In Part I of this Build Muscle The Right Way Article Series, I spoke about the three most important keys I use for building muscle and gaining strength at the same time: Multi-joint Movements, Training for Power and Speed, and Working for Muscular Balance. You can read Part I here: Keys to Muscle Building.

Sample Upper Body Training Split

In Part I, I put a lot of emphasis on maintaining antagonistic balance so that you do not develop muscular imbalances that will cause you trouble later on down the road. Also as I stated Part I, if you perform your complementary Push and Pull movements on the same day, it can be easier to keep everything balanced. However, because I spend so much time training for Grip Strength, I run out of time in order to accomplish everything I like to do, so I split the two days up. Lately, my split has looked like this:

• Week 1 – Day 1: Push, Week 1 – Day 2: Pull, Week 1 – Day 3: Lower, Week 1 – Day 4: Grip Specific
• Week 2 – Day 1: Pull, Week 2 – Day 2: Push, Week 2 – Day 3: Lower, Week 2 – Day 4: Grip Specific

In other words, I go Push, Pull, Lower, Grip for the first week and then flip flop the Push and Pull so it goes Pull, Push, Lower, Grip the second week.

Sample Upper Body Push Workout

Here is a recent workout I did for Upper Body Push. This workout took place on a Monday. It was followed by an Upper Body Pull Day on Tuesday and then a Lower Body Day on Thursday. One week later, I followed the schedule and did my Upper Body Pull Day first and the Upper Body push day second, etc.

Optimally, the order of this day would go like this:

1. Overhead Power Movement: Requires the most skill and energy, so it should take place first

2. Bench / Incline Bench: Because the body is supported on the bench, even after doing a big movement like the Overhead Variations, I still feel strong on the bench going second.

3. Auxiliary Bench Movement: Examples could be Speed Bench Against Bands, Incline Bench, Dips – All these are awesome, especially if your shoulders are feeling good.

4. Isolation Movement: If isolation movements are your thing, you can include them here or you can do another auxiliary movement, work on the rotator cuffs, or bring up a weakness in your upper body (triceps, etc)

Bench Press

On this day, I started off with Bench Press, although often I will actually start off with Overhead Press, especially if I am using the Log. I was able to work up to an unassisted single of 365 on the Bench Press, for the first time in about a year. My all time best is 405 with a spotter.

Speed Bench Against Bands

In order to perform this one correctly and get the most out of it, you should be moving the bar much quicker than this. I should have either used lighter bands or lightened the bar weight, but I did not.

Military Press

My back was feeling a bit seized up after the heavy benching, because I was actually arching pretty hard for me. That is about all the angle I get. If I worked on my thoracic mobility more, I think I could get a better arch. Anyway, because my back was tight, I stuck with Military Press instead of a more powerful movement. Like I said, I like to do a Push Jerk, Push Press or a straight out Jerk movement first, but it didn’t work out that way this week.

Gironda Lateral Raise Complex

This is a combination I never even knew about until I reviewed the book, Vince Gironda, Legend and Myth. In that book he has what he calls the 8 Sets of 8 Keep-You-Honest Workout and the finisher for Upper Body Day is Side Laterals followed immediately by what he calls the Dumbbell Swing, but I have affectionately called it the Pirate Ship. Regardless of what you call it, it mimics the movement of the Pirate Ship ride at the amusement park in the way the arms swing rhythmically back and forth.

I don’t want to say that this movement pairing or even that just doing the Pirate Ship movement “fixed” whatever was aching in my shoulder the last few weeks, but after doing it every week for roughly 6 weeks straight as my finisher for my Upper Body push day, my shoulders have felt outstanding! I was able to perform dips pain free, getting my rib cage to touch the cross-bar on my dip station for the first time I can remember in years, and I was able to Bench 365 touch-and-go style for the first time in ages. I encourage you to try this out. At the very least the combination pumps your shoulders with a very nice burn.

This is how I set up the strength training muscle building workouts. Because I work a variety of percentages of 1RM, a variety of speeds, and train volume as well, I have been fairly successful at building muscle and strength at the same time as long as I am eating enough calories, staying injury free, and getting enough sleep.

I have had several months in a row now where I have been free of lower back injuries so I have not missed many workouts and recently my strength levels and size have increased.

Now that the latest Grip Contest, Gripmas Carol 2011, is out of the way, I plan on adding conditioning work back into my weekly routine separate of my workouts and cleaning up my diet as well in an effort to trim down a bit and get just plain ripped to shreds in 2012.

If you want to watch some of the stuff that I do for conditioning and fat loss, I can certainly film it, but only if you are interested. I don’t know if this is something you want to see or not on my site, so please leave me a comment an let me know.

Thanks and all the best in your training.

Jedd

For further information on building muscle, check out Smitty’s AMD Program by clicking the image below. This is one of the best Muscle Building Programs on the market, shares many of the same principles I am sharing here, and includes many other ways to keep you healthy and balanced in order to build muscle the right eway.

• Push Pull Workout for Powerful Upper Body Strength
• 3 Keys to Building Muscle the Right Way
• Top 5 Simple Muscle Building Tips – Essential Mass Building Exercises
• Vince Gironda – Upper Body Muscle Building Workout
• Great Tricep Finisher – Improve Pressing Power

Jedd, I love challenges and the tougher the better! I’ve been training for many years now and been down just about every avenue possible.

Over the last 7 years I’ve taken up many forms of non-conventional training, kettlebells mainly, along with strongman, maces, sandbags, grip training and over the last 2 years heavy sledgehammer training.

The first person I ever saw swinging a heavy sledgehammer was John Brookfield, it looked so brutal I knew I had to get one of my own (a 25kg one to be precise). Initially training with it was really hard, until I learned the technique and shortened the handle. In 2009 I was inspired by kettlebell and sledgehammer fanatic Stepf Dogman to go for a 1 hour sledgehammer challenge after seeing this guy weighing in at only 69kg strike a tire 520 times with a 20kg hammer. I managed 791 reps on my first challenge for a charity that I support.

October 15th sees me return aiming to break the 1000 rep barrier (that’s roughly 17 strikes/min). I have been training since May and racked up over 13,000 strikes over nearly 60 sessions. The basis of my training has been 10 min sessions 3 times per week, setting off at 10 reps/min increasing by 1 rep per week until I hit 20 reps/min for 10 mins then I started upping the length of my sessions. I knew 1000 reps was going to be a tall order so I thought starting early would get me a great base to work from.

The carryover from hammer training to repetition snatching has been great too, I recently did a new best in the 24kg 10 min snatch test with 252 reps without any specific kettlebell work, it has also done a great deal for my grip strength (my hammer handle is nearly 2″ thick). The best thing about the training I have been doing is that it’s all been done in my half hour lunch break at work. It’s resulted in being a bit sweaty at work but really gives you a physical and mental boost for the afternoon and allowed me to do other training in the evenings.

My event on the 15th October is for Charity and to boost fundraising I have written my first ebook – ‘Unconventional Conditioning,’ a 45 page book packed with many videos, tips for training and program ideas.

To get hold of this ebook and be entered into a raffle for some strength and fitness goodies I am asking for a 2GBP minimum donation on my nation on my Just Giving Page.

Rob Russell

Thanks Rob! This event sounds AWESOME. I can’t imagine how brutally strong your hands, wrists and thumbs are getting from swinging the sledgehammer for such high volume. I know when I take my sledgehammer outside to swing it, my thumbs blow up like hot water bottles. All the best to you with your event – - Jedd

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I wanted to share a note that I got from a member of the Diesel Universe this week about the Intro to Strongman DVD. This comes in from Carlos Rodriguez…

“Thank You Jedd for the Strongman DVD!!! It was freaking Great!!! You and Steve put together a rock solid production that is extremely helpful & fun to watch, both of you kick ass man!!! I will definitely use that info on the warm up section, a lot of stuff I was not aware of!” – Carlos Rodriguez

Thanks Carlos for the awesome report on the Strongman DVD that Steve Slater and I recently put out. It’s great to hear from all of you guys when you pick up a product I put out. I always try to over-deliver on any ebook or DVD I produce. It’s just engrained in me, I guess.

If you haven’t seen out DVD, you can check it out here: Introductory Strongman DVD

As you can see from Carlos’ statement, Steve and I didn’t just cover Strongman Training Technique in this DVD, although that portion of the DVD is, of course, killer and loaded with golden nuggets.

We also wanted to cover the maintenance and recovery side of Strongman Training in this DVD.

In short, we wanted to show you how to do everything safely as well as prepare for awesome workouts and recover from them as well.

With that in mind, the night before we shot the DVD we sat down and mapped out all of the things we had ever heard about that had caused injury to us, our friends, training partners, competitors and others who had reported bumps, bruises, sprains, and strains. We then tried to identify possible causes of the injuries and how to prevent them.

What we found is that a lot of it came from either lack of warm-up or improper technique.

So, we then made sure that we incorporated each item into our outline and instruction.

The Contents of the Strongman DVD

This brought about our Warm-up Section, Support Gear Section and Recovery Section, which as you can see, has been pretty helpful for people who have bought the DVD, especially my boy Carlos, above.

So, if you’re thinking about implementing Strongman Training into your program, you should consider this DVD for sure.

All the best in your training,

Jedd

Click the image below to get your copy of the Introduction to Strongman Training DVD…

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The Importance of Nutrition for Athletes
A Guest Post by Strength Coach, Joe Meglio

Let’s face it, many athletes struggle with their nutrition.

I often ask my high school athletes what they ate on that day so far and I usually get answers like pop tarts, a bowl of cereal, a wrap or sandwich and other highly processed food that comes out of a box or wrapper.

Not only are they eating crappy food, but they are barely eating! The problem with poor nutrition is that an athlete cannot expect to perform at their best if they are not feeding their body the proper nutrients it needs to achieve maximum performance. You are what you eat! If you eat like crap, you are going to feel like crap, recover slowly and have low energy levels.

Nutrition Made Simple

The biggest challenge for most athletes is being consistent and making the right food choices. In order to solve this problem, the best approach is to make nutrition as simple as possible. This means don’t complicate it by counting calories and other macronutrients. Instead, athletes should focus on eating nutrient rich foods.

If you are eating nutrient rich foods you will be taking in all the proteins, carbs and fats you need to succeed. Man made food isn’t meant for human consumption. These types of foods contain ingredients that are inflammatory and toxic to the body. A great rule of them is if a caveman wouldn’t eat it, neither should you!

What Foods Should You Eat?

Athletes should focus on eating mostly fruits and veggies, nuts and seeds, beans and legumes, and whole unrefined grains like brown rice, quinoa, oats, sweet potatoes. Free range chicken and eggs, grass fed beef and wild caught fish are also excellent choices.

Below is a sample meal plan. When it comes to meal frequency, I recommend you eat when you’re hungry. It really is as simple as that. Don’t worry about eating 5 or 6 whole food meals a day. I used to be a huge proponent of eating every 2-3 hours but when you do this for an extended period of time you start to realize that this lifestyle does not agree with your digestive system.

The simplest approach is to eat 3 whole food meals a day (breakfast, lunch, dinner) and eat small snacks or a smoothie in between meals to keep you satisfied. You should not plan your life around your next meal. Athletes I’ve talked to either eat way too much or not enough at all. It’s all about finding balance.

Meal 1: Breakfast

Muscle Building Smoothie – Put all ingredients into a blender and blend until you get desired texture

• 1-3 scoops of Sun Warrior Protein
• 1 frozen banana
• 1 cup of frozen strawberries
• ½ of frozen spinach
• 8 ounces of almond milk

Meal 2: Mid Morning Snack

• 1-2 handfuls of cashews and an apple

Meal 3: Lunch

• Grilled chicken spinach salad w/ chopped almonds

Meal 4: Dinner

• 6 ounces of salmon
• 1 sweet potato
• Grilled veggies

Meal 5: Still hungry?

• Eat leftovers from dinner

If you haven’t been eating for performance, now is the time to start.

Remember the keys to achieving optimal health and maximum performance are consistency and making the right food choices.

Ask yourself how many games in your life have you missed or not performed at 100% because you were sick, sore or not feeling right?

Once you start eating nutrient rich foods you will recover faster than ever, have more energy and get sick less just to name a few benefits.

How About Supplements?

Supplements are one of the most controversial topics for athletes. While I am not a huge fan of supplements and certainly don’t think they are necessary, certain supplements can be beneficial to overall health and performance. When it comes to choosing a company make sure you do your research. There are only a handful of companies I will purchase products from.

Supplements I recommend

• Probiotics & Digestive enzymes by NOW Foods
• Raw Vegan Protein by Sun Warrior
• Creatine Micronized Monohydrate by Biotest
• Super Omega 3 by Life Extension
• Ideal Whey, Focus Food & Ideal Pump by GI Nutrition (use promo MEGLIO to receive 10% off)

Other supplements to consider are BCAAs, omega 3 fish oil and a multivitamin…

Remember that the bulk of your vitamins, minerals and other nutrients should be coming through whole foods. Supplements are meant to “supplement” your diet, not be the focal point of it.

If you really want to find out what nutrients you are deficient in consider getting blood work done by your doctor. This is the best way to tell what vitamins and nutrients you are deficient in.

About Joe Meglio

Joe Meglio is a strength & conditioning coach at the Underground Strength Gym in Edison, New Jersey. He is mentored by one of the brightest minds in the strength and conditioning industry, Zach Even-Esh. While Joe has worked with various athletes at the high school, college and professional level, Joe specializes in the training of baseball players. Aside from being a strength coach, Joe competed in his first powerlifting meet on December 11, 2010 and set the NJ state squat, deadlift and total records in his weight class and division. He will be graduating from Fairleigh Dickinson University in May of 2011 with a BS in Entrepreneurial Studies and is captain of the FDU Devils baseball team. For more information on Joe Meglio and his unique training methods please check out MeglioFitness.com

Friend Joe on Facebook
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FREE eBook Performance Nutrition Manual for Athletes

Need More Info on Metabolic Meals?
Check out Metabolic Cooking

• Best Strength Training Exercises for Baseball
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I trained with the rest of the Diesel guys, the dudes from Krank Systems, Mark from Elmira Fitness Club and Taylor Sexton a few months back.

As a finisher to the already 3-hour workout, we finished with the Diesel Man Maker.

I admittedly do not do enough conditioning in my normal routine, so this killed me.

I don’t have all of the weights that were used, but it was ENOUGH – I can tell you that much. Check out the video…

Sled Dragging and Prowler work is a fantastic way to improve your fitness, conditioning, and strength levels and I’d like to help more people get started with this type of training.

In fact, tonight at 9PM EST, I am holding a Twitterchat with my longtime friend from “Down Under” Scott Bird.

Never done a Twitterchat? No problem, it’s easy.

First off, add me as a friend on Twitter => Jedd Johnson on Twitter.

Next, check out the background info on this week’s Twitterchat.

Third, write down any questions you might have about Sled Dragging, Prowler Work, the video above, ANYTHING you’d like to ask me and Scott.

Lastly, log onto Twitter or your favorite Twitter platform (I prefer TweetDeck) at 9PM tonight and ask away!

It should be a cool time, tonight for the Twitterchat. I have done a few of these with Scott and we always get the chance to interact with a lot of good people and help them get started in new directions in their strength and fitness journeys.

I look forward to chatting with you!

All the best in your training.

Jedd

Looking for the Ultimate Resource on Sled Dragging?

Check out the Ultimate Sled Dragging Manual.

Don’t have a Sled and need a cheap alternative?

Check out the Home Made Strength On-line DVD.
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