. 

Muscle Targeting

           When we were first getting started, the main thing that we were developing is form and getting a new lifter comfortable with the gym. Then as Furyan Strength progressed, you saw the workouts becoming more specific as far as muscle targeting to a point where we started having individual days for certain muscle groups. Now, my goal when it comes to lifting weights is to develop a more classic physique. I do not want to be one of these no-neck bodybuilders. For me it is not about “cultivating mass” and being the biggest guy with these impossibly large arms and such.

           As I have said before, I want to look good naked and, quite frankly, it seems like most women find those types of men intimidating. But ask them how they feel about Channing Tatum and just watch the ladies swoon. So this means your body needs to have a physical aesthetic. And that means a total body workout.

           I had one person ask me how to get rid of “teacher arm” – you know that waddle that hangs down from the triceps. I think she just wanted to get in the gym and work her arms out to eliminate that effect. But you have to work everything. You cannot spot reduce and training too much in one area and not enough in another can lead to muscle imbalance, which can lead to injury.

           So there are times where you need to make sure you are doing specific targeting. For those coming in late, here is a quick recap. Let’s take for instance the shoulders. The shoulders have three heads: a front, a middle, and a rear head. If you are performing an overhead press where your elbows are in front of you, you are targeting the front head. If you are performing an exercise where your elbows are extended out to your sides, you are targeting the middle head. And any shoulder exercise where you are bent over is targeting the rear head. Most people neglect that rear head because it is not one that is readily seen when posing in the mirror. So you need to do different exercises to make sure you are hitting all three heads.

           The chest also has three heads; upper, middle, and lower. This is why we perform bench presses at incline, flat, and decline angles. This makes sure that all the heads are getting active work. The same principle works with Push-Ups, you just have your chest facing the floor instead of the ceiling. So an Incline Push-Up is targeting the lower part of your chest and a Decline Push-Up is going to target the top of your chest. 

           With all this in mind, it seems the human body works off a bit of a reverse principle. For instance, take Barbell Curls. A close the grip on the barbell works the outside of the biceps. Conversely, a wide grip works the inside of the biceps. This is why I try to alternate slightly between my circuits the width of my grip, even if it is only an adjustment of a finger width. This makes sure the muscles are getting attacked from different angles.

           This also applies to legs. If you are performing Barbell Squats, a wide stance is going to work the inside of your legs. But, maintaining a very narrow stance will work the outside of your legs. By switching up things like your stance and your grip, it is going to give you a more well-rounded physique. If you feel that the outer wall of your bicep needs more size, grip that barbell a little closer. Same thing with your legs. Rock a narrow stance to put more emphasis on those outer walls.   

           You will find that alternating your foot placement is going to minimize the amount you would do at your standard shoulder-width foot placement. Therefore, I always recommend that specific targeting after your perform at least three circuits of the standard exercise. Do three rounds of standard Barbell Squats and then use the Narrow Stance Barbell Squats after.

           Remember, this is all about improving your “Gym IQ.” I want you to understand why I do things and then you can modify your program accordingly.  

Ryan's Wicked Awesometacular Guide to Arms

           As you delve into my Furyan Strength regiment, you will see that I have a day completely dedicated to training my arms. I list it as “Biceps & Triceps” to make it sound more scientific as opposed to just “Arms.” I consider Biceps and Triceps to be one of the “fun” days when it comes to my workout. My method is slightly different than most in that I have isolated my exercises where I do not do a traditional “Back & Biceps” day and a “Chest & Triceps” day. You are already working your triceps when you are doing a bench press so in a sense I am working them twice here. I just like giving my arms a unique training day all to themselves. Now, this new configuration was not refined and dialed in until approximately Week 64 of my training which just goes to show that no matter how long we have done something, there is always something new to learn and you have to be constantly evaluating and dialing in the perfect program for your wants and needs. So this is what I do and this is why I do it.

           I find that there are three key things when it comes to training the biceps and the triceps: 1) Variation of Exercise, 2) Elbow Position, and 3) Grip Style. Stick with me here as we walk through this.

           “Biceps” by its very definition means “two-head.” Yes, that means “triceps” translates to “three-head.” What I have attempted to do in the circuits of my exercises is stagger the individual lifts so that the biceps are being attacked from multiple angles but not in back to back exercises. I have attempted to do the same with the triceps.

           So first, let’s talk biceps. Biceps has a short head and a long head and we need to exercises that stimulate both of these muscles. I have tried to stagger the exercises so that neither head is front loaded with exercises so that you burn out quickly. By staggering the exercises this way, I think you can get more out of a single session because fatigue is lessened.

           Now let’s really define what we are talking about.

           Step 1: Elbows – “Let’s go, people! I want to see @$$holes and elbows!”

           For the record, I was quoting Sgt. Apone from Aliens in the header. Please don’t take that as an invitation to send me pictures of your balloon knot. Okay, so Step 1, take your elbows and put them in front of you like you. If you are sitting at a computer reading this, place your elbows on the wrist pad in front of your computer. Imagine you are sitting at a preacher curl station and perform a few curl reps Now, place your elbows at your side and perform a few reps. Lastly (and this is the position often ignored), angle your elbows behind you and perform your curls. Feel the dramatic difference?

            When your elbows are behind you, the long head of the biceps gets a much stronger contraction. Conversely, when you are sitting at a preacher curl and your elbows are in front of you, the short head gets the bulk of the contraction. Keeping with this theory in mind, I have constructed the circuits so that you alternate between a neutral elbow position, a forward elbow position, and a rear elbow position. By performing these exercises the way they are staggered, you are not hitting that forward position three times in a row and then getting overly burned out with fatigue, compromising the rest of your exercises.

           Step 2: Grip Width – “Insert a Funny Headline”

           Much the same way that elbow position is important, the width of your grip affects how the muscles contract. A good general rule of thumb is that you want to do the majority of your exercises with a grip width that is even with your shoulders. Barbell curls with your hands at shoulder width is the best way to go and you never want to neglect that basic lift. But if you have that lift down, then it helps to attack the muscles with some variation. The layman explanation is the wider the grip is the more the inside of the arms get worked and the closer together the hands are will work the outside of the arms more.

           Step 3: Grip Style – Don’t Google the “Western Grip” technique

           How you position your hands is also critical when it comes to how the muscles are worked. If you are looking at the back of your hands, that is the “Pronated” grip.  If your palms are facing in, that is a “Neutral” grip. And if you are looking at the palms of hands, that is the “Supinated” grip. I am willing to bet that somewhere in this blog I typed “supinated” when I meant “pronated.” Or you can tell yourself, underhand, overhand, and neutral. Just a quick round of experimentation in the gym with some dumbbells and you are going to feel the difference. 

1-Rep Max Calculations

           I work out alone. This is partly because of a personal choice and partly because I don’t have any friends and I just want desperately for people to love me. Hence, this blog.

           Okay, seriously, having a training partner would be awesome but finding someone that you can rely on, match schedules with, and is within your lifting range is pretty darn hard to find. When I train, I always have my headphones on so I am pretty solitary. I don’t engage in a lot of idle chitchat. I am not antisocial but I am there to work. Plus, I’ve got dinner to prepare, laundry to do, and I want to watch a Netflix episode with my son. Time is limited. This solo workout style is not conducive for maximum lifts because what if you are on the bench press lifting free weights and you cannot get that last lift? Are you just going to roll to the side and dump the bar? How embarrassing is that?

           The gym can be effing intimidating and most people are afraid to stand out by making a mistake or a blunder. I know one guy that just loves to post all these “gym fail” videos on his Facebook page and these things piss me off because a good guy would offer words of encouragement to someone struggling. But that might be a segment for another time. Chances are if you are new to the whole lifting regiment, the last thing you want to do is struggle publically and, if you are working out alone, working out with very heavy weight can be pretty dangerous.

           You want to be working hard to achieve your lifts. On average, you want to be lifting 75% of your 1 Rep Max (the most you can lift with a single rep). “But Ryan, you train alone. How do you determine your 1 Rep Max?” Excellent question and I am glad you are paying attention. This is where we are going to approach the problem a bit “bass ackward.” 

           Bodybuilding.com does feature a pretty neat tool called their 1 Rep Max Calculator. You can find it here. It is pretty scientifically accurate where you punch in how many reps you performed at a certain weight and it calculates your 1 Rep Max. Obviously, there is going to be a little play there in the accuracy per person but the trick is to take your body to failure.

           If you go until you cannot lift anymore, those accurate reps should be a pretty close approximation of how much you can actually lift in a 1 Rep Max scenario. This is easier to record on something like a Dumbbell Hammer Curl because you can literally curl until you cannot go anymore and when your arms are done, they are done. On something that is a little more difficult (like a Trap Bar Deadlift or a Barbell Squat), you might have one more rep in you without realizing it because you have psyched yourself out mentally, believing that you are done without really going to failure.

           So, how do I know I am training at 75% of my 1 Rep Max? It goes back to my theory of 8 reps clean (with a goal of 10). If I can get 12 reps, then on my next set, I increase the weight by 5 pounds. Trust me, if you are doing this right and really giving it all you have, that 5 lb. increase should chop your reps from 12 to 10 or maybe even 8.

           This is where tracking your workout becomes so important because you don’t want to backslide and pick up a 35 lb. dumbbell just because you are tired when you picked up a 40 lb. dumbbell for the same exercise last week. There is nothing wrong with regression to really focus on your form but you want to work as hard as you can too.

Doing the Splits

           “Ryan, I keep hearing people talking about splits. What are these things?”

           Excellent question fictional follower of my blog! And allow me to answer this imaginary question. A “split” is the common term for how you split up your workout. When you first started your fitness journey, I was recommending solely an A & B workout, which by definition would be a two-day split because it takes you two days to work through your entire body. But then as you begin to develop and improve, you will find yourself wanting to improve more and more. Improvement becomes a wonderful drug that it is quite alright to get addicted to.

           Now, as you began to get more accustom to the weight room, you moved beyond the simple A and B Tyro workout that I provided for you in the opening of this blog and then we moved from Warrior Sets to Furyan Sets. This let you spend more and more time working on specific body parts. Unfortunately, we have two big barriers in our way: Lactic Acid and Time. 

           As you work out, your body produces lactic acid which causes your muscles to fatigue so as much as we would like to, we cannot work out endlessly. Plus, I’ve got dinner to cook and laundry to do. I’ve got pages to write. And isn’t tonight the night that ARCHER is on? I cannot spend 4 hours every evening in the gym and fatigue is still very much a real issue. So the trick to this is splitting up your workout to target specific body parts. 

           Ultimately the question becomes, how should I split up my workout? I wish I could tell you that there is an ultimate answer but everyone eventually has to cater their program to their tastes and their availability. How I have split up my workouts works for me and you will have to adapt your program accordingly.

           Through the Furyan Sets there is a day dedicated to chest and back because of the push and pull of antagonistic sets. The next split is shoulders and lats that utilize a push/pull routine. Again, antagonistic sets. The next routine revolves around legs. That day is typically torture so I reward myself the next day with a “fun” routine which is arms; biceps and triceps. By definition, this is a four day split because it takes me four days to cycle through my entire body.

           Now there are other theories that will stagger your days differently than I have arranged them but I feel that this routine is pretty solid. You may hear of people splitting their workout where they have a push day (chest routines and triceps) and a pull day (middle back). I prefer that back and forth routine that gets you that full range of motion so that is my plan. What can I say? It works for me.

           So when you hear me say “splits,” this is what I am talking about.

The Issue of Soreness

          Yeah, let’s go ahead and talk about it. The soreness… My God… The soreness. So first a little bit of medical backlog. When you are working out, you are literally tearing your muscles. Granted these are not massive tears, they are small microtears and the soreness that you are feeling is your muscles stitching themselves back together. So when you are at the point where getting up and out of your midsize sedan seems like pure agony after leg day, believe me, this is totally normal.

          Someone once asked me when the soreness goes away… Truthfully, it doesn’t. And if you are experiencing this, it is a very good thing. Now I will tell you that the soreness lessens but it doesn’t really go away. I will say that first those first few months you are going to be in agony. Keep in mind, soreness is very different from injury. Knowing your body means knowing the difference and that will come with time.

          Now, as you are first getting started, for those first few months, if you are working hard, we are going to label that level of soreness as a 9 or 10 and the recovery time will be extensive. Much like the alcoholics that need a little hair of the dog that bit them, I have found that languishing about in pain is not the route to go. During all my time, I have yet to buy any sort of analgesic muscle rub (which makes you smell like a medicine cabinet) but I have taken a few ibuprofen from time to time. Instead, getting the heart pumping and blood flowing back into those muscles, getting them warm and loose are going to be better for you than any over-the-counter product.

          We have talked about workout splits. If you have just got done with a heavy leg day, I do not recommend going back and squatting heavy again the next day to relieve the soreness. Rest and recovery are just as important as heavy lifting. But getting on that treadmill and getting that soreness worked out is one of the best ways to relieve that pain.

          Remember, when you are just getting started, you are training your body to do what it wants. Hopefully, as your routine develops and you begin to expand your exercises, you are going to find new ways to stimulate those muscles. As you grow comfortable with shoulder routines, say you add Bent Over Dumbbell Raises that you perform while sitting on a bench. If you have never performed this exercise before, the first few sets are going to be teaching your body what you want to accomplish and this should be done with a light weight. As you begin to master the movement, that is when you will start increasing the weight. As this is a new exercise, it will be “tearing” your muscles in a new way. So, when you wake up in the morning – boom – new soreness.

          Let me stress here. Soreness means growth. Soreness means you are doing something RIGHT. I think if you wake up in the morning and you are not feeling at least a little sore in the target area from the day before, either you weren’t going hard enough or your body has adapted to your exercise choice and it is time to start varying up your routine.

          As you get deeper into your routines and the weeks and months begin to roll by, the soreness level begins to lessen. Let’s say before the pain level was at a 9 and it took a week to recover. You will start to find yourself at a soreness level of 5 and recovery only takes a few days. So it does lessen but as you are rotating in new exercises and finding new things to do, expect to be sore the next day. It lessens but it doesn’t go away and the recovery time is faster.

          Now, I will note something strange that I cannot explain. Last week, Thursday was my leg day. I admit that I was doing slightly heavier than normal Deadlifts. I did Romanian Deadlifts (which target the hamstrings). I also decided on some Straight-Legged Deadlifts (which target the lower back). And then I rounded out the exercise with some ancillary exercises. Friday was a little bad in the soreness department but for reasons I cannot explain, on Saturday, my legs hurt worse than on Friday. This “staggered soreness” seems to happen regularly where it is two days after that the soreness really catches up with me.

          Personally, I like that where after I get home. I sit down on the couch and have some dinner and maybe watch a little Netflix and then when it is time for me to get up, I hobble about like a 90-year-old geriatric. I know I must look pathetic during these times but I keep telling myself that I hurt for that one day so that I can walk the other six days of the week without pain.

          Soreness is a badge of honor that you should proudly wear. It does lessen as you progress but those twinges of soreness and that dull ache when you get out of bed is always going to be there. It means you are working hard and for that you should be proud.

Weight Increases

          “Ryan, I am bench-pressing 100 lbs. and I want to bench 175. How long will it take for me to get there?”

          No earthly idea but let’s focus on a better goal instead. Frank is coming into the gym and he has been working on his bench press. As of right now, he can lift 100 pounds for 10 reps in all three of his sets. He is ready to advance to the next level. So he adds the least amount of weight possible to the bar which is a 2.5 lb. weight on both sides. He now has 105 pounds on the bar.

          His rep goal remains unchanged. You want to get 10 clean reps on all 3 sets but you also don’t want to stop just because you reach 10. Your goal is to achieve muscle failure. Now, if Frank can slide 5 more pounds on and already do 10 reps for 3 sets, it means he was being a candy ass and not lifting to his full potential the week before.

          Once you can achieve 12 reps of any given weight, then it is time to increase again. Typically this is done with the smallest increase possible which is usually 5 pounds. Then it just becomes a “rinse and repeat” scenario. There are going to be times where it may take a series of weeks to get up those 10 reps clean and that is absolutely fine. I told you from the beginning that this was going to be a slow and arduous climb.

          This is why tracking your workouts is so important. In six months, you will look back at where you were and you won’t believe the gains and the increases that you will make.

          Just remember, it is better to remain at a lower weight that allows you to focus on form and squeezing at the apexes of your lifts. It is not a defeat to remain at a lesser weight to achieve surgical lifts. You will find that as you start packing on the weight it becomes more about doing everything you can just to complete the lift, even if that means sacrificing form.

          It is better to lift lighter and slower than it is to have to explode through motions to get that weight lifted. Remember, you are a bodybuilder, not a powerlifter. There is nothing wrong with leaving one last rep in the tank every now and again. 

          This is not to say that you cannot change things up. You may choose a week where you increase the weight by 25% and go for 5 reps. You can even decrease the weight and attempt 12 to 15 reps. These weight and rep changes will shock your muscles and encourage growth. But then go back to the 10 rep goal. (Are you starting to see why charting is so important now?)

Women's Fitness

           “Ryan, you are a man.” Yes. Technically. I’m not much of one but I am a man. “So, does your program work for women?”

           First of all “Hello” to all the ladies reading this blog. Hi, both of you!

           As far as I am concerned, muscle is muscle. Men are genetically stronger and women have a different center of gravity but building a bicep muscle is identical if you are male or female. As long as you stick with the hypertrophy theories (explained earlier), then you will be absolutely fine.

           I see ladies at the Wellness Center all the time that come in, hop on the cardio machines for an hour, and then head back out. It makes me want to scream. If cardio was all it took to get a perfect body, then everyone would just come in and just do cardio. I am afraid it just doesn’t work that way. Scientific evidence is piling up enough to create a small mountain, all touting the health benefits from lifting weights – for both men and women.

           I have talked to women in the gym, telling them that they need to do more “clanging and banging.” I have even joked that if they will get on the bench rack with me, I will get on the cardio machines with them. The answer I am given is almost always the same. “I don’t want to get all big and ‘muscley’.”



This is not achieved through cardio alone

           My response to this is always the same. “I have been doing this for over a year TRYING to get big and ‘muscley’ and I cannot do it.” You are not going to turn into She-Hulk by doing one set of bench presses or concentration curls. But if you want that butt like [insert pop star name here], you are not going to get it on the treadmill. You are going to get it in the squat rack.

           Now, just to show you why I am right on this one and to prove this is not just my personal opinion, I will throw a medical sounding fact your way as well. There is a thing called your Basal Metabolic Rate which is how many calories you would burn if you just laid in bed all day. The average BMR is 72 calories per hour. Multiplied by 24, that means… carry the one… denominator, you average person burns 1,728 calories in the course of a day. The more muscle you have, the higher your BMR is. So the more muscle you develop means the more fat you burn in the course of a day. And that is 24-hour, ‘round-the-clock burning, not just the amount you burn while working out.

           This reinforces my belief that the more success you get, the more success you want, and the more you develop, the more success you are going to see. So yes, ladies, the answer is get clanging and banging. And as you will see, bodybuilding is not about throwing around 100-pound dumbbells. I always go heavy for my first three circuits that begin my workout but then it begins to shift to more sculpting exercises that actually work with less weight. It goes back to an earlier article where not all bodybuilders want to be ‘roided out gorillas.

            And if you want a booty like that pop star, you gotta get off the Stairmaster and get under a barbell. Many people avoid the weights because they can be intimidating. Don’t let this stop you! Most of my sculpting exercises involve light weight to develop a total physique.

           Those are the key words: Total Physique. It is an all over program and you get that by performing a blend of cardio and resistance train. Lifting weights are basically the anti-Borg. “Resistance is not futile.” Resistance is the key to success.  

Write This Down

                 You are going to read on here a lot about how you have to have a plan going in if you want to have success. Every day, I walk into the gym with a computer printout of the workout I intend to achieve that has exercises, weight estimates, rep counts, etc. I always have a plan of attack. I know which exercises I plan on doing with a set amount of target reps. Once you start to get fairly deep into this process, you will be able to estimate fairly accurately how much weight you are going to lift based on previous experience. While I have a column for the planned reps and weight, I have an empty column where I can record my actual count. You do have to be able to improvise. A plan may have to fluctuate based upon the availability of machines and such but I never want to go into a session just planning on doing “what I feel like.” I think that makes you quit too soon and you just don’t work as hard.

                When asked about the pitfalls of people beginning an exercise program, professional cycling coach Ainslie MacEachran said:

“When members walk through our doors the first thing I ask (after saying hello) is what's your plan. Typically their response is ‘I don't know, I'll figure it out as I go.’ Most people don't have a plan, [but] every workout should have a plan. Your workouts will be more effective and time efficient if you have a purpose when you come in.”

 

                I keep the records of all my workouts in a folder that I keep in my gym bag. This is useful in tracking your progress and it is a very nice thing to be able to look at a year from now. I think you will be amazed at the gains that you can perform over the course of 52 weeks. Use that time recovering between circuits. Multitask and record your progress. I guarantee you will not regret doing this. However, writing down your numbers while in the moment is very important. Don’t rely on memory later on that evening or – even worse – days later.

                I try to track everything: workout times, mood, exercises, reps, weight, cardio time and I did this to monitor and analyze my performance. For over a year, I use to plug my numbers into the Workout Tracker option on Bodybuilding.com. (I used to write everything down in a physical record and then plug them in digitally a day or two later.) I do love their site. It gives me an opportunity to track my progress and will even do analysis for me (size gains, strength gains, pounds lifted, etc.). But as I have been dialing in my program, tinkering and fine tuning, I find myself tracking the workouts less and less and just using my Furyan printouts.

                So keep a record of your work.

 

                "Ryan, do you track your reps on a smart phone?"

                Absolutely not. One, I don’t own a smart phone. Two, all electronic devices are left in my locker or in my car. My workout time is my time. Nothing in my life is so important that I cannot unplug from the grid for an hour and half. I have seen the way things operate on my iPad.

                “So-and-so has commented on your status.”

                “Your plants are ready for harvesting.”

                “WarsNerd1138 has attacked your castle.”

                These are all distractions that you don’t need when you are really working hard. Distractions cause you to lose focus and losing focus gets you hurt. Unplug for an hour and make this time yours.

 

Technical Tuesdays

           Like so many projects out there, Furyan Strength was not just cobbled together overnight. I didn’t just scream my ideas into a tape recorder over a weekend and have a secretary transcribe what I was shouting. I shared this program with several of my IRL friends before putting this out there on the web and most were amazed at the complexity of everything and how much there was to it.

           If you ask the average man on the street what bodybuilding is most are going to tell you it is just picking up heavy weights and setting them back down. If you have looked through any of my program, I think that it is safe to say that is the furthest from the truth. There is real science to this.

           But for someone out there, today is there first day in the gym. They need that guidance. They need to be told why to use a weight belt and why not to round their back when performing squats. Don’t get me wrong. I know my commentary is downright hysterical and should be performed as a one man show on Broadway. But I am willing to bet that if you are here, you are looking for advice on how to improve. And that is what this blog is all about.

           Knowing what I know now, there are times where I keep asking myself, “Do I really need to point this out?” There are many times where I do have to remind myself that someone is starting at Square 1. To me, a concept like Antagonistic Sets and performing circuits is fundamental. It just seems blatantly obvious.

           I think you have something special to communicate if after you tell someone something their comment is “I cannot believe I didn’t know that but, now that I do, it totally makes sense.” I am sure someone in England way back when went to the government officials and said, “Hey, maybe we shouldn’t keep corpses in our drinking water.” Lo and behold, after the fact, that nasty bout of cholera almost seemed to fix itself! It is right up there with not jamming forks in electrical sockets and how doing it underwater means she cannot get pregnant.*

           But there are times where you need someone to come along and tell you that performing a pronated arm curl works the muscles from your thumb to your elbow. So, there are going to be times where I am going to be pointing out things that to me are blatantly obvious. To an experienced lifter, they may read these articles and say, “Duh, everyone knows that doing it underwater means she cannot get pregnant.” But there are novices out there who need that advice. And that is the reason why this blog exists in the first place.

           No one instantly sits down and knows how to bench press. Even if you mentally understand the concept, you still have to train your muscles to make them do what you want. My hope is that you have discovered this blog and you can put my theories into practice. If you are doing that, congratulations because you have made it farther than those people that just talk about getting in shape. 

           So, on Tuesdays, I want to focus more on along the lines of why we do certain things and technical aspects of certain exercises. My hope is that the Tuesday articles will help you gain a better understanding of why we do what we do. The more you understand that, the more you can begin to customize your routine to best suit your needs.     

           *Umm, yeah. Full disclaimer. She can get pregnant underwater. Don’t be silly. Wrap your willy.