Tag Archives: biceps

New Video….Resistance Bands!!

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Hi Everybody,

I promised you some more videos and here is the next one. The video is fairly self explanatory so I’ll keep the notes brief, although there are a few things i want to say.

Resistance Bands:

Firstly in the video itself the exercises I am doing look pretty easy and I’m sure that will be putting some guys or hardened trainers off. As I said in my previous post , if you are a hard core body builder or strength athlete these may not be for you, but for everybody else Resistance Bands are a great addition to your workout equipment and perfect for home use. In this video I am only using 1 band but by using the higher resistance ones or adding 2, 3 ,4 or even 5 bands you can really make the exercises much more difficult.

The second thing I’d add is that Resistance Bands are fantastic for people who either have injuries that they live with and have to work around, or who are recovering from injury. The ability to add or decrease resistance as needed but also to change the angle and approach to exercise’s mean that they can be very forgiving for various type’s of muscle, ligament or tendon damage, and you can build up strength, tone and muscle without risking further damage.

Resistance bands are also perfect for beginners, people who don’t belong to gyms, or ladies looking to tone their bat wing arms or other saggy parts but who don’t want the expense or hassle of going to a gym.

Finally they are extremely light, convenient, easy to travel with and very inexpensive compared to either a gym membership or buying your own sets of weights for home use. It makes them one of the perfect additions to your home use equipment.

I hope you enjoyed the video and as i say at the end, please watch this space for the opportunity to get great discounts on Ordinary Guy Fitness Resistance Bands and other products that will be coming soon.

Regards

John

Join The Band to Build Muscles & Get Fit!

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Don’t panic, we’re not talking music here (I’m tone deaf). We are talking about what i rate as the single best piece of home workout equipment you can buy. Watch the video, read the article and scroll right down to the bottom for some exciting news!!

Resistance Bands:

So what exactly are resistance bands and why do i rate them so highly? They are simply a set of latex tubes that come with handles, feet and door attachment. Usually they come in a set with 5 different colour tubes or bands and each has different resistance levels. By attaching all 5 bands you can really ramp up the weight/resistance to some quite high levels. I wrote in a previous article about these and some other pieces of essential home equipment but to me these are top of the list.

Why? Well because they are just so versatile. You can replicate probably 80% of the exercise’s that you can do in even the most well equipped Gym with just one piece of equipment that fits in a drawer. You can take it on holiday or business trips with you. They work equally effectively for beginners or for pretty serious trainers who are looking to build solid muscle. Resistance bands are also a little more forgiving on muscles, joints and tendons for those that have injuries or those who are perhaps getting on in years slightly. They are also perfect for ladies that either don’t want to go to the Gym or have busy lives with kids etc and want something they can do at home for 20 minutes a day.

They take a little getting used to and certainly a bit of experimentation to find the angles and exercises that work best for you, and that target the muscles that you want to target. However with a little practise you will find that you can work Shoulders, Chest, Biceps, Triceps and your entire back very easily. Working those leg muscles and Abs are a little more complex but still perfectly possibly.

Now i know that there are a load of guys out there shaking their heads and saying “resistance bands?? Really? They are for wimps!”  To a degree I can’t argue with that. If you are an advanced body builder or weight lifter then resistance bands cannot replace going to a gym and just shifting a shedload of heavy weights. If you are really trying to build massive muscles then resistance bands are not going to do it for you. However this blog is called Ordinary Guy Fitness and it aims to cater to the majority of people who want to get fit, lead healthier lifestyles and definitely tone up and build some muscle. For that aim these are perfect.

An additional, and for many people an essential benefit, is also the cost. Gym memberships generally speaking are expensive. Exercise classes are expensive and any sort of personal trainer is definitely expensive. I’m not putting you off of any of those things as I use or have used all of them, but many people are no fortunate enough to have the spare cash and in those cases a one of payment of maybe £20 or $25/27 is a very inexpensive way to buy a piece of equipment that can help you get fit and build some muscle.

If you want some tips on how to use the bands or incorporate them into your existing workout programme then drop me an email or comment and I’ll do my best to respond.

That’s it for this article. I will make it a mission to do my own video showing as many different band exercise’s as possible in the near future.

However at the top I promised you some exciting news. A couple of weeks ago in this blog post I talked about Ordinary Guy Fitness possibly offering some products that will help with your fitness, health and training goals. Well in a couple of weeks the first couple of products will be rolling off the production line and will be available on Amazon with Ordinary Guy Fitness branding and guarantee. Not only that but the very first products available will be Ordinary Guy Fitness Resistance Bands. Not only that but readers and subscribers to this blog , the Facebook page or my Twitter page will be given their very own discount codes that will not be available elsewhere. Make sure you don’t miss out. Go to the home page and subscribe to my email list now to make sure you don’t miss future posts and the release date.

Take Care,

John

Todays Training – Shoulders & Some Legs!

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arnold-shoulder-pressingHi Guys, here is todays quick training update. Please let me know if you are getting bored with these. It was always intended to be just a quick insight into what i do but I’m not here to preach and definitely not to bore you. I’m now struggling with a couple of niggles so not quite able to do exactly what i want in the Gym. However that is not an excuse and you can always do something. My left shoulder is still very sore, and now so is my left hip and lower back which is causing a sciatica type pain down my left leg…..I think I’m just getting old!!

So due to the slight injuries i wanted to avoid doing any further damage. I’m usually a big advocate of free weights over machines but went the machine route today because of the more limited range of motion and control they give you. Once I’m rocking again I’ll be back onto the Barbells and Dumbbells. So here is todays programme.

Firstly over to the Smith Machine for some seated overhead press to hit shoulders. I did 10 sets, 5 behind neck and 5 in front Military press style. I kept the weight fairly low at 30kg (+ the bar) and concentrated on really squeezing and isolating my shoulders rather than pushing with my Triceps. It worked and by the ninth and tenth set i was struggling to get to the full 10 reps.

Next over to Lateral raises. For these i DID use Dumbbells but kept the weight low and instead did Giant drop sets. So i grabbed 3 sets of Dumbbells at 10kg, 6kg and 3kg. I did a set of 10 reps with the 9’s, dropped them, straight into 10 reps with the 6’s and then straight into 10 with the 3’s and for the final set with the 3’s tried to squeeze my deltoids as hard as possible. That was one set and I did 4 in total.

I then sat on a bench, leant forward and did exactly the same routine, same weights, reps and sets for bent over laterals to work on the posterior head of the Delts. That was it, shoulders almost done.

Next up were some shrugs to build up the Traps. 32kg dumbbell in each hand and did 3 sets of 15.

Next some leg work although I didn’t want to go mad as they were still sore from earlier in the week. I went over to the Leg press machine. I cranked out 2 sets with both legs at 70kg. I then dropped the weight to 30kg and did single leg presses. 3 sets of 10 for each leg. I also moved my foot up and down the foot board to try to change which part of the muscles it worked and tried to focus on the Glutes as much as possible.

I then stayed sitting where i was and proceeded to do Calf presses. One leg at a time, 4 sets for each leg at 25kg.

That was it, i was sort of done. However it felt like a bit of a feeble session. I’d wimped out on the legs and didn’t want to leave it like that. My arms felt fine so thought I’d have a very quick superset blast on Biceps and Triceps. In a previous post (here) i talke4d about a Cable based Bicep and Tricep ladder workout where you go up in weights on Triceps whilst coming down on Biceps. So i did that. Started at 20kg on Triceps and 55kg on Biceps and then came down/up in 5 or 10kg increments, supersetted with no rest at all. It worked out at 5 sets each side. That was it, i was done and felt better having added that in at the end.

Let’s see what tomorrow brings. I seem to have a few broken bits at the moment but will see how i feel in the morning before deciding what to do or maybe just having a day off.

Take Care,

John

Todays Training – Chest, Biceps and Some HiiT

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Kiddie Biceps

Just a very quick training diary update for today. Todays aim was to hit my chest hard, then do some Bicep work and finish with a few rounds of a HiiT type routine. It’s late and I’m knackered so I’ll keep this brief.

Chest: Started with Dumbbell presses on a very low (almost flat incline), maybe around 15 degrees. 1 x warm up set of 12 reps @ 17.5kg in each hand. Then some proper sets. 1 x 10 reps@24kg, 1 x 6 reps@30kg, 1 x 5@30kg, 1 x 8 reps@22kg and 1 x 10@17.5kg. Tried to keep rest to a max 1 minute between sets.

Then put the incline up slightly but still only about 30 degrees. The next exercise was again dumbbell press but alternating from hand to hand. So basically press both dumbbels overhead, then lower one back to your chest whilst keeping the other hand extended overhead. This really works your chest well but has the added advantage of working your core as you need to maintain your balance and prevent rotation of your body.  1 x 10 reps (each side)@22kg, 1 x 8 reps @24kg, 2 x 10 reps @17.5kg.

Then 4 sets of cable crossovers @20kg each side.

Finally I shot across to the seated front bench press machine and knocked out one set of 40 reps at a low weight (think it was about 20kg in total) just to really fatigue the chest.

Biecps: I decided to start with an exercise I am really poor at but which is a great mass builder, close grip chin ups focusing on pulling with Biceps rather than using the back. 5 sets and managed a feeble 6 reps, 6 reps, 5 reps, 5 reps and a final 3 and a bit. Definitely needs work.

Then good old fashioned standing barbell curls. 4 sets of 10 @ 35kg and really focusing on no body movement, squeezing the weight up with the biceps and no body movement with a slow lowering of the weight.

Finally seated incline dumbbell curls with a drop set. 10 reps @10kg per hand, then no rest into 10 reps@6kg, then 10 x 3kg. Repeated this 3 times. I realise the weights sound really low but if you go slow, don’t cheat and really squeeze and isolate your bicep it hurts like crazy by the end.

Finally onto a quick HiiT (High Intensity Interval Training) circuit.

30 jumping jacks, no rest into 12 press ups, into 16 (8 each side) alternate leg jack knives, into 20 twisting slow mountain climbers and then 20 (10 each side) jumping alternate leg lunges. Had about a minutes rest then went again. Did it 4 times.

That’s it, am already feeling the chest tonight but not so much the biceps. Think I’ll probably do some more resistance circuit work tomorrow. Have a good night.

Take Care,

John

My Daily Training Diary!

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No Pain No GainI’ve had a bad couple of weeks from a health and training perspective. I have lots of good excuses (I’m in the middle of getting a loft extension done, the kids are off school on Easter holidays, it was my birthday and we had a couple of days out to celebrate etc etc, but the truth is I’ve just neglected things a bit and not been training as much as i should. I’m only human, and very much the Ordinary Guy that this blog is about.

So I’m determined that for the next month or so I’m going to be very strict, get back on track and smash the training and healthy eating again. A few people have asked me how i train, what i do, how often etc? So i thought it might be an idea to do a quick daily post outlining what training i have done, what it involved, weights lifted etc. Hopefully some of you will be interested and I’d welcome any comments. It won’t be every day as i tend to do some sort of activity 4 to 5 days per week. If any of you would also be interested in what i eat and my diet then please let me know and maybe I can start to include that as well. So here is day 1.

Thursday: I only had about 50 minutes to squeeze a session in today so the aim was to hit shoulders and arms and maybe do some cardio/abs if i had time. My left shoulder is buggered (that’s a technical term) and as soon as i start to lift any heavyish weights in terms of shoulder press or bench press it becomes sore and stays that way so i have to work around it. Therefore i started with 5 minutes of shoulder joint stretches, muscle stretches, rotator cuff stretches to try to loosen it up as much as possible. Then here is the routine i hit.

1 x warm up set of 10 reps @ 14kg of seated dumbbell shoulder press

1 x 10 reps @ 20kg, followed by 2 x 8 reps@ 22.5kg, followed by 3 x 10 @ 16kg. Rest between all sets was approximately 50/60 seconds.

Then moved on to standing side lateral raises.

I took a 10kg dumbbell in each hand and did alternate reps for each side, 10 reps per side. Then immediately dropped those and picked up 7kg each side and with no rest went into a strict set of 10 reps (both sides at the same time). So effectively supersetted side lateral raises. Repeated 3 times. Rest between sets was about 1 minute max.

Then sat on a bench, leaned forward and went into bent over rear lateral raises. Again i did a superset style. So did 10 reps with 9kg, dropped them and straight into another 10 reps with 5kg. I realise the weight for these lat raises may sound light to some people but… a) I am trying to protect my shoulder and b) If you do them really strictly and only engage your deltoid muscle without “throwing” the weight up, it still gives you an amazing pump and is very effective.

Then picked up 2 x 30kg dumbbell and did 3 x 15 reps of shrugs, concentrating on shrugging my shoulders up and back to really work the traps (trapezius). That’s shoulders done.

For arms i normally work with free weights but i watched a video by a guy called Jeff Cavaliere from Athlean X who i rate very highly and would massively recommend his videos. The video is here and it is a cable machine workout that works both biceps and triceps at the same time and wow is it effective. Basically you set a flat handle on a cable machine. I was lucky as at my Gym i had two right next to each other. Have 1 handle up high to do Tricep push downs and one down low for bicep curls. You move from Biceps to Triceps with no rest and move the weights up or down after each set. So…..

1 x 10 reps@ 60kg Tricep push down, followed by 1 x 12 reps@20kg bicep curls. Then 1 x 10 reps@50kg Tricep push down, followed by 1 x 12 reps@30kg bicep curls.  Then 1 x 10 reps@40kg Tricep push down, followed by 1 x 12 reps@40kg bicep curls.  Then 1 x 12 reps@30kg Tricep push down, followed by 1 x 10 reps@50kg bicep curls. Then finally 1 x 12 reps@20kg Tricep push down, followed by 1 x 8 reps@60kg (That’s all i could manage). I rested for a few minutes then squeezed out 2 sets of 15kg hammer curls and 2 sets of 50kg overhead tricep extensions. My arms were fried by the end of it.

I was running out if time so couldn’t do any cardio but quickly did a little ab superset of 8 hanging leg raises, followed by 10 v-sits, followed by 45 second plank. Did it three times and then headed for the door.

Tomorrow I have slightly more time so plan to do back and legs + some cardio stuff.

I hope you like this and enjoy it over the next few days. Please let me know your thoughts.

Take Care,

John