Pair Your Exercises

Here at PTS, we believe in efficient, intense workouts. To this end, we cannot have athletes sitting around for very long, especially if we only have them for an hour or so. During our workouts, we pair ALL of our exercises. This leads to a far more efficient workout than if everything was performed using traditional, "straight" sets. Even on out most demanding Max Effort lifts, such as Squats, Deadlifts, and Bench Presses, we perform our Neck and Ab work between sets. Once we get into the heart of the workout, we pair upper body "pushes" and "pulls," and all lower body exercises are paired with core movements.

I believe that the benefits of pairing your exercises include:

1.) A more efficient workout. Simply put, we do more work in less time.

2.) "Active" rest which leads to increased performance on additional sets. For example, say you are performing pushups and pullups. If you just performed 2 sets of pushups in a row, with minimal rest, chances are you would not perform very well on your second set. By pairing the pullups with the pushups, even though you are not "resting" you are taking a longer amount of time between pushup sets, and allowing for optimal performance on your second sets of both exercises.

3.) Increased Intensity. Pairing your exercises gives your workouts a tremendous amount of focus, and can help maintain an elevated heart rate, and enhance conditioning. I would be remiss if I said that we have never had an athlete "lose their lunch" during a workout. While I do not pride myself on this, and do not think it is overly healthy on a regular basis, it is an indicator that pairing your exercises certainly leads to a more intense training session. And more intense training sessions lead to GAINS.

Check out a sample PTS Upper Body workout:

SETS X REPS: i.e. 1-4 X 8-10 (1-4 Sets of 8-10 Reps)

1A.) Incline Bench Press- Work Up to a Max Effort Set of 4-6

1B.) Neck Extension- 1-4 X 20

2A.) Alternating DB Bench Press- 1-4 X 6-10

2B.) Pullups- 1-4 X 6-10

3A.) Trap Bar Shrugs- 1-4 X 8-15

3B.) "Arnold" Shoulder Presses- 1-4 X 8-15

4.) Upper Back Finisher- 1-4 X 12-20

Gun Show: 1-4 Rounds

This workout takes anywhere from 45-75 minutes, but performed in straight sets, it would take far longer than that. Give your workouts a boost and pair your exercises!

Free Protein Shake!

Hey guys, it doesn't get much easier than this!

Here at PTS, we are trying to make this blog as interactive as possible.

To this end, the first person to place a comment under this post will receive a free protein shake at their next workout...get on it!

 

Working Around Injury

 

When an injury occurs, you really have 2 choices. You can sulk, pout, and feel sorry for yourself, or you can seize the moment, and work on a weakness.

Let's say you are a football player who has always had a very strong upper body, a not-so-strong lower body, and have suffered a season ending shoulder injury.

You have 2 good legs! Use this time to get your legs freaky-STRONG! Build up your neck!

Don't ever let an injury set you back...instead, view it as an opportunity to build up other areas, and make those areas even stronger.

There is ALWAYS something you can be doing to make yourself a better athlete. Go ahead and work on your weak points, and get better because of it.

NO EXCUSES.

The Gun Show

Ok, here is the deal. I am a Strength Coach, but being 28, I am also young enough to be "in tune" with my client base of high school and college football players. They bust their butt for me for 60-75 minutes for me everytime they train, and, like many young males, are constantly wanting to work on their "guns." At PTS, our Upper Body Workouts are concentrated on big, heavy, compound movements like presses, rows, pushups, chinups/pullups, shrugs, etc. that incorporate a lot of muscle mass, giving our workouts great efficiency. During one of our workouts, your arms WILL feel gassed before the end of the workout; even without any direct arm work.

Now, being the realist that I am, I know that these guys want direct arm work, and I also think it can help their performance. Yes, I (Gasp!) a Strength Coach, think my athletes need direct arm work. If the guys look good, they feel good. If they feel good, they play good! I put a lot of merit into that. In addition, doing accessory work for added bicep strength, deltoid strength, and tricep strength can definitely help improve performance on our compound movements for the Upper Body, which will help the entire package.

So how do we implement direct arm work? I write it into the program at the very end, and call it "The Gun Show." Basically, you pick a biceps movement, a triceps movement, and a deltoid movement. And cycle through them using time under tension. We find that :30 ON, :30 OFF works best. Time under tension is a GREAT stimulus for hypertrophy, and to be honest, I don't really care what my guys can Preacher Curl 10 times; I just want them busting their butt.

Again, choose a Bicep, Tricep, and Deltoid Movement, cycle through them by performing the movement for :30 ON, :30 OFF and watch the guns grow! We typically use 2-4 rounds.  Which takes all of 6-12 minutes. And that is more than enough!

Make sure you are choosing weights where you are on the brink of failure at the end of the :30!

Obviously picking up the pink dumbbells and flapping your arms is not going to do much of anything. Do work!

Welcome to the Gun Show!

Round 1

DB Preacher Curls on the Glute Ham Raise X :30

REST X :30

Band Pushdowns X :30

REST X :30

DB Front Raise With "Squeeze" X :30

REST:30

PERFORM 2-4 Rounds!

No Shortcuts

The problem with today's young athletes is that they are always looking for a "magic pill" or the fastest way to get reach their goals. I hesitate to recommend ANY supplements (aside from whey protein) to beginners, not because I don't think that they could benefit from them, but because these kids need to learn that they have to put in WORK to reach their goals.

I have a "pecking order" I talk about with my kids when it comes to getting their priorities in order before they take ANY supplements:

1.) Sleep. How many of you can honestly say you are getting at least 8 hours of sleep a night? Sleep aids in recovery from intense bouts of exercise, and allows your hormonal levels to return to an anabolic state.

2.) Nutrition. Are you eating 6X/day? Are you including a Protein and a Fruit/Vegetable at EVERY meal? Then you are not doing what it takes, and need to start!

3.) Exercise Intensity. Are you working hard or hardly working? If you want to make gains you have to WORK. Yes, it is that simple.

***NEWS FLASH***

HIGH INTENSITY EXERCISE LEADS TO GAINS!!!

If, and only if, these 3 components of training are being treated optimally to get results do I suggest taking supplements, and even then that list is very, very short.

The bottom line is that there are no shortcuts! It takes time and hardwork to get to where you want to be...that is a good lesson for ANYTHING you do in life.