Strength Training | Top Form Fitness

Pre-Exhaust Training – Old School Mass Builder

One of my favorite advanced training techniques for hypertrophy (building muscle) is pre-exhaustion. This “old-school” method was used and recommended by some of the great golden-era bodybuilders from back in the day such as Casey Viator, Arthur Jones, and Mike Mentzer. However, I don’t recommend using this training protocol until you have a good foundation getting stronger with the big basic compound movements (such as squats, presses, and pulls). For myself, I like to alternate between a program like my Barbarian Strength Training and Pre-Exhaust Training every few weeks. […]

Josh Hewett2020-06-15T22:00:11-04:00

12 Days of Christmas Fitness

Here's my gift to you: The 12 Days of Fitness (Christmas Workout). I had several of my clients perform variations of this program yesterday... it's a fun way to get in a decent circuit training workout for the holidays. There's 12 rounds of this circuit, each round adding another exercise with one more repetition (up to 12 repetitions for the final exercise, of course). It takes about 45 minutes to an hour to complete, depending on your rep speed and rest intervals. Here's the video tutorial I created for it (you'll be impressed by my angelic singing voice!):

Josh Hewett2020-06-15T22:03:09-04:00

8 Ways to Progress Your Workouts (without Adding Load)

The key to making physical changes with your training program (ie: improving your physique, building muscle, etc) is PROGRESSION. Most people think that means lifting more weight than you did before, which certainly is the primary way to progressively introduce greater muscle tension. But if your goal is to gain muscle, maintain lean tissue while losing fat, or reshape your physique (rather than just to “get stronger” or improve performance) there are other forms of progression worth implementing. If you’re new to lifting weights then it makes sense to focus on getting stronger first. But if you already have at least a year of lifting experience and a decent strength base, it’s time to look at ways to progress in addition to increasing load. These strategies can also be employed if you hit a plateau where you are unable to move more resistance than you already are. [...]

Josh Hewett2022-03-18T21:20:15-04:00

8 Benefits of Strength Training For Women

I wish all the women who are afraid that lifting weights will “bulk them up” would show me their muscle-building secrets! I’ve been busting my ass for years to gain a few more pounds of muscle mass! Where does this fear come from? Certainly not from personal experience. Men and women need to approach their resistance training program with a similar intensity. Of course there will be small variations in each individual’s workout, but to get results both men and women need to participate in a challenging strength training program as part of their overall exercise plan. […]

Josh Hewett2020-06-14T19:48:00-04:00

The Bulgarian Method – It’s for Normal People Too (guest post)

The Bulgarian Method – it’s for normal people too (and it’s not as bad as you think)! -By Martha Munroe I’ve read a number of articles online from weightlifters trying out what they call “The Bulgarian Method” of weightlifting and reviewing what their experience was like. For those of you not in the know, the Bulgarian Method is a system of training for weightlifting developed by Ivan Abadjiev for the national weightlifting team in the 1970’s and 80’s. During his career he produced 12 Olympic champions, 57 world champions and 64 European champions. The reputation of the Bulgarian system is that it is brutal – lifting to max everyday, often several times/day, with very few assistance exercises. The verdict of many people testing this out is that it’s unsustainable, dangerous, and can’t be done without steroids. My personal experience with the Bulgarian method has been very different from that. My [...]

Josh Hewett2020-06-14T19:47:01-04:00

Sciatica: Facts, Symptoms and Treatment

Are you suffering from sciatica? Know all about it here and find how to reduce your pain. Sciatica is defined as the pain caused in the lower extremity resulting from irritation of the sciatic nerve. The pain of sciatica is felt from the low back that is the lumbar area to behind the thigh and can radiate down below the knee. The root cause of this pain is irritation of sciatic nerve, which is the largest nerve in body. It begins from nerve roots in the lumbar spinal cord in the low back and extends through the buttock area to send nerve endings down the lower limb. 1. Causes While sciatica is most commonly a result of a lumbar disc herniation directly pressing on the nerve, any cause of irritation or inflammation of the sciatic nerve can produce the symptoms of sciatica. This irritation of nerves because of an abnormal [...]

Josh Hewett2020-06-14T19:56:58-04:00

Priorities of Function (Guest Post – Frank DiMeo)

For more than twenty years before I transitioned to the world of strength and conditioning; I was heavily involved with martial arts training. There was a very distinct progression of how we learned and trained. The priorities of function were adhered to and a very strong base of foundational techniques was established. For instance, the front kick was learned and practiced long before a back kick. A back kick would practiced long before a spinning back kick was learned. In strength and conditioning, the priorities of function are also extremely important. The main reasons for this are to invest your training hours wisely so the return on your investment is a solid base of strength and correct technique. If a person cannot do a full ROM bodyweight squat, he has no business trying to do a squat with a barbell. The human tendency is to be very impatient, and that can sabotage your progress [...]

Josh Hewett2014-11-29T00:01:57-05:00

Nutrient Timing: Is There an Anabolic Window?

I used to be a strong advocate of consuming carbs and protein within an hour post-workout to take advantage of the supposed “Anabolic Window”, when insulin sensitivity is greatest, damaged muscles are starving for protein, and muscle glycogen stores are depleted and ready to suck all that nutrition in to support faster gains. However, I recently attended a lecture by Brad Schoenfeld in which he discussed nutrient timing, and questioned whether it was as important as many thought. Because of this lecture and the reading I did following it, I have changed my opinion… I no longer believe the post-workout “anabolic window” is as narrow nor as important as I once thought. Let’s look at why. First of all, one argument in favor of consuming carbohydrates within 30 minutes post workout is that this would cause a spike in insulin which has an anti-catabolic effect and would increase nutrient uptake [...]

Josh Hewett2020-06-14T22:05:39-04:00

5 Benefits of Supplementing with Creatine

Despite being one of the most well-researched sports nutrition supplements around, there still seems to be a lot of misunderstanding surrounding Creatine. In this article I will attempt to clear up some of this confusion, explain exactly what creatine is, introduce Five Big Benefits of Creatine, and provide a few links to some of the relevant research. What is Creatine? First of all, let’s take a look at what exactly creatine is. Here is a simplified description: the basic currency of energy in your body is adenosine triphosphate (ATP). When your body uses it, it gives up a phosphate group becoming adenosine diphosphate (ADP). Creatine is stored as creatine phosphate (CP) in your body. Before your body starts using glucose for energy, it first breaks down ATP as a quick energy source. So when your body needs energy quickly (ie: power for the first few reps), the creatine “donates” its phosphate to [...]

Josh Hewett2020-06-14T22:06:32-04:00

Will Crossfit Bring You Gains or Pains?

We’ve all heard the expression ” No Pain No Gain.” Unfortunately I’ve seen far too many people have more pain than gain as a result of this philosophy. Part of the problem with an overly aggressive approach to getting in shape is that once you are injured you will have set yourself back significantly. As an example, let’s look at the popular yet somewhat controversial group fitness cult craze called Crossfit. Those who argue in favor of Crossfit insist it is a fun, effective, and intense approach to fitness that delivers fast results. Many believe it is also a terrific way to train for overall “athleticism”. => CHECK OUT MY ARTICLE IN THE TORONTO SUN ON THIS TOPIC! However, Crossfit has also gained a reputation for delivering more than it’s fair share of injuries as well. Part of the reason for this is the explosive nature of many of the exercises [...]

Josh Hewett2014-06-24T23:00:30-04:00

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