First day back training hard: Rear Delts, Biceps & Forearms

Since winning the WBFF World Fitness Model Championships in canada a few months ago, I took some time away from the gym to not only give my body some time off, but to also get my motivation back. After all, during the 4 months I was training for the contest, I was in the gym pretty much every day, and when your putting your body through such an intense regime, it can start to feel less enjoyable, as it first did, and when that happens, you really have to give it everything you've got just to make it through the end of the workout! Taking some time off every now and then (just when you begin to lose that 'eye of the tiger' that we all first had when we first stepped into the gym, or started a new workout).

How do you know when it's time to get back into the gym? Well, when you find yourself getting excited again just thinking about going to the gym, then it's time. I took the best part of a month off from the gym, and because I ate fairly clean (Ok, so I had my fair share of cheat foods but that was part of my motivation when I was sweating it out in the gym for months during my pre-contest training, so I did feel like I deserved a little time off), when I did step back into the gym for a fully-focused workout (as opposed to going there because I felt as though I needed to keep some level of fitness up), my strength was still there. In many ways, I actually felt stronger because I had given my muscles adequate rest in which time they had fully recovered from all the stress they had received from months of hitting the weights hard.

I wanted to start back at the gym with a real enjoyable workout, and so decided to train rear delts (which had always given me an incredible pump in the past), Biceps (C'mon, who doesn't like working out their biceps), and Forearms (from reviewing the pictures of me on stage, I needed to work a little more on my lower legs and my forearms).

I went to my local gym in the valley close to where I live (Powerhouse). This is the workout that I did: (all weights in pounds)

SHOULDERS

Seated Military Press on Smith Machine (Behind the neck to top of ear line)

A great first exercise for warming up the shoulder complex. Good for building size too, especially if you want to work on the rear of the shoulders - which is most of us!

First two warm up sets: 15x50 / 15x70

First Workset: 8x90

Second Set: 8x100

Third Set: 7x105

Wide-Grip Cable Row (Using a Lat-Pull down bar)

Perform as you would with a seated row, except your grip is much wider, and performed with a limited range of movement. Only the 2nd half of the movement, keeping your elbows high, and pulling the bar up towards your upper chest.

First Set: 12x150

Second Set: 12x160

Third Set: 12x170

Incline-Facing Rear Flys (Dumbbells)

Set up a bench at a 35-degree incline, and keeping your knees on the lower-half of the bench with your chest on the upper part of the bench, hold a dumbbell in each hand and keeping the arms straight - raise the arms up towards the hips, rotating your knuckles outwards, pausing when the dumbbells are inline with your hips.

First Set: 12x20

Second Set: 12x20

Third Set: 12x20

Seated Rear Delt machine (Reverse Fly machine)

I only performed this exercise with a limited range of movement (the final part), thus keeping constant tension on the deltoids)

First Set: 12x120

Second Set: 10x150

Third Set: 10x165

BICEPS

Straight Bar Curl 

This is a great exercise for mass building as it places maximum stress on the muscle. If you feel a strain in the wrist, use an ez-bar, or stick with a preacher bench to isolate the bicep more. I stopped short of my thighs to keep constant train on the muscle, and squeezed hard at the top.

First Set: 12x80

Second Set: 10x90

Third Set: 10x90

Seated Preacher Curl (Alt. Arms w/Dumbbells. Single Sets)

A great exercise for peaking the bicep. I twist as I curl, rotating my thumb outwards as I curl, which places more stress on the inner part of the bicep. Great tip if your aiming to thicken out your biceps like a grapefruit!

First Set: 10x35

Second Set: 10x35

Third Set: 10x35

Seated Cable Preacher Curl (using straight bar)

Sit on a seated-row bench with your feet up on the bench, and position your elbows just below your knees. Keep this position fixed as you perform the exercise, curling the bar towards your chest.

First Set: 8x60

Second Set: 10x60

Third Set: 10x60

FOREARMS

Performed as a tri-set x3

Each exercised performed once, then moving on to the next exercise without rest. Wait two minutes before repeating the tri-set.

Reverse EZ-bar curl

Perform like a standard curl, except use an overhand grip, and keep your thumbs over as well so that its more stress on the forearms 

Set: 12x50

Dumbbell Extension

Seated on a bench with your forearms resting on your knees.

Set: 12x50

D-Grip Squeeze

This is an old-skool piece of kit that's shaped like a large 'D', and really works on your grip and forearms.

Set: 15reps

after 3 complete sets of each exercise performed as a tri-set, I finished my workout with another tri-set - one the will really show out your endurance to the test, and a great gauge for if your comparing your workout to a previous one or that of your workout partners..

Here it is:

After only allowing a few minutes to recover from your last tri-set of forearms, perform these three exercises without any rest between each one, and executing each rep with a full range of movement.

Wide-grip chin-ups: 12

Dips: 37

Push-ups: 17

Give it a go and leave a comment on how you feel after!!

Good luck!

If your interested in having a personalized workout program or nutrition plan built for you, you can contact me at training@robriches.com

Metabolic Meal

Meat Eater Type Meal

Since before the contest when I was on a very strict calorie restricted diet (somewhere between 1900 - 2300 calories a day), and consisting of a limited range of foods, I've decided to go back to the way I was eating before I started to diet hard, which was eating certain foods that fit my metabolism. That's to say that based on how my ancestors ate generations and generations ago, that these are the foods that my body has become able to digest and make use of best.

The fact is that nutrients not part of a persons cultural heritage are incompatible with that individuals biochemistry.

This has a lot to do with one's balance of blood ph between being acidic or alkaline.

Before I continue, let me first tell you about the nerves of the the autonomic nervous system, which extend from the brain through the spinal cord, and from there to the organs, are composed of two branches, the parasympathetic and the sympathetic, each regulating a different set of organ systems. 

The parasympathetic nerves ensure the survival of the internal body environment by accelerating the process of digestion and assimilation of food, and the repair and rebuilding of body cells.

The sympathetic nerves, on the other hand, protect the body from danger in the environment outside the body by speeding up the flow of hormones from the thyroid, adrenals, and pituitary. This makes the heart beat faster, the blood circulate more rapidly, and more oxygen to flow into the lungs, actions that speed up the thought processes and supply the body with bursts of energy needed in earlier times for fighting, hunting, and outmaneuvering enemies.

The sympathetic  and parasympathetic, however, not only speed up the functions of the organs over which each has control, but act as a brake on the other half of the autonomic nervous system by slowing it's actions.

I am a parasympathetic dominant individual (determined by answering a few short questions of which I'll come to a little later on), which means I am a fast oxidizer, and should eat foods such as beef, lamb, and venison because the body burns them up slowly, forcing the parasympathetic nerves to slow the rate at which they normally use up energy.

Now, I'm sure like I was at first, when reading this I was a little unclear as to how this impacted which foods I should be eating, and perhaps more importantly, which foods I shouldn't be eating, but with a little more research into the acid/alkaline diet, I soon uncovered a new level of understanding of how the body responds to certain foods, which will serve me well in continuing to build on my success as a natural athlete. And don't worry - I'll be making this all available for you to follow!

As a parasympathetic dominant individual, my body has large quantities of acid for the digestion of meat, and should limit my intake of of certain acidic nutrients such as Vitamin C, lemon juice, and vinegar so as not to speed up my already too rapid digestion of protein. An important factor to bare in mind when trying to build muscle because if your body is digesting protein too quickly, your body will be excreting higher levels of amino acids instead of your muscles uptaking much of what you think they are. Ask yourself this - Have you ever increased your protein intake whilst lifting heavy weights expecting to build muscle, when all you truly experience is a stronger smell to your urine, and perhaps even a little indigestion. 

In individual's with a slower digestion (sympathetic dominant individuals who are typically grain eaters, and usually blood type A), they are left with undigested food particles that turn into acidic waste. These find their way into the blood and lymph vessels that feed the insulin-producing glands in the pancreas. As these vessels become clogged with waste, they block the transport of insulin form the pancreas to the blood. Lack of insulin in the blood means that sugar doesn't get burned up, so that blood sugar levels become elevated and produce diabetic symptoms.

Ok, so back to the meal in the picture. This was a strip steak cooked on a George Foreman grill, and sprinkled with cayenne pepper, which stimulates good digestion, including the breakdown of fats. It's also a good overall body tonic. I cooked several root vegetables (bok choy, kale, and sprouting kale), in a closed pan with little heat, and instead of cooking in water, I used organic (no added salt) peeled tomatoes from a tin, so that much of the nutrients from the vegetables were not lost in the water when it was strained (unless you keep the water and drink it once cooled). Limiting my carbohydrate sources, I added a salad of organic endive leaves, romaine lettuce, green beans, plus spinach leaves - all of which provide an excellent source of roughage and rich in digestive enzymes. I added two tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil, which aside from increasing the flow of bile, olive oil assists in the breakdown of long-chained fatty acids.

Aside from water, there is more fat in the body than any other substance. Cellular membranes that surround the cytoplasm of each cell are made up of almost entirely of fatty acid (the form of fat into which the fat we eat is broken down), and the brain is more than 60% fatty acid. Moreover, fatty acids, along with protein (in the form of amino acids) play a vital role in the manufacture of energy. Transportation of oxygen by the red blood cells would not be possible without the fatty acid and protein membrane of the red blood cell through which oxygen gains entry into the cell.

I also added a handful of mixed berries (blueberries and blackberries), and mixed nuts (raw and natural almonds, cashew's, and walnuts), for added fiber and fats. (The combination of nuts and legumes - peas, ensure all the complete amino acids that the body cannot synthesize itself).

This is just a small glimpse of how I'm going to be changing my diet from now on, and I'll show you the results by posting my newly designed training program and progress pictures shortly on my website (which is also being rebuilt and launched early 2010).

If you are interested in having your own metabolic typing diet created for you, I have created a link of my store for only $99:  http://www.robrichesstore.com/personalized-fat-burning-diet-plan.html

To keep up to date on all my workouts and meals, plus more on metabolic typing, make sure you sign up to follow my blogs.

Until next time - stay fit and strong, both in body and mind!

Rob Riches

Rest Day - well, maybe a little cardio

To be added soon

Quads at Gold's Gym, venice

Content added soon

Morning Cardio/Abs Blast & Chest & Triceps & Gold's Gym, Venice

Woke up on time today. I was determined to. I made a promise to myself before going to sleep that I would be up and out of bed and get down to the gym to ensure I stay on track. It's so easy to hit that snooze button, and grab another 30+ minutes of sleep, but then that not only pushes my whole eating schedule back (by more than 30 minutes!), but also mean's I'm then rushing to get my morning workout in, and more likely to miss my final few sets, so it's important to stick to your schedule with as fewer deviations as possible if you want to succeed at your goal. Trust me - the pay off far outshines those moments of weakness or cravings, that it you can just get past them, will soon leave you, and you'll be all the more happier that you managed to stay on track!

Ok, so today I opted for 40-minutes of steady pace cardio on the upright bike. (I sometimes alternate 20 minutes on the bike, and 20 minutes brisk walking on an incline treadmill, but recently have been reading up on many of my old nutrition notes, books, and journals to refresh my knowledge and understanding of nutrition and how everything responds to certain stimuli. I mean, at this level, you really need to be aware that if you do this, that might happen, or if this isn't happening, then if you do that, you'll change the balance and see greater results - if you get what I mean. Only when you have a solid understanding of nutrition, kinseology, and a little experience I find helps, can you then start to really see the type of changes that I know we all wish for when were putting in the countless hours of training, and dedication and commitment to the lifestyle that must entail.

I'll soon be compiling many of my notes into several topic-repated articles available for all to see on my website - www.robrichesfitness.com as well as eventually writing my book on progressive cycles and core nutrition, which I am getting close too each month. Once the competition is over, I will have a lot more time to dedicate to other projects that I am working on.

After 40-minutes of pretty intense cardio (level 12-14 @ 70+ RPM), I was determined to do my monster set of Abs (which is actually a reworked circuit of the ones that the great Frank Zane - an idol of mine, and with a good-will message from another one of my inspirations - Shawn Phillips I was determined to finish the 1,020 reps without unnecessary rests bewteen sets. If you haven't already - I urge you to read his book: ABSolution - a must for anyone wanting to achieve lean, tight abs, showing full definition and separation across the entire abdominal region. I've read it back to front, many times, and it continues to be a source of reference for me when I'm brining my abs back to their full competitive glory!

For the purpose of future blogs, I'm going to call this particular ab circuit as "Abs Circuit A", so that when I do them again, I can just refer to this page of my blog without having to write the full set each time.

I'll try and post a few pics shortly!

Superset 1:
Hanging Knee Crunches - 50:50:50
Cable Crunches - 50:50:50 (using 50-65lbs on the weight stack)

Superset 2:
Lying Leg Raises (of a bench) - 50:50:50
Crunches (25lb plate on chest) - 50:50:50

Superset 3: (triset)
Seated Twists (small barbbell across neck, arms out-stretched) - 50:50:50
Single Arm Cable Twists - 30*:30*:30* (*30 performed on each side)
Hyper-Extensions (Holding 25lb plate) - 30:30:30

Although my abs by now were feeling super tight, and somewhat fatigues, I was surprised to feel like I still had some energy left. A sign that I was conditioning my abs, as I can remember only a few weeks ago, when just one superset of 50 reps each seemed like that was all I can do. My advice to you is do whatever you can the best that you can do, and keep track of it. Each time you do it again, try and add 5-10 more reps on, and soon enough you'll be up there in the higher rep range. But remember - it's not just about the reps. As Shawn writes in his book - ABSolution, there are many factors that contribute towards a getting a solid six pack, and variation is perhaps your best weapon for fighting fat and chisiling those abs! Keep records, and when your progress slows, its time to change variables, and continue with your success! All you have to have is belief in yourself. The rest is in your hands!

By the way, I'll also be posting a full log sheet of my newly revised nutrition plan(s) over the following days, so stay tuned for those.

That wasn't the end of my training for the day though! No, I was heading back down the gym by 3pm to meet with my friend - a sexy hot new up'n'coming fitness model I'm helping to train (who really motivates me to train hard, plus she actually follows the same routine as I do, just a little lighter. After all, muscle is muscle, and if you want a certain muscle to grow, there's only real way to train - and thats heavy!).

We worked out Chest and Triceps, and as usual, you can see my training split at my Bodyspace.

Here's a quick overview though, and again, I'll try and post a few pics of the exercises soon enough so that you can see what I am talking about, as I know many of the same exercises have different names and slightly different areas of focus.

Bench Press: 4 x 12-6 reps
Incline Machine Press: 3 x 10-6 reps
Weighted Dips: 4 x 15-10 reps
Incline Dumbbell Flys: 2 x 9-6 reps
Dumbbell Pullovers: 2 x 8-10 reps
Lying French Press: 3 x 10-6 reps
Overhead Dumbbell Press: 2 x 9-6 reps
Tricep Pushdowns: 2 x 10 reps

Chest and arms felt as though they were on fire by the end of it. 9 out of 10 for the workout!

Stay tuned for tomorrow when I'm back at the gym early morning for cardio and abs - again, plus legs back at Gold's Gym. I'll be filming this workout, so make sure you don't miss it!

Stay strong and healthy.

Rob

Morning Cardio + Evening Calves + Forearms

I had all the intention of waking early this morning - I'm talking 5.30am, so that I could get down the gym and back for my morning cardio/abs blast and be back home by 7-7.30 for my first meal of my new nutrition plan, so that I could start the week of on track, but for some reason, I slept through my alarm and didn't wake until 6.30 am which meant it was already past 7 am when I got to the gym, and nearly 8.30 am by the time I got back home to eat - at least an hour past my first scheduled meal, which consequently forced me to push all my other meal times back a little, and to try and get them all in for the day, which has left me feeling a little rushed throughout the day.

But more about my new nutrition plan later, as I will be posting an overview on my fitness site - www.robrichesfitness.com once I have developed a further 2 entire new food days, but remember - if you are following my exercises and nutrition plans, don't expect the same results that I am planning for, as there are many different factors that aside from just 'what I eat' and 'what I do', plus, I have been doing this for many years now, so my body is perhaps far more accustomed to these changes, and therefore will adapt quicker than likely those who are not as experienced or conditioned. I will be posting how I worked everything out, although much of what I do is based on me knowing how my body responds to changes, so even if you were following everything excactly word-for-word, you still may not see the results you want.

You can follow me on twitter, and see many of the meals that I am eating, including the nutrition ratio breakdowns.

Ok, morning cardio - same as yesterday. 30 minutes of short 20-second interval sprints, followed by just 1 set each of my usual ab circuit - as I was conscious of time, and wanted to get back home to eat!!

Usual day - editing (a really cool program I shot at the 75th Muscle Beach Physique Show in Venice, with Ms. Fitness America - Sherry Goggin hosting. Soon to be seen on LAMuscle.TV and quite possibly Sky TV), plus my new meal plans every 2.5-3 hours, which can be seen on my twitter site.

Today was my small muscle group day - Calves & Forearms, which allow me to really hit them both very hard, with maximal intenisty, instead of trying to hit them after a full workset on a large group such as chest, back, or legs.

Again, you can see a full breakdown of my exercises, sets, reps and weights on my Bodyspace site, but I have also posted an overview of my workout below.

Standing Calf Raises: 4 x 15-12 reps (New personal best set)
Seated Calf Raise: 3 x 12-10 reps
Donkey Calf Raises: 3 x 10-12 reps (New personal best set)
Decline Donkey Calf Raises: 3 x 10-12 reps
Rotary Calf Press: 3 x 15-12 reps

Reverse Grip Preacher Curl: 3 x 15-8 reps
Supinated Barbell Wrist Curl: 3 x 15 reps.

2 new personal bests! Not a bad workout at all, although once home, I had to apply a heat pack to my lower back as the stress from the 1/2 deadlifts had caused it to become slightly inflammed - a sign that I had created a lot of micro-tears in my lower lumbar, and with adequate rest, recovery and good nutrition, I can expect some good gains over the following months in size in my lower back.

Ok, early-ish night for me today, as i've gotta be up early to do it all over again tomorrow.

Stay tuned..

Lower Back & Hamstrings at Gold's Gym, Venice, CA

Again, I was debating after waking up this morning, whether to take another day off from the gym, as my body was still feeling sore and somewhat tight! Another sign that with good rest and nutrition, I could expect to see some gains, even though I'm now 10 weeks out from the WBFF World Finals. In fact, after eating my oatmeal and egg whites, I went back to sleep for another 2 hours. After waking at around 10.30 am I was feeling a little more my normal self, and decided that I was just tired and not suffering from the past workouts - although they could still be felt, believe me!

After showing, and my 2nd meal (canned sardines mixed with a Tbspn of Salsa and 1 tspn of hot sauce, all on a slice of dark toasted rye bread) I put together my supplement stack that I've created for weight training when dieting into my pill box so that I could take when I am half way to the gym for maximum results, as the drive from my home into Venice is about 40 minutes, but can take over an hour if traffic is bad, and once in the gym, the supplements will have faded from providing optimal results.

You can find a full list of my supplements and which ones I take and when on my new fitness website - www.robrichesfitness.com although to give you a quick overview of them, they consisted of:

N-Acetyl L-Tyrosine
Co-Enzyme Q10
N-Acetyly L-Glutamine
BCAA's
Norateen Hollywood Body

On the way to the gym I knew I was in for a good workout. I was training with a good friend of mine, Dave Catudal, who has competed in a few similar shows that I have, plus we share much the same attitude to training - do it right, or go home. Also, after a days rest, and with lower back and hamstrings on todays muscle menu - both muscle groups being 'Pull Muscles', in which I seem to be far stronger comparatively than with push exercises, I knew that I would be achieveing some new personal bests, and because of that very approach before even stepping into the gym - I did. In fact, I not only achieved some personal bests, but I smashed them by at least 15%!!

You can view the full breakdown of all my exercises, sets, reps and weights at my Bodyspace by clicking here.

After a relatively short workout (compared to most where I usually have more exercises involved, but was so caught up with talking to different people in the gym, and allowing longer rest times bewteen sets given the heavier weights I was attempting), I walked out of the gym expecting to feel very sore in my lower back and hamstrings, but couldn't wait until a few more sessions like over the following weeks, and to be standing on stage a good 5-8 lbs heavier than I ever have been previously, with my condition peaking at somewhere between 4-6%. I knew I was doing everything I possibly could to ensure I gave myself the best chance of winning the world title at the WBFF World Championships!

My work had been done for today.

Thats all for now folks, but stay tuned for even more intense workouts this week, as I attempt to train with different people who motivate and inspire me, at different gyms around LA to keep my motivation high.