Lying in bed, tossing from side to side, trying to shut our thoughts out, and failing. Minutes turn to hours, and, before we know it, morning has come, and we’ve barely gotten any sleep.
Just as we feel ourselves drifting away, the alarm clock cuts through the silence, forcing us to get out of bed and face the day.
What follows is rarely pleasurable because let’s face it:
Not getting enough sleep is terrible. We feel tired, irritable, unmotivated, and unproductive.
The good news is that we can employ some tactics to improve our sleep and quality of life.
Let’s discuss.
1. Optimize Your Sleeping Environment
While most people rarely think about it, our sleep environment plays a massive role in our ability to fall asleep easily and get enough deep rest.
Specifically, you need to be mindful of the:
How you spend the last hour before bed can play a significant role in your ability to fall asleep. Specifically, you might want to consider a pre-bed ‘power down’ routine that makes you relaxed and gets you in the mindset of sleeping.
Fantastic activities include reading, taking a bath or shower, meditating, journaling, and stretching your muscles. Bundle them together, and you’ll see a significant difference.
While the occasional nightcap might seem like a great way to relax your mind and fall asleep more easily, research disagrees.
According to studies, drinking even small amounts of alcohol shortly before going to bed can disrupt our ability to get enough deep restorative sleep. Sure, we might fall asleep more quickly, but that could come at the expense of sleep quality. So, it’s best to avoid alcohol for at least a couple of hours before going to bed.
Caffeine is also a bad idea if you want to sleep well. Research shows that caffeine has a half-life of around six hours. Meaning, if you ingest 300 mg at 4 PM, you’ll still have some 150 mg coursing through your system around 10 PM. So, it’s best to avoid any caffeine within eight hours of bedtime.
Going to bed and waking up at the same time each day is one of the best ways to improve sleep quality and add structure to your days.
By going to bed at the same time, your body naturally begins to associate the specific time with sleep. So, you naturally relax more and typically find it easier to fall asleep. The same goes for waking up:
By doing it at the same time each day, your body naturally becomes more alert come time to get up, which makes it easier for you to tackle each day.
So set a consistent schedule and do your best to follow it every day.
After a good nights sleep you'll be ready to rock a workout with our top of the food chain workout apparel: Apex Collection
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Meeting your daily needs is easy enough when you’re at home, but what if you have to eat a meal outdoor? Or what if you’re constantly in motion and rarely find yourself taking a break?
To help you with that, we’ve put together this post, outlining four effective tactics for getting more protein on the go.
Let’s see what they are.
Restaurants have vastly different menus, and it’s not always easy to navigate it and make the best choices, especially while on vacation in another town or country. So, when you’re in doubt, go for the proven protein sources:
Loading up on these foods is excellent because you cut back on calories, get lots of protein for your buck, and feel more satiated for hours after that meal.
You can also add other safe choices to the protein source, like a simple salad with a dressing.
There is no substitute for whole foods - we know that. It’s always best to get your protein from whole foods instead of supplements. But, sometimes, supplements can be incredibly helpful in allowing you to get more of certain nutrients. This fully applies to getting more protein while you’re in motion.
The reason is, protein powders offer lots of the essential muscle-building nutrient and are incredibly easy to consume. All you have to do is put a scoop or two in a shaker bottle and put that in your bag.
As you’re out and about, you can add some water to the protein powder, shake it well, and drink it in a few seconds.
Whether you’re on vacation and have found yourself in a supermarket or are looking to get more protein-rich foods, this tip is invaluable.
Load up on simple and convenient protein snacks and foods like:
Getting more of these foods allows you to get more protein while on vacation and prepare simple snacks you can take with you outside.
Carrying foods and snacks might seem obsessive and over-the-top, but it isn’t. It makes a lot of sense when you think about it. First, you have foods you can eat when hunger strikes, so you don’t have to compromise and get unhealthy foods on the go. Second, it tends to be cheaper, and you get to save some money on eating outside.
Here are some great options:
No matter where you are, all you have to do is take the food out of your bag and enjoy it. How great is that?
I recently returned from Belize and did my best to blend in with the local wildlife in our Killer Croc Set! Check it out at https://apex-fitness.ca/collections/killer-croc-set
]]>Be honest:
Have you ever thought you would see the two in the same sentence?
It always seems like we should choose one or the other.
“If you enjoy alcohol, by all means, have at it. But don’t expect to get fit!”
But is this true? Is alcohol genuinely detrimental to our fitness efforts?
Let’s discuss.
Why Do People Fear Alcohol So Much?
There are many reasons why some people feel uneasy about the topic of alcohol. But as far as fitness is concerned, the biggest issue has to do with fat loss.
Prevailing wisdom suggests that alcohol leads to fat gain and stops us from losing fat, even if we are on a good diet, so let’s break it down.
To gain fat, we need to be in a calorie surplus. In other words, we need to consume more calories than we burn each day. In doing so, the body has more than enough energy to carry out its tasks, so the excess gets stored in the form of fat and lean tissue.
The mere consumption of alcohol doesn’t necessarily mean you’re in a calorie surplus. Thus, it doesn’t mean you’ll gain weight.
To lose fat, we need to be in a calorie deficit. This is opposite to the surplus and means consuming fewer calories than we burn. In doing so, the body has no choice but to break down fat tissue to get the remaining energy it needs to function.
And yes, you guessed it: Merely consuming alcohol doesn’t mean we can’t be in a calorie deficit and losing fat.
So, as far as fat loss and gain are concerned, our overall calorie intake matters most.
But What About Alcohol and Muscle Growth?
Okay, you might be thinking, “Sure, alcohol might not be bad for fat loss. But I’ve heard that it wastes my muscle mass! What gives?”
First of all, take a deep breath. Secondly, read on.
The idea that alcohol leads to muscle loss mostly comes from a couple of studies that found a correlation between alcohol and a drop in testosterone levels. And, given that testosterone is the hormone for muscle growth, people have naturally made this connection.
But here’s the thing:
First off, one of these studies only found a drop of six percent in testosterone levels. For example, if these men usually had T levels at an average of 600 ng/dL, they ended up with just over 560 ng/dL after a few weeks of regular alcohol consumption. That’s such a slight difference that it wouldn’t make any difference in the real world.
Second, in one of these studies, subjects had to consume huge amounts of alcohol for days in a row. Of course that would lead to drops in testosterone. But even then, testosterone isn’t the primary issue but things like:
So, what’s the bottom line?
When consumed in small to moderate amounts, alcohol will not stop you from reaching your fitness goals.
Looking for some great activewear to compliment your routines? Check us out at: https://apex-fitness.ca/collections/all
]]>After all, they’ve worked hard and have earned their status.
But, though it may come as a surprise, even experienced gym-goers make mistakes that can sometimes derail them and slow down their progress.
With that in mind, here are the four most common blunders to keep in mind:
1. Not Training Hard Enough
As we gain momentum with training, we tend to get comfortable with our training and forget one simple fact:
Training is supposed to be tough and unpleasant.
Instead, folks find themselves going through the motions of training, rarely working hard to break a sweat. As a result, their progress stagnates, and they find themselves asking, “I’m training consistently, so why can’t I seem to build muscle or get stronger?”
In many of these cases, simply working a bit harder is enough to kickstart progress.
Having goals is not everything. You still need to put the work in. Plus, successful and unsuccessful people often have similar goals, yet their outcomes differ significantly.
But having clear objectives for your training is still vital because it allows you to set a direction for your efforts. Think of it like this:
You know where you want to go before you enter your car, right? That way, you can pick out the best route that will get you there. The same goes for training:
Setting clear, realistic, and time-bound goals allows you to create a plan that will get you there. For example:
“I want to bench press 225 pounds in the next six months.”
The goal is clear, time-bound, and, depending on your current strength, even realistic.
Look:
The more we do one thing, the more we close ourselves to new ideas and tactics. In the case of training, most people start by exploring all sorts of exercises because they feel enthusiastic.
But, after years of training, the enthusiasm tends to fade, and trainees find themselves doing the same few exercises over and over for months on end.
The issue is that doing the same thing repeatedly makes your training dull, so you find yourself feeling bored. Workouts no longer feel like this fresh thing to spice up your day. Instead, you go in to get it done and go home.
By switching up your exercises from time to time, you get to keep this fresh and engaging. Plus, you get to train in a slightly different way, which can positively impact your progress.
This isn’t to say you should change exercises every week. Instead, we recommend doing so every few months.
Yes, yes. Breathing is about as exciting as going to the dentist. Yet, we need to pay attention to it because it makes a massive difference in how we feel and perform.
The reason is, good breathing allows us to produce energy aerobically (with the assistance of oxygen). This, in turn, allows us to train harder, get tired more slowly, and recover better between individual sets.
Plus, good breathing patterns allow us to brace well, remain stable, and lift heavier weights. For example, learning how to breathe deep into your belly and brace your midsection is vital for squatting heavy weights.
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Get jacked in style! Check out our products inspired by the fiercest predators in nature: https://apex-fitness.ca/collections/all
]]>Abs right? Or maybe the obliques?
And what’s the first exercise you think of when you hear about core training?
Like most, you probably think about movements like crunches, side bends, and leg raises.
The truth is, our core is much more nuanced than most people imagine, and training it effectively comes down to much more than doing a few sets of crunches or side bends.
Let’s discuss.
What Is The Core, Anyway?
Contrary to popular belief, our abs - also known as rectus abdominis - are far from the only muscle group in the core. The entire central area of the body is what we call the core, which includes many muscle groups.
Specifically, aside from the rectus abdominis (six-pack), the core consists of:
Some folks even argue that the chest and upper back should be considered part of the core, but there isn’t an agreement among experts on this idea.
Given the number of muscles in the core, one can’t simply crunch two-dimensionally and hope to develop all of these muscles.
It’s difficult to say what combination of exercises would train our core optimally, but it’s our job to try and figure it out.
With that in mind, let’s go over a handful of exercises that strengthen the entire core in numerous ways.
5 Of The Best Core Exercises You Should Be Doing
1. Deadlifts
Deadlifts might seem like a back exercise, but their effects are much more profound. The deadlift is among the best core movements simply because it trains a large percentage of them. It also trains these muscles simultaneously and teaches them how to work together.
And, as an added benefit, you get to overload your core with a lot of weight, which strengthens it significantly.
The plank is a simple but incredibly versatile core exercise. Unlike the other movements on our list, it mostly emphasizes stability and forces you to engage your core to maintain your position.
The best part is, you can pick from many variations - simple or complex - depending on your athletic level.
This movement is simply about lifting a weight over your head and walking with it. Though seemingly simple, this forces significant core activation because you need to work hard to keep yourself upright. Plus, your glutes also work incredibly hard to move you forward and stabilize your pelvis.
Leg raises are by no means a bad movement, but many people find themselves overtraining their hip flexors instead of their abs. This variation has you lift your butt off the floor as your legs are raised, which engages your glutes, lower back, and abs much better.
We can’t have optimal core development without strong rotational ability, which is why movements like loaded torso twists work so well. Specifically, such exercises develop our internal and external obliques while emphasizing torso stability through rotation.
Incorporating Core Exercises
Personally I like to incorporate one core exercise at the end of every workout. I perform some light cardio on my off days and follow that with 2-3 core exercises as well. The important thing is to fit a variety of these exercises into your normal routine.
Visit our blog for lots of additional resources on fitness and training: https://apex-fitness.ca/blogs/building-the-basics
If you’re training to be at the top of the food chain you should dress the part as well! https://apex-fitness.ca/collections/mens-wear
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We all want to build muscle. There is no other feeling quite like that of working on your body and seeing it transform into something beautiful and strong.
Plus, it feels great to earn the admiration of others. After all, a well-built physique doesn’t just mean that you have an armor plate chest or guns of steel. It also signifies that you’re disciplined and you can work hard.
As the saying goes, “We can’t buy fitness; we can only rent it. And rent is due every day.”
But there is a small problem: our nutrition.
There is so much conflicting information out there, and picking out the valuable bits can feel impossible at times. To that end, we’ve put together this guide. We’ll go over the most important things you need to know about eating for optimal muscle gain.
First Thing’s First: Get Your Calories In Order
You’ve probably heard the saying, “Eat big to get big.” While we don’t entirely agree with this philosophy, there is a lot of truth to it.
Building muscle optimally comes down to creating and sustaining an energy surplus. In other words, consuming more calories than you burn every day. This provides your body with all of the energy it needs to carry out its many processes and still have excess calories to build tissue.
In general, we should aim for a surplus of 200 to 300 calories over your maintenance level. This is enough to optimize muscle growth but without leading to significant fat gains. For instance, if your maintenance calories are 3,000 per day, you should aim to consume 3,200 to 3,300.
But how do you find what your maintenance calories are? Well, there are plenty of decent online calculators you can use. These typically ask you about information such as your age, gender, height, weight, and activity level. Based on that, they give you an estimate of the number of calories you burn each day. Here is one such calculator.
While you certainly don’t need to be in a surplus to build muscle, you will slow down the process significantly if you try to do it while eating at maintenance or in a calorie deficit. As a rule of thumb, you should aim for one to four pounds of weight gain per month, depending on your gym experience and current muscular development. Beginners can aim for quicker weight gain, where more advanced folks should add weight moderately to avoid too much fat gain.
Second: We Can’t Forget About The Building Blocks
Eating enough food is vital for optimizing muscle growth. But without an adequate protein intake, you won’t get far. This is like having various building materials but failing to get enough bricks. Sure, you can lay down a foundation and start building. But you won’t get to build the house without the essential bricks.
Protein is what provides these bricks for the body - the amino acids. Each molecule of protein consists of various amounts of essential and non-essential amino acids. Once ingested, the body breaks down the protein, and the amino acids contribute to the plasma amino acid pool. This is something of an internal storage that travels through the bloodstream and lends building blocks where needed.
In the context of building muscle, the body needs amino acids to repair damaged muscle tissue and strengthen it. Without an adequate supply, these processes can’t happen as they should. Our recovery is slower, we don’t get stronger, and we are unable to build muscle.
All of this can happen even if we are otherwise eating enough calories, simply because fats and carbs don’t have protein’s muscle-building properties.
As a rule of thumb, we should get around 0.8 grams of protein per pound of body weight. For instance, if you currently weigh 150 pounds, you should consume 120 grams of protein daily. You can even go as high as one gram per pound, but research doesn’t find extra benefits if you’re in a calorie surplus.
Carbs, Fats, And All That: How Big Of An Impact Does It Have On Us?
You can find a lot of information about the theoretical ‘best’ macronutrient split. Some recommend a low-fat approach; others tout low-carb and ketogenic dieting.
The truth is, your body needs some amounts of all three macronutrients to function well and build muscle optimally. In general, you might want to control your fat intake while eating in a surplus because the body readily stores dietary fats as adipose tissue.
No, this doesn’t mean ‘fat makes you fat.’ Instead, it means that certain energy sources might be a bit more beneficial. We still need some fats because they play an important role in our health and well-being. But getting too much can lead to slightly higher fat gains.
In contrast, a high-carb and moderate-fat approach allows you to train harder, recover better, replenish lost glycogen more quickly, and gain slightly less fat (so long as you control calories well). The last one is true because your body can’t readily store carbs as fat. It first needs to convert them to fatty acids through a process called de novo lipogenesis.
As a rule of thumb, once you’ve covered your protein needs, consume more carb-rich foods, and limit high-fat and pure fat foods. Aim for around 0.4 grams of fat per pound of body weight. For the same 150-pound person from above, that would be a daily goal of 60 grams of fat.
Nutrient Timing And Frequency: Learn How to Optimize Your Eating Schedule
What matters most is that you get enough calories and protein each day. Still, your meal frequency can have a small positive impact on your recovery, performance, and long-term results.
Specifically, research by Brad Schoenfeld and colleagues finds that multiple daily protein servings allow for a steady stream of amino acids. Theoretically, this should enable us to recover more quickly, break down less muscle tissue in response to training, and achieve better results.
For instance, if your daily protein needs are 160 grams, it would be a good idea to split that up into three or four servings, spaced a few hours apart.
Besides that, a meta-analysis by Schoenfeld and colleagues finds that post-training nutrition can play an essential role in our recovery and muscle gain. This is particularly true if we haven’t had any food in the hours leading up to our workout.
The researchers recommend a healthy blend of carbs and protein a couple of hours before training and a similar meal within a few hours of finishing a workout.
Pair you’re eating habits with one of our workout programs to start seeing some great results:
https://apex-fitness.ca/blogs/building-the-basics/killer-cubs-3-day-at-home-workout-routine
https://apex-fitness.ca/blogs/building-the-basics/killer-croc-4-day-at-home-workout-routine
And show those gains off with our signature workout gear:
https://apex-fitness.ca/collections/mens-wear
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The truth is, many people sacrifice their sleep in favor of having more time for work and leisure. But sleep deprivation can wreak havoc on our health, make us lose focus, and impact our fitness outcomes.
In this guide, we’ll explore the significance of sleep for fitness and what that means for you. Let’s dive in.
But First: What is Sleep Debt?
Sleep debt is quite similar to financial obligations. Think about it this way:
As a person spends more money than they earn, debt accumulates. The longer they live like that, the greater the debt becomes, and the more difficult it gets to pay it off.
Sleep debt is the same. The more we sleep less than we should, the more sleep debt we accumulate, and the greater our sleep deprivation becomes. Research suggests that sleeping for less than six hours per night for two weeks has the same neurological impact as staying up for 48 hours straight.
What’s worse about sleep debt is that most people think they are doing fine and never realize their performance is declining. In their eyes, they are doing well and can get away with less sleep. In everyone else’s eye, they are performing worse on every cognitive and physical task.
Sleep’s Impact on Fat Loss
Sleep is crucial for fat loss on several fronts. As it relates to:
Let’s take a look at each of these.
Sleep has a profound impact on frontal lobe activity. This is the part of the brain responsible for decision-making, impulse control, and other related behaviors. The problem is, sleep deprivation hinders frontal lobe activity, which makes us more impulsive and less able to control our urges.
This leads to poor decisions, especially as it relates to our nutrition. We are less able to control our food-related impulses and often find ourselves eating unhealthy foods and seeking instant gratification.
Sleep deprivation also appears to raise levels of the hunger hormone ghrelin. As a result, we feel hungrier throughout the day and experience more cravings for salty, sugary, and fatty foods.
A fascinating study from 2010 found something interesting about sleep and our ability to burn fat. In that paper, subjects got to sleep for 8.5 or 5.5 hours per night. They followed a special weight loss diet in both scenarios.
When they got to sleep for 8.5 hours, half of the subjects’ weight loss came from actual fat. In contrast, when they only got to spend 5.5 hours in bed, only a fifth of their weight loss came from fat.
Everything else was the same in both conditions, but their sleep. This alone tells us how vital it is to sleep if we want to achieve optimal fat loss.
There is no other way to put it:
The less we sleep, the more tired we are, and the less we want to move around and do things. This results in lower activity, a higher risk of skipping workouts, and fewer calories burned.
How Does Sleep Impact Our Ability to Build Muscle?
That’s right - we are not done yet because sleep deprivation impacts more than our ability to burn fat and get lean. As it turns out, not getting enough sleep can directly impact our ability to build muscle and strength. Let’s review.
Sleep deprivation decreases levels of two essential hormones for muscle growth - testosterone and IGF-1. As you’ve probably heard before, testosterone is the most powerful anabolic hormone in the body. It influences muscle growth, bone health, energy levels, strength, and much more. Having lower levels hinders our ability to train hard, recover well, and build muscle mass.
Most notably, testosterone increases muscle protein synthesis and inhibits specific proteins that block the mTOR pathway. Not having enough of it makes these effects impossible.
You’ve heard of cortisol before, haven’t you? Primarily known as the stress hormone, cortisol plays numerous vital roles in the body. The problem occurs when cortisol becomes chronically elevated, which is often the result of sleep deprivation. This leads to:
Cortisol oversees catabolism (breakdown) in the body, so it’s in our best interest to keep it in a healthy range by managing stress and sleeping enough.
The lack of sleep leads to fatigue, brain fog, and a lack of motivation. This is more of an acute effect but one that doesn’t go away from prolonged sleep deprivation. Yes, not getting enough sleep is one of the few things your body can’t adapt to.
These adverse effects persist until we begin to sleep more and pay off our sleep debt. General fatigue makes us less likely to move around during the day and can hinder our gym performance. Brain fog, an inability to focus, and a lack of motivation are also alarming for workout performance. If you do make it to the gym, you won’t be able to concentrate and train as hard.
Conclusion
Sleep is something we often sacrifice in favor of other, seemingly more important things like work or catching an extra episode of our favorite show. And the truth is, not getting enough sleep occasionally is not the end of the world. It won’t stop fat loss and prevent you from building muscle.
But the keyword here is occasionally. Chronic sleep deprivation wreaks havoc on our health. It makes us tired, saps our motivation, and hinders our abilities to control our impulses. It also has direct physiological effects on our abilities to build muscle and lose fat optimally.
So, what can we do about it? Well, sleep for seven to nine hours per night.
Wake up refreshed and throw on some Apex Apparel to crush your workout! Available at: www.apex-fitness.ca
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Our crocodile set is just about ready to release, to celebrate we came up with a 4 day routine inspired by these Apex predators. Tight resting core strength with explosive power. This routine can be done at home with basic household items. This workout is a bit more challenging than our Killer Cub routine (https://apex-fitness.ca/blogs/building-the-basics/killer-cubs-3-day-at-home-workout-routine).
If you’re new to working out you may want to begin there. Don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter to stay up to date on our latest drops, workouts, and blog posts!
We've got some easy to follow infographics attached to the bottom of the blog to help illustrate how to perform the exercises.
This is a leg day, the focus will be quads, hamstrings and glutes.
Circuit 1: Follow the 1-3 sequence till completion then repeat.
Total sets: 3
Wall-sit: Stand against a wall with your feet about one step away from the wall. Squat down into a squat position with your back still against the wall. It should look like you are sitting in a chair. Your back is straight with your knees at 90 degrees. You can hold a water bottle to increase the difficulty!
90 degree jump squat: Perform a normal jump squat. For the second jump, rotate to the right 90 degree for your jump squat then rotate again to your starting position.
Single leg knee-drive: Lunge position with right leg in front. Blast off right leg, bringing left knee up in a jump.Repeat reps on left leg then switch to the right.
Circuit 2: Follow the 1-3 sequence till completion then repeat.
Total sets: 3
Side lunge: Start standing with your toes facing forward and with your legs slightly wider than shoulder width. Shift your body weight to one leg, bending your knee to about 90 degrees. Stand back up in your starting position and alternate legs.
Kneeling squat to jump: Start by sitting up on your knees on the ground. From that position move into a squat then jump up.
Bulgarian split squats: Stand as if you are about to do a lunge. Put your back foot on a table or chair. Lunge as normal. Repeat on both sides
This is a core day, the focus will be on the abdominals and obliques
Circuit 1: Follow the 1-3 sequence till completion then repeat.
Total sets: 3
Mountain Climbers: Start in a plank position on your hands. Bring your knee towards the opposite hand. Repeat on the other side. Try to go back and forth at a pace that is comfortable for you.
Hip dips: Start in a plank position with your elbows bent against the ground. Dip your hip to one side close to the grow or tap the ground with the side of your hip. Repeat on the opposite side.
Leg raises: Start by lying flat on your back. Bring both legs up to above your hips. Bring legs back down but do not touch the floor again!
Circuit 2: Follow the 1-3 sequence till completion then repeat.
Total sets: 3
Bicycle Crunches: Start lying flat on your back. Bring your knees up until they are above your hips. Have your hands behind your ears. Bring your knee to the opposite elbow. Alternate sides
Plank: Plant hands directly under shoulders, and rise up on your toes with your body flat like a board. Keep your neck and spine straight.
Legs Raised Crunch: Start lying on your back with your knees bent above your hips. Have your hands behind your ears. Bring your chest towards your legs and then lay back down, while keeping legs elevated.
This is an upper body day, the focus will be on the chest, and arms.
Circuit 1: Follow the 1-3 sequence till completion then repeat.
Total sets: 3
Push-ups: Start in a plank position but in a wide arm stance. Your elbows should be out to the side in line with your shoulder. Bring your chest down to the ground then bring back up to the starting position.
Floor Tricep Dips: Start on your hands and knees but have your stomach facing the ceiling. Bend your elbows to lower yourself down. Bring yourself back up and repeat
Shoulder circles: Standing or sitting raise both arms out to the side. Move your arms in small circles either forwards or backwards. Hold water bottles for extra resistance if necessary
Circuit 2: Follow the 1-3 sequence till completion then repeat.
Total sets: 3
Supermans: Start by lying flat on your stomach. When ready, raise your chest up while keeping the rest of your body on the ground. Hold for 3 seconds then bring your chest back down and repeat.
Shoulder taps: Start in a plank position on your hands. Bring your hand up to your opposite shoulder. Repeat on the other side.
Tricep push-ups: Start in the plank position on your hands. Have your hands directly under your shoulder to engage the triceps. Bring your chest to the floor then come back up to your starting position
This is a cardio day, the focus will be on bringing our heart rate up, increasing our endurance and power.
Circuit 1: Follow the 1-3 sequence till completion then repeat.
Total sets: 3
Burpees: Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and your arms at your sides. Bend your knees, and lower your body into a squat. Place your hands on the floor directly in front of your feet. Jump your feet back to softly land on the balls of your feet in a plank position. Your body should form a straight line from your head to heels. Jump your feet back so that they land just outside of your hands. Reach your arms overhead and jump up into the air. Land and immediately lower back into a squat
Squat to Punch: Start with your feet slightly more than shoulder-width apart. Lower down into a squat. When you come up use your right arm to punch to the left side and the same with the other side.
Plank Jacks: Start in a plank position. Jump both your feet out to the side and bring them back in
Circuit 2: Follow the 1-3 sequence till completion then repeat.
Total sets: 3
Scissor jumps: Start off in a lunge position with one foot forward and one knee bent behind you. Quickly extend through both of your legs, jumping up as high as possible even swinging your arms to gain more height. While in the air, switch the positioning of your legs so that your front foot is back and your back foot is upfront. While you are jumping have your arms extended out in front of you. One arm should come up towards your head while the other is moving towards your legs. Making a scissor motion.
Speed skaters: With your knees bent and your back leaning forward, leap on alternating feet from side to side. Swing your back foot behind the standing leg but try not to let your toes touch the floor.
Quick feet: Start standing straight. Go up onto your toes. Tap your feet one at a time out in front of you as quickly as you can.
Now that you’re training like a Croc why not look like one? The Croc sets will be ready in early June, our collections can be found at: https://apex-fitness.ca/collections/all
]]>There are plenty of household items that you can use to assist in body weight exercises and a few items around the house to increase resistance/weight. Feel free to use soup cans, water jugs, bags with books, or any other weighted household item for this routine.
Killer Cubs focuses on a basic routine that hits all major muscle groups. Just like a cub if you master the basics in your own domain you’ll be out tackling antelope in the wild in no time! Sign up for our newsletter, we’ll be releasing more progressively challenging workouts over time.
We've got some easy to follow infographics attached to the bottom of the blog to help illustrate how to perform the exercises.
This is push day. We will primarily focus on the chest, triceps, and shoulders.
Circuit 1: Follow the 1-3 sequence till completion then repeat once.
Total sets: 2
Pushup: You can do a pushup from your knees if a regular pushup is too difficult to begin with, you can elevate your feet on a couch or stairs if you’d like to increase the challenge. Keep your body straight and your hands just outside your pecks.
Tricep Dips: Place your butt on a chair and your feet flat on the ground. Walk your feet out and place your hands on either side of your butt. Move your butt off the chair with your hands behind you. Lower and raise up for a dip.
Shrugs: You can grab soup cans, gallon water jugs, or any other household item for this. Simply shrug your shoulders up to your ears and down.
Circuit 2: Follow the 1-3 sequence till completion then repeat once.
Total sets: 2
Floor DB Press: Water jugs will do! Lay flat on your back with the feet flat and knees bent. Bring the jugs down to your sides like a normal press and back up to the middle together.
Front Raises: Grab soup cans and raise them directly in front of you stopping at chest height. Bring them back down.
Skull Crushers: This exercise is best done on an ottoman, you can doing lying flat on the floor if you don’t have any furniture that will work. Lie with your back flat and your head just on the edge. Hold the soup cans straight over your head. Bend just at the elbows and move them back towards your head for a triceps exercise. Bring them back to starting position.
This is leg day. This all lower-body!
Circuit 1: Follow the 1-3 sequence till completion then repeat once.
Total sets: 2
Walking Lunges: You can hold soup cans/water jugs/anything that adds weight. Continuously lunge and walk around your house alternating which leg is in front.
Hip Lifts: Lay flat on your back with feet flat and knees bent. Push your hips up with your shoulders staying down on the floor. Lower to ground and do again.
Squat: Squat to a chair to make sure you keep good form when starting out. You can even do a one-second sit and stand up.
Circuit 2: Follow the 1-3 sequence till completion then repeat once.
Total sets: 2
Calf Raises: Hold your household items for weight and simply raise up on your tippy toes and back down for one calf raise.
Marching Hip Lift: Get to the top of a hip lift position and raise your right leg up keeping the bend at the knee and bring down. Then your left to mimic the marching.
Step Up: Stairs are great or a sturdy chair/box. You will simply step up and step-down alternating which leg pushes up. You can add weight to increase the challenge.
Pull day! We will focus on back, biceps, and rear delts.
Circuit 1: Follow the 1-3 sequence till completion then repeat once.
Total sets: 2
Bicep Curl: You can hold soup cans/water jugs/bags with books in them/anything that adds weight. Curl the weight from your sides to your shoulders and back down with your palms facing out.
DB Row: Hold a water jug and place the opposite hand on a chair. Back flat and knees bent you will bring the jug from hanging towards the ground to your hip while bending at the elbow.
Towel Row: Grab a hand towel and wrap it around something sturdy. Bring your feet towards what the towel is wrapped around and lean back with your body straight. While holding either end of the towel pull your body up and lower back.
Circuit 2: Follow the 1-3 sequence till completion then repeat once.
Total sets: 2
Hammer Curl: This variation of the curl has your palms facing inward towards each other rather than outward.
Prone T-Raise: Lay on your stomach with your arms straight out in a T position. Your head should be down and raise your arms on either side of you a few inches up and lower back.
Reverse Fly: Grab soup cans or similar and have a slight bend in your knees. Lower your chest so you’re leaning forward and pushing your butt back. Bring bring the weight to chest height on either side of you almost like a T-position and back down.
You made it! By splitting it into three days and isolating your workouts you will get MAXIMUM BENEFITS. With some consistency you will start to see your results! Keep your protein intake up during this program, aim for approximately 1g per pound of your desired bodyweight. Sign up for our newsletter, we’ll be adding harder workouts and going over some nutritional science in the coming months.
If you want to look the part our Tiger sets will help get you to the top of the food chain!
]]>The fact is, the rules for building muscle AREN’T all that complicated, but many people jump into the gym and start hoisting weight with little or no knowledge at all of what the heck they are doing! This can lead to injury and will almost definitely lead to inconsistent if not incredibly slow progress. I mean, if you are just beginning to lift weight to build muscle, there is no need to kick off with forearm curls…you gotta stick to the compound movements, lift fairly heavy and KEEP IT SIMPLE…
This guide will help you understand the basics required for building muscle and allow you to create a workout plan designed to help you build muscle on every part of your body. If you follow the guidelines and stay consistent, you will be filling your sleeves with solid, hard muscled arms in no time. Are you ready?
Rule #1: Go heavy-Ok, don’t get scared. I am not talking about hoisting 500lb deadlifts on day 1. The point here is that in order to kickstart your body into MUSCLE BUILDING mode, you will need to lift heavy enough to force your body to perform the work needed to TEAR AND REPAIR, which is required for building muscle. You see, when your muscles perform work to a degree that causes them severe stress, small tears form in the muscle…these tears are then repaired to ensure the muscle gets BIGGER to handle this increased workload, thus, your muscles get BIGGER.
Rule #2: Perform Compound Movements (NOT isolated ones!)-OF COURSE you want bulging biceps, but when starting to build muscle for the first time, the last thing you want to do is isolated curls with one dumbbell! This is a tough pill for most to swallow but if you can stick the basics and do what WORKS, you will make quick progress. You WILL get to the point where you are doing individual exercises for individual muscle groups, but for now, let’s pack on the muscle using COMPOUND movements and kickstart the muscle production into gear.
Compound movements are exercises that involve multiple muscle groups to perform an action. Here are the ones you want to focus on, almost SOLELY, as you begin your muscle building journey:
Squats-Often called the KING of exercises, this “man-maker” of an exercise earned this moniker well. Squats are an incredibly effective exercise and work every muscle in the lower body AND many in the upper body as well. They can be performed a variety of ways including a straight bar behind the neck, held in front of the body in a “clean” position, or with various holds using dumbbells or kettlebells. As you are starting out, you will want to learn the form properly, preferably with the help of a personal trainer. The goal is to lower your body into a squat position as if you were going to sit down on a chair or couch, so your thighs are parallel to the ground (or even lower) and then raise up again until your body is straight. This movement is taxing ESPECIALLY as the weight increases. Make squats the FOUNDATION of your muscle building lifts, and you will start seeing the results quickly.
Deadlifts-Deadlifts are your #2 go to and are close to squats in terms of their ability to build muscle over your entire body. While squats focus more on the front of your legs (your quadriceps or quads) Deadlifts focus more on your posterior chain of muscles including your glutes, hamstrings, and lower back. They require excellent form to so learning this form is crucial to begin moving serious weight AND building serious muscle. You can start light with dumbbells or kettlebells and eventually move up to straight bar deadlifts. For the uninitiated, your biceps AND abs will get a serious workout while doing deadlifts…trust me.
Bench press-Next we have the bench press. This movement is certainly geared towards building your chest, but the additional benefits make this a perfect foundational exercise. Bench presses will work your pectoral muscles (chest), deltoids (shoulders) and Triceps extremely effectively. As you progress in weight, each of these muscles can be hit effectively by ONLY doing the bench press. Mixing your hand position from close together to further apart will put varying stress on your chest and triceps and is great for hitting each area more effectively during your workout (close grip for triceps, further apart for chest)
Pulldowns/pull-ups-We can’t forget the back! Pullups are an awesome back and bicep workout but if you can’t do them yet, just jump onto a pulldown machine and get to work. Pulldowns and pull-ups work your entire back AND your biceps. You can build big ole guns JUST doing this movement so make sure to add theses to your routine.
In addition to the fact that all these exercises hit a variety of muscles, BECAUSE they work so many areas and force the body to do INTENSE work, they also help to release GH or Growth Hormone. This chemical is crucial to muscle growth as it helps to increase the body’s absorption of protein which helps to build muscle. It also helps to utilize the body’s stores of FAT as energy, so you can build muscle WHILE burning fat. Pretty cool substance, eh?
Rule #3: EAT-In order to build muscle, your body must have a sufficient source of calories AND protein. Muscle building requires energy. Don’t skimp on the food while you are packing on the bulging muscles. Stick to high quality foods, NO junk or excess sugar, and go a little heavier on the protein side of things. No need to be too specific with the number of grams of protein at least initially, just eat clean, and don’t skimp on the calories.
Rule #4: REST! -While you may be eager to see massive amounts of muscles added to your frame, you MUST not overwork your body, or it will never happen. Muscle is built when you are RESTING, not while you are working. Sure, your arms may inflate like balloons during your workout, but that is not added muscle, it is a temporary PUMP that occurs when you fill your muscles with blood from exercise. Your muscles rebuild and recover during sleep and when you are relaxing so make sure to include PLENTY of rest throughout your week. A good routine when you are just starting your muscle building journey would be:
Day 1: perform 3-4 sets of all of the above exercises with 8-10 repetitions per set.
Day 2: rest
Day 3: Repeat day 1
Etc.
This type of split routine can work great while you are starting out but as you get stronger and can handle more sets and reps, you might consider a routine such as:
Day 1: Squats, Deadlifts
Day 2: Bench press, pull downs
Day 3: rest
There you have it! If you are serious about putting on muscle, the above will absolutely get you started and can even comprise your entire YEAR 1 journey! Just add weights, reps and sets as your body adapts, rest when needed, and BE CONSISTENT. You will need a new wardrobe in no time as those muscles of yours push against your clothes and create a brand new MUSCULAR you! Good luck on your journey and I hope this guide serves you well!
While you're becoming a beast you should look like a beast, our Tiger sets command attention from everyone who enters your domain!
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