How to train the entire body in under 30 minutes

I was hoping to get some advice on a quick (under 30 minutes) workout I could do at home before or after work. As you know, 12 hour shifts are a killer on the body, and sometimes after or before a night shift I just do not have the energy to go the gym. Is there a workout you could recommend I could do at home?

I have a chin-up bar, Bosu ball and a barbell. I was thinking I could the gymnast pull-up/chin routine you have in one of your workouts, but not sure if that would be the most complete/all around workout I could do. Any help would be fantastic. 

Thanks,
Peace Officer,  Protective Services - Edmonton Zone


My Answer: The gymnast's pull-up routine will cover the back and biceps.  If you want a full body routine, then add the following:

• Front squats
• Military press
• Pushups with the feet elevated on the Bosu ball

 

The Zig Zag Diet for Fat Loss

I'm J. M., 24 from Finland. I found working out to be my thing about a year ago and been following different training programs ever since. Previously I've been playing ice hockey for 7 years, football for 2 years and practiced Thai boxing for 2 years also. Therefore my physique and condition are quite fine, but I've never been too muscular before. 

Currently I'm studying law and working out regularly three times a week and been trying to get more muscle, in which I've quite succeeded. I have no medical issues, and I sleep regularly 8 hours per night. Now I read your article about strength training and fat loss at Bodybuilding.com. I found it highly informative and interesting and decided to give it a try. 

What kind of diet would you suggest if I plan to follow The Modern Strength Training/Fat Loss Program, since there was no mention about that in the article? I've been working out with Arnold's Golden Six for almost three months now and gained a lot of muscle as well as some fat of course. Now I'd like to follow the program and retain my muscles while losing fat from my body. All I need is some guidelines for what kind of diet I should follow. 

And also, should I do something else during the week, besides the program in question three times? Currently I weigh 191 lbs, and I'm 6 ft 1 in. Looking forward to your reply.

Sincerely, 
J. M.


My Answer: As far as diet, you should follow a low carb diet.  A simple rule to follow is choose green carbs, avoid white carbs.  Green carbs are vegetables: spinach, broccoli, bok choi, seaweed, asparagus, green tea, etc.  White carbs are alcohol, sugar, bread, pastas, rice, potatoes, etc.

With regards to calories, you should follow a low calorie ZigZag diet.  In Strength and Physique: The Articles I go over diet and discuss the the ZigZag Diet for gaining weight.  With that diet you follow a high calorie diet for 5 days and do 2 days of low calorie. 

There is a low calorie version of the Zig Zag Diet designed for fat loss.  With the fat loss version, the parameters are inverted: low calorie for 5 days, 2 cheat days.  So Monday through Friday you stick a to strict diet of low carb, low calories.  Then on the weekends you eat what you want (within reason of course).


 

Thickening up the Triceps

I always wanted to thicken the tricep down towards the elbow. What exercises and rep/set and rest periods would you suggest?

Thanks,
D


My Answer: The triceps are a fast-twitch muscle group, so they respond best to heavy weight, low reps.  The lateral head of the triceps (the one near the elbow) grows on any pressing movement.  Strength and Physique: High Tension Exercises for Muscular Growth has a chapter on triceps training which lists a number of exercises for the triceps lateral head.  The book also goes over the ideal rep range to stimulate growth for each muscle group.



So if you wanted to build up the triceps lateral head, then 5x5 or 6x6 close grip bench presses work well.  Even better would be 10 sets of 4 reps.

Ectomorph Muscle Building: Nutrition and Training Basics for Muscle Growth

Hello any advice for me? I am 16 years old and want to build muscle. 

-Johan


My Answer: Well, I have a new article at Muscle and Strength titled Ectomorph Muscle Building: Nutrition And Training Basics For Muscle Growth.  If you're just starting out, then what you want to do is build strength on whole body exercises.  Whole body exercises (such as the clean and press, squat and deadlift) are what I call "anabolic blowtorches."  Done properly, they elicit a huge testosterone response from your body.

So if you focus on perfect your form and getting stronger on these 3 exercises, then you can build quite a bit of muscle.  You can add other exercises that target specific muscle groups, but those should be supplementary exercises.  In Strength and Physique: High Tension Exercises for Muscular Growth you'll find a variety of these supplementary exercises that target each muscle group.

How to Train a Muscle's Fiber Makeup for Maximum Size

I am a newbie to bodybuilding. How heavy should I go on shoulder exercises to get a full workout? I am already in good shape from athletics.

- Ian E.


My Answer: If you're going to be a bodybuilder, then what you'll need to do is focus on "size training" as opposed to athletic training.  Depending on the sport your athletic background should have helped developed the strength, explosive and endurance of your deltoids.

Each muscle group has a "personality" based on its fiber makeup.  This means that the deltoids respond to a specific range of repetitions and a specific tempo.  In fact the 3 deltoid heads differ from each other in terms of rep ranges.

The anterior delts are comprised of primarily fast-twitch muscle fiber, so they respond best to low reps and extremely weight.  If you look at weightlifters, they have well developed delts from explosive overhead lifts like the clean and jerk.

The lateral (sometimes called medial) delts are strength endurance fiber, so they respond best to high reps.  This is why basketball players have full but ripped delts, because they're constantly raising their arms overhead.


I go over these differences between the deltoid heads in Strength and Physique: High Tension Exercises for Muscular Growth. If you understand the differences in fiber makeup between the different muscle, then you can train them accordingly for maximum hypertrophy.

  

How to Build Up Cannonball Shoulders

Q: I have a question about the upright row.  Many people mention that the movement is bad for the shoulder capsule, causing shoulder impingement.

But I noticed one of your videos doing the upright row, I saw the bar was not that close to the body which most people do. Could you give some advice on this?

 

And thank you so much for the reply! Great books, and great blog!

Take care,
Mike


My Answer: The traditional upright row (with a narrow grip and pulling the bar close to the body) can cause and aggravate shoulder impingement.  It also develops the traps more instead of the lateral deltoids.

The version that I show you is easier on the shoulders.  By pulling the bar farther out in front of your body, the movement resembles a lateral raise as opposed to an upright row.  This version of the upright row is essentially a "barbell lateral raise" and will build cannonball delts instead of pyramid traps.

I go over a numerous exercise variations to blow up the delts in Strength and Physique: High Tension Exercises for Muscular Growth.

20-rep squats for massive muscle

I have some questions about 20-rep breathing squats:

 

1. How many sets should I do? I used a weight that I can perform a 15 RM ,but I quickly start breathing hard around 8 reps at the second set. And I couldn't do total 20-rep at the third set.
2. How often do we train squats using 20-rep breathing squats?
3. Does the 15-rep breathing squats work as well?

Thank you so much for your time

 

All the best,

Mike

 

 

My Answer: Breathing squats are extremely traumatizing to the nervous system, so it is not a shock technique that I would use any more than once a week. Just do 1-2 sets of breathing squats, and you will find yourself gaining quite a bit of weight throughout your entire musculature, not just your thighs.  So forget about doing a third set.

 

Now 15-rep breathing squats should work just as well, so if you find that works better for you, then go for that.  The whole point of breathing squats is to extend the time under tension of a highly anabolic exercise.

 

But like I said, breathing squats are brutal, so you may want to alternate them with other anabolic set extenders for the quads, which I list in High Tension Exercises for Muscular Growth.