Punishmentwrestling's blog

If you are working on your own then the higher reps with lower weights is better on the safety side, if you have someone to spot for you then go for more weight, There are plenty of sites on the internet can give you the various exercises. Also, from expereince as i have similar set up, go for the better form over qty of reps, it will do you more good and there is less chance of injury

Many thanks for your sound advice. I have made lots of notes. Much appreciated

to some degree it doesnt matter. Truly high reps to failure with modest weights can work miracles. That said, so can heavy. Andy you dont even need equipment. If you sprint, do a LOT of pushups, adn find some way to so a lot of pull ups, plus something for your core, you'll jack up.

Then of course there's the other 2/3 of the deal - a great diet and lots of rest.....

Some think otherwise? Look at gymnasts.

I suggest reading my blog. TONS of info there - more than I could possibly re-create here. Feel free to reach out directly.

don't cover think it... but what you must do, regardless of bodyweight, light weight, heavy, free wights, machines, whatever - is work to exhaustion. Hard. Most people have no idea what "to failure" means. But when I did 115 consecutive, perfect pushups in a contest some years back I found out ( the video at ~90 is linked on my profile BTW).

It depends on what your goals are. If you are looking for muscle mass go heavier weights, fewer reps... if you are going for tone/muscular endurance do the opposite. Ideally a few days weights and a few cardio each week. Things like nutrition, hydration and sleep can't be discounted, but make sure you have some rest days in there as well, esp after heavy lifting. The biggest pitfall is likely making sure you have proper form, since doing something the wrong way could lead to injury, but the good news there are a ton of vids online these days to help with that.

Don't do barbell bench press if you don't have a spotter. Every year a few people get killed doing that. If you're by yourself, use dumbells for BP.

Never skip leg day.

Eat plenty of protein.

Don't do hard strength training on the same muscle groups too days in a row - you need recovery time.

Train close to failure but avoid your form breaking down.

Stretch! I favour stretching after a workout, some people like to do it beforehand too.

"Ideal" reps per set depends on your main goals - strength, muscle size, or muscular endurance. And honestly what matters most is doing good regular training overall. Endurance is a really important one to translate into wrestling performance - a lot of strong guys tire quickly and end up losing to opponents with more stamina.

Supersets and circuits will get you doing more training in a given time compared to the basic set-rest-set approach. Gets your heart rate up too without needing to separately do 'cardio'. Set-rest-set has its place but especially when doing heavy weights, low reps, long rests, I'm always mindful I can spend two hours not actually doing much lifting.

Start with smaller weight first to make sure you are getting your form right. This is major for the heavier lifts like deadlifts because poor form can bust your back when you start going heavier.

Aim for 1.6-2.2g/kg protein a day, and don't be too afraid of having too many carbs. Fats are still important, and obviously don't have too much but understand that you still need it too, so don't eat too little either. There are plenty of macro calculators around if you want something more specific to your goals.

If you're on your own, avoid going too heavy or try reps to failure with the bar on reps where the bar would end up crushing your chest or throwing you backwards like squats and bench press. You need a spotter if you're going to be pushing limits with those.

If you're unsure, go lower. Appreciate that there is quite a long rest period between sets.

Warm up first, a few light exercises to get your joints a bit more prepared to take the sets.

Most importantly, comparison is the thief of joy. Don't look at other people's PBs and times and feel disheartened if you're nowhere near it. As long as you feel better than last month you are going the right way. In the same avenue don't be afraid if you appear to have a dip in fitness, as long as the rolling average is improving, you can have a few bad days that aren't as bad as they appear.

Aim for everything, but keep it structured. A while back I had three sessions a week: "push", "pull", and "cardio & core". Your's doesn't have to be that, but aim to cover everything and partition it somehow.

Gosh, not only good advice but fitness wisdom. Many thanks.

Before I get started I want to first touch on one comment in here. Studies have shown that there is no benefit of going above 1.8g/kg of bodyweight on protein. It's really a fad thing right now but we are starting to see an uptick in gout and kidney issues, mostly uric acid stones, and, depending on where you are getting your protein from (higher risk with plant based protein supplements), some cancers.

What I don't see in your post are goals. Start off by setting clear goals with benchmarks. If there is a weight loss goal it is possible to lose up to about 1% of your bodyweight per week. If it's muscle gain, you can put on 1% of your body weight per month in muscle. That is if you do everything right, are consistent, and your body wants to play along.

For weight loss, stay the f!@# off the scale. No really, I mean that. Your body will fluctuate up to 5lbs up or below your actual bodyweight throughout the day depending on how full of s@#$ you are. Seriously, though, water, pee, poop will all mess with your weight during the day so once a month before breakfast, after your first restroom visit for your records is enough. Take a photo with the same lighting in the same room once a month. I recommend doing this at night with just the room light on for consistency. Use a calorie tracker app like my fitness pal for 3-5 days in a given week once a month and make adjustments as needed. DO NOT OBSESS OVER THIS! It's to give you perspective. I often find it's better used for planning than tracking anyway. Carbs should make up around 50% of your calories. Even Gary Taube's own studies at the NUSI institute proved that the whole keto/low carb thing is bullshit. Track 3-5 days before adjusting your diet and be really anal about it. This gives you your baseline and start by making easy changes toward healthier choices. Make healthy foods convenient when possible. See a dietician.

Regardless of your goals 3-5 days of cardio per week is ideal to prevent type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Start with 20 minutes at a pace you can sustain and work up to 40 minutes. Treadmills are the lowest option because they create psoas dominance without working the back chain which can lead to back pain. Running on a track or soft but firm ground (rather than concrete) is a much better option. Rowing with good form, HITT training, swimming, battle ropes, spin classes, biking outside are all fine. You want to reach a point where it is difficult to communicate verbally. Short sentences only, to ease into it you can start at a pace where it is difficult to have a full conversation but still possible.

For lifting I am going to echo what was said before, regardless of your goals get your form down and have a sound program. A lot of people focus on large muscle groups with heavy loads and low reps which builds size and not a whole lot else. The muscles we use for lifting fall into two catagories: Type 2a and type 2x. While any lifting can initiate sarcomerogenesis higher rep ranges tell your body it needs more muscle mitochondria because the demands you are putting on it require more endurance. While low heavy reps create muscle size and strength that strength burns out fast. The last, pure evil, workout program I did had us lifting in a 6-8 rep max followed by 20 reps at whatever weight we could push for that long which was usually almost nothing. This tells your body you want size and strength but it's going to need to last. This is an advanced protocol not suitable for everyone.

I like a 3 way split:
Push day: Bench press, crunches, lat raises, trunk twists (not russian twists if you value your spine, you can do these standing with an elastic band anchored to the wall), Floor fly, side plank lifts, overhead press, tricep isolation of some kind.
Pull Day: High row, supermans, lat pull down/pullups, reverse planks (put your shoulders on a bench, box, bosu, or physioball and hold for a minute. You can progress by tapping your heels to the sides), face pulls/external shoulder rotations (I will sometimes hinge at the hips 45 degrees doing these with dumbbells to get more resistence through a greater range of motion), Low row, bicep curls (careful with preacher curls, never let your arm go fully straight or you can detach your bicep tendon)
Leg Day: Squats are a must. Deadlifts too but doing them on the same day is controversial but I always have because I'm a sadomasochist. Lunges, eccentric focussed box steps, lateral box steps, calf raises, anterior tibialis exercises (under used, very very important), bridges (I prefer feet on a box for more range of motion with an elastic band around my knees pushing out), etc. Adductor exercises are not often prescribed because most people are prone to a knee valgus so we don't want to encourage that.
For beginners I recommend 3 sets of 12 - 20 reps. You can work up to 5 sets over the course of a year. Separate your cardio, do your lifts in the morning, cardio in the evening or vise versa. Leave days to recover.

3 things I can offer 1: Food, learn to eat every 2 hours I'm not talking full meals although you should eat 3 well balanced meals a day but your body starts to eat muscle if you are giving it enough fuel. Make a big batch of rice every few days and have some protein ready to go (chicken breast tuna etc). Also an apple a day is a great way to get necessary vitamins and fiber 2: isometrics. following every set pump the muscle with contractions it's a great way to create sweep and definition in the muscles . 3: REST!!!!!!! when you really get going you will want to hit the weights often which is great but growth happens when the muscle gets time to repair itself. Good Luck Muscleman