Getting back to the basics! 4 building blocks of working out

It's that time again where you need to breath new life into your workout routine.It's that time again where you need to breath new life into your workout routine. And as I crawl out of my dungeon and let the sun graze my face, I can sense that my body needs to be taken back to school to brush up on some basic fundamentals. Let's be real, we're all guilty of falling into the same trap of doing the same workout routine day in and day out and wondering "WTF! WHERE'S MY GAINS?" That's why its necessary to switch it up every so often to keep your body guessing. I grew up in a family full of cops and all I heard was, "Have multiple routes to get home. Never take the same way twice." The point being that if someone was watching you they would know your daily routine after a few days. This is basically what's happening to your body when you do the same routine, day in day out, every day, every month, every year. Your body will start to learn the routine and come to expect it when its time to put in some work at the gym! Similar to how you want the person that you are dating to stimulate you mentally as well as physically, your body is screaming out for some type stimulation. Typically by the  book, you want to change up your routine every few weeks. So long story short, switch up your routine every month. Things like instead of doing chest on International chest day (Mondays for those who live under a rock lol) do legs. When I have a lagging body part, I like to hit it twice a week for a few weeks. Or hit a different body part twice a week, first I hit it would be heavy with a few reps and the second time I hit it would be light with a lot of weight. You would grow tried of eating the same dish every day, right? Except for pizza and ice cream but thats bad for your health (Ice Cube reference for the old school rap fans). So what are the basic's? The 3 basic lifts are  

• Dead lifts
• Squats
• Bench Press.

My cherry on top would be the  

• Standing Shoulder Press

One thing that all these movements have in common is that they are all multi joint movements. Meaning that it requires more than just the main muscles to do work, it requires the smaller muscles or other muscles in general to help aid in the movement of the weight. So now that we got a basic understanding of the basic foundational lifts of bodybuilding or just overall becoming stronger/fit, lets break down each movement on how to execute, key points, and the muscles involved (if you don't know already).

Deadlifts

Deadlifts is an excellent move to build a nice strong back for females and males. One of the best moves to build a thick, dense, back rival of a silver back if you're a male and a nice sexy back if you're a female. The Deadlift benefits more than just the back. It also benefits your Hams, Quads, Gluteus, Triceps and other smaller muscles. Basic set up

1. Feet shoulder width apart
2. Over hand or under hand grip or one over hand and the other under hand

Execution

1. Before you start the pull, make sure your back isn't rounded, keep a straight back with your head up and butt down.
2. As you start to pull up, make sure you follow along the path of your shins.
3. At the top of the movement, roll your shoulders back and push your hips forward to reset you hips.
4. Following the same path you took to lift the weight, set it down in the same manor.

Key Points

1. Don't forget to breath!
2. Press from your heels. You don't want to be pressing from your toes and fall forward. Personally I would laugh but that's only because I have Asshole Tendencies lol.
3. Keep your head up and your butt down to keep you from rounding out your back.
4. Don't bend at your elbows on the way up, this is not a shoulder shrug! Lock out your elbows throughout the whole movement.

Here's one of my favorite explanations of how to Deadlift

Squats

Squats is one of the most improperly done movements you will ever see in the gym today. Most are afraid to do it because of bad experiences or teachers. But squats are the king of leg development. Often times I find that the reason why people struggle with squats is because of lack of flexibility or other weaker muscles that prevent them from doing the move properly i.e hips. Pay attention to how other people squat in the gym and I swear to you, 90% of them either lean to far forward, combining a squat into a good morning, the butt sticks out to far on the way back up to the top (a little butt wink is fine but its when your butt winks to much thats the issue with me fyi), or their knees starts clapping, looking like Bambi trying to walk for the first time. To prevent the clapping of the knees, you need to strengthen your abductors and your adductors by using the abductor/adductor machine (I call it by another name because this is the machine women like to use for bigger butts). Here's a picture of it down below.

‍

To fix the flexibility issue is easy, CONSTANT STRETCHING! Certain stretches if done everyday will help make you more flexible, making it easier to go deeper into your squat with constant practice on form. Check out these stretches below

Again flexibility in the hips are a major reason why peoples squats suck ass. Basic set up

1. Feet shoulder width apart
2. I like to instruct my clients to grab the bar and bring their hands in as tight as they can and push their elbows down so that its underneath the bar. By brining your hands in as tight as you can, this forces your chest up as you squat, preventing you from dropping your chest and doing a mixture of a good morning and a squat.

Execution

1. In the top position while pushing from your heals, drop down to at least 90 degrees.
2. While pushing from your heels, press the weight back up to the top position and reset your hips by pushing it forward.

Key Points

1. Make sure you keep all of the wight on your heals. An easy to do that is by wiggling your toes on the way down or by sliding some 5lb plates under your heels.
2. Don't forget to breath!
3. Find a spot on the wall or ceiling and focus on that spot throughout the whole movement.

Check out the video below

Bench Press  

Bench pressing is of course a common move for a bigger chest, but if you're struggling to bench bigger weight, check the other muscles thats involved with the movement because a lack of strength assuming that you're lifting with proper form, could be the cause. Stronger triceps and shoulders are usually the culprits that holds people back from benching big weight. The stronger your triceps are the more weight you can move, the stronger your shoulders are, the more weight you can handle.Form is a big thing when it comes to bench pressing. I know I personally was able to get up to 315 on the bench press which is good for a guy my size (6'5" 180-185 lbs at the time), only down fall was that my form was horrendous. My elbows were flared to far out which could have caused a lot of shoulder issues/pain. The proper technique is to tuck your elbows in at a 45 degree angle and drive. After realizing how bad my form was, I then went back to basics and started focusing more on form over the amount of weight I could push. NO EGO LIFTING! Basic set up

1. Get under the bar and contract your shoulder blades. By contracting your shoulder blades you are lifting your chest, putting it in prime position to activate your chest during the movement.
2. Hands should be shoulder width apart.  
3. Keep a solid base with your feet on the floor.

Execution  

1. From the top position, descend smoothly down to your chest keeping your elbows to at least 90 degrees.
2. From the bottom position breath out as you return back to the top position with your elbows locked and heels pressed to the floor.

Key Points

1. Find a spot on the ceiling and never take your eyes off of it, like your life DEPENDS ON IT!
2. Keep your feet and butt firmly pressed against the ground and the bench. You lose power whenever your butt come off the pad or when your feet come off the ground.
3. A lot of people say come down until the bar touches your chest, I personally believe that as long as you're elbows break 90 degrees your fine. People are built differently from one another. For instance, by me being a taller individual my arms are naturally longer which means in order for me to touch my chest, my elbows will be well past 90 degrees, causing a lot of pressure on my shoulder joints.
4. Breath in as the bar travels down towards your chest, and breath out as you return the bar to the top position.

Check out the video below  

Standing Shoulder Press

Last but not least like I said above, my cherry on top. One of my favorite moves because not only is this the king of shoulder movements, it also engages your core as well as strengthen your back. For my athletes I like to throw this in at the end of snatches (snatch and press) because it's a great all around movement. Because this is a big movement, utilize this early in the beginning of your workout where you are strongest. A true strength builder if your goal is to become stronger. Basic set up

1. Feet shoulder width apart
2. Grab the bar with an over the bar grip a shoulder width apart

Execution

1. From the top of your chest push the weight above your head and push your head through.
2. From top position return the weight back down to the starting position.

Key points

1. You can push the weight up with your elbows flared or your elbows tucked depending on your goal.
2. Push your head through as you lift the weight above your head.

Check the video below.  

So there you have it boys and girls, the fundamentals on getting back to basics! Every so often its best to go back to basics and build upon the foundation in which you started to become better.

‍

If you been wanting to get in better shape but don't want to go to a big box gym or you feel uncomfortable in a big gym, check me out for a free week.

‍