Time-Volume Training is one of my favorite “no brains required” methods for building muscle and strength like clockwork. When you do this style of training, you know EXACTLY what weight to use, how many reps to do, how long to do it for and when to increase the weight…ZERO brains required.
It’s a strategy that allows you to do a LOT of work for a muscle in a short period of time, which will stimulate muscle growth AND burn a lot of calories and boost your metabolism, contributing to significant fat loss.
It’s GREAT stuff and a technique I think is absolutely worth using whether you’re looking to build muscle or burn fat.
The formula for my regular version of Time-Volume Training is simple…and you’ll be able to see exactly why I say “zero brains required”…
Select a weight you can do 10 reps with in a normal set (you’re going to be doing this for a 15 minute block of time). Now do 3 reps. Rest 10 seconds. Do 3 more reps. Rest 10 seconds…and repeat until you can’t get 3 reps in a set.
Now switch your rest to 20 seconds and keep going with more 3 rep sets. Repeat these with 20 seconds rest until you can’t get 3 reps again and then go to 30 seconds rest…and so on, to 40 seconds rest. Repeat until your 15 minute block of time is done.
If you make it 1/3 of the way through (e.g. 5 minutes on a 15 minute block) still doing 10 seconds rest, then you increase the weight on that exercise in your next workout.
That’s it!
For the FULL description and methodology of Time-Volume Training, read the following article:
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Stuck in a rut? Hit a plateau? It’s time to stop phoning in your workout and put some BRAINPOWER into action.
One of the most common issues I see with people in the gym, ESPECIALLY those who are having trouble getting results, is a lack of mental focus on the exercises they’re performing.
Sure, they’re going through the motions and in a lot of cases even lifting a substantial amount of weight…but what they don’t realize is that by really engaging their BRAIN in the act of lifting they could be getting MUCH better results with the same amount of effort.
So to help with that, I’ve put together a list of my favorite “mental notes” for some of the most common exercises in the gym…using this can make an immediate difference in your exercise performance and even add some substantial weight to your lifts!
- Bench Press – Push Your Body Through the Floor
Instead of focusing on pushing the BAR away from you, try imagining as though the bar is stationary and you’re pushing your BODY down through the floor. This mentally changes the bench press exercise from an open-chain movement (where the resistance is moving and your body stays stationary) to a closed-chain movement (where the hand or foot is fixed and cannot move and your body is all or part of the resistance, like a push-up).
Closed-chain movements are more effective for muscle fiber activation and by at least MENTALLY changing the movement to a closed-chain exercise, you can potentially achieve some of the benefits of it.
- Deadlifts – Fall Backwards
When doing a straight bar deadlift, as you’re pulling the bar up your shins, mentally picture yourself falling/shifting your weight backwards as you’re pulling up. This helps improve the leverage of the lift, using your bodyweight to help get the bar up. When you just pull straight up, you don’t get this advantage. And wear long socks or pants if you don’t want deadlifting “battle scars” up and down your shins because that bar should stay as close to your legs as possible 
- Squats – Pull Down on the Bar
To lock your torso and core into the squat, grip the bar HARD and pull down on it as you squat. Imagine like you’re trying to bend that bar in half over your back. This locks the back muscles into a more solid position and helps stabilize the torso during the squat. This is especially critical as you start moving heavier weights in order to protect your spine.
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A lot imagine having a six pack as an unachievable goal. But you shouldn’t think that way. The truth is it is quite achievable and a lot have reached it by just following a simple but natural six pack workout plan. Commitment does play a role in this endeavor, yet if you can make a clear picture of yourself getting one, then why not? Try to check out these healthy tips on how to get a six pack to help you get started.
Set clear and precise goals
In achieving any goal, one must have a clear vision of his or her barricades. List down your deficiencies and other factors that you think would hinder you from getting a six pack, and try to match them with your positive characteristics. Writing down your weakness means you can identify them and make resolutions appropriately. You know yourself better than anyone else. You might list down the presence of belly fat, unhealthy diet, alcohol, lack of time, and anything you like. All of these are lifestyle issues and you can easily deal with them.
First things first – Get rid of Belly fat
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“You’ve gotta use the basic exercises!” is one of the most common pieces of muscle-building advice you’ll hear…and it’s because these exercises WORK.
The basic exercises are your key to long-term success in training. They encompass every major muscle group in your body and many of the most common movement patterns you perform on a daily basis. If you want to build maximum muscle, you MUST use these exercises or variations of them.
So what ARE these basic exercises?
There are different interpretations of what, exactly, they are…but to me, the basic exercises are squats, deadlifts, bench press, shoulder press, rows, and pull-ups.
If you did nothing but these six exercise, you’ve worked pretty much every single part of your body.
You’ll notice curls aren’t on this list…neither are pushdowns, tricep extensions, calf raises, flyes, leg extensions, leg curls or lateral raises. Every single muscle worked by these “isolation” exercises is worked by the basic exercises.
So what makes the basic exercises so great?
Basically, they involve the most muscle mass all at once. When you do a squat, you’re working the legs AND the glutes, lower back, upper back, calves and core. Much of the benefits of the squat come from this “total-body activation.”
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If regular chin-ups are just getting WAY too easy for you,
THIS exercise is going to challenge you in a way that NO regular chin-up can…
The Chin-Up is, quite honestly, one of THE best exercises you can do not only for your back but for your entire body. It’s a classic bodyweight exercise that never gets old.
Now, if you’re a fan of the chin-up, THIS version of it is one you’ll LOVE. It’ll blow your lats and your biceps up like crazy!
To perform it, you should be able to do at least 8 to 10 regular chin-ups. It’s a tough exercise and requires some base chinning strength to perform.
For this one, you’ll just need a chin-up bar. I’m using the one that goes across the frame of my power rack and that works just fine.
So first, go to one end of the bar and stand perpendicular under it (NOT like you normally would directly under the bar).
Take a staggered grip on the bar (like a baseball bat grip).
Now pull yourself up to one side of the bar – the side you’ll want to pull to is the same as the hand that is FURTHEST from you. Basically, if your left hand is furthest away, pull up on the left side of the bar.
Now lower yourself down PART WAY…NOT the whole way. You should have some bend in your elbows. At this point, move your furthest hand over behind your nearest hand (hence the hand-over-hand name!).
The key here is to be sure you’ve got a bend in the elbows and tension on the lats. Because when you take one hand off, you’re basically putting your entire bodyweight (just for a moment) on the one lat. VERY big time tension here.
Once you’ve placed the hand, pull yourself up to the OTHER side. Lower yourself down, step your hand backward on the bar again. Now pull up to the other side again.
Continue along the bar until you run out of bar then go back the way you came, moving your hands forward this time. Keep going forward and backward along the bar until you can’t do any more reps.
It’s a BRUTAL back exercise that makes regular chins look like nothing. By the time you’re done, your entire back and your biceps will be so swollen full of blood, you won’t believe it. The continuous tension and bodyweight combination really makes for a potent back attack!
By Nick Nilsson
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Be sure to grab your FREE copy of Nick’s 30-day “Dirty Little Secret Program for Building Muscle and Burning Fat FAST,” available here!
Yes, it seems like such a simple thing. Now consider this…
HOW you breathe during your training can have a HUGE impact on your strength and muscle activation! Breathe wrong and you could be throwing away results.
Breathing is one THE most often overlooked pieces of the puzzle when it comes to weight training…and it can have a tremendous impact on the results you get from your training!
Here’s the thing that a lot of people don’t know about breathing…different exercises require different breathing strategies.
Yep, how you breathe in a heavy squat is not even close to how you should breathe while doing a pulldown.
So here’s a rundown of how to breathe while doing some of the more popular exercises (I will assume your form is generally good – going in depth into proper form for each exercise would make this a book instead of an article!).
** Please note, if you have high blood pressure or any issues with holding your breath (e.g. you easily get light-headed), you’ll need to adjust these breathing recommendations accordingly. These instructions (for a few of the exercises, at least) are intended for those who don’t have issues with short periods of breath holding.
1. Squats
As you start the descent, inhale deeply so that you complete the inhalation by the time you’re about halfway down. Hold your breath from this point on, all the way to the bottom and then about 1/3 to 1/2 of the way as you come back up. Then exhale until you come all the way to the top. The reason you want to hold your breath like this is to maximize the stability of your abdominal region.
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For those who work for a living, it can be extremely tough to get the 5 or 6 meals a day often recommended. I’ve got a plan that
can help you get the calories you need on limited time (and appetite!).
Three square meals a day…breakfast, lunch and dinner. Can a person achieve great muscle-building results with just three meals a day?
Absolutely…and I’ll tell you how.
It’s all about meal timing and quantity.
Before I get started, please note it IS very true that you’re better off eating smaller, more frequent meals, both for muscle building and fat loss. I’m not going to argue with that.
The problem arises because many people simply CAN’T get more than 3 meals day.
Here’s my solution…
- Plan to train in the late afternoon/early evening, if you can. For our meal timing, this will be the best option.
- Have a moderately large breakfast…eggs, oatmeal, broccoli…whatever else you normally eat. Breakfast is the second most important meal of the day (for our purposes here, at least) and it’s not going to be your biggest.
- Have a medium-sized lunch…at this point, you’re looking to not overload your digestive system with food (you already did that with breakfast) because you’ll be training fairly soon.
- Do your workout and have your post-workout shake.
- DINNER is going to be your biggest meal of the day. Because your body is primed to take full advantage of whatever you eat after training THIS is the time to load up. You should get at least half your days calories or more in this meal…overloading calories like this is extremely anabolic and your body will thrive on it.
- Next day, repeat.
That’s the plan! It’s nothing complicated, of course, but I’ve been using this type of eating and training schedule for a long time and it’s been extremely effective for me.
If you can squeeze in a few small snacks during the day, go for it! But if you don’t have time for 5 or 6 meals a day, don’t stress about it. Your body can cope and you can definitely still make great progress!
By Nick Nilsson
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Be sure to grab your FREE copy of Nick’s 30-day “Dirty Little Secret Program for Building Muscle and Burning Fat FAST,” available here!
