After reading Jimbo’s post, I was refueled to start making posts of my own. A little update as to my life in general - I just moved, and had to join a new gym. This was really an interesting experience, which I will be discussing over a series of posts where I complain about the process. 

I’ve also been working full time on starting a fitness company which I’ll talk more about later (and which has been keeping me from being more active on here). 

The first area of gym etiquette I’d like to discuss is short and simple.

“Racking Weights.” 

After you use an exercise with free weights (such as bench press for example), one should generally put the weights back in their appropriate pegs on the weight tree (as pictured - mind you, the weights are not put back correctly). This is helpful for the next person, who will be using those weights, as well as the next person to use the exercise you were just on.

Continue reading for scientific theories about racking weights. Read the rest of this entry »

Have you ever been told a physical activity is all mental? For example, baseball, golf… other sports where you swing objects at other objects. Well even though you may not be swinging anything around while lifting weights, its still a mentally intensive activity.

“How so?” you ask, well, its pretty simple. A person who is mentally pumped up, and excited will have a faster heart rate then someone who is just bumming around. The person with the faster heart rate will lift more (assuming all things are equal).

I remember a few years ago, reading one of Arnold’s books, and he said that for him, his mental motivation was essentially competition. He would go to the gym with friends, who would in turn be able to motivate him. To this day, many of my personal friends are the same way, always lifting more when they go with someone (often trying to out lift the other person).

For some people, that doesn’t work, mental motivation must be created from something else. For me, I like to think about all the things which have made me livid, in the past day, week, month, year, etc. Anything I can recall that can make me angry. The biggest problem I find with this, is that after awhile, I have nothing to be angry about, because I’ve just “taken it all out” on the last set.

When thats no longer working for me, I’ll try to just flex all the muscles I’m about to exercise repeatedly, and sometimes even muscles I’m not about to exercise. I always feels like this helps warm me up before a set, and gets me going. One of my friends who I lift with very consistently, always makes explosive noises to pump himself up. I make fun of him for it, but hey, whatever works right?

One night at the gym (think around 11PM - 12AM, 24 hour Golds Gym), I was lifting with some friends, and a guy came over to us to suggest some new exercises (some people are offended when this happens, but as long as the person is bigger then me, I’m all for learning new things. And if it doesn’t work out for me, who cares.) anyway, while showing us some chest exercise, he started talking about what he used to motivate him. He said, “I’ll look at a guy who I dont know, and I’ll pretend he just raped my girlfriend.” I know, I know, pretty intense. While my friends and I found the whole thing rediculous and funny (especially that late at night), it demonstrated how important mental motivation is when lifting weights.

Bottom line, figure out what works for you, and keep it up!

Today’s exercise of the day is the single arm cable extension, which is an excellent shoulder exercise. I especially like it because it replaces the dumb bell shoulder extensions, which never seem to get any easier.

Single arm cable extension shoulder exercise in HD from Nash on Vimeo.

The front rope shoulder raise is a great exercise which can replace front dumbbell or barbell raises during your shoulder workout. Always make sure to perform it in a slow controlled motion, and you’ll feel it. I don’t think I would ever stick to only this exercise in terms of front raise shoulder exercises, but its nice to throw in now and again.

Front Rope Extension Shoulder Exercise in HD from Nash on Vimeo.

Continue reading for detailed instructions about this exercise…

Read the rest of this entry »

Today’s exercise of the day is the “front barbell raise” which is a great exercise for shoulders. I suggest doing this exercise with maybe only 2 or 3 other shoulder exercises for a full shoulder workout (such as military press, side lifts, and shrugs). Continue reading after the video for full instructions.

Front Barbell Raise Exercise Demonstration in HD from Nash on Vimeo. Read the rest of this entry »

Today’s exercise of the day, is the reverse bench press exercise. This exercise focuses on triceps, chest, and biceps. Check out our very first HD video demonstration below! Instructions will be added soon!

Reverse Bench Press Exercise Demonstration in HD from Nash on Vimeo.

As the weather gets nicer in this neck of the woods, golf can become a predominant activity around here, so I figured I’d write a little piece on what exercises one can do to help improve their game.

Because golfing involves a twisting motion, using the hips, abs, lower back etc, you should really focus on exercising, and strengthening your core. A strong core will help keep your swing steady, consistent, and stronger.

Some other great core workouts are: The Ab Boot Camp, The Champion Workout, and the Plank Workout.

Its also very important to be flexible, as a golf swing can really utilize your entire body. Below is a video of a good golf swing that can help anyone looking for a few pointers.

Firstly, I’d like to apologize for our recent lack of updates. Jimbo and I just graduated, and have had to get a lot of stuff in order. We’ve also been hard at work preparing a sub-blog you’ll hear more about soon.

Anyway, today’s video exercise of the day, is the reverse barbell curl. This is a great exercise to mix up your bicep workout. It really focuses on the side of your arm (your bicep being the top, and triceps being the bottom) and hits muscle fibers which most other bicep exercises do not.

Reverse Grip Barbell Curl Demonstration from Nash on Vimeo.

Continue reading for more information about this exercise. Read the rest of this entry »

Heres a new series I’ll be writing about fast food. I don’t know about you, but I’m a guy, and even though I workout and lift weights, and try to be careful with what I eat, I still love the occasional fast food meal.

Whenever I go out to eat, I always wonder what item on the menu has the most protein. It may be neurotic, but considering I’m always trying to consume more protein, its consistently on my mind. Getting a meal at a fast food restaurant, I generally assumed it was such complete crap that there wasn’t really much protein. Well, I was dead wrong.

In this article I’ll highlight the highest protein meals in each category (burgers, sides etc.) which the fast food chain offers.

This week I’m starting with Burger King, because the King is awesome. Continue reading for the stats! Read the rest of this entry »

Today’s exercise of the day is upright rows. Its a great exercise which focuses on the trapezius muscle. I like to do this instead of shrugs now and again. Watch the video below for a quick demonstration, and find more comprehensive instructions following.

Upright Rows Demonstrated by YOGYMBO.com from Nash on Vimeo.

Continue reading for detailed instructions. Read the rest of this entry »