There have been some times that I have been particularly proud of my wife Trina.  The first, is when I dropped a knee on Sea Gull Beach and she said yes.  The second is when she showed up on our wedding day and said, “I do”.  The third, is when she gave birth to our daughter Aleyda.  Recently, for her to get out of her comfort zone and get on stage to compete in a figure competition.  By the way, there are many moments that I am proud of my wife-just in case you are wondering.  These are just some big ones!

Trina has made comments over the years about her interest in maybe trying to do a figure or bodybuilding competition, just for the inner challenge to see if she could do it.  Well a year ago she went with me to a competition to see a friend of ours, Dustin Rose, who I helped provide his weight training programs for his first bodybuilding show, and that got her desire going.  You can see Dustins pics and video here=> http://www.varietytrainer.com/dustins-journey-completed/  She kept talking about it and finally committed to a competition-the Mt. Rogers 36th Annual Drug Free Bikini, Figure, and Bodybuilding Championships to be held at Woodbridge, VA the weekend before Thanksgiving.    She had 11 months to prepare and train.

To make this successful for Trina, she had to be more dedicated and focused then she has ever been with any workout she has ever done before and be surrounded with support staff that knew what they were doing.  Of course, I got the job of training her with the weights and cardio training.  Tanya Williams, certified nutritionist, worked with her weekly prescribing  a well balanced nutrition program-not a typical unhealthy bodybuilding diet.  Finally, friend and past competitor Venessa Smoley, met with her every Sunday to work on poses and provided her with all the positive feedback any one person would EVER need.

In the end, Trina was the one who made it the most successful.  She stayed dedicated and made sacrifices that most people would never have the discipline to do.  She followed directions (for 11 months) and did what her support staff told her to do, which ultimately earned her a second place finish as a first time competitor!!

Results do not come easy, but I am convinced anyone can get what they want if they are willing enough work for it!  I really admire Drug Free figure and bodybuilding competitors.  Just like sport athletes, they must stay focused and dedicated.  Hopefully, you can see a little clearer why I am so proud of my wife for her accomplishments.

To your health,

Jerry

If you look at the picture of a bicep curl.  Image “A” would be a concentric contraction (muscle shortening) as you bring the dumbbell up and a eccentric contraction (muscle lengthening) as you bring the dumbbell back down.  Image “B” shows an example of a isometric contraction.  The hand is anchored and as you would attempt to squeeze and perform the curl, the arm will not move and as a result much tension will develop in the bicep muscles.

A muscle can generate greater tension with a maximum isometric contraction than with a maximum concentric contraction, but not as much as with a maximum eccentric contraction.  This may seem confusing to a person who just goes through the motions in a weight room.  Now the gym rat, will understand these principles because he/she will put these practices into work and experience the outcomes of their efforts.

What I find great about isometrics is that it can be done in different ranges of motion and with just about any strength exercise.  Let’s go back to the bicep curl.  If we are looking at your elbow and we have the elbow fully extended, the joint angle would be at 180 degrees.  As we start our bicep curl the angle in the elbow will decrease.  You could stop at any angle and perform an isometric contraction.  Most trainers will either do isometric contractions at the mid point, which would be 90 degrees for this example; or at full contraction with the curl all the way up and tight.  I will point out, that if you are using a free weight you should take in consideration for positioning with gravity.

To gain strength from isometric training, the athlete must use an exercise load (resistance) of 60-80% of their muscle’s force-developing capacity and it must be sustained against that resistance for at least 6 seconds to allow time for peak tension to develop and the metabolic changes to begin to occur in the muscle.  Strength will develop at the position or angle degree in which the exercise is performed.  You can see how this could be beneficial if you find a “sticking point” in an exercise.

In the video, you see my wife Trina keeping an isometric contraction in a seated row position with the elbows pulled back and the scapula in a retracted position.  She was told to hold until failure.  I did this at the end of her back training session as a finisher and this was her second set.  She is training for a figure competition and I wanted to get her upper back muscles to recruit as many muscle fibers as possible so when she does her back pose her muscles will “pop” on stage.

If you have never used or tried isometric training, I would encourage you to start experimenting with it.  I covered a few benefits of it but mentioned nothing in regards to the injury prevention and rehabilitation capabilities which I am sure you now can see those possibilities.  If you have any questions or suggestions to share with everyone; please post them in the comments section below.

Hope this helps!

To your health,

Jerry

Basic techniques of a lunge:

• Always be in control of the movement with or with out weight
• The “lead” knee will bend to 90 degrees
• The majority of the weight will always be placed on the heel of the lead foot with the toes pointed forward
• The trail leg will normally come close to bending to a 90 degree position with the knee never touching the floor (within a 1″)
• Keep the core tight and stable throughout the entire movement
• Movement should come from the hips not the waist and work on maintaining your chest held high
• Never swing weight for momentum-you want the muscles to do the work
• Aways return to your original position under control

Sports and life is not always done in a linear fashion so make sure you are adding in some variety when doing lunges through the phases of your training program.  Here are some examples of how to change it up:

• Forward Lunge just one side at a time
• Alternating Forward Lunges
• Walking Forward Lunges
• Reverse Lunge
• Walking Reverse Lunges
• Alternating Forward Lunge To Reverse Lunge same leg
• Alternating Forward Lunge T0 Reverse Lunge Alternating legs
• Walking Forward Lunge 15 yards then right into Walking Reverse Lunge for 15 yards

I think you get the idea and can see how small changes can really make things more difficult and productive.  You can continue on by substituting or adding in 45 degree, 135 degree, and side lunges as well.

Just pay close attention to the form and technique and enjoy the positive results that lunges will provide.

To your health,

Jerry

First let’s go over each of the three movements in detail.

Anterior Shoulder Raise:

• Grab two dumbbells of appropriate weight
• Stand in an athletic position (knees and hips slightly bent with the shoulder blades slightly pulled back and the torso drawn in tight)
• Hold the dumbbells with your arms straight and your palms facing back
• Slowly raise the dumbbells forward keeping your arms straight until parallel to the floor
• All the focus should be on the front portion of the shoulder (deltoid) while maintaining strict form with the rest of the body
• There should be no momentum or swing with the raise
• Lower back down under control
• Repeat for desired reps or until fatigue greatly compromises form

Lateral Shoulder Raise:

• Grab two dumbbells of appropriate weight
• Stand in an athletic position
• Hold the dumbbells with your arms straight and your palms facing each other or in towards your body
• Slowly raise the dumbbells out to the side (away from your body) keeping your arms straight or slightly bent at the elbows until parallel to the floor
• All the focus should be on the lateral portion of the shoulder (deltoid) while maintaining strict form with the rest of the body
• If you have had an impingement problem or this does not feel comfortable bring the arms slightly forward during the raise
• There should be no momentum or swing with the raise
• Lower back down under control
• Repeat for desired reps or until fatigue greatly compromises form

Posterior Shoulder Raise:

• Grab two dumbbells of appropriate weight
• Stand in an athletic position and then bend forward at the hips (not the waist) keeping the core tight; there will be no rounding in the back
• Hold the dumbbells with your arms straight or slightly bent with your palms facing each other
• Slowly raise the dumbbells out to the side (away from your body) keeping your arms straight or slightly bent at the elbows until parallel to the floor
• All the focus should be on the back portion of the shoulder (deltoid) while maintaining strict form with the rest of the body
• There should be no momentum or swing with the raise
• Lower back down under control
• Repeat for desired reps or until fatigue greatly compromises form

As I said in the beginning of this post; each of these exercises can be done as stand alone lifts.  You also can get more focused and only do one arm at a time.  Usual rep range would be around 8-12 repetitions for 2-4 sets.

When doing the 3-Way Shoulder Complex use slightly lighter dumbbells. They would be done consecutively with little to no rest between exercises.  Typically, I would have the rep range between 7-10 reps for 2-3 sets.

Listen to your shoulders!  Depending on your training program the shoulders can get over trained very easily.  Make sure you are paying close attention to the volume of work you are doing each week.  Also, keep in mind that every time you do an upper body pressing or pulling movement your are using the shoulders.  Many people forget this as they do not see it as direct shoulder emphasis training.

Hope that helps!

To your health,

Jerry

Step-Up:

• Find a plyo box or stable surface that you can safely stand on and when you have one foot on it the height makes a 90 degree angle in the knee.
• You will stand in an upright postured position with the mid-section contracted for good stabilization.
• If you are holding weight in your hands (dumbbells or kettle bells) retract your shoulders back slightly (scapular retraction-pull the shoulder blades together in the upper back).
• When holding weight in your hands, squeeze your grip hard as this will help maintain good posture and limit any potential for momentum.
• With one foot placed completely on the box, press all your weight into the heel of that foot.
• As you come up make sure to maintain an erect posture and keep your knee back behind your toes throughout the movement.
• Stand up on that foot until the leg is straight.  At the same time, drive the other knee up in a high knee position so that the knee is above the hip.
• Maintain control and balance and either bring your leg down to the box or return the non-weight bearing foot back down to the ground.
• You can repeat on the same leg for the desired reps or until form breaks down.  You could also go into alternating reps by bringing the weight bearing leg down and then step-up with the other leg.

This is great for many people as a stand alone body weight exercise before adding any weight.  A weighted vest also works great.  For more variation and difficulty use a barbell across the upper back in a back squat position.  This is advanced and should not be done until you mastered the step-up with dumbbells.

A typical rep range is 8-12 repetitions, but you could high rep with lighter weights or body weight for some endurance work.

Hope that helps!

To your health,

Jerry

I guess that is kind of the point I try to get across when I put up a post like this one.  Hey, we may know the exercise and what muscle(s) group it is going to focus on but we may not know the most proper way to position our body to get the most out of that exercise.

The standing cable biceps curl for most is grab the handle and start curling to work those biceps.  Hopefully, this post will get you thinking a little bit more about body positioning for this and similar exercises.

Standing Cable Biceps Curl:

• Set a straight bar attachment (lat pull down attachment works great) in a low position on the cable column.
• Squat down and grab the bar and stand up like you would when doing a squat keeping your head and chest high and back flat not rounded.
• Get in an athletic stance (knees slightly bent and weight in the heels).  This will help to take stress of the lower back and more in the hips.
• Adjust your under hand grip to shoulder width or just slightly wider.  A variation could include a narrower grip.
• Brace your mid-section by drawing in your belly button towards your spine making your torso contracted.
• Start with your arms straight and just before you are ready to start your curl retract your shoulder blades back slightly to help stabilize your upper back which will also help stabilize your mid-section.
• Focus on the belly of the bicep muscle as you start your curl.
• There should be no movement in the rest of the body
• At the peak of the curl, squeeze tightly and lower back down to full elbow extension in a controlled manner.
• Repeat for desired number of reps or until fatigue alters technique.

As you may see there is a little more to it than just standing there and curling the cable attachment if you want to get the most out of it.  Determination, technique, focus, and desire will produce results if you want it bad enough.

I hope that helps!

To your health,

Jerry

PS-If there is an exercise you would like to see some clarification on just leave a comment and I will make it a upcoming new post.  Thanks everyone for your continued support!!

Grab a light weight dumbbell.  It is better to error on the lighter side for this exercise than to heavy.  Bend your whole torso over and stabilize your body with a good solid athletic stance and your hand on a sturdy structure.  Keep your mid-section tight.

Bring your elbow up along your body so that the upper arm is parallel to the floor with your elbow bent at 90 degrees.  Extend the elbow to straighten the arm but do not move the upper arm.  It will stay parallel to the ground throughout the exercise.

As you extend the elbow, rotate the forearm so that the palm is facing the ceiling when the arm is fully extended.  Squeeze the entire triceps muscle tightly for a second before returning back down under control until the elbow reaches a 90 degree angle.   Repeat for desired number of reps.

Typically sets of 8-12 reps is sufficient.  Make sure you are putting a lot of focus into this movement and you will be glad with the results.

Hope this helps!

To your health,

Jerry

COMPETITION DAY:

Dustin Rose

You could say that Dustin’s journey is now complete but it may have just really started.  If you are not familiar with his story let me give you a little background info but I would encourage you to go to the “Dustin’s Journey” tab on the website and review some of his nutrition info: CLICK HERE or his before pics and measurements CLICK HERE.

I was introduced to Dustin through a friend of mine he was dating.  Dustin had just completed a body transformation contest called Body For Life and he saw some decent results.  Dustin is what we in the strength industry would call a hard-gainer; meaning he is challenged to put on major muscle and weight.  Some people see this as a gift.  He always stayed in good shape and liked hitting the weights but was just not completely satisfied with all his efforts.

After he had completed the Body For Life challenge he came over for a visit and we went to the gym and did a little workout.  During the workout he had explained some of his frustrations and how he really deep down had a desire to compete in a body building competition.  I asked him how serious he really was and he said pretty serious but not sure what path to take to get there.  Well I had my video camera and I asked him if I could shoot a quick video for the variety trainer website.  Here is the video I shot that day: VIDEO .  He had no idea I was about to put him in front of the camera.

Now if you have been a long time follower of variety trainer than you might remember we had a log of Dustin’s progress and his comments & programs along the way.  Unfortunately, when we upgraded the website most of this information somehow got lost and did not transfer over-SORRY!  What did transfer you can still view.

You see Dustin had the ability and drive all along to do this he just needed a bit of a program adjustment to stimulate growth for his body type.  Well, a year later, with a small pec tear, and a deployment to Iraq; Dustin stayed the course and committed himself to the programs I gave him along with his nutrition plan.  He followed everything I said and he did completed his journey and competed in his first body building competition. And I might add that it was the novice Heavy Weight bracket!  He kicked some ass and took third.

Now here is the interesting part of this journey, I did not train Dustin directly as he had to move to North Carolina and then went to Iraq.  All the programs I sent him and advice was through the Internet.  He did this all without a trainer, just determination.  Another great example of what you can accomplish if you want it bad enough.

Now, I started this off as his journey “completed” but not so fast; Dustin is already focusing and training for another competition in November of this year.  He was an inspiration to us all, particularly my wife Trina who is now training to do her first women’s figure fitness competition and yes I am helping her with her training.  Maybe, I will have to start a “Trina’s Journey” here at variety trainer if there is an interest.  Just let me know!

Congratulations Dustin!  Everyone at variety trainer is very proud of you.  Keep up the good work!

To your health,

Jerry

PS- My wife Trina is a professional photographer and took Dustin’s pics.  If you ever are doing something like this and need and/or want awesome pics done to show off your results and live anywhere near central PA; you can visit her website:  www.trinashreckphotography.com

Typically when we train biceps we will do complex circuits or finishers at the end of workouts.  I wanted to share with you two of these circuits we do.  These are challenging high volume sets.

Triple Eight Set:

• These will be done one arm at a time so you can concentrate on the contraction and form.
• Grab a semi-heavy dumbbell that you can curl for eight reps.
• After the first eight reps are complete, set the dumbbell down and grab another dumbbell 5-10 lbs lighter and curl that for eight reps.
• Repeat one more time again dropping 5-10 lbs.  This will be a total of three sets of 8 on the one arm.
• Then switch to the other arm and repeat this process.
• When you are done go back to the first arm and repeat back and forth until 3 full sets are done on both arms.
• You will probably have to drop weight down little by little for each full set as you fatigue.

The Rack:

• Do with both arms at the same time.  Try to focus on good form throughout the entire workout.
• Grab the heaviest two dumbbells that you can successfully curl for five reps.
• Rest for 5-7 seconds.
• Then grab the next set of dumbbells 5 lbs lighter and curl them to failure.
• Rest for 5-7 seconds.
• Repeat this pattern through all the dumbbells on the dumbbell rack until you reach the 5 lb dumbbells.
• I’ll bet you 5 lb dumbbells never felt so heavy!!!
• Remember, focus on good form and technique.  This will be hard to do when you start fatiguing and you can no longer “feel” your arms.  This is the feeling you get when you have gone past the burn!  Enjoy it!!

Again, as you can see these are challenging high volume sets that produce a lot of hypertrophy in the biceps.  In return, this will promote much muscle break down and growth.  I must warn you that if you never trained a single muscle group this way, you better be prepared for some muscle soreness the next few days.  Enjoy the “pump”!!

To your health,

Jerry

Many strength coaches think the back squat is the “King” of all lifts.  I happen to agree with them.  There are so many great weighted exercises but you will always go right back to the basics with a traditional back squat.  This one exercise will train the entire body each and every rep; not to mention that it will build strength and power like no other.  Many believe squatting to be bad for the knees and it can be if done incorrectly.  Guess what, the bench press can be bad for the shoulders if done wrong also.  Heck just about any exercise can be bad for you in some way if done incorrectly.  This is why I think it is important to look at the basics of this very important lift.  You need to learn the basics before moving forward and advancing in anything you do.  This is exactly the reason I put together this video.  Ask anyone who has ever done any of my programs and you will find them telling you about squatting being a major foundation throughout the phases.

Always complete a great warm-up prior to starting any exercise routine and do no rush to try and squat tons of weight.  If anything, be more conservative and “really” learn the lift and you will accomplish much heavier weights in the long run without getting hurt along the way.

My set and rep schemes will be anything from eight sets of two reps, five sets of five reps, or even three sets of twenty reps.  That is the beauty of developing a training program based on producing a predetermined result.  Results come from hard work and you guessed it….Squatting!!

To your health,

Jerry