It doesn't count unless you're ASS TO GRASS!

 

It’s no secret that there is an ever growing epidemic of those who skip leg day. If you don’t know me, or haven’t been following this blog for very long, I’ll tell you right now that legs are my favorite muscle group to train. It completely boggles my mind when people just skip leg day completely. I’m sorry, are your legs not a part of your body? Please tell me again how you “go hard” at the gym when you don’t squat or deadlift. Your legs represent the largest muscles in your body and are an integral source of power….SO WHY THE HELL AREN’T YOU TRAINING THEM?!

What completely confounds me even more is when people train them incorrectly. When did quarter squats become sufficient? I didn’t realize that the laws of bodybuilding had suddenly changed and now half squats produce significant gains. Perhaps I’m being a little harsh, because I understand that compound exercises likes squats and dead lifts are difficult to master to a novice of sorts. However, it’s common sense to research proper technique a few times before you try performing the exercise. So let’s say you actually have research the exercise, but are still unsure how to do it. If you’re a member of a gym, which I’m going to assume yes because most people…particularly beginners…don’t have a squat rack in their home, chances are you have a lot of resources (like personal trainers) at your disposal. Ask. Feel stupid asking for help? I can understand that, but you’re going to feel a lot stupider when you blow out your knees mid squat and need medical assistance to be escorted out of the building.

So, on that note, let me help you perform the perfect squat. Before I get into proper technique, I’m going to tell you right now to leave your ego at the door. You think because you can throw up 250lbs on the bench doesn’t mean you can squat the same amount of weight…especially when you never train legs in the first place. So quit trying to be some macho meathead and pick a weight that is suitable for you. It’s smarter to train with less weight, but proper form and a full range of motion, than it is to rack a bunch of plates on the bar. Ok, now that that’s out of the way….

STANCE:

Before you actually squat, you want to pay attention to your stance, foot and toe placement. This sets the tone for the rest of your set, and if this is thrown off, your squats are going to be shit. Use an athletic stance, which means your knees are slightly bent, feet are firmly planted and your toes are slightly pointed outwards. In terms of how narrow or wide your feet are apart, is entirely up to you. The wider your stance, your glutes and hamstrings will be worked more. However, with a narrower stance, your quadriceps's are going to be emphasized more.


HIP HINGE:

Your hip hinge is probably one of the most important aspects to a proper squat form. As you lower down into a squat, you want to hinge your hips so that your butt moves backward. Don’t think you’re doing it right? Check your knee and toe alignment. If your knees are over your toes, you’re not hinging back far enough. When your knees protrude further than your toes, you’re putting all the stress of the squat onto your knees and not even working the leg muscles at all, and that’s the whole point isn’t it? Furthermore, make sure that the pressure is on your heels and not on your toes. This way, you will be able to get more depth in your squat. If you can only squat a few inches down, it doesn’t count. Unload the weight until you’re able to go AT LEAST parallel…although preferably slightly below. ASS TO GRASS!

SPINAL ALIGNMENT:

One mistake I often see is people rounding their necks. This throws your spinal alignment completely off and can make you prone to numerous injuries. Keep your head up and eyes straight. In addition to this, rounding your chest and shoulders will also affect your spinal alignment. By keeping your chest out and shoulders back, your lower back is more likely to have the most natural curve; preventing lower back strain. Speaking of lower back…DO NOT ARCH IT! The squat can be an extremely dangerous exercise, and when you’re lifting heavy weight it puts a ton of stress on your lower back, so you have to pay extra attention to this. Keep your lower back as flat as possible. By hyperextending by arching or rounding too much, you could rupture a disk. Trust me, that’s the absolute last thing you want to do.

BREATHING:

Lastly, focus on your breathing. Squatting is an intense exercise and I imagine you don’t want to feel lightheaded, nauseous or possibly black out simply because you haven’t controlled your breathing. It’s fairly simple actually. As you lower, breathe in. As you push back up, breathe out with force. If you need to take an extra breath before you perform your next rep, do so.

So there you have it, how to perform the perfect squat. Now, go lift something.

Your workout means nothing without a CLEAN diet

An inside look at everything that goes into my mouth

By popular demand, I’ve decided to write about what I eat on a typical day. So here we are, discussing every tiny morsel of food that I have to force down my pallet. What I’m about to divulge isn’t pretty, and it may not be what you want to hear that you have to eat in order to live a healthier lifestyle, but it’s the honest truth.

My morning meals are staples, and hardly ever change. Mainly because these are foods that I know I never grow sick of. Peanut butter? No way, I could live off of that if I could. Oatmeal? Not a chance.

7am: Wake up, two full glasses of water mixed with glutamine. 7:45am: Breakfast – 5 egg whites, 2 eggs mixed with two forms of vegetables (lately I’ve been partial to peppers and mushrooms) and two slices of whole wheat toast topped with all natural peanut butter (not that jiffy shit either). 9am: Coffee. I used to drink my coffee fully loaded with milk and artificial sweeteners…but in the past few months I’ve cut down from 5 packets of Truvia, to only one. That, my friends, is an enormous feat. Because I used to absolutely cringe at the taste of coffee with even 3 packets of Truvia. It wasn’t easy though, I weaned off of it, much like a crack addict. Every couple of weeks I would eliminate one packet of Truvia from my morning coffee. To be perfectly honest, I’ve noticed a bit of a difference in my digestive system too. I’d always have stomach pains shortly after my coffee, and now I know who the culprit was. So word of advice, cut the refined and fake sugars. Don’t be a pussy, just do it. 10am: ½ cup of oatmeal, ¾ cup of blueberries, 1 scoop of protein powder and some cinnamon.

 The remainder of my day’s meals are also pretty standard, but change a bit on occasion. The #1 rule of thumb that I abide by is to always have a protein, carbohydrate and vegetable source with every meal and contain either protein, carbohydrate or both with whatever snack I’m having.

12:00-12:30pm: This is my least favorite time of the day to eat. But I have to force it down. Chicken, brown rice, vegetables. OR Turkey burger, sweet potato, vegetables. OR Steak (this usually only happens once or twice a week), quinoa, vegetables. 2:00pm: Handful of nuts, piece of fruit or something along the lines of carrots, celery, etc. 3:30pm: By this time I could have a full meal again, but I head straight to the gym right after work and I don’t like to be too full. But whatever snack I do have, I make sure has a high protein content. Plain greek yogurt, ¼ cup of oats and a banana. OR Cottage cheese with cucumbers. 5:00pm: Whey protein shake + carb powder + creatine 6:00pm: LIFTING TIME! I drink glutamine and BCAA’s during my workout. 8:00pm: Whey protein shake + carb powder + creatine. 9:30pm: Fish (usually tilapia, sometimes salmon) and vegetables. 11:00pm: Casein protein shakes right before bed.

 I won’t lie, this shit gets boring. I made the mistake of eating literally the exact same thing day in and day out for two and a half solid months. I got to a point where the thought of chicken made me nauseous. But trying to force it down was an entirely different story. I actually ended up taking a two week hiatus from chicken entirely, thus my introduction of turkey and steak.   

My diet is clean and basic. Eating is not meant to be rocket science. Eat your vegetables and fruit. Stick to whole grains. Include a variety of grass fed meat sources (unless you’re a vegetarian and then that’s a whole other ball park). Eat the RIGHT carbs & fats. Eliminate sugars, prepackaged chemical cluster fuck foods and minimize sodium. If you can’t pronounce an ingredient, don’t eat it. Eat organic when possible. Drink a ton of water. There, that’s literally it. Oh, and drink water...a lot of water. I drink at least a gallon a day. Many underestimate the importance of drinking water. You may frequent yourself to the bathroom about a dozen times more than usual, but your body will thank you for it.

I am human after all, and I’d be lying to you all if I said I NEVER had a cheat meal. Because quite honestly, sometimes all I want is a big plate of ravioli or an enormous platter of fried calamari. So in an attempt to keep my sanity, I do have cheat meals here and there. Keep in mind, when I say cheat meals, that doesn’t mean I go out and completely gorge myself. Still be mindful of what you’re eating, practice portion control so you don’t go off the deep end (trust me; it’s happened to me far too many times to count).
So there you have it. Everything I put into my mouth from the moment I wake up until the moment I go to bed. I don’t whip up any fancy recipes, I wish I did, I just don’t have the time. So I keep it simple. Whatever your goals are; whether it’s to lose weight, tone up, gain weight, etc., you’re eating should be relatively the same. Clean, healthy food.