FHO – Fitness
When it comes to fitness, you will want to train depending on what your goals are and what you enjoy.
I recommend watching Brain Power & Movement Link. The video goes into detail on what happens to your brain when you stick to a workout routine.
How hard should you train? I recommend this video. Be honest and push yourself but don’t sacrifice form.
Cardio
Cardio is only recommended for improving cardio endurance. Too much cardio is not recommend when trying to grow muscle. You may lose muscle doing too much steady state cardio.
It is recommend to get at least 60 minutes of steady state cardio a week.
I do 15 minutes of steady state cardio after my lift.
Programs
- While starting out, I would recommend downloading Boostcamp and using one of the free programs.
- Here are my recommendations depending on how many days of the week you want to workout.
Warm-up
- I highly recommend using Calgary Barbell's Powerlifting Warm-Up.
Rep Ranges
When it comes to rep ranges, the “hypertrophy range” of roughly 6-15 reps per set may produce slightly better results per unit of time invested than low rep and high rep work. There are a lot of studies on this and when you combined them, it looks like this.
What is more important is picking the rep range that allows you to get the most high quality sets during each session.
Most of my rep ranges are inspired by this article and this video. About halfway down the article, he explains the rep ranges and why.
- Heavy squats and deadlifts: Sets of 3-5.
- Squat and deadlift accessory: Sets of 5-10.
- Unilateral lower body: Sets of 8-15.
- Rows: Sets of 8-10.
- Barbell pressing: Sets of 5-10.
- Dumbbell pressing: Sets of 8-10.
- Isolation lift or machine work: 8-15.
Experiment to see what lets you get in the most high quality work. Some people simply do better with higher or lower reps.
Pre-Workout
I recommend and use a pre-workout but most popular pre-workouts do nothing. Here is another good video exposing popular pre-workouts.
Here are the pre-workouts I recommend.
- For most lifters, low stim: PureForm from Real Science Athletics. Low cost but has the proper amounts of what you need. The only stim it has is some caffeine.
- For a non-stim alternative: Gorilla Mode Nitric. Its a non-stim pre-workout made by Derek from More Plates More Dates. He has a hour long video on what he choose and why.
- For high intensity days, high stim: Gorilla Mode. Warning: If you take 2 scoops of Gorilla Mode, you shouldn't have anymore caffeine throughout the day.
I personally use PureForm most of the time and Gorilla Mode on high intensity days.
I will personally take a week off of pre-workouts every month to help reset tolerance.
Intra-Workout & EAA's
- 99% of people don't need EAA's!
- If you working out in a fasted state, it might benefit you to supplement with EAA's want to supplement during the workout.
- EAA's are better than relying on protein powder for proper amino acid supplementation.
- I recommend Gorilla Mode EAA's if you need EAA supplementation.
- Stay away from companies that sell BCAA's. It's not the complete amino acid chain.