HERC'S TRAINING

This will be a series dedicated to workouts, training information, and tips on peak conditioning.

Today we will focus on the most basic of all lifts for strength, conditioning and power training. It does not matter what your goals are, in some way or another these lifts should be incorporated into your training. If you aren't doing these lifts you are selling yourself short, and are, 95% of the time, the reason behind both men, and women not reaching their potential or goals that are set for their physique.

As we go forward we will break down each exercise or movement, but today is just a general overview of what these can do for you.

We will feature different training programs, interesting splits, training styles of course for everybody's tastes. However, I can't stress enough how important these 4 lifts are. They are the core for everything, infact, I ONLY do these 4 lifts. I don't do splits, I don't have any routine with weights other than finding a power rack and performing these 4 COMPOUND lifts. Mixed in with functional strength training and cardio I do not need to perform anything else to get what I need.









If you often find yourself asking “what are the best ways to build muscle and gain weight, naturally in the gym”, you need not look any farther than compound lifts. Compound lifts, or multi-joint lifts, are weightlifting exercises that force you to use more than one muscle group, preferably 3 or more. The answer is simple, and real, but because the market has been saturated with so many different supplements or “advanced exercises” (including the newest machines), often times compound lifts are overlooked as phased out, old exercises that have been replaced.

 For the bodybuilding guys, know this, every memorable Mr. O was a power lifter BEFORE they began physique competition and bodybuilding... SPLITS ARE FOR AFTER BUILDING YOUR FOUNDATION
 Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ronnie Coleman, Frank Zane, Lee Haney, Dorian Yates and Jay Cutler all have used compound lifts throughout their history of training because they have been proven time after time to work.
Too many times do I see curious skinny gym members look over at the “gym buff” doing some funky exercise upside down on an exercise ball with one leg up flailing a pair of light dumbbells around thinking that if they learned how to perform that exercise they can look like him. Forget about it. Whether it works for him or not is irrelevant, the bottom line is that this type of exercise or anything like it will NOT work for hardgainers. Basic or compound exercises allow you to lift more weight, and the heavier weight, the bigger you can be. With that in mind, that comes with the diet and nutrition to allow yourself to grow... if you stick with what you eat now and perform these exercises you will get much, much more physically stronger and more efficient, however thickness or size will be minimal.... which is why I women should also perform these lifts, albeit with higher reps instead of added weight.

• Squats (quads, hamstrings, calves, core, back)
• Deadlifts (hamstrings, quads, traps, lower back, forearms, Biceps, core)WITHOUT STRAPS NANCY BOY your wrists and grip are your weakest link, don't make it any worse by using straps!
• Bench Press (chest, triceps, back, shoulders, core)
• Shoulder Press or Military Press (shoulders, triceps, core)

Try starting your workouts out with one of these exercises first, before you do any other exercises for that same muscle. This will ensure you exert most of your energy into the most important exercises, the ones that will be most responsible for your growth. Remember, to get the most of your compound lifts, lift heavy with lower repetitions (Again, for women, a moderate weight with a higher rep range). This will ensure that you gain as much strength as possible while developing the maximum amount of muscle.
If you haven’t tried any of them before, than make sure you check in with a certified fitness instructor.
There is also plenty of information online, but please seek reputable websites with power lifting certification...If a fitness instructor does not know how to perform these movements for fear of injury or sees them as not important, that tells you all you need to know about the quality of their training, and education. It is poor.

They’re tough, they’re demanding, they take sweat and grit and everything you got. Turn your ordinary workouts into something extraordinary: incorporate compound lifts and watch your strength and size explode!

 My glorious beard and 1970s shorts before a recent deadlift centred workout!!

** ALSO NOTE I DON'T FLEX ABS FOR CAMERA, TAKE NOTE LOW SELF ESTEEM GUYS. NO, FLEXING THE ABS DOESN'T MAKE YOU MORE AWESOME WHEN THE LADIES ARE AROUND OR PICS ARE TAKEN**

THANKS FOR YOUR TIME!!! Soon we will begin posting different workouts here and there... Some of our personal workouts... but know this, at the base of it all is these 4 lifts... and THEY WORK.