Strength Training | Top Form Fitness

7 Quick Ways to Energize Your Workout

It can be challenging to stay motivated to exercise regularly. In my experience people come up with all kinds of excuses, including: not having enough time, not having the money, or not having enough energy. I’m going to address the “lack of energy” issue by introducing 6 Quick Ways to Energize Your Workout. => CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT MY ARTICLE IN THE TORONTO SUN ON THIS TOPIC. 1) Caffeine: Caffeine is one of the most common ways people use to boost their “energy”. Caffeine, a chemical present in coffee, tea, soda pop, “energy” drinks, and some sports supplements, is a stimulant that will increase your heart-rate and mental alertness. Athletes will often use caffeine before training to improve performance. Consuming 100 to 300 mg of caffeine before your workout is safe and effective for most people (a cup of coffee is about 100mg). Just practice moderation and if you drink [...]

Josh Hewett2014-06-24T13:01:49-04:00

Your Ticket to the GunShow (Big Arms Routine)

Every red-blooded man with hair on his balls wants bigger, more muscular arms. It’s in our DNA. This is now one of my big goals for 2014… I plan on adding at least one inch to each arm within THREE months! How the heck do I plan on doing this? Well, the first step to growing bigger arms is to focus on gaining some quality muscle mass over your entire frame, by following a solid hypertrophy / muscle-building program, such as my Basic Anabolic Hypertrophy Training (BAHT) program and nutrition plan. I don’t recommend focusing on smaller muscle group too much until you have a decent base to build from. I don’t suggest trying to add inches to your arms during a “cutting phase”, or while following a caloric deficit. You need to be ready to gain some weight. Check out my BAHT blog post HERE: Basic Anabolic Hypertrophy Training [...]

Josh Hewett2014-01-25T23:10:15-05:00

How to Gain More Muscle Mass – GET BIG Program

After focusing on losing body fat for over a year, and successfully achieving a single digit body fat % as well as the coveted “six pack”, I’ve decided that I now look a little too “skinny” for my liking. So I’ve taken on a new goal, which is to gain a few pounds of muscle while minimizing fat gain. In preparation for this goal I’ve added to my knowledge of hypertrophy by doing a serious amount of reading, as well as speaking with other fitness experts who are well versed in the science of growing muscle. From what I’ve learned, I’ve put together what I believe to be a solid hypertrophy program. I’m about to list all the principles for WHY I set it up this way, so this may be a long post (bear with me!): I’m calling it BAHT (Basic Anabolic Hypertrophy Training). It follows some similar principles [...]

Josh Hewett2014-01-25T14:56:09-05:00

How to Fix Your Shoulders

In our modern society, rounded forward posture is becoming more and more common. It seems that the more advanced technology becomes, the more sedentary we as humans become. Whereas physical activity used to be a natural part of our lives, now we need to schedule time to go to the gym to stay in shape. Many people spend most of their days sitting at a desk, in front of a computer, in a car, on the bus, or in front of a TV. No wonder we appear to be de-evolving!After spending so much time hunched over, the muscles in our mid-back between the shoulder blades tend to get weak and lengthened, while the muscles in the front of our body and around our neck become shortened and tight. This can lead to shoulder pain related to a/c joint impingement, tight upper traps, rotator cuff muscle imbalance, anterior delt irritation, and [...]

Josh Hewett2022-03-22T21:15:24-04:00

How to Fix Your Back

As I discussed in one of my earlier blog posts, I was involved in pretty serious car accident as a teenager. A tire blew out and our vehicle rolled into the ditch, throwing me out of the window and about 20 feet through the air! I ended up fracturing 3 lumbar vertebrae (spinal compression fractures) and was confined to several days of bed rest in the hospital. After that I was told to never lift heavy weights again, which didn’t make sense to me because it was strength training that had protected me from a more serious injury! So I set out to learn as much as I could about strength training and post-injury fitness, and in the process I have trained my lower back and core to be one of my strongest muscle groups. Now, I understand that for most people suffering from lower back pain and/or tension it may not be [...]

Josh Hewett2013-11-26T15:11:20-05:00

How to Fix Your Knees

Back in 2004 I was taking Judo lessons (along with Kick-boxing and Wrestling) in my quest to become a legitimate bad-ass. During one lesson I was grappling with another big yellow belt and both of us were being a bit bull-headed, so when I tried to throw him (with sloppy technique) and he fought it, I ended up awkwardly twisting him across my leg and suddenly “POP”, there goes my ACL. Since a major part of my life involves being physically active I opted to have ACL reconstruction surgery. After the surgery I was surprised and disappointed to discover that my knee wasn’t recovering as quickly as I’d expected. I tried everything: physio, massage, chiropractic, acupuncture, laser, etc. I’d get temporary relief at best, but my strength and stability wasn’t there when I hit the gym. I just couldn’t get my medial quad to contract properly. Even after several months [...]

Josh Hewett2013-11-25T18:01:42-05:00

Stretching Can Cause Weakness and Injury

As in many aspects of our society, in the fitness industry there are things that many of us accept as true based on dogma rather than science and facts. An example is the persistent myth that “eating fat is bad for you”. Once an entire system of training (or nutrition) has been developed around a certain (erroneous) belief, it becomes very hard to change, regardless of how much evidence is presented. Cognitive biases are formed over time, which are inflexible by definition. This is why it is SO important to keep an open mind and to become a critical thinker! Stretching and flexibility training is one of the aspects of strength and fitness that really seems to be dragging it’s ass. Despite the abundance of mounting research and evidence to indicate that passive stretching can lead to muscle weakness, joint instability, and increased risk of injury, there still seems to [...]

Josh Hewett2020-06-20T12:52:51-04:00

Strengthen Your Neck, Reduce Pain, Increase Lifts

In general, there isn’t only one common cause of neck pain that applies to everyone, yet many people suffer from neck pain. If you have chronic neck pain, you may have received a diagnosis of disc herniation, whiplash, strain, sprain or something else. Frequently those who work at a desk all day experience neck pain related to postural issues, and even fitness fanatics get the occasion pain in the neck from intense training or heavy lifting. Regardless, most of these conditions have one thing in common: Certain muscles are affected, and these are the muscles we need to target before progressing to more challenging exercises or activities. There are certain muscles in the neck that are designed to help us maintain our normal and healthy curve of the spine. In addition, these muscles are designed to hold our head up all day. […]

Josh Hewett2013-10-27T18:49:38-04:00

Gym Chat #217: Interview with Zach Even Esh (Underground Strength Coach)

In this Gym Chat we are very fortunate to have a special guest with us to discuss hard-core, old-school, no bullshit, “underground” strength training: Zach Even Esh! Are you confused by all the hype and gimmicky trends in the fitness industry? Ready to cut through the crap to learn some raw essentials of getting strong and athletic? Zach Even-Esh is an author, YouTube fitness celebrity, founder of the Underground Strength Gym, and creator of the Underground Strength Coach Certification. […]

Josh Hewett2013-10-09T21:11:25-04:00

How Strength Training Helped Me Build Inner Strength (Guest Post)

Foreword (Josh Hewett): In today’s blog I have a guest post to share from a friend of mine, Paul Marsland. In his short article Paul describes how High Intensity Resistance Training has helped him overcome his darkest hour. His experience is a testimonial to the mental toughness and fortitude that is developed with this type of training and how it can help us tackle the seemingly insurmountable challenges that we face in our lives. Guest Post By Paul Marsland September 11th, 2011 is a date that will forever stay with me, as its the day that my Mum was taken from me. The news of her untimely death hit me like a bolt of lighting … the shock and grief was almost too much to bear. I, like many sons, was very close to my Mum; every other Sunday I would travel to her house and sit in the kitchen with her while she cooked [...]

Josh Hewett2013-08-06T21:19:46-04:00

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