Protein Aint Only For The Bros.

Ahhh, protein. The building block of life.

For lifters, protein is the nectar of the gods…The gateway to gainz… The swole sauce.

It helps rebuild muscles, stimulate muscle growth and provides a cool post-workout ritual. 

Recently, I’ve been getting questions from non-lifters about how protein can benefit them. They’ve heard that protein shakes are only needed after lifting weights, which isn’t entirely false. Just outdated. 

So when would it be appropriate for non-lifters to indulge in a brotein shake?

The main thing we need to focus on is Heart Rate, HR.

Steady-State: Your HR is maintained at an elevated rate, but never going beyond your threshold (above 70% VO2Max). I know that sounds super scientific, but just think of it like this – If you’re just cruising and not really busting your ass, it’s Steady-State. This could be walking, jogging, stretching, recovery days, etc. 

High-Intensity Interval Training: Sprints, sports specific training, kettlebells, circuits. If you’re blasting yourself to the max, you better have some protein powder on deck. HIIT elicits similar pathways as strength and hypertrophy training.

Now then, here are my recommendations for using protein depending on the type of training you’re doing.

1. Steady-State: Add protein shake as a meal replacement. Incorporate the grams of protein as a part of your overall total of protein intake for the day. This gives you more control. You can have your steak without the mashed potatoes and increased chance of heart disease.
2. HIIT: Depends on your goal. If you’re trying to grow muscle mass, you should take protein throughout the day, not just post workout. Studies have shown that an elevated protein intake can promote protein synthesis at a higher rate. If you’re just trying to recover, post workout should suffice.

 

 

 

Trying to Tone? You’re Not Alone.

For all my non-juice head gorillas.

My peoples listening to Drake-Passionfruit milly rockin’ between sets.

The G’s that are trying to lean out and tone up (I’m not biased).

I got you.

“If you’re not going heavy, you’re not really working out.” You probably heard this before from your dad, uncle, football coach or all the above. It’s motivating if you’re trying out for The Permian High Panthers football team, but if you’re not about that life, you’re not SOL.

One of my favorite aspects of toning workouts is being creative. I take elements from different exercises and create a whole new thing. I make sure I follow these criteria when making exercises.

1. Compound Movements
2. Balance
3. Bursts                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   The key is to get the whole body incorporated in some way. Here are some examples.

Example:

• Overhead Press

Take the standard Overhead Press and bring it down to a bended knee and make it unilateral, single-arm. This challenges balance, which engages the core. It also sets you up for a compound movement that gets your lower body involved. After each overhead press, stand up and step back.

    ——–>

 

• Front Squat

Take the Front Squat and turn it up with an unstable surface. I like using the bosu ball. If you really tryna get the most bang for your buck, you could add an overhead press to this. That last picture is next level shit. Prolly the final level. Build up to it. Don’t go and hurt yourself, now.

——–> ——->       

 

As far as the bursts, the main thing is to keep your Heart Rate in the fat burning zone between sets. I like to do fun cardio movements like battle ropes, shadow boxing, burpees. I also like doing abs like planks, leg raises, etc.

 

Apply these elements to your next toning workout and have fun with it!

 

 

The Power of Lulu

I never believed in Enclothed Cognition. Well, it’s more like I never really paid attention to it. Tight budget coping mechanism. Anywho, I learned the hard way that it is REAL.

*    *   *

We walked down the stairs to the basement floor, carefully dodging traffic. The 19th street club turns into a madhouse during rush hours (6-9pm). I escort the client to a private room and begin our complimentary assessment. During the assessment, I take body composition readings, but the most important thing is to get to the core of their fitness aspirations. Sitting across from her in a tiny 6 by 10 room, the feeling of an interrogation is inevitable, but I try my best to loosen up the tension.

“What drives you to come to the gym?”

“Well, I want to lose some fat and tone up.”

“Ok,” I reply intently looking, encouraging her to continue. “Are there specific spots that you want to tone up?”

“Arms, stomach, legs… just overall,” she says while pinching the areas on her body.

I could tell that she was still holding back with her responses. I thought back on what my manager told me. Stay cool and don’t show frustration. We continued on to body weight, vital signs, body composition and circumference measurements. After analyzing the body composition readings, she broke her silence, “I want to fit into Lululemons!”

“Okay,” I replied nodding my head, completely missing the gravity of that statement.

FAIL.

At the time, I had no clue what Lululemons were. Gym clothes for me are basketball shorts and scrap t-shirts. Mostly the same ones that I’ve been wearing since college.

After the assessment, I began to ask around about Lululemons. Co-workers told me that they are the fitness apparel company with a horseshoe looking symbol. I looked around the gym. Horseshoes everywhere. The shorts with a zipper pocket right above the butt-crack- Lululemon.  The tight pants that make woman’s ass and legs look supple and succulent- Lululemons. I was so focused on the derriere.

Long story short, connection was lost between that client and I. We will never know the exact reasons why, but I think that it was because I didn’t understand Enclothed Cognition.

Bottom Line: Wearing Lululemon makes you feel some type of way. You carry yourself with higher regards and focus in on training and living a clean lifestyle.

Milk TF Out Of That Aerobics Class

Aerobic classes are notorious for yielding little to no fitness results, but let’s be honest we keep crawling back because the music is on-point and the instructors are hype beasts. Add free protein shakes and we would setup shop.

That being said, here are some tips to get the most out of your aerobics class.

Let’s get back to the basics. When you exert energy, you burn calories. So it would make sense that hopping around to EDM music would do the trick, but it’s not that simple.

We all have a threshold that needs to be surpassed to start burning calories at optimal rates.

Here are some surefire ways to blast through your threshold that can be done 5 minutes before your aerobics class.

There are no sets, reps, rest intervals or any of that. Throw it all out the window. The 5 minutes is also just a rough guideline. The main thing is to go HAM until failure.

1. Jump Squats                                                                                     

 

2. Burpees

3. Ball slams

4. Battle Rope

 

5. Jump Rope

 

Top 3 Butt Building Workouts That Take the Cake

We’re living in the Golden Gluteus Age where plump derriers is the new rich. Everyone and their mothers are flocking to the gym to get that apple bottom.

And you know people be getting mad creative wit it too cuz we’re also in the age of not wanting to work for anything. I appreciate the whole “thinking outside the box” but all those reverse cable single leg kick backs or whatever’s hot right now ain’t gunna do you no good unless you have a solid foundation.

Here are my top 3 butt workouts that will help you get that foundational ass you could build a skyscraper on.

• Sprints   

Sprints are great for getting that bubble real quick. The explosive nature of sprints promotes maximal muscle growth.

Start with 10 sprints x 60 sec rest interval.The main thing is to give MAX effort.

Progression: Reduce the rest interval by 15 sec increments.

• Front Squats

Not just any old squat. For dat ass, you gotta do front squats. Because you’re holding the weight in-front of you, your back is more upright allowing more range for your quadriceps to stretch. When the quadriceps stretch, the hamstrings and gluteus contract. Therefore, more quad stretching = more ass contracting. It’s basic physics, my friends.

Start with 4 sets x 12 reps at a reasonable weight for a couple weeks.

Progression: Reduce the reps to 10, 8, 6 raising the weight as well.

• Kettlebell swings

Kettlebell swings are all about the squeeze to get you those dimples that’ll have people droppin like flies.

Start with 4 sets x 30 secs at a reasonable weight.

Progression: Keep the time the same and increase the weight.

Alright, those are my best three butt workouts. The key is consistency. Get your ass into the gym and get the power to hypnotize men. 

Workout Playlist Suggestions

 

Music can make or break your workout sesh. It’s paramount that you select the right type of music to elicit the correct pump to get you the gains you deserve. Here are some of my recommendations.

1. Strength Training

– Strength training requires max hype. Think angry and chaotic with high tension. Metallica, System of a Down, NWA, Pantera, Eminem, DMX, RTJ, etc.

2. Hypertrophy (bodybuilding)

– Bodybuilding requires reps on reps on reps so you want something that has a good beat that’ll keep you moving. Dr. Dre, Daft Punk, Drake, J.Cole, some Lupe, etc.

3. Steady state Cardio

– For steady state cardio, you’re in for the long haul, so look for something that you can jam to for a long time. I like to listen to whole albums.

Kanye West- Late Registration

Travis Scott- Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight

Solange- A seat at the table

Drake- More Life

3 Essential Conditioning Add-ons

One of my fitness goals is to be able to ball out at any sport/activity at any given time. It might stem from growing up as Asian American and always having to prove the haters wrong, but that’s a whole other story.
Therefore, I keep these three Add-ons in my arsenal to keep my weight down and cardio up.

1.Tabata

– Dr. Tabata, the Japanese god of interval training, created a method that uses a continuous work/rest interval that yields max gains in a short amount of time.

– Sample:  Burpees. 20 secs on/ 10 secs off. 8 rds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Drop sets

– Immediately following a working set, lower the weight and continue working.

– Sample: drop the weight by ~30% and go for 15 more reps. You can also incorporate multiple drops dropping by ~15%.

3. Burnouts

– Take a weight that you would consider slightly heavier than warm-up and go ’til failure.

Keep in Mind: If you’re looking for strength gains, however, I would stick to Tabata and go for weight rather than number of reps.

These are the three add-ons I implement in my training to stay on top of my game even when I’m slacking.

Now you can do the same! 🙏🏼 bless up!

Programming Essentials

To conquer any obstacle, one must strategize and execute consistently. That’s what separates the great from the mediocre.

For a de-conditioned individual beginning their fitness journey, just getting to the gym is a good start. But after a week or so, a proper program is required to continue progressing. Here is a guide to how I program for myself and clients.

First, establish your goals. What do you want out of all this? You want to be stronger, leaner, defined, sexier when naked? Whatever it may be, figure it out and that will set the tone for your program.

The FIT Principle

Frequency: 3x/week

Exercise science shows that optimal adaptation- acute and chronic- start at 3x/week. Depending on your training type, the frequency can be increased, however, anything under 3x is sub-optimal.

Intensity: 60% Max Effort

Intensity also varies depending on what type of training you’re programming, however, the rule of thumb is 60-65% of VO2Max is the threshold you must exceed in order to see adaptation.

Type: Conditioning, Strength, Hypertrophy, Sport Specific

When it comes to types of training, I believe that everyone- from obese girls to professional athletes- needs conditioning when starting a fitness program. Some schools of thought believe that strength training should lead. I disagree. In order to do a strength program, you need proper joint mobility, at least bodyweight stability and average VO2Max. Lacking these prerequisites, you can leave yourself open to injury and crippling DOMS. All that can be avoided with a conditioning program.

Macro & Micro Cycles

Macro & Micro cycles are charting devices that will help you stay on track to reach your goals. Think long-term goals and short-term goals.

Macrocycle: 1 year= 52 weeks= Off-season, Pre-season, Season, Post-season

Out of the 52 weeks in a year, I shoot for 40 weeks that I will be locked into a program. That gives me 12 weeks of vacation, sick days, emergencies, etc. Now, you break up the 40 weeks into different types of training you want to do.

This was my macro a couple of years ago. The only programming experience I had was bodybuilding.com type programs I did with my college buddies… your basic 3×8 chest/tri, back/bi, legs, shoulders split.

*My goal was to get stronger and increase athleticism. Therefore, the bulk of my program was spent in strength and sports specific.

• Conditioning: 6 weeks
• Strength Training: 15 weeks
• Conditioning: 8 weeks
• Olympic Lifting/Boxing: 11 weeks

Microcycle: 6 weeks

When it comes to chronic adaptations to a fitness program, 6 weeks is the benchmark. The bare minimum would be two weeks. It takes about two weeks for nueromuscular adaptation which is then followed by physical adaptations. The only instance where I see a two week program working is if a conditioned individual just needed to learn movement patterns for the strength program.

*Make sure that you’re recording the actual weight, rep scheme and exercises used.

This is a good basic guideline for building your own program, but there is still a whole lot of information that I haven’t shared that you can build off of. Go ahead and start here. The key is to optimize, get the most out of your program.

 

Key to Squatting Ass to Grass: Continues with Hip Mobility

In my last post about Squatting Ass to Grass, we started with the ankles in our joint-by-joint approach. Now that we have covered that, it’s time to move up the body to the hips. I’m going to skip the knee joint because I believe that it is more important to address the joints that must be mobile before addressing those that must be stable- knee & lumbar.

Hip mobility is one of the most crucial movement patterns in functional training. Whenever I start working with a new client, hip mobility and hip hinge patterning is our bread and butter.

Breakdown

2 major movements of the hips: Flexion and Extension.

HIP FLEXION                                                             HIP EXTENSION

                 

Our main focus for squatting ass to grass is HIP FLEXION. I teach proper Hip Flexion through hip hinge patterning. You can read more about the hip hinge here.

Hip Hinge Using Bar

1. Make sure you keep 3 constant points of contact with the bar: Head, T-spine and Butt.
2. With a slight bend in the knees, reach your butt backwards allowing your upper-body to drop.

*Keep the slight bend in your knees, but don’t bend them anymore.

3. Your end range should be the point in which you begin to lose contact with your butt and the bar.

*You should feel a stretch in your hamstrings.

She went a tad bit beyond her end range. You can tell because she has lost contact with the bar at her butt.

The goal is to practice the Hip Hinge before every training session. Go slow and controlled. After a couple of months of practice, you should be able to hit your end range without the bar and without thinking.