If you want to tone your muscles and gain muscle mass, you need to focus on high-quality food. If you just eat more, you'll get in the way of your progress and potentially harm your long-term health.
There are a variety of protein sources you can eat when bulking. They’re also excellent sources of the other macronutrients you need to maximize your growth and achieve your goals faster.
To bulk, you need to be in a calorie surplus. This means eating more than you burn each day. You need 250-500kcal above your maintenance level so your body has enough energy to create new muscle mass.
Unfortunately, your body needs more than just high-protein foods to build muscle. You need the right balance of macronutrients: fat, protein, and carbohydrates.
Healthy fats — monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats — play an important role in bulking. They have been shown to increase muscle protein synthesis and are essential for storing vitamins A, D, E, and K. Healthy fats should make up 30-35% of your daily calories.
Protein, of course, is crucial for building muscle. However, you might be surprised to learn it should only make up 20-25% of your caloric intake. Your body can't use a limitless amount of protein. The excess either turns into fat or is excreted.
Your optimal daily protein intake should be 1.6g per 1kg of your body weight. This 1.6g should be divided into three meals with 0.4g each.
There's a common misconception that you don't need carbohydrates for building muscles. But carbohydrates fuel the tough training sessions required to build muscle. They also help you recover from training. They should make up 40-50% of your daily calories.
Keep in mind that not all carbs are the same. Complex carbohydrates are higher in fiber and have a lower glycemic index (GI). Opt for low-GI carbs if you want to lose or maintain body weight. Choose high-GI carbs if bulking is your primary goal.
Whole eggs have high amounts of protein and fat. You may think the yolks are bad for you due to the fat content and cholesterol, but this is a misconception.
While eggs contain a fair amount of saturated fat, they actually have more unsaturated fat. Cholesterol isn't bad for you either, and your body adapts to how much you consume, so your blood cholesterol levels are left mostly unaffected. You'll be just fine eating three whole eggs a day.
Whole milk is a great way to stock up on protein and calcium and get extra fat and calories into your diet. Try including whole milk in your pre or post-workout protein shake or meal. It will give you the energy you need for your workout and recovery.
When your daily intake is really lacking some protein, Greek yogurt is your best choice. Just 8oz of it gives you 23g of protein. And it has less sugar and lactose than regular yogurt.
Cottage cheese is also a good source of protein, with one cup containing around 25g.
Nuts are a great source of protein, healthy fats, and essential vitamins and minerals. They're also a good source of fiber, which can help keep you feeling full and satisfied between meals. Because of this, nuts are great when consumed in small servings. 50g of nuts can provide you with up to 300 calories.
Help yourself to a controlled portion of nuts when you get hungry but mealtime is still a few hours away. Nut butters are also good with fruits for a tasty and nutritional snack.
Oily fish — salmon, tuna, mackerel, herring, and eels — are rich in protein and healthy fats, making them highly beneficial for bulking. You can also enjoy the anti-inflammatory properties of omega-3 fatty acids. This can help reduce muscle soreness and improve your range of motion.
Having 2-3 servings of oily fish per week is great for your health and for clean bulking.
Red meat, when consumed regularly, helps with the growth of muscle mass. It's also high in heme iron, which is a type of iron that's easily absorbed by the body. Your body uses it to the red blood cells and proteins that distribute oxygen throughout your body.
White meat is a lean source of protein and might be better for you when you're in the cutting phase. So when you're bulking, red meat is the way to go.
Avocados are well-known as superfoods. Eating them provides you with monounsaturated fatty acids. This is great for bulking, of course. However, the high amount of antioxidants, vitamin E, and low sugar content mean they're also beneficial for maintaining your overall health.
Both coconut oil and olive oil are great sources of monounsaturated fats. Use them in your cooking and meal prep to easily add healthy fats and extra calories to your diet.
Make sure you’re well-equipped when you’re working out with Iron Rebel’s high-quality fitness apparel. We have men’s weightlifting tank tops and women’s powerlifting clothing for maximum style and comfort in the gym, whether you're building up muscle or slimming down.
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]]>The conventional deadlift involves lifting a barbell off the ground through a squatting and standing up motion. Your body will act as a sort of lever to lift the weight off the ground using your legs, back, and essentially all other muscles in your body.
If done correctly, the deadlift will hit nearly every muscle group. Read on to learn how to properly perform this workout.
The Correct Form and Apparel
When you’re deadlifting, what you wear is important because you need to wear clothes that allow you to execute the workout in proper form..
There are many gym clothes for women, men’s bodybuilding apparel, and other accessories (such as weightlifting knee wraps) designed especially for these sorts of compound lifts.
With the right gear, you can execute the right deadlift form.
Proper Foot Position
Make sure your feet are hip-width apart and are angled outward in a comfortable direction. Your midfoot should be under the bar, but your shins shouldn’t be touching the bar.
Deadlifts should be done in flat sole shoes or even barefoot. Experienced lifters typically prefer going barefoot.
Barbell Grip
You typically want to hold the barbell with an overhand grip. More advanced lifters use a mixed grip (one hand each way), but this is not recommended for beginners.
When lifting the barbell off the ground, try not to tug at it. Instead establish a firm grip, pull on the bar to gain some torque and then proceed to lift it. This will prevent injuries to your wrists and activate your forearm muscles.
Bent Knees
Shift your position by bending your knees until your shins almost touch the barbell. Your knees should bend enough to firmly grip the bar, but without hunching your back - try to maintain a straight back throughout the reps.
Raise Your Chest
Lift your chest by straightening your back, activating latissimus dorsi muscles, which make up most of your back. Using this motion, you should be able to complete the rep, pulling the bar up toward your hips.
Keep a Strong Core
Breathe in, flex your core and lock your elbows and arms in position.
Lift
Plant your feet firmly on the ground and lift the bar. When the bar passes your knees, push your hips forward, stand up straight, and keep your glutes flexed.
Lower the Bar
Reverse the movement until the bar is on the ground, keeping your back flat throughout the motion. Remember that it’s more important to be steady and maintain proper form than going fast.
Benefits of Deadlifting
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Wearing the right workout clothes is essential, especially if you’re serious about breaking a sweat. Find high-quality workout apparel and accessories at Iron Rebel. We design our collections for serious athletes and determined gym-goers, ensuring that each piece will last a long time and offer maximum performance.
View our collection here.
]]>Read on for some great tricep exercises.
Where are your triceps located?
You can find your triceps at the back of your upper arm. They’re made up of the lateral, medial, and long heads. Knowing this is important because you need to hit all three heads to develop your arms effectively.
There are many exercises available that target tricep growth. Luckily, we’ve narrowed down the best common workouts, so put on your powerlifting clothes and try these exercises.
Close-Grip Bench Press
This targets the long and lateral heads of the triceps and requires a flat bench. It also works out your chest and core.
Placing your hands close together while bench pressing will target your triceps—leading to growth and more strength. A grip with your hands 8 to 10 inches apart will take the exercise to the next level. Tuck in your arms to protect your pecs and shoulder while challenging your triceps.
The close-grip bench press is also a compound exercise, meaning it uses multiple joints and muscle groups, and is best for progressive overload.
How to Do It
Rope Tricep Pushdown
This is one of the most common tricep exercises for gym-goers since it zeroes in on the lateral head and is easy to perform. If needed, the rope tricep pushdown lends itself well to dropsets, too.
When done right, this workout focuses on the top outer part of your triceps. If the weight is too heavy, it will activate your back and shoulders, so lighten the load if you can’t keep your shoulders down and feel the full rep.
Additionally, don’t let your arms drift from your sides, keep them straight while executing reps.
How to Do It
Tricep Dips
This workout is a bit more advanced. With this exercise, your triceps are isolated and have to work harder because they’re going against your entire body weight. After your set, your triceps will burn, but it’s definitely worth it.
How to Do It
Work Out in Style
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]]>Some people dress more consciously than others. Regardless of how much care you put into deciding what to wear, however, there’s no denying that the clothes you wear have a cognitive impact. You feel sharp when you’re in a suit and leather shoes, and you feel relaxed when you’re in sweatpants and a hoodie.
The same can be said for what you wear in the gym. You aren’t dressing to impress a date or a potential business partner, but you should be dressing to impress the right gym mindset upon yourself.
There’s more to your gym outfit than choosing clothes that allow unrestricted movement and maximum comfort. Clothes can be your biggest motivator. For example, getting a quality pair of men’s powerlifting shorts and training shoes could help you break personal gym records that you just couldn’t achieve before.
Here’s a breakdown of how your gym clothing affects your fitness goals:
Workout Clothes Affect Your Confidence
Similar to how a well-fitted suit contributes to a powerful gait, a high-quality set of workout clothes could help you feel more confident in the gym. If you catch glimpses of yourself in the gym mirrors and realize you look good in your attire, then you’re more likely to stay motivated while you sweat.
The positive impact of your clothes on your mindset is called enclothed cognition. You know you look good, so as a result, you feel more confident in what you’re doing.
Correct Apparel Improves Performance
The right athletic gear has a noticeable impact in your overall performance. We’re not saying you can immediately push your limits at the bench, but rather wearing correct apparel can help put you into a state of mind that is optimal for peak performance.
For example, our Forged Tee offers an athletic fit to accent the shoulders and arms, along with a lightweight and breathable material our products our known and loved for.
Well-Fitted Clothes Support Movement
Gym shorts on a huge discount aren’t always a good deal — not when they don’t provide total freedom of movement. Well-fitted gym clothes that offer support give you one less thing to worry about while you’re working on your bodybuilding or powerlifting routine.
Additionally, well-fitted activewear minimize the risk of injuries, especially when paired with proper gear. Our Performance Knee Sleeves, Compression Elbow Sleeves, Rebel Wrist Wraps all offer industry respected quality, support, and style.
Shop for the Right Gym Apparel Today
Iron Rebel supports all determined and disciplined athletes striving to be the best versions of themselves. Our team includes professional bodybuilders and powerlifters who understand which clothing pieces contribute to a stronger mind and body. Additionally, our premium fitness apparel can be worn outside the gym.
You work hard to achieve your bodybuilding and powerlifting goals; we work just as hard to design high-quality apparel that make your workouts worthwhile. If you live and breathe fitness, shop here today.
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According to a 2021 study, 85% of regular gym-goers surveyed say that having “cool-looking” activewear gave them more confidence in the gym. For many powerlifters and bodybuilders, having confidence is already considered as winning half the battle.
Having the right clothes can help motivate you to work harder and push yourself further. However, simply putting on men’s bodybuilding clothes isn’t enough. There are quite a few things men need to consider to use workout clothes properly.
In this article, we’ll talk about the most common workout clothing mistakes that you should avoid.
Mistake #1: Wearing Clothes That Are Too Tight or Too Loose
When it comes to working out, what you wear matters. One common mistake beginners and novices make is showing up in the gym wearing very loose or very tight clothing.
Men who plan on showing off their chiseled muscles tend to wear extremely tight clothes. It does help you look good, but it can limit movement and blood flow during certain routines.
Loose clothes, on the other hand, increase the risk of slipping and could lead to accidents. Loose clothing also restricts movement and makes it difficult to correct postures when in front of the mirror.
Invest instead in workout clothes that fit you perfectly. Compression clothes are a popular choice because they lessen muscle spasms and fit most body types.
Mistake #2: Wearing the Wrong Fabric
When you’re working out at the gym or home, you must be wearing the right clothes with the right fabric. One of the common mistakes of gym-goers is wearing cotton.
When it comes to working out, cotton must be avoided. Cotton can hold on to moisture and sweat, which often ends up as a very uncomfortable workout session.
Consider using moisture-wicking clothing instead, like polyester and Lycra fabric blends. They may cost a little more than cotton shirts, but they can absorb sweat, dry up faster and last significantly longer.
Mistake #3: Wear The Right Shoes
You might be surprised at how many people show up in the gym wearing open-toed sandals or flip-flops. You usually see them on the treadmill or at the squat machine. Wearing these kinds of footwear is uncomfortable at best and an accident waiting to happen at worst.
The footwear you are wearing must be designed to provide proper support and protection. Wearing shoes gives you the right amount of traction to prevent you from slipping. They can also help protect your feet in the case that weights are dropped on them.
The only time you should wear flip-flops in the gym is after your workout and inside the locker room.
Mistake #4: Not Changing or Washing Gym Clothes
Lounging around right after a heavy workout is something we’re all guilty of. Unfortunately, leaving your sweat-soaked shirt on can lead to body odor and cause bacteria to proliferate. Make this mistake often, and the fabric of your favorite workout clothes can weaken.
Make it a habit to immediately change your clothes right after your workout routine and throw your dirty gear into the laundry to be washed as soon as possible.
Working out is all about staying committed to your overall health and gym goals. Avoiding the mistakes mentioned in this article should be part of that commitment. Not only are they easy to avoid, but doing so makes you an informed and responsible gym enthusiast.
Iron Rebel offers top-of-the-line men’s bodybuilding clothes made from the best materials available. If you’re looking for a new set of gym gear, shop our full line of men's and women's powerlifting apparel & gear. Our team would be happy to help you choose the right gear that will fit your fitness needs and goals.
]]>Powerlifting puts incredible strain on the muscles and joints. Although athletes follow proper form and are conditioned for these activities, their arms and legs still need additional support.
This is the reason you see elbow sleeves on professional and amateur powerlifters. Elbow sleeves are tight cuffs made of neoprene and worn around the elbows, extending from the upper forearm to the lower triceps. They’re typically padded and fit snug on the arm.
A common question we get at Iron Rebel is what are powerlifting elbow sleeves for? To put it briefly, their main function is to provide compression and warmth to the elbow joints — crucial factors when you’re lifting extremely heavy weight.
When a powerlifter warms up, the blood vessels expand and deliver more blood, oxygen, and nutrients to the muscles. Warmed-up muscles are also more flexible.
Powerlifting elbow sleeves help keep the muscles warm, which enhances your performance during training and events. Even a few minutes’ break could cool your joints down, and elbow sleeves can make a difference in keeping them warm.
Elbow sleeves are proven and tested. In fact, they’ve been around for 60 years. People know that makeshift elbow sleeves help prevent blood from pooling, reducing pain and swelling.
Iron Rebel’s elbow sleeves are specially designed for powerlifters. Our Performance Elbow Sleeves, for instance, feature openings made of heavy-duty polyester thread, which allows for more stretch. The sleeves are also contoured to fit a powerlifter’s elbow.
Apart from keeping the muscles warm, elbow sleeves compress the elbows, which assist in locking out your lift. This level of support makes the sleeves invaluable to the squat and deadlift. However, elbow sleeves aren’t allowed in bench press events since they help lock out the lift.
The mechanism behind compression gear seems counterintuitive at first. After all, how can squeezing the muscles help you lift?
Compression, however, is essential in athletic performance.
As the elbow sleeve compresses the muscles, it puts external pressure on the blood vessel walls. As a result, blood is pushed more forcefully through the vessels, which delivers more oxygen to the muscles and boosts their performance.
The warmth and compression that elbow sleeves provide are also useful when you’re recovering from an injury. The more blood pumped into the muscles, the faster your recovery.
Bear in mind that elbow sleeves are not a substitute for proper form. Whether or not you use powerlifting elbow sleeves, you must perfect your technique to minimize the risk of injuries.
Elbow sleeves are different from elbow wraps. Sleeves focus on compressing the tissues, while wraps largely support the joint. Here are other key differences:
If you haven’t trained with elbow sleeves, try them today to experience the difference. Iron Rebel offers the best elbow sleeves for powerlifting — all made of high-grade neoprene. We have tested and perfected the fit and thickness of our elbow sleeves to provide the ultimate support, warmth, and comfort.
Iron Rebel also has an amazing Loyalty Program, where you can rack up points and get awesome discounts and promotions.
Get your Iron Rebel elbow sleeves today.
]]>So, in my opinion, when you’re looking at knee wraps, instead of considering any specific characteristics of the wrap, first take a look at what you want to get out of it. Then, choose a wrap holistically based on which you feel gives those results. Trying to pick and choose a certain degree of stiffness or comfort or whatever is likely to leave you frustrated, because the way the different characteristics work together, along with the style of wrapping you use, will strongly determine the overall effect of the wraps.
To find out more about if knee wraps are right for you continue reading on our website!
]]>Typically, when you ask about knee wraps, you’ll hear a lot of buzzwords. Characteristics like stiff or stretchy seem pretty straightforward. So, even, do ones like rebound and cast, assuming you’re familiar with the terminology (rebound means help out of the hole; casting stops you from going too deep). But then you get into vaguer descriptions, like aggressive, versatile, and supportive — ones that, in my opinion, don’t really mean anything at all. All knee wraps can be aggressive, versatile, and supportive.
So, in my opinion, when you’re looking at knee wraps, instead of considering any specific characteristics of the wrap, first take a look at what you want to get out of it. Then, choose a wrap holistically based on which you feel gives those results. Trying to pick and choose a certain degree of stiffness or comfort or whatever is likely to leave you frustrated, because the way the different characteristics work together, along with the style of wrapping you use, will strongly determine the overall effect of the wraps.
Keep in mind that this will require a good bit of trial and error. There’s no way around that. There are just too many nuances and there’s probably no one right answer, so ultimately, your choice comes down to personal preference.
Knee Sleeves or Knee Wraps?
This is by far the question I get asked the most, and it’s a good one — because the difference between the two can be considerable, depending on your goals!
First, let’s take the easy case: the competitive powerlifter. Regardless of whether you choose to compete in sleeves or wraps, I believe that you need to use both in your training regimen. Sleeves should be used throughout the offseason to build confidence out of the hole, strengthen the quads, and reduce loading requirements. When you begin meet prep, switch to wraps, and stick with them for the duration of your prep. Many lifters forget that knee wraps take practice to master, and going back and forth between sleeves and wraps during prep is a good way to lose your groove.
If you prefer longer preps, and find that you have trouble using wraps for the entire duration, start by wrapping very loosely, and gradually tighten them as you work into heavier weights. This is the schedule I like to follow:
Now, if you’re a bodybuilder or recreational lifter, it’s not quite so simple. You’ll need to make a judgement call based on what you feel most comfortable with. For most people, this means knee sleeves, but some prefer wraps, and I think that’s okay, too. While it’s true that knee wraps will reduce the amount of work your legs are doing in a squat, that’s offset by the heavier weights they allow you to use, so the differences are slight.
I actually prefer to use both, as — unlike it powerlifting — it’s not too important that you eke out every last pound from the wraps. So I’ll do the majority of my work in sleeves, and then throw on wraps at the end for a bit of overload. For example, here’s the progression I used for barbell pause squats on my last leg day:
135x12
225x8
315x5
405x5
455x5
475x5 (pretty hard)
Add wraps
495x7 (to failure)
Wrapping Up
Need some new wraps or sleeves? Look no further than the Iron Rebel Outlaws or the new (red!) Performance Sleeves, and you won’t go wrong!
-Ben Pollack
]]>Watch enough lifters starting out, and you’ll notice a pretty stark dichotomy. On the one hand, there’s the guy (or girl) who just has that fire. Every set and rep he does looks like an all-out gutbuster worthy of a Dan Green Instagram video. His effort is truly impressive… but that’s about all that’s impressive. His technique is rough around the edges at best, and cringeworthy at worst. He doesn’t seem to have any plan; he’s always program-hopping or “training by feel.” And his results reflect as much.
On the other hand, there’s the lifter who has the plan down pat. Every set, rep, and exercise is scheduled to a T, maybe even months in advance. His technique is picture-perfect, as if it came straight out of a textbook. And you can tell that he’s constantly working on it. In fact, he’s working on it so much that sometimes it seems like he forgets to actually, y’know, try. He obsesses over the 13 degrees of knee valgus on one rep of one set of squats that he insists on lowering the weight for the next session, even though the set didn’t look or feel all that difficult.
I know that sounds like hyperbole, and maybe it is, a little bit. But honestly, this tale of two lifters isn’t so far off the truth for many people. And that’s a problem, because — just as in most things — the key to long-term success is balance.
When you’re just starting out, it can be almost impossible to find balance. There’s a lot of reasons for that:
You lack the experience with the extremes that’s necessary to find the middle. Imagine that you’re visiting a new town and you decide to take a walk. You find a trail, and start following it. As you walk, you have no idea how long the trail is, but eventually you reach the end, and turn around to go home. On the return trip, you might not be totally familiar with the trail, but you can at least kind of estimate the midpoint. And if you walk the trail over and over and over again, eventually you’ll know it so well that you can tell exactly when you’re at the halfway point (maybe you remember a particular tree or landmark).
It’s the same with training: sometimes you’ll push too hard, and sometimes not hard enough, but eventually you’ll learn to find the sweet spot between the two.
You’re bombarded by different opinions. With the overwhelming access to information we have now, this pitfall is all too common. You’ll get one guy in the gym who tells you one thing; another tells you the exact opposite, and somehow, the guy commenting on your Instagram video tells you the exact opposite of that, and it’s still different than what the first guy said. Sound familiar? This type of information overload can easily lead to analysis paralysis, and isn’t conducive to hard, productive training.
The secret here is to remember that everyone is different. There are no right answers, so stop trying to look for them, and instead, focus on finding your own balance. When it comes to technique, that balance is simple: you’re looking for technique that allows you to progress and does not cause you pain or recurring injury. If your form fits that criteria, then you’re golden. Of course, you should be always striving to make small improvements, each and every time you walk into the gym, but instead of pouring all your effort into finding “perfect” technique, instead, focus on training harder.
You’re scared. This one might sound a little off base, but in my experience, when we choose to stubbornly stick to our ways instead of striving for improvement, it’s because we have some sort of underlying fear that’s preventing us from doing so. If you’re technique is virtually picture-perfect but you insist on continuing to obsess over it, maybe you’re actually avoiding what’s necessary to push yourself in the gym. You might be avoiding it because you fear injury, or even just discomfort; hell, you might even be embarrassed of what other people would think if your form was as ugly as the first guy in the story at the beginning of this article.
On the flip side, if all you do it go all-out, and never take the time to really think things through or demonstrate the discipline that’s often necessary to progress, maybe you’re afraid that if you try to do things the right way, that you’ll fail. Man, can I ever relate to this one!
In my next post, I’ll share some advice on how you can really dial in your balance between technique and effort. But until then, I want you to focus on awareness. Don’t try to change anything about your actual training, but do take a minute to pause after each set and evaluate your balance. Did it feel right? Did your reps get really sloppy towards the end? Or did you maybe lean a too much towards perfect technique and not push hard enough?
That information will come in handy for the next lesson!
]]>
So, to make planks more difficult without taking all the plates in the gym, try this progression:
What’s the right style? Well, if you’re a raw squatter, you’re probably only concerned about rebound: the more the better. Most raw squatters don’t benefit from too much casting. It’s worth considering tightness, too: tighter wraps tend to give more rebound, but they’re usually uncomfortable, especially for rep work. For the majority of your training, you might want to lean towards a wrap with less tightness but still a good amount of rebound, like the Rhinos. For heavy singles and competition, you’ll want something like the Outlaws.
Picking wraps should be fairly straightforward. Don’t overthink this: if you try a wrap and really like that style, stick with it.
This is a little more complicated, so make sure you watch the video above — but in the meantime, here are the key points:
None of those points is especially obvious, so let’s go one step deeper.
When you’re wrapping your knees, you can start halfway up your quad and wrap halfway down your calf. But if you do that, when you go to squat, the part of the wrap on your quad or calf won’t stretch all that much. In fact, the wrap really only stretches right around your knee cap — you’ll get a little stretch from the rest of it, but that’s pretty negligable.
Carryover — and by that I mean the ability to squat more weight — comes from the rebound effect that occurs when the stretched wrap returns to its normal length (think about flicking a rubber band across the room). All (well, much) of that energy can be transferred into extending your knee, helping you get out of the hole. And, just like when you flick a rubber band, the more you stretch the wraps, the more energy you have to help you extend your knee.
So that means you want to only wrap around your kneecap, right? Well, maybe.
There are a few complications. Knee wraps are pretty long, and if you only wrap around your kneecap, you’ll end up with a whole bunch of material there. You’ll end up with so much material, in fact, that when you try to descend, the wrap might bunch up under your knee so much that it prevents you from reaching depth. That’s a problem, and it’s especially noticeable with thicker wraps. It can be solved, obviously, by wrapping higher up on the quad and/or lower on the calf so that there’s less material behind the knee. That means sacrificing some rebound, but it really doesn’t matter, since a squat doesn’t count in the first place if you don’t hit depth.
Now, I’ve really only focused on rebound to this point, but wraps are usually evaluated on at least two dimensions: rebound and casting. Casting is just what it sounds like: a wrap with a lot of casting will feel very stiff, and help you descend in a more controlled manner. Some wraps, like the Elitefts Super Heavies, will even stop you at a certain point during your descent (hopefully just below parallel).
Now, generally, a wrap with more rebound will have less casting, and vice versa, but that’s only true to an extent (more on this in the next section). Regardless, if your wrap has so much cast that it prevents you from hitting depth, that’s obviously not a good wrap for you, no matter how much rebound it provides or how much you like it otherwise.
When most people describe how to wrap knees, they’ll focus on tightness, claiming that you need to get those fuckers as tight as humanly possible if you want to get the most out of them. Now, with some wraps, that’s true. But for others, wrapping more tightly means that you’ll get less rebound and more casting out of them.
There’s also comfort to consider. Now, if your goals involve reaching your maximum strength potential, I’ll be honest, you need to just suck it up if good wraps hurt. But plenty of people aren’t looking for that, for good reason: maybe you’re more concerned about leg development, or you are only using wraps for overload, or maybe you just lift for fun. Regardless, if you’re not too hung up over lifting as much as you possibly can, then there’s really no great reason for using wraps that hurt. And that’s fine: choose a more comfortable wrap, or just wrap a little more loosely. The only caveat is that some competition wraps, like the Kraits, will over nearly no benefit unless they’re cranked hard, but most moderate wraps will be just fine a little loose.
Hopefully, this article has given you a lot of ideas to try. In the next entry, I’ll share some of the ways you can incorporate wraps into your training, even if you usually prefer sleeves.
]]>Now, let me be very clear here: it’s the most important meal for powerlifters. For bodybuilders, your post workout meal is probably a bigger deal. But maximizing your strength in every training session canbe a little trickier than maximizing your endurance and pump. And it starts with the preworkout meal.
First, remember what we’re going for here: easily digestible foods with a high carb content and some fat and protein. (Need a refresher on why? Go check out this article). This meal should be timed about 1-2 hours before you get the gym; in my opinion, it’s best to eat closer to when you actually start lifting, but not so close that you feel uncomfortable during your training. Personally, I can train well on a full stomach, but if you don’t like to do so, try to get this meal in a full 2 hours before you hit the gym.
Food Choices
When choosing foods, above all else, pay attention to how you respond and how you feel after eating. It doesn’t matter whether you choose something with a perfect glycemic index (if such a thing existed) or a load of micronutrients if that food makes you feel like shit while you’re training. And what works for me, or your training partner, or some Internet guru might not be what works for you. Listen to your body.
That said, here are some good places to start:
It’s not difficult to put these things together into a cohesive meal: pasta with meat sauce, eggs with oatmeal, a protein shake with a couple bananas and a scoop of peanut butter will all work well. Don’t overthink it!
In terms of total amounts, I like to shoot for roughly 20% of my calories in the preworkout meal. The exact balance of macros will depend on the structure of your diet, but I generally do equal amounts of protein and carbs, and 10-15 grams of fat.
One more thing to remember: slam the sodium and water before training. This will help to keep your muscles full, and help to prevent cramping and resultant injuries.
Supplements
When you’re eating a lot, you typically have a lot of extra energy. But if you’re dieting to make a weight class, a good preworkout supplement can be essential to maximizing your training.
While bodybuilders want preworkouts that will help to maximize their pumps, powerlifters typically want a little more stimulants. Now, there are certainly trade offs to be had here, and you should be mindful of those. For example, caffeine is great, but the problem with caffeine alone is that it could cause a significant amount of jitteriness and anxiety. These are well-known side effects of caffeine, and they can quickly derail an otherwise productive training session. To some degree, other nootropics like TeaCrine and L-Theanine can offset these side effects, but even with those, you don’t want to overdo the stimulants on a regular basis. Otherwise you risk derailing your training.
Your best bet for a preworkout product is Hy-Stim from Granite. It’s heavy on the stimulants, but it’s guaranteed to power you through even the most intense training sessions.
Got your own go-to preworkout routine? Share it in the comments below!
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Lately, I’ve been calling that philosophy intentsity: intensity with intent. In fact, it’s the approach I take not only towards training, but also towards life, and I think it’s a really valuable one.
In this article, and the next few that follows, I’m going to talk about what it means to train and live with intentsity, and how you can apply it to your own goals to get the results you want.
Everyone knows intensity. It’s that one thing that sets apart the truly passionate from the guys and girls who just wanna have fun. I know I’m bringing my best in the gym when I get the crazy look in my eyes that everyone on Instagram loves.
But let me be clear: intensity doesn’t look or even mean one specific thing. It’s different for everyone. For a lifter like Jesse Norris, intensity is a very quiet focus. For Larry Wheels, it’s loud and aggressive. Neither is wrong, and in fact, both are right. Just like you have to find the right way to train for you, you have to find the right kind of intensity for you. It doesn’t matter what works for someone else, no matter how big or strong he might be.
And let me be clear about this, too: if you just want to have fun in the gym, that’s also right. I need intensity in my life; it’s part of who I am, and I feel empty inside when I don’t have a goal to pursue with intensity. (More on goals and how they relate to this philosophy in the next iteration of this series.) If that’s not the case for you, that’s okay. Ultimately, the only thing that really matters is your own happiness and fulfillment.
The thing about intensity is that by itself, it’s pretty easy to find. Anyone can train intensely. If you’re struggling, take one of the dozens of over-the-top preworkout products you can grab at GNC and they’ll do the job for you (or get Premium from Granite Supplements if you're really serious). Intent is much, much more difficult to bring to the table.
It’s difficult to define, too. I use the phrase Think Strong, but just like intensity, thinking strong and having intent can mean different things to different people. To me, it comes down to being mindful: of my thoughts, emotions, goals, and of others, all at the same time. That’s a huge ask, and I’ll be the first to admit that I’m far from perfect when it comes to Thinking Strong.
That’s okay, though, because mindfulness is all about the present, not the future or the past. As long as you’re constantly striving right now to be a better person — whatever that means to you — then you’re Thinking Strong, and you’ve got the intent part of intentsity covered just fine.
Well, that’s a whole article in and of itself, and it’s one I’ll get to as this series unfolds over the course of this month. In fact, intentsity can be practiced not only inside the gym but outside of it, too, and in this series I’ll explain how to apply it to your programming, diet, and even your career and relationships.
Remember, though, that all these articles are going to be about myself and my own experiences. They’re not better or worse than anyone else’s, and I certainly don’t want you to think or feel that you have to emulate me or adopt my philosophy towards life. But if intentsity is something that appeals to you, I hope that I can help you to put it into practice in whatever way you want.
Till next time: Think Strong and Train Hard — in other words, bring the Intentsity!
Ben
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