The absence of exercise equipment can limit your options but it’s definitely not stopping you from packing on some serious muscle mass. So, here’s how you can increase muscle mass with zero equipment.
In order to increase muscle mass, you’ll need to implement one of the fundamental training principles: progressive overload. This is defined by the gradual increase of stress placed upon the body during exercise to stimulate adaptations. This is often expressed as training volume (e.g. weight x reps x sets). However, without equipment this can be challenging to objectively measure and manipulate. Therefore, we must be creative in how we alter the training variables with the exercises to increase the stress load on our bodies.
This may include weight, repetitions, sets, rest period, repetition tempo (downward/upward phase and pause time), range of motion, total training duration, complexity of your movements, training frequency and intensity. Take a push up for example, we can increase the intensity by increasing the reps, sets, range of motion, repetition tempo with shorter rest duration or we can increase the complexity by doing a variation like an archer push up or using a bench to prop our feet onto. Whether your goal is to get bigger, faster, stronger, or just fitter, progressive overload should be the guiding principle in all training programs.
When progressive overload is implemented it increases demands on our bodies both physically and mentally. Therefore, our bodies require more sustenance to optimise recovery and muscle gain. As a general rule, in order to put on muscle mass you must consume more energy (calories or kilojoules) than you expend. This is also known as a calorie surplus. Unfortunately, there’s no one size fits all diet as everyone has different caloric requirements depending on their age, height, weight, sex and activity levels, to name a few variables. This is why it’s worthwhile visiting a dietician or nutritionist to fine-tune your nutrition and make sure you’re getting the right quality and quantity of fuel that your body requires.
Sleep is one of the most important factors when it comes to muscle growth. Sleep is a time when information processes and consolidates, tissues grow and repair, and the management of hormonal activity occurs. It’s also important to take a holistic approach to rest and recovery if you’re wanting to optimise your performance and results. Personally, I like to categorise rest and recovery into three different groups:
Active: Stretching, foam rolling, spa, sauna, steam room, hot/cold therapy, hydrotherapy, breathing exercises and light movement (eg. walking).
Passive: Sleep, naps, meditation, massage and sitting still in contemplation.
Social: Spending time with family and friends.
Consistency
As the old saying goes, “Rome wasn’t built in a day”. Physiological adaptations take time so be patient and trust in the process.
Personally, I find having the knowledge and creativity to train without equipment has been a great way to break down barriers, prevent relapses or plateaus, be consistent and most importantly have fun.
]]>As COVID-19 (Coronavirus) precautions escalate and cause a simultaneous rise in the nation’s stress levels, it’s important to prioritise your health and wellness. Now, more than ever, people need exercise and a good home gym set-up could be just what the doctor ordered
One simple way to achieve this is by adding a few valuable pieces of equipment to your garage, turning it into a home gym.
Before you jump the gun and throw your hard-earned money at the door gym or ab master pro 3000, make sure you consider the following questions to see if a home gym is right for you.
I’ve seen many people make the mistake of purchasing unnecessary and expensive equipment only to let it all collect dust and then be thrown on the nature strip to join hundreds of other pieces of landfill. If you answered yes to the above questions and your goals are resistance-training-based, then consider the following important pieces of equipment.
It’s especially worth investing in an Olympic barbell if you’re a taller person as smaller bars can be restricting. They’re usually 220cm and 20kg for a men’s bar so make sure you have enough room to use it. The Olympic bar is also more universal for plate sets (both iron and bumpers).
Aim to buy enough weight to satisfy your training style needs (e.g. power, strength, hypertrophy or endurance) and consider how much you can lift for your main compound movements (bench press, squat and deadlift).
The rack is central to all of your compound exercises. This is also where you can hang your rings, do pull ups and tie your resistance bands from various angles. Spotters are hard to come by when training from home, and a huge benefit of having a power rack is that there’s adjustable safety bars. Make sure you utilise them, unless you want to #epicfail and feature on @gymfuckerytv.
These three items are the most important as they facilitate the fundamental compound movements: bench press, dead lift and squat.
Here’s a short list of exercises that can be performed with these pieces of equipment:
Push (Chest, shoulders, triceps and abs) – Bench press (incline, flat and decline), military press and skull crushers.
Pull (Back and biceps) – Deadlift, rack pulls, bent over rows and bicep curls.
Legs (Glutes, quads, hamstrings and calves) - Squat, lunges, deadlift variations, cleans and snatch.
Various thicknesses will provide various resistance levels. Resistance bands are comprehensive as they can be used to target any muscle group and also be used for warm-up activation drills.
One of the most comprehensive pieces of equipment when it comes to bodyweight training. They are great for upper body strength, stabilisation, mobility, proprioception, versatility, training transference and - most importantly - fun. The rings can be adjusted to make exercises harder or easier.
The garage can be a quiet, dark and
lonely place. Music will help you get into the zone and smash out a decent
workout.
These prices are a rough minimum. If you really want a bargain, do a quick
search on Gumtree or eBay to see if someone with similar intentions has decided
to put their equipment up for sale.
Having access to a home/garage gym is a luxury and incredibly convenient. Just make sure your decision aligns with your personality and lifestyle, and most importantly does not interfere with you achieving your goals.
]]>Humans are fascinating. Our capacity to develop our bodies and our minds is virtually limitless. If we choose to.
Think of the most iconic leaders in history. The amount of personal development that they invested was reflected in their incredible capacity to rally nations, diffuse conflict and resolve unthinkable issues whilst uniting entire countries.
Now think about the most influential athletes of our century. They are admired because of their incredible specialization, the dedication and grit in their ascension to the very pinnacle of human physical achievement.
As humans, we have an incredible capacity for growth and development. Both physically and mentally. There is a simple formula for this growth. Stimulus + recovery = Adaption.
The greater the stimulus, and the more effective our recovery, the greater the adaption. This principle holds true for lifting weight, learning how to play a new instrument or developing proficiency in a new martial art.
Our brain is similar to our body in that with neuroplasticity, new neural connections are formed when we learn new skills. Our movement patterns adapt with a neuro-muscular proprioception as we practice technique. Research in the field of neuroplasticity suggest that the difficulty of the practise should be just under our current maximum threshold of capability to illicit the best response and create those new neural pathways.
Leveraging this principle can help us consolidate the adaption to maximize our benefit from any endeavor we embark on.
Following the law of stimulus and recovery, humans always return to homeostasis after a stressor is applied. Some quicker than others. This is where consistency and intensity comes into play.
Imagine for a moment that you're cramming for a big test or an exam. (We've all been there.) You put in 7 full hours the day before the exam. Probably whilst clutching a caffeine ridden beverage and destroying a packet of something you shouldn't be for moral and emotional support. How effectively will the information be retained? Now take those 7 hours and break them up into just 1 hour per day for a week. The one is an act of intensity, the other is consistency.
You go to a dentist once per year, an act of intensity. If you didn't brush your teeth every day for just a minute or two, an act of consistency, how would your teeth fare after 10 years?
Training at a gym for 9 hours straight. A marathon session. Your body is broken, you can barely walk for a week afterwards, versus breaking that 9 hours up into 27 sessions of 20 minutes each. Perhaps an extreme example, but the principle remains the same.
We need acts of consistency, but sporadic acts of intensity can really move the needle for people. Keeping a mindfulness journal and meditating for 5 minutes each day can be supplemented and accentuated with attending a seminar on self development once per year. As can arranging a weekend away with a couple of close friends or your partner to really solidify that bond and strengthen relationships.
Consistency, an accumulation of tiny changes that is compounded over a long period will manifest in incredible results over the long term.
Imagine the person you can become if you nourish your mind with just 10 pages of a good book each evening. Over a year, that's 12 full books read. Listening to a podcast each day whilst cooking, cleaning, doing laundry or commuting will expand your mind, your intellect and challenge your beliefs. You will become a better human. Supplementing these with one or two massive acts of intensity will supercharge your results.
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit." - Aristotle.
Create a morning routine. Incorporate that which serves you. Practice consistency, build it up into a full blown habit, then add acts of intensity.
Human happiness is deeply rooted in growth and development.
We are happiest whilst deeply engaged in the process of developing our bodies and our minds whilst surrounded with deep, meaningful connections and relationships. Add a diet of whole, real, fresh foods and you have the recipe to become the best version of you.
Here's to becoming the best version of yourself you awesome human.
We've all experienced nerves, whether it was before a public speaking event, leading up to a performance on stage or getting ready to compete in a competition. The symptoms are very real, ranging from sweaty palms to full blown nausea.
The science behind the physiological response is fascinating. In a condensed version, the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS), which forms part of the Peripheral Nervous System (PNS) is responsible for our "fight or flight" response to acute stress. The ANS is comprised of the sympathetic and the parasympathetic nervous system. The former will signal the adrenal glands to release the hormones adrenaline and cortisol when acute external stressors are sensed.
This is a rapid process, and will increase the heart rate as well as the respiration rate, cause our blood vessels to dilate and alter the digestive process to rapidly access glucose reserves in order for us to out-run or fight that lion.
Fortunately for us, there are few lions to compete against, but the symptoms remain. People often try and fight or dampen the nervous, automatic response, usually with little success. Instead of resisting the overpowering symptoms and creating further stress, what if we could leverage the natural response and use it to our advantage?
Mat Fraser, an athlete that has won the CrossFit games three times in as many years, once said that nerves simply sharpen the sword. It creates focus, and intent.
Here are 5 ways to leverage nerves to your advantage.
1 - Awareness. Understanding your own response to nerves and stress will greatly assist in being able to utilize the enhanced senses that accompanies it.
2 - Preparation. Knowing in advance exactly what you want to achieve will help create intent and laser focus your attention to the task at hand. Increased bloodflow to the brain will allow greater clarity, factor this into your considerations.
3 - Game Plan. Prior planning is all about knowing when to reign yourself in, and when to give absolutely everything. There are a multitude of positive adaptions your body will experience with nerves. Plan your strategy around this, develop a routine to ensure you enter the 'flow state' at the best possible time pre competition. More on flow states in an upcoming blog.
4 - Embrace it. Allow your body to experience the natural reactions of acute stress and nerves. It serves you, it's there for a reason. Once you become aware of that, allow the enhanced focus and improved oxygen uptake of your cells to boost your performance.
5 - Finish strong. Your mindset is primed. You are fully aware of everything around you, your senses are heightened, you know when to tap into the ample reserves of energy that your incredible body has made available to you. Prepare your speech to lead into a grand climax, your performance on stage to peak into a grand cresendo or your body to elimate that internal governor for the final sprint.
Train you mind to regulate when you can ensure peak performance, and nail it every single time.
]]>#Hustle 30% off all #TeamWPN gear at the @AusFitnessExpo #FitStrongNow pic.twitter.com/XW9g3zZ9e5 — WPN. (@wpn_wear) April 29, 2016
Our burpee challenge was pretty popular. We gave people 30 seconds to pump out as many as they could. Congrats to our daily winners, there is a $50 voucher on it’s way to you!
Congratulations to our two winners of the $100 voucher for putting your pics on Insta and becoming part of #TeamWPN.Whose this guy taking out the Burpee challenge @wpnwear yesterday @ausfitnessexpo @ankorr_ @runofthemilfitness #runofthemilfitness #filex2016 #Liveit #FitStrongNow #burpees #challenge #wpnwear #teamwpn A photo posted by Ricky Skiathitis (@rockit_ricky) on
We'll be honest, by the end of the weekend we were completely exhausted! But it was all worth it knowing we had met so many amazing people and been able to share our passion and our brand with them. We finally had some time to enjoy that quality coffee Melburnians keep talking about (it’s as good as they say BTW) and we had one final important step before we headed home. WPN. Ambassador Anthony Thomas was in town to showcase the new range of WPN. apparel and take some brand new shots of it in action. The photos look AMAZING and we can’t wait to show you the results on the website. Here is a quick sneak peek though :wink:
Until next year Melbourne, thanks for being part of #TeamWPN.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width="1/6"][/vc_column][/vc_row]]]>