Intense Training at the Studio.

The last few weeks have been pretty ridiculous for me at All Canadian Fitness as I have been embarking on a new training adventure with a client of mine, Ivan.

We decided to start training together as we both are striving for the same goals at the moment which are to gain a few pounds while keeping as much fat off as possible. Which brings me to German Volume training. The one thing I have to say about this type of training is that it makes you constantly feel like you are 60 years old, as there is not one day that goes by that you are not sore from the muscle building (which goes away just in time for the next session) or just have no muscular endurance for even the most simple tasks.

GVT consists of 10 sets of 10 repititions for 2 muscle groups per day, the agonist and antagonist. And about a day of rest between workouts. So a typical week for us would look something like this:

Monday -Chest, Back 10 sets of 10 compound movements. Also, 3 sets of 10 for isolated chest and back movements.

Wed - Quad dominant, hip dominiant 10 sets of 10 compound movements. 3 sets of 10 calves and core.

Fri - Bicep, tricep 10 sets of 10. 3 sets of 10 for 2 deltoid exercises.

Sat - repeat.

We are now in the middle of week 4, and I think I have seen some gains already. We are supplementing with some BCAA's and whey protein, while taking in about 500 more calories/day on our workout days.

It is tough. But I really like it. The leg days I dread of course, but it's actually more fun that I thought it would be. It is supposed to be about a 2 month workout, the first four weeks being 10 sets of 10, with the last four more of a 10 sets of 5 sort of thing. We have both taken before picures and plan on taking some after ones as well.

Wait until you see Ivan's training. He started with me in April of '09, walking in the door at about 168, 9% body fat. We just weighed him before we started up the Volume training and he was already at 188. Now, 4 weeks in he is 193.

It is going to be ridiculous.

I know Rich has talked about this in his latest post, but we have recieved some new eco friendly stability balls from a company called "GreenLife" that I really enjoy using. They are a bit more firm than the old ones, and I find the surface texture to be a bit more comfortable than the older ones we were using. And hey, it doesn't hurt that they are good for the environment and PVC free as well. If you are looking for some new balls, let us know and we can get you in touch with the distributors.

Where to Start..

First and Foremost - Happy New Year!

2010 is going to be amazing, I can't begin to tell everyone how excited I am about this year. So many of my dreams are coming true, both professionally and outside of work, and I am only 25!! It's crazy. What a whirlwind 2009 was. I can't wait to see what happens in the next 12 months.


Second - My plan.. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten. My initial plan was to gain as much as possible until next summer and make some considerable muscle gains by the beginning of May.
Then, I postponed that goal to get lean by my trip home, which I think I did pretty good for.

I spent 7 weeks doing at least 1 workout a day, sometimes 2, and increasing my eating frequency while decreasing portion sizes, which brought me from a "healthy" (haha) 13% body fat at 172 lbs, to a little under 7% at 164lbs in 7 weeks. It can be done, I had a couple of mishaps, and I'm pretty sure I could have gotten to 6%, but I am happy with what I accomplished. I did this mostly to show myself that I could do it, but also to show all of you that with a little hard work and dedication, you can completely change your body.

Needless to say, since I was on vacation in N.B, and since my return to Hamilton, I have put that back on and then some, and I believe I am now at 174lbs. I don't think I am going to test by body fat percentage until the end of this bulking phase, mostly because I know how much I CAN eat.. . and I am kind of scared to see that number. Unfortunately, my face always gets ridiculously fat when I bulk, much like a chipmunk, so you will all be able to make fun of me, don't worry.

So now, back to bulking. . which means for the next 2 months, I am going to be working out with one of my clients who also has some pretty intense goals over the next 4 months. We are taking on some intense volume training which has us doing 10 sets of 10 on opposing muscle groups for our sessions. It is going to be some of the hardest training I have ever done, but again, I love figuring out just how far the human body can be pushed, it is a LOT farther than we think.. .

I will keep you all updated, and I hope you have not gained as much as me this holiday season, although most of it was planned, the pounds and pounds of lobster and mussels (all dipped in healthy butter) couldn't have helped.

You can accomplish any of your goals if you figure out which kind of person you are and build your goals around that. If you told me that I could get big in 1 year, (which anybody definitely could) I would tell you that that would be a waste of my time. I love setting small goals, as I have incredibly severe ADHD (self diagnosed of course. . haha . . ha. . SHINY!) which makes me not be able to take more than about 2 months of training without dropping everything and switching up every aspect of my program.

If you don't already come to the Studio, get your asses down there, we can do things for you that you never thought possible.

I look forward to seeing the sweat in 2010!