Author: Nick Hawkins

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Bigger Arms

🔹On the left side of the infographic, you have two bicep workouts. The incline curl targets the long head of the bicep and the hammer curl hits both, the long head and the brachialis which helps increase the size of the bicep. On the eccentric movement (lowering the weight) try to slowly lower the dumbbell at around 5 seconds in order to fully activate the brachialis.
🔹 On the right side of the infographic, you have tricep push downs which targets the lateral head of the tricep. Switch to the rope to workout the medial head.
🔹 The second workout on the right side is the French Press, which hits the long head of the tricep.
🔹 Aim for 8 to 12 reps and 3 to 4 sets if your goal is for hypertrophy (muscle growth). If you’re going for strength do 5 sets of 5 reps. And to reach the endurance threshold go for 15 to 20 reps and 2 sets.
🔹 Leave a comment of your favorite arm exercises.
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Know Your Proteins

🔹It can be difficult targeting the appropriate amount of protein for your physique goals. This is where supplementation comes in.
🔹I’m not a big advocate for buying protein powder. It’s better to get protein from a natural food source, yet I do advise people to consume protein as a last result, if they are having a hard time reaching their macros.
🔹There are several forms of protein powders, but my main focus today will be on the types of whey and casein. Whey is fast digestive and casein is slow digestive, and they both benefit for different purposes.
🔸Concentrate: This protein has gone through the least amount of processing but the downfall is that it contains lactose and fat. This protein is calorically dense so it’s best to consume while bulking and not so much while cutting.
🔸Isolate: A high percentage of the calories comes from protein. The good thing about this supplement is that 90% of the lactose and fat are almost completely removed. So you can get 30 grams of protein for 120 to 130 calories, which is good if you’re focusing on being in a caloric deficit.
🔸Hydrolyzed: This whey protein has been moderately hydrolyzed, which means that it has been broken down so your body can absorb it more efficiently. This supplement is often used for medical protein and baby formula. It tends to be expensive because of all the processing it goes through.
🔸Casein: Casein does not optimize on protein synthesis as much, and digest much slower than whey. Because of its slow action, casein is best taken before you go to sleep.
🔹The most important thing to consider while picking protein is the quality of the brand and the protein to calorie ratio. If you have any questions feel free to message me.

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Food To Eat For Acne

FOOD TO EAT FOR ACNE

🔹 Studies estimate approximately 80% of all people between the ages of 11 to 30 have experienced acne outbreaks at some point in their lives, and nutrition plays a key role in controlling those breakouts.

🔹 It can be tricky and frustrating dealing with acne while trying to have a social life. These are the top foods that often lead to inflammation and breakouts for people.

❌ Try your best to avoid the foods on the left. Not only are they not the healthiest, but they can trigger acne as well. In order to regulate hormones and lessen inflammation, it is key to avoid foods that are processed, have refined sugars, and are high on the glycemic index.

✔On the other hand, the right side has plenty of healthier food options, that are anti-inflammatory and low on the glycemic index. They say you are what you eat.. well the healthier you eat, the better you’ll look and feel, and ultimately reduce the likelihood of a breakout!

🔹 Keep in mind that studies have NOT shown a direct connection between the food you eat and acne; hence this is more anecdotal evidence. That being said, most people find that their acne drastically improved once they eliminated some of these foods from their diet. Try and test some of this food one at a time to see whether it makes a difference!
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Building Bigger Traps

🔹 Want to be a trap king or trap queen? You have to know this about growing bigger traps…
🔹 The trapezius are often recognized by the part that you see in the mirror, which are the upper portion of the traps. But the traps actually stretch down the back.
🔹 Training the traps requires more than performing shrugs. If you want to target the mid and lower part of your trapezius, try these workouts and watch the gains appear right before your eyes.
Prone- Y’s
Prone Reverse Flys
Bent Over Rows
Reverse Peck Deck
Scapular Pull Ups
🔹 And to target the upper part of the trapezius, try these out for size…
Barbell Shrugs
Cable Lateral Raises
Above The Knee Rack Pulls
Standing Military Press
Upright Rows
🔹 What’s your favorite trap workout?
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How To Get Shredded

🔹 Getting shredded is simple, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. Consistency is the most important thing, when it comes to revealing your ideal physique, but you need to also follow these five steps.
🔹 You need to be in a calorie deficit to lose fat. This occurs when you’re body is expending more calories than you are ingesting on a given day. Your body will then resort to lipolysis (the breakdown of fat tissue) for energy. Tracking your food will help you to ensure you stay in a deficit as you begin to lose weight.
🔹 Lift heavy. You need to give your muscles a big enough stimulus to remain and not be broken down for energy. Aim to maintain your strength as you lose fat.
🔹 Get more sleep. Sleep is muscle protective. There’s been countless studies that show, those who get less sleep tend to lose more muscle and less fat than those who sleep more, even when calories are equated.
🔹 Eat more protein. Protein is essential to support sufficient muscle growth and repair. The last thing you want, is to go through all this training and then lose the muscle mass you had due to not consuming enough protein.
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Progressive Overload

🔹 What does it mean to progressively overload? 🤔
🔹 It means to increase the demands on your muscles through training ☝🏽
🔹 The goal is to improve muscle growth and strength 💪🏽
🔹 A lot of times people plateau when doing this because they only focus on increasing the weights, but that can limit you if this is your only focus 📉
🔹 It’s best to place variety in your workouts 👌🏾
🔹 A variety of progressive overload leads to an increase is muscle growth 📈
🔹 You can switch up the tempo, decrease rest time between sets, increase the number of reps and sets, you can try different methods like test pause, or drop sets 📊
🔹 There are many ways to progressively overload other than increasing the weight 🏋🏽‍♀️
🔹 What’s your favorite way to progressively overload? ⁉️
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How To Build Stubborn Muscle

🔹 If you’ve been hitting the gym forless than a year, you don’t have lagging muscle-groups, your entire body is lagging. With that said, if you’ve been training for a long period of time and are now starting to notice that a certain muscle is just lagging behind, it may be a good time to implement some specialization techniques. Here are 4 things I’d recommend if your goal is to build a lagging muscle.
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Tip Number 1: Increase Training Frequency
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🔹 If you’re currently training a muscle-group 1x per week, I’d highly recommend increasing that to 2x per week. Not only is this a great way to maximize training-induced protein synthesis, but it’s an easy way to increase total volume.
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Tip Number 2: Prioritize
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🔹 If your goal is to build bigger biceps, then why are you leaving them for the end of your workout when you’re already taxed? Start prioritizing that muscle-group by putting it first!
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Tip Number 3: Progressive Overload
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🔹 Progressive overload is the main pathway by which we build muscle. And unless we’re gradually increasing the amount of work we do, no matter how hard we train, we’ll never grow. Get back to the basics – if you want to build your chest, you’ve got to bench press more weight. Want to grow your legs? Squat heavier!
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Tip Number 4: Eat Enough to Grow
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🔹 No matter how intense your training is… if you’re not providing your body the necessary nutrients for growth, you’ll never build muscle. It’s like trying to build a house without enough bricks – it doesn’t matter how many workers are present if they don’t have the necessary tools for the job.
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What 500 Calories Look Like

The tricky part about counting calories is the fact that not all foods have the same amount of calories.

Foods that are higher in fat have more calories, given that 1 gram of fat is 9 calories, whereas protein & carbs have 4 calories each per gram.⁣
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In addition, carbs & fruits/veggies tend to be much more filling, yet less calorie dense.

This means that you can consume a much higher volume of these foods and feel more full and satisfied.

This is why it is important that you strategically eat foods that are less calorie dense so you can avoid the constant feeling of hunger.⁣
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That being said, you should not be completely avoiding all the foods on the left side of the diagram.

Rather, eat a balanced diet, while keeping in mind which foods can help you feel full for longer without consuming a large amount of calories.

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The Difference Between Fat Loss & Muscle Gain

There are dozens of ways to make gains and burn fat… but here are some key factors that you must implement on your road to success…
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🔹 You can, eat 2000 extra calories over your maintenance level and gain tons of muscle mass, but most people will pick up a lot of fat in the process.

This would be counterproductive to the max!!!
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The best route is to stay in a calorie surplus to make the process easier and you’ll keep your lean body while making gains at the same time
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You want to do this with fat loss as well. Take small short steps towards your goal and don’t starve yourself.
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For both processes, patience is Key.
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Many protein recommendations for fat loss can come across as a bit high, however studies have shown that eating more protein rich food can increase your satiety and help defeat hunger while in a calorie deficit. Everyone is different and 2.7g protein per kg is not for everyone of course, but that is the UPPER limit from in a study for male endurance athletes. For female athletes, the protein range was between 1.4–1.7 g/kg bodyweight.
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Resource:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30779631

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Barbell Row

Are You Training Barbell Rows?
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If you’re not doing Barbell Rows then you’re leaving gains on the table… Let me explain….
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There are many different Rowing variations that you can try out, but one of the best rowing variations for building a bigger and stronger back are the Barbell Rows.
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They activate your Latissimus Dorsi, Trapezius, Posteriors Deltoids, Scapula Stabilizers, Rhomboids, and your Spinal Erectors.
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Your biceps and Shoulders will benefit from these exercises as well, and who doesn’t want stronger and bigger Biceps?!
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