The aorta is our healthy blood highway, effectively transporting our bloody supply to our peripheral tissues. When we are young, most of our large arteries are termed, elastic, but they stiffen as we age.
Read Lose 250 Calories Because Exercise Alone is Not Enough at its original source Breaking Muscle:
http://breakingmuscle.com/news/lose-250-calories-because-exercise-alone-is-not-enough
It’s like social media always says, regular physical exercise is awesome and it’s your fault you don’t look like an Instagram filter on steroids. However, real scientist also know that working out decreases the risk of virtually all chronic illnesses, although they are not quite sure how that happens or the mechanism behind it.
Read 6 Weeks of Exercise Leads to Genome Changes Linked to Disease at its original source Breaking Muscle:
https://breakingmuscle.com/news/6-weeks-of-exercise-leads-to-genome-changes-linked-to-disease
The British Elbow and Shoulder Society (BESS) is our find of the day, or maybe week, or even year (my life is not that exciting). The society’s exercises for frozen shoulder couldn’t have come at a better time, if you know what I mean.
Read Frozen Shoulders: They Have Their Own Society at its original source Breaking Muscle:
https://breakingmuscle.com/news/frozen-shoulders-they-have-their-own-society
The home gym is back in.
With a global pandemic continuing to wreak havoc on society, the safest place to workout is at home. The benefits of using a home gym are huge––there’s no need for masks or social distancing in your own space––and depending on the state you live in, working out from home may be your only option right now.
So now the real question is: How to maximize your space to burn calories and build muscle. To get you started, we scanned Instagram to find a few home workout ideas that anyone can start implementing into their weekly routine. And if blasting fat or getting a head-start on your New Year’s Resolution interests you, these three workouts will fit the bill.
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Biceps get a lot of attention, but you can’t grow your arms without giving some love to those triceps. After all, the tris are the larger muscle group of the two. But if you truly want to bulk up those triceps, it’s going to take more than a few dips or extensions.
To help you get the horseshoe triceps of your dreams, we rounded up five tricep workouts from top fitness enthusiasts on Instagram. These muscle-building isolation exercises will target your triceps and give you a diverse range of moves that you can incorporate into your next workout.
For access to exclusive gear videos, celebrity interviews, and more, subscribe on YouTube!
“Maximise the recruitment of high-threshold muscle fibers, increase strength, muscle, and volume using this advanced training tactic.”
With the Covid-19 situation still a series of openings and lockdowns around the world it means that gyms are open in some places, while in some countries they may have to wait a little longer.
I have been getting a lot of questions especially from my clientele who live in Melbourne, Australia, since they are still under severe lockdown and have no gym access available and are wanting to have a sure-fire gameplan ready for them once those restrictions are lifted.
In saying that, I thought it might be a great idea to share the game plan I would do if my goal was to get back much of the strength that may have been lost during lockdown, muscle coordination in key lifts and of course maximising my muscle growth.
Because let’s face it, building an aesthetically attractive and masculine physique is the goal of 99% of the male population.
Let me introduce you to the Cluster Set Method, while this method is not necessarily new I am often surprised at how little publicity this awesome method actually receives let alone how many coaches actually use or know how to use this method within their programming.
Now, being a male myself I do pride myself on having some sort of commendable strength related to my big lifts but my priority is and always will be about building an aesthetically attractive and masculine physique. Let me explain why I feel this method is necessary to kick-start your training coming out of lockdown.
Whether you have just come out of lockdown or are still patiently waiting you most likely have been performing some sort of bodyweight, resistance banded or dumbbell-based training without any of the heavier more intense barbell work that you may have been normally performing in the gym.
While you may have been able to perform variants of exercises like the bench press, squat or deadlift and many others there will still be a degree of inefficiency in performing these lifts and expecting yourself to be where you were at before lockdown.
I know some of your may be in a hurry to build muscle and get back into shape but it’s been long established that muscle growth from a training program doesn’t actually happen for a while – it takes around 3-5 weeks before any substantial muscle growth will occur!
The first 2-3 weeks of any new program there will be a neuromuscular adaptation before any muscular adaptation (growth) will occur. So it makes even more sense to spend time getting this initial phase of training right so that once your body is primed you can take advantage of the muscle you may have not been able to build if you just went balls out from the get go.
Another reason why this method is a perfect starting point has to do with your ability to coordinate muscles within exercises as this is crucial to your ability to build muscle.
By performing lifts at a high enough level of intensity you can recruit high-threshold motor units which means you will be stimulating a higher number of muscle fibers within the muscle of that lift and in time will improve your muscles recruitment and coordination.
This means by simply stepping back in to the gym you are opening yourself up to a new stimulus that the body can adapt to and your motivation levels are going to be at an all-time high. The perfect time to take advantage of what you could consider as a potentiation phase that will set you up nicely before progressing into a more muscular hypertrophy specific plan of attack.
Firstly, it’s important to understand that the central nervous system is in charge of the recruitment of motor neurons, starting with the smaller motor units before the larger motor units.
This is known as the Henneman Size Principle. 1/p>
Remember I mentioned when lifting at a high enough level to recruit high-threshold motor units, all this means is that your body will recruit the smaller motor units and thus muscle fibers before it can recruit the larger muscle fibers so it is important to make sure you are truly lifting at the recommended percentage of your lifts which you will find in the subsequent sections below.
Now, cluster sets are when you perform a certain number of reps, rest a short amount of time, then perform the same amount of reps or slightly lower for a given amount of “intra-set clusters”.
By lifting at this high level of intensity it will expose you to greater amounts of volume being lifted at this intensity within a set.
What makes this even sweeter is when considering muscular hypertrophy, the intensity of which we lift plays a significant role from both a % of your 1RM and the proximity to momentary muscular failure.
So when we use cluster sets we have the intensity side taken care of and when we add the short rest periods between reps or ‘clusters’ your body has just enough time to replenish some energy (ATP) so you can continue lifting at that intensity.
A key point to what I have just mentioned is to make sure you are lifting at a high enough level of intensity so it would be wise to have a solid understanding of your 1RM or even performing a strength test before beginning this method to further pinpoint your exact percentages and weight in which you will need to be lifting with.
In summary don’t use a weight that allows you to complete each cluster set too comfortably. This is going to go a long way in allowing you to become more neurologically efficient within the movements and your ability to recruit muscle fibers.
I am sure you already have an idea with what exercises will be used and when to perform them but let’s quickly go over the basics. The primary exercises or ‘A series’ of your workout is where the cluster sets will be programmed.
The sets following the A series will be backed off in regards of intensity and situated within the functional hypertrophy (6-8 reps) & hypertrophy (9-12 reps) strength quality. The intent behind these exercises is to further fatigue each muscle group by focusing on maximum tension rather than load purely.
While the cluster set method can be used across the full spectrum of ranges, it’s predominantly known for being used with loading patterns of 1-5 reps per cluster.
For this program and for the purpose of maximising the recruitment of high-threshold motor units, we will be using the clusters within a 1-2 rep loading scheme.
The general approach is to use a weight heavy enough to perform the target number of reps based off the first set. While there are many different variants in how to perform cluster sets this will also change the required percentage to lift with.
In our case we will be working off 90% of your 1RM, so the perfect approach would be to either already know your 1RM or to perform a strength test the week before you actually start in order to have a better handle on your percentages.
Let’s use the bench press for example. If my first set of clusters is 2-1-1-1 and I know I could maximally lift 150kg for 2 reps, I would then use 90% of that weight for my initial set of clusters.
The first cluster set would look like this:
Now that our bases are covered, let’s dig into the rest of the program.
Due to the high amount of intensity that will be lifted within each session, this will be a 4-day intensification phase rotating between a lower & upper body day focus that will last 4 weeks.
The lower body days will see the primary lifts rotated between a squatting & hip hinge movement pattern.
The upper body days will see a super set format used where there will be a shared focus between push/pull movement patterns in the horizontal & vertical planes.
As you move into each successive week, there will be 1 rep added into each cluster set, this will see you complete your final week of cluster sets for reps of 2-2-2-2.
The exercises after your ‘A series’ are all about maintaining continuous tension. Inside your B & C series of exercises, it is important to use a weight that is heavy enough to complete the target rep range whilst also making sure you can maintain the required tempo.
Across the 4-week intensification phase, your upper body will see a total of 22-24 working sets per session, and the lower body will see a total of 17 working sets per session. This will set you up nicely for your next phase where I would suggest a 6-8 week muscle hypertrophy specific phase.
The tempo in which we lift within any given exercise is known as ‘Time Under Tension’ (TUT). This just refers to the 4 phases of lifting that are seen within each rep. (See image below)
So if we use the bench press as an example and the tempo used in the above image of 4-2-1-0.
The 4, would see you lower the bar at a 4 second count.
The 2, would see you pause at the bottom isometric (hold) for 2 seconds.
The 1, would see you lift the weight back up in 1 second.
The 0, would see you have no hold at the top isometric.
As you will see below, I have actually also used the letter ‘X’ in the third column or concentric portion of the lift. This simply means that you need to emphasis lifting explosively.
Below you will find the weekly schedule that will see you start with your week with the upper body. Due to intense nature of this program the lower body is always performed after the upper body day to allow any of the back muscles and the erector spinae that may be taxed to get enough rest in and not impede your ability to complete the upper body lifts.
Please know that an active rest day means to not just sit around all day. A simple daily step goal of 8,000-10,000 will do the trick.
| Monday | Upper Body 1 |
| Tuesday | Lower Body 1 |
| Wednesday | Active Rest day |
| Thursday | Upper Body 2 |
| Friday | Lower Body 2 |
| Saturday | Active Rest Day |
| Sunday | Rest day (take one full day off per week) |
| Upper Body 1 – Phase 1 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Tempo | Rest |
| A1. Neutral Grip Pull Up | 6 | 2-1-1-1 | 40X0 | 90 seconds |
| A2. Flat DB Press Pronating | 6 | 2-1-1-1 | 40X0 | 90 seconds |
| B1. Bent Over Single Arm Supported DB Row – Prone Grip | 3 | 6-8 | 30X1 | 75 seconds |
| B2. Seated Single Arm DB Arnold Press | 3 | 6-8 | 3020 | 75 seconds |
| C1. 60 Degree Incline DB Curl – Supinated | 2 | 8-10 | 30X0 | 60 seconds |
| C2. Ez-Bar Triceps Extension | 2 | 8-10 | 30X0 | 60 seconds |
| Lower Body 1 – Phase 1 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Tempo | Rest |
| A1. Trap Bar Deadlift | 6 | 2-1-1-1 | 40X0 | 180 seconds |
| B1. DB Split Squat | 4 | 6-8 | 40X0 | 75 seconds |
| B2. Prone Leg Curl – Plantarflexed | 4 | 6-8 | 30X1 | 75 seconds |
| C1. BB Hip Thrust | 3 | 8-10 | 3020 | 45 seconds |
| C2. Unilateral DB Farmers Walk – 25m each side | 3 | 8-10 | 30X0 | 45 seconds |
| Upper Body 2 – Phase 1 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Tempo | Rest |
| A1. Incline Bench Press | 6 | 2-1-1-1 | 40X0 | 90 seconds |
| A2. Barbell Bent Over Row – Prone Grip | 6 | 2-1-1-1 | 40X0 | 90 seconds |
| B1. Flat DB Press – Neutral Grip | 3 | 6-8 | 30X0 | 75 seconds |
| B2. Single Arm Lat Pulldown – Supinating | 3 | 6-8 | 3011 | 75 seconds |
| C1. Cable Rope French Press | 2 | 8-10 | 20X0 | 60 seconds |
| C2. Seated DB Hammer Curl | 2 | 8-10 | 30X0 | 60 seconds |
| Lower Body 2 – Phase 1 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Tempo | Rest |
| A1. Safety Bar Back Squat | 6 | 2-1-1-1 | 40X0 | 180 seconds |
| B1. DB FFE Split Squat | 4 | 6-8 | 40X0 | 90 seconds |
| B2. Kneeling Leg Curl – Dorsiflexed | 4 | 6-8 | 40X0 | 75 seconds |
| C1. 45 Degree Back Extension | 3 | 8-10 | 30X2 | 75 seconds |
| C2. Cable Woodchop | 3 | 12-14 | 30X0 | 60 seconds |
Seeing as though your performance will be of importance and to tolerate these higher intensities being lifted and overreaching nature, I would add in pre-workout 5g of creatine monohydrate alongside 5g of beta-alanine for further benefits in endurance performance and increase repetitions to failure.
However, if you don’t enjoy the tingling sensation known when using beta-alanine, you can also spread your dosages into 1-2g taken 3x throughout the day. 3, 4
Once completing this phase of programming and IF your goal is to maximise muscle growth, I would highly recommend moving into a muscular hypertrophy specific plan of attack over the next 8-16 weeks depending on how much time you can commit to building muscle.
Whether you are an aspiring physique competitor or simply a physique enthusiast, this is the best plan of attack to follow after completing the cluster set method.
1. Culbertson, J. Y., Kreider, R. B., Greenwood, M., & Cooke, M. (2010). Effects of beta-alanine on muscle carnosine and exercise performance: A review of the current literature. Nutrients, 2(1), 75–98.
2. Kreider, R. B., Kalman, D. S., Antonio, J., Ziegenfuss, T. N., Wildman, R., Collins, R., Candow, D. G., Kleiner, S. M., Almada, A. L., & Lopez, H. L. (2017). International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: Safety and efficacy of creatine supplementation in exercise, sport, and medicine. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 14(1), 18.
3. Milner-Brown, H. S., Stein, R. B., & Yemm, R. (1973). The orderly recruitment of human motor units during voluntary isometric contractions. The Journal of Physiology, 230(2), 359–370.
4. Robinson, R. (2009). In mammalian muscle, axonal wiring takes surprising paths. PLoS Biology, 7(2)
Setting off toward a new goal is its own endorphin rush. You’ve set your target and can practically taste success. Now it’s time to get after it. If only it were that easy. The thing is, we’re terrible at getting after it. We not only suck at achieving goals, we suck at setting them, going after objectives that are too vague or hopelessly grandiose.
John Norcross, a psychologist at the University of Sacramento found that less than half of people who make New Year’s resolutions (probably the most common type of goal) kept it up six months later.
Beating the odds comes down to having a plan. “It’s like going on a trip,” says Jim Taylor, a sports psychologist and author of Train Your Mind for Athletic Success. “Going to Denver is a nice goal, but to get there you need a map.”
Even before you start on that map, you need a goal that’s specific and reasonably attainable. “Get stronger” or “make more money”—those are like wishes. “Lose 2 percent of body fat” or “knock 10 seconds off each mile of my next marathon” are more workable, Taylor says.
In order to crush a goal, it should feel some how personal. It’s harder to lose 20 pounds because your doctor told you to than if you choose to do it for your own health. Decades of studies in psychology and sociology say that intrinsic goals (motivated by an innate desire for autonomy, relating to others, knowledge, and personal growth) are more motivating than extrinsic goals (striving for the approval of others). Figure out what’s in it for you, deep down. And couch your goals in positive terms. It’s harder to avoid doing something than it is to aim for something else, what researchers call ironic mental control. Instead of “quit smoking,” pick a goal that’s incompatible with smoking, like taking up swimming. (Hey, it almost worked for Don Draper.)
Related: Over 24 Ways to Live Your Best Life in 2024
Next, establish a reasonable time frame, including a series of sub-goals. These markers become opportunities to see how it’s going, celebrate achievements, and change things up, if necessary. Researchers at the University of Sheffield in the U.K. found that people who tracked their progress toward goals were more successful than those who didn’t. The more frequent the monitoring, the better they did. So pad your journey with reminders, or scheduled check-ins with a friend, coach, physician—anyone who can give you a hand.
Keep in mind that almost any big life change—switching careers, doing an Ironman, even sticking to a new diet—requires some level of buy-in from other people in your life. Anticipate how your spouse, kids, even coworkers will be affected by your pursuit.
None of this is easy—which is why most of us have experience with unfulfilled goals. Remember that success begets success. Small accomplishments will give you the grit to keep going and the confidence to go after bigger things in the future. So where do you want to start? Is it the right time to become an entrepreneur or to climb Mount Kilimanjaro? Here, we’ve laid out some best practices, giving you the playbook to actually get after it.
Illustrations by Owen Davey
If you want to ease back into fitness, signing up for a race is a good start. Mark race day on your calendar, and your training plan works back from there. We’re not only talking marathon, either. A 5K in April could mean a 10K by fall and a half after that. Maybe a 26.2 isn’t so far away.
There are tons of training plans to choose from. Keep in mind that the most common ways to sabotage your goal are overtraining and undertraining, Taylor says. A good program builds progressively to help you avoid injury and burnout. If you’re outperforming the plan—say, easily hitting times and distances—you can adjust up, but do so cautiously. The priority is arriving on race day healthy, finishing strong, and wanting to go again, Taylor says.
For additional staying power, join a group. Researchers found that University of Oxford rowers practicing together had heightened pain thresholds (something that begins to explain CrossFit). But if you’re a lone-wolf type motivated by continually besting yourself, stick with what works.
To share or not to share your goals? It comes down to what’ll get you out of bed and to your workout on a dreary morning. For some, telling others is about accountability. But a study in Psychological Science found that when others acknowledge your intentions, all those “good job!” messages can create a premature sense of accomplishment, undermining your resolve to do it for real.
When race day comes around, have a back-up plan. Even if you’ve spent months training faithfully, there are no guarantees. “If it’s 95 degrees and you cramp or bonk, having an alternative goal gives you something to hold on to,” Taylor says. “At a basic level, in endurance sports, the goal is getting through it.”
The timeline you set is less about your motivation and has more to do with the realities of your particular industry. In general, plan for it to take six months to a year to switch jobs, says Jill Berquist, a certified career coach. Changes in personal behavior that can better your standing at work—improving collaboration, becoming a better communicator—can take three months to register with the higher-ups.
It’s hard to go completely solo when it comes to your professional life. There are just too many outside forces involved, compared with the relative simplicity of a gym routine. To stay focused for the long haul, executive coach Annie Merkle suggests enlisting an accountability partner, such as a spouse or a trusted coworker, who’s invested in you.
“Ask your career partner to check in weekly to see how you’re progressing,” Merkle says. How many times did you ask someone else for feedback? Did you speak up in the big board meeting? “It forces you to show your activity and results,” she says.
Loop in your boss, too. You may not want to tell him or her “my goal is to have your job,” but do express that you want to expand your skills, have more responsibility, do more off-sites, etc. “It’s important for bosses to know what’s important to their employees to support them and their development,” Merkle says.
Because work goals tend to be complex, take a panoramic view of the landscape. “Think of the path to your goal as lily pads on a pond, rather than a bridge with steps that go straight across,” says Merkle. “You need to be able to be opportunistic.” Identify the gaps between where you are and where you want to be, and look for ways to fill them. “Can you do a course or seminar?” Merkle suggests. “Can you create and lead an initiative? There are lots of different ways to close gaps—but you don’t get anything if you don’t ask.”
Illustration by Owen Davey
Too often, we don’t think about interpersonal goals until there’s a problem. And fixing it requires another party who has a different set of goals and obligations. Vague vows to “spend more time” with a partner, family member, or friend fall into that category of wishes, not goals.
Protect that time with a recurring date on both your calendars that doesn’t get skipped. “That’s the only way to make sure I don’t lose things like family and my personal health that keep me effective,” says Jordan Fliegel, co-founder of the fantasy sports site Draft.com. Through trial and error, he’s become a big believer in routines. This means scheduling not just workout time, but, for example, a regular chat with his grandma. “I call her the same day of the week, every week.”
If your goal is a calmer, more cohesive family life, consider adopting a method adapted from software developers. Bruce Feiler, author of The Secrets of Happy Families, suggests weekly “scrum” meetings, during which your family team talks over short-term goals.
The meetings can be quick. Essentially you’re asking three questions:
Approaching family goals as collaborative and evolving projects encourages flexibility and idea sharing, and brings your team closer together.
And isn’t that the goal?
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