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Beach Bods pt. 3 Hello Warriors! Welcome back to the Beach Bods Challenge! In these next few challenges, we're going to take a look at how to level up your beach bod. How to get a good "pump" on some of your most noticeable muscles while you're out there styling and profiling on the beach circuit. Now normally, we don't like to boost our own egos here in the Warrior Hall. But here's the thing, we're the strong ones, the tanks of the party, we take bruising every once in a while for the sake of our teammates. So, every once in a while, we like to strip down and show off dem muscle groups which help us deal damage and make our saving throws against constitution. Each week, we'll give you a new exercise or two that we'd like you to throw into your programming. Get your pump on and gain a point for both Strength and Constitution. ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Guess what day it is? Bicep day, get after it. Oh, where to start. There's so many fun things to do here. Barbell curls in the squat rack, dumbbell curls in the squat rack, reverse curls, hammer curls, plate curls, preacher curls, isolation dumbbell curls, curls for the girls, and bis for the guys. Now, everyone knows how to curl. You take the weight and you bring up to your lips, then you kiss your biceps. Simple. But, there are other ways to build those biceps. Ways that are much more fun. What kind of toys does your gym have? See Ms Foucher up there? Pulling on dat rope? Do you have one of those? Can you tie it to a sled? Quick pulls on a heavy weight are great stressors on the biceps. It's a big girl toy, so if you have one, get someone to chaperon you. No toys like that? How about a pull up rig? I'm pretty big on chin ups. They're a bodyweight workout that works against you with the all powerful force named gravity. Going for sets to max reps is a great way to get dat pump. Weight chin ups are even more fun. Can't do a chin up yet? Get yourself up above the bar and hold for as long as possible, then drop yourself as slow as possible down to full extension of your arms. Negatives are a great way to build muscle strength in your biceps. Give them a shot. What else can you do? You can curl pretty much anything. Milk jugs, sand bags, kettlebell, anything, really... anything.

Beach Bods pt. 2 Hello Warriors! Welcome back to the Beach Bods Challenge! In these next few challenges, we're going to take a look at how to level up your beach bod. How to get a good "pump" on some of your most noticeable muscles while you're out there styling and profiling on the beach circuit. Now normally, we don't like to boost our own egos here in the Warrior Hall. But here's the thing, we're the strong ones, the tanks of the party, we take bruising every once in a while for the sake of our teammates. So, every once in a while, we like to strip down and show off dem muscle groups which help us deal damage and make our saving throws against constitution. Each week, we'll give you a new exercise or two that we'd like you to throw into your programming. Get your pump on and gain a point for both Strength and Constitution. ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Next up, we're going to start looking at those big ol' core muscles. You've got a lot of stabilizer muscles firing every time you go for a heavy pull, now lets start showing them off. Sure, we can try beefing up your abs, or... we can get a little creative. I'm going to give you two movements, both will be hitting a muscle group called the obliques. Those little muscles that run up the side of your core around your stomach, they tie your pecs to your abs, they're the stitching that allow for that weird pressure you make right before a big squat(also known as the valsalva maneuver). Also, they look pretty sexy. RIP Zyzz. Also, her name quite literally translates to "Thor's Daughter". How cool is that? These muscles are strengthened by rotating your core around the spinal column. The more you can squeeze across your body, the more you strengthen that side of your obliques. The two movements I'm going to show you are essentially the same twisting motion. One is called the and the other is a . They both rely on a tool to properly hit the muscle group. The chipper uses a cable machine while the twist uses whatever form of weight you have around. If you don't have a medicine ball or a kettle bell or a plate handy, use what you have... a jug of milk, a sandbag, a small child... whatever. These sort of muscles need high reps to strain the muscles in a way to force them to adapt. Look to get between 15-25 reps at a low weight for as many sets as you can manage before you hurt.

Beach Bods pt. 1 Hello Warriors! Welcome to the start of the Summer! In these next few challenges, we're going to take a look at how to level up your beach bod. How to get a good "pump" on some of your most noticeable muscles while you're out there styling and profiling on the beach circuit. Now normally, we don't like to boost our own egos here in the Warrior Hall. But here's the thing, we're the strong ones, the tanks of the party, we take bruising every once in a while for the sake of our teammates. So, every once in a while, we like to strip down and show off dem muscle groups which help us deal damage and make our saving throws against constitution. Each week, we'll give you a new exercise or two that we'd like you to throw into your programming. Get your pump on and gain a point for both Strength and Constitution. ______________________________________________________________________________________________ First up, we're going to take a look at our shoulders and upper back. Why would you want one and how do you get one. Feast your eyes upon Lü Xiaojun(Chinese Weightlifter) and Kali Muscle(mother trucking monster). These guys get these giant traps and rhomboid muscles from pulling super, silly weights. This muscle growth takes years of work, but we can get you started on how to build up the shoulders and upper back using two of these simple exercises. The Shrug We can use either a barbell or a dumbbell for this exercise. The barbell will allow you to get more weight moving, which will stress the muscles more. The dumbbells will allow you to isolate the muscle groups and get a bit more of a squeeze into it. The movement remains the same. You grab your weight and let it settle down into your grip. Let it stretch out your shoulders and back. Keep your back tight the whole time, with a slight convex arch. Pull your shoulders back and then literally "shrug" them. You should be feeling the pull on the muscles right underneath your shoulders in your upper back(check the traps/rhomboids links for maps of the muscle groups). This movement should be slow and deliberate, nothing jerky about it. The more slowly you can bring the weight up and down, the more your muscles will tear, providing you with more stimulation for growth. Depending on the weights you use, you can either go for low weight x higher reps(8-10) or heavy weights x lower reps(3-5). Both work for different purposes, definition versus thickness respectively. The Push Press There are a lot of different variations on the pressing movement. This week we're going to look at the push press because it allows you to move about 25-30% more weight than you can strict press. More weight equals more gains. That's science. If you know how to strict press, then the only addition you need to add is a little leg drive. Start from the front rack position and drop your hips straight down about 4" or so(dependent on your height) and then start your drive. Push through your heels, up through your hips, and finishing through your shoulders. When your knees and hips are locked out, that bar should already be on its way up; your only job now is to push that bar straight up with your shoulders. Be sure to move your head out of the way instead of moving the bar around your head, that's just not efficient. The movement finishes with everything tightened up: your abs, your glutes, your upper back, and your elbows locked above your head. After that, you want to just reverse the movement. Bring the bar back down into your front rack position and let your knees bend a bit to allow for some give when you catch it. This movement hits your traps and rhomboids again, but also the deltoids as well, which give you that wider taller shoulder musculature. Dem shoulders, yo. Look to get in a 5x5 workout with your max strict press. That should get you a good pump. Have at it, Warrior. You have until midnight EST next Saturday.

BIO You can learn all you need to about me by googling "kitty snuggle gif". Seriously, go do that now. I'll wait. ... Okay, so welcome back! Now that you know me, let's talk challenge: CHALLENGE FOCUS This challenge coincides nicely with the end (or almost end) of Crazy Work Season. While I have plenty of things I want to do I realize starting something new right now, or adding more than the bare bones, is just setting myself up for failure. So, let's maintain and plan ahead for days I know will be the craziest. Everything else is on the back burner. GOALS Come at me, Big Eatah! Plan to eat big on long, crazy work days. There is always ample free food and I always pretend like I won't enjoy it. I fail more often than not. This year: plan to pig out on those days by planning to eat well the rest of the time (weekends included!). Known Culprits: Tuesday March 5 (high potential day)Thursday March 7 (if scheduled as we believe this will likely be 14+ hour day)Last week of Crazy Work Season (dates to be determined but should coincide with the end of this challenge)Tools for Success: Batch cooking (which I already do, and have done, for years)Back up foods for surprise long daysStuff like cottage cheese, greek yogurt, fruitPosting weekly schedule here before the week starts Come at me, Brotape! Last challenge I realized I needed more food so I upped my intake. Must keep track of measurements (every two weeks), take photos again, log that info here. Starting Measurements: Weight: 164.8 Shoulder: 37.5 Chest: 35.5 L. Bicep (held): 12 L. Bicep (flat): 12.25 R. Bicep (held): 11.5 R. Bicep (flat): 11.5 Above: 30.7 At: 34.25 Below: 37 Hips: 39.25 Butt: 41 Left thigh: 23.25 Right thigh: 23.25 Notes on starting measurements: I freaked out a little about the weight. That's 3-7 pounds more than I usually weigh. My increase isn't substantial enough that I think I've actually gained that weight. I definitely feel more bloated than normal. I hope this is because of the increase in carbs.Above and At Navel measurements are both up a little (actually AT is up .5 in from 1 month ago), which makes me worry. Carb increase? Fat increase?Butt is up ~.5 inchThighs are down ~.25 inchWhat does it all mean?!?! But seriously, I guess it's okay if I'm right about the increased water weight from more carbs. Otherwise, it's not okay and I'm getting fat Come at me, Cardiovascular Health! Sweet and simple: Do two finishers each week. Caveats: Getting in any workout is better than getting in no workout. So, on those later nights when I just barely get to the gym it is okay to skip a finisher so I can get home and eat/sleep. Come at me, Bro! Life goal is to keep myself as sane and happy as possible by any means necessary. I'll come back with points later.. maybe...