John Biondi

• One on One Training
• Conducting fitness/health assessments
• Teaching clients independent fitness
• Cleaning and organizing personal trainer room
• Programming client's workouts
• Organizing client schedules along with my own
• Keeping manager updated on my client's progress or situations
• Adjusting to on-the-spot changes during workouts
• Creating new hiring process for potential new trainers
• Creating new training process for potential trainers
• Training the new potential personal trainers

(offered head trainer position sometime in early September of 2019, declined due to education load) 6/3/19-12/21/19)
• One on One Training
• Small group training (at most, 8 people)
• Hosting group sessions for residents of apartment buildings
• Teaching clients independent fitness
• Conducting fitness/health assessments
• Cleaning, driving and organizing GymGuyz van
• Programming for my client's workouts
• Organizing client schedules along with my own
• Keeping manager updated on my client's progress or situations
• Adjusting to on-the-spot changes during workouts

• One on One Coaching
• Small Group Coaching
• Cleaning and Organizing Strength and Conditioning Gym and Equipment

• Stocked shelves with new products
• Bagged groceries
• Freight Clerk

Shopko 8/2014-12/2014 (Seasonal Position)
• Provided Customer service
• Retrieved carts
• Unloaded freight trucks
• Stacked and organized freight truck in stockroom

• Washed dishes
• Prepared dough for pizza
• Disinfected surfaces
• Cleaned kitchen

INTERESTS
• Fitness
• Helping people
• Teaching
• Education

*For more references, please ask by e-mail or cell phone, thank you.
• Scott Corsi - Manager of GymGuyz Milwaukee. Phone Number: 414-581-9487
Sample Full Body Workout (the client has normal physical function and no injuries, ideally done twice a week)
*Also, I would not be describing the form this way to the participants obviously. My instruction would be
much simpler and if given consent to, using a kinesthetic approach if useful.
Warm - Up
1. Walking Quad Stretch (the stretch should only last for about one or two seconds, walking down and back or 5 for each leg)
2. Walking Figure Four (the stretch should only last for about one or two seconds, walking down and back or 5 for each leg)
3. Side Shuffle (down and back twice, perform down and back at least twice)
4. T - Spine Rotation (5 for each side, emphasizing the twisting of our torso)
5. Shoulder Lateral External Rotation (5 for each side, keep elbow at side, reps are slow with enough range of motion)
6. Shoulder Dislocation (arms straight, perform 5 full reps)
7. Rear Deltoid Pull Apart (arms straight out, elbows up, pull resistance band apart, squeezing upper back/rear deltoids, perform 5 slow reps)
8. Repeat this warm-up at half the volume.

Workout (super set: a set of a single exercise, then without a break, a set of a different exercise and then
break.
1. Front Squat 3 sets/10-14 reps (slow on the way down, chest up, knees out, heels on the floor, inhale going down, exhale going up, 10 reps)
Superset With
RDL 3 sets/10-14 reps (shoulders back, weight close to thighs, inhale going down, push hips back allowing torso to tip forward, heels on the floor, exhale going up, keep back straight)
2. Bent Over Row 3 sets/10-12 reps (shoulders back, weight close to thighs, push hips back,
allowing torso to tip forward, elbows close to side, drive the elbows behind back, squeezing back
muscles, slow going down, inhale going down, exhale driving up)
Superset With
Shoulder Press 3 sets/10-12 reps (standing, keeping back straight by flexing abs/glutes, arms
bent at 90, press straight up keeping shoulders down, slowly return arms to 90, inhale going down,
exhale going up)
Superset With
W Raise 3 sets/10-14 reps (push hips back, allowing torso to tip forward, elbows close to sides, raise hands to squeeze back muscles, slowly lower, inhale going down, exhale going up)
3. Isolated Wood Chop 3 sets/30 seconds (take an athletic stance, shoulders level, arms straight with elbows locked, hold position for 30 seconds, both sides, deep breaths)
Superset With
Leg Raises 3 sets/30 seconds (back on floor, hands on floor stabilizing us, raise legs, then lower while preventing feet from touching the floor throughout the exercise, exhale going up, inhale going
down)
Superset With
Plank 3 sets/25 seconds (on elbows, squeezing abs, back straight, deep breaths, hold for as long as possible/at least 25 seconds - if short on time, this would be the exercise to drop)
Superset With
Step Ups 3 sets/1 minute (step height is not too low and not too high, moderate pace, deep breaths)
(optional exercises)
1. Calf Raises 6 sets/15-20 reps (pushing through our mid-foot without using our legs, squeezing on the top, slowly lower on the way down, inhale going down, exhale going up) tip: calves can handle a lot,
therefore doing many sets frequently throughout the week is actually very beneficial.
2. Bicep Curls 3 sets/10-12 reps (standing tall, elbows at side, curl weight up, slowly bring the weight back down, exhale curling up, inhale lowering the weight down)
3. Tricep Pushdown 3 sets/10-12 reps (standing tall, push hips back slightly, elbows at side, push weight down, slowly bring the weight back up, exhale pushing down, inhale raising up)
4. {If not tricep pushdown} Single Arm Overhead Extension 3 sets/10-12 reps (standing tall, arm
above head, raise weight up, slowly lower the weight feeling the tricep stretch, exhale raising up, inhale
lowering the weight down)
5. Farmer's Carry - Drop Set 3 sets (standing tall, carrying weight from one side of a decided path
to the other, start with slightly heavy weight, then put back once they are too difficult to hold onto, immediately pick up a lighter weight {30 lbs. then 20 lbs.} and repeat, rest once this is accomplished)

Tips on Workout: Put your form first, do your best to go up in the amount of weight or difficulty you use,
stay hydrated and eat a balanced meal afterwards (after the stretching). If you can't keep up during the workout, maybe include more rest between sets, fewer sets, use a variation of the exercise that is easier or simply decrease the weight. It's also a good idea to try to switch up the workouts every few weeks or
so by changing the exercise variation or even using a whole other exercise (example: front squat to walking lunge or bent over row to cable row) to simply introduce a different stimulus to the body, but also to be aware of any imbalances you may have. If you can't, don't worry about it too much. You will
still make progress as long as you continue to progress the workouts themselves. If you'd like to change
it up a little and I didn't send you another program that does this for you to use, let me know and I'll get
you one.

Stretch (15 second hold)
1. Wrists: hands supinated, palm against wall with fingers pointing down to floor, gradually raise
hands higher up wall to increase stretch.
2. Triceps: at a doorway, raise elbow above head, the hand goes behind own arm's shoulder,
leaning into doorway with elbow placed on doorway edge, hold and then switch.
3. Sleeper: lying on slide, lying side's arm in front of body, arm is at 90-degree bend, opposite hand
gently presses wrist down to floor without allowing the lying side's arm elbow to lower down floor
closer to body, hold and then switch.
4. Hip Flexors: one knee on floor, one foot placed with a 90-degree knee bend on floor in front of opposite knee, drop hips down and forward, chest up, hands can be on planted foot's knee for posture
support and balance, hold then switch.
5. Hamstring: sitting on floor with one leg straight out in front of body and the other leg mimicking
the butterfly position, to enhance stretch, lean forward on top of knee, hold and switch.
6. Calves: standing and closely facing wall, place sole of foot against bottom of wall, lower foot
down until heel touches floor, hold and the switch foot.
7. Chest: against a wall, right arm reaches back behind body, inside portion of the arm presses
against wall, turn torso away from wall, options are to fold arm to 90 degrees and/or raise arm as well,
hold then switch side.
8. Lats: right arm reaches overhead, over the left shoulder, grab onto sturdy object, hold then
repeat on other side.
9. Traps: left arm behind back, move chin towards right shoulder, hold, then switch for other side.
10. Quads: one hand on wall while standing, right foot comes up behind right glute, either right or
left hand reaches back to pull foot into this position, hold, then opposite leg.
Tips on stretches: If you can't remember what these stretches are, if you google one of the words listed
and then put the word "stretch" after it, you will be reminded right away. Example: Sleeper stretch.
Don't stretch until it hurts, do your best to maintain proper posture (flexing abs/glutes), breath, don't
bounce your stretch, these are static stretches and it is always best to do these at the end of your
workout.
Sample Full Body Workout for the Elderly (assuming the client needs assistance while walking)
Warm-Up
*Also, I would not be describing the form this way to the participants obviously. My instruction would be
much simpler.
1. Standing with chair or wall at hand, hamstring/knee work - both hands on wall/chair and standing, raising one foot up to glute, keeping thigh back slightly, slowly lower foot down keeping thigh
in same position, repeat for nine additional reps, alternate. 20 total reps.
2. Seated, slow torso rotations - using chair for assistance, turn to one side, then with little to no
assistance, hold the twisted position for 20 seconds, then slowly return to neutral position, pause, and perform on other side.
3. Seated, no weight in hand, shoulder presses - flexing abs, straight back, arms in front of body,
shoulders down and back, raise hands above head and shoulders, slowly return. 20 reps.
4. Seated, bringing arms across, driving arms back - arms straight, bringing them across and in front of body, slowly bring straight arms that are perpendicular to body, behind back as much as
possible, hold for 5 seconds squeezing back, slowly bring arms across the front of body and hold for 5
seconds. 8-10 reps. Ideally if they could, standing a step away from wall, one hand on wall with hips
hinged, raising arm out to be perpendicular to their body laterally, hold top position, no torso rotation,
slowly lower arm to beginning position, repeat 9 additional times, alternate, for a total of 20 reps.
5. Seated, neck rotations, side to sides - simply and slowly bend neck at their own comfortable
range to the side, ear to shoulder, hold in this position for 5 seconds, 2 times each second, slowly turn
head to be looking behind themselves, hold for 5 seconds, 2 times each side.
6. Repeat this warm-up at half the volume.

Workout - 3 sets for each exercise, not about intensity as much as it would be about technique and completion, if a rep range or time is too difficult/easy to maintain in the first set, this will be adjusted for the participant and noted for next workout.
1. Standing with chair or wall at hand, hamstring squeezes - standing with both hands on either
wall or chair, raise right foot behind glute, keep thigh positioned back, hold for 30-45 seconds, repeat on
other side.
a. Alt. Seated hamstring slides - with sliders on the floor for each person, one heel on the slider, pushing heel into the slider constantly, slide heel until heel is underneath knee, repeat on
other -15 reps each leg.
2. Sit stands - seated in a chair, possibly facing a wall just in case, focusing on the technique of keeping the knees either straight out or slightly out, torso lean, chest up, if necessary, using hands for
assistance, pushing through the heels to a stance, then controlling the technique to be done similarly, but in reverse. 8-15 reps.
3. Seated, resistance band row - seated with band around sturdy object, squeezing handles tight,
bringing shoulders back and down, drive elbows behind body, keeping forearm parallel to floor and
shoulders back, slowly return. If technique cannot be properly maintained, same form is used, but the elbow drive stops at the ribcage, arms stay bent at 90 degrees, the hands are driven out and back
maintaining the elbow position close to the ribs. 10-15 reps.
4. Seated, shoulder presses with light weights (2-5 lbs) - maintain a straight back by flexing the stomach, shoulders down and back, elbows in front or slightly off to the front side of the shoulders,
hands above the elbows, pressing straight up with hands ending above the person's own head and shoulders, keeping the shoulders down the entire time, slowly return. 10-15 reps.
5. Seated leg lifts - holding onto underneath of seat for stability, move hips towards edge of seat,
upper back against back of chair (prefer to keep upper back off the chair, which may even be hard enough), raise feet off the floor either with straight legs or bent legs, slowly return. 10-15 reps.
Stretch (can be done seated or standing with assistance) - stretches are to be held for 15-30 seconds
each
Chest stretches against a wall - right arm reaches back behind body, inside portion of the arm
lightly presses against wall, if possible, turn torso away from wall, options are to fold arm to 90 degrees and/or raise arm as well.
2. Overhead lat stretch against a wall - right arm reaches overhead, over the left shoulder and
uses the wall for guidance, holding the stretch, repeat on other side.
3. Trap stretches - holding onto the underneath of the seat, pull shoulders back and down, move
chin towards one shoulder, hold, then the other.
4. *If possible, standing with assistance, quad stretch - one hand on the chair or wall while
standing, right foot comes up behind right glute, either right or left hand reaches back to pull into
position, hold, then opposite leg.
Title: Workout Information By: John Biondi

The most important muscles to train
The purpose of making sure these muscles at least maintain their strength will provide
our bodies with mobility, posture, a decrease in injury risk, an increase in aging quality, an increase in muscle activation and a decrease in common casual pains such as back
or shoulder pain that everybody gets every now and then. Plus, these muscles will help
prevent habits like rolling our shoulders forward from becoming a huge issue. I've
included some exercises and information about the muscles as well. If any of this is
hard to understand, possibly a simple google search by copying the word(s) will do the trick, but of course, you can just email me.
• This is a link to a section of a site called bodybuilding.com. In this link will be a
great way to search out a lot of different exercises based on what muscles you want to train, what kind of equipment is being used and they will each be graded on their
effectiveness from voters along with descriptions and a video of how to do each
exercise.
https://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/finder
• Lower traps: Underhand cable row, underhand lat (latissimus dorsi) pulldown, w raises, one arm dumbbell row. Elbows will be closer to our sides throughout the exercise and bringing them as far back as we can to use our back as much as
possible. Also, putting ourselves in position to perform a lat pulldown rep, before we
pull the bar down, we can simply focus on doing reps of us pulling our shoulders
down. Holding the bar with our arms straight, just letting our shoulders come up and then pulling our shoulders down. This is very good at strengthening the muscles
responsible for helping us get our shoulders in this position.
• Middle traps: Same as lower trap, but overhand grip can emphasize middle more. Such as lat pulldown with an overhand grip and overhand cable row. Rear
deltoid flies with elbows as far behind your back as possible can train these muscles
as well. Like you're trying to get your elbows to touch behind your back.
• Abductors: Bands around knees, abductor machine, band around knees during squats. Mainly just pushing our knees out. Nothing crazy. Training these muscles
will also use gluteus medius as well which is a muscle above the gluteus maximus.
• Rear deltoids: Rear deltoid flies, w raises and many back exercises use these muscles, but the idea is to isolate them as well using exercises like these. Plus, Is,
Ys and Ts will be good for our shoulder mobility and activation of our muscles. The
Ts will be the motion that utilize our rear deltoids the most and even middle traps as
well.
• Rhomboids: Face pulls, rear deltoid flies, w raises, Is, Ys, Ts, are great for rhomboids and rear deltoids as well. The other thing with rhomboids is that they are
right next to our middle traps. So, when training them with more compound
movements, the rhomboids are active as well.
• Glutes: Deep range of motion on compound exercises (like squats and lunges).
Hip thrusts, RDLs, using the roman chair is also a great way to use our glutes and hamstrings together as well.
• Hamstrings: Similar to what I wrote for glutes. The best way to train our
hamstrings though, is to train them with our glutes. So, it's best to not do hamstring
isolating machines, but to do exercises like hip thrusts and full range of motion
squats instead. Or using a roman chair without us hyperextending our spines
(arching our backs) and squeezing our glutes at the top with a stretch in our
hamstrings going down.
• Core
• Lower back: The roman chair can also be used to train our lower backs by us thinking about using our lower backs instead of us focusing on our hamstrings and glutes. If this is sounds difficult to do, using our mind muscle connection, I promise, it
just takes some practice. Our lower backs are trained very effectively by the lower
back having to stabilize our spines while doing a standing bent over row, squats and even RDLs. Even yoga is good for the lower back as well.
• Obliques: Isolated horizontal wood chops (they also don't have to be only horizontal), full motion horizontal wood chops, twisting sit ups are a few examples.
Twisting sit ups are regular sit ups, but we bring our left elbow to the outside of our
right knee and vice versa. Remember, the twisting motion and training at an angle is
going to be the way to go when it comes to training our obliques.
• Serratus anterior: The purpose of this muscle is actually to pull our scapula into
our ribcage. This muscle is going to be trained similarly as our obliques are, but the most effective way to train them is going to be the push-up plus. The push-up plus is
us in a push-up position, then pushing our shoulders forward, protracting our
scapulae, then contracting our scapulae by bringing our shoulders together. The
serratus is becoming active when we are pushing our shoulders forward.
• Upper abdominals: The cable crunch, crunches on their own, weighted
crunches, crunches with legs on a chair. The idea here is to be isolating our upper
abs because our middle abs are often trained more than our upper abs. This is because we go past a certain point with our range of motion that then engages more
middle ab. This why sit ups are different than crunches.
• Middle abdominals: These muscles absolutely can still be engaged with exercises that emphasize upper abs because they are going to be trained
consistently throughout any ab exercise. Such as planks and sit ups. As you may
have guessed, these exercises are pretty much training the abdominals in general,
not necessarily isolating a particular area.
• Lower abdominals: Leg raise on the floor, using a captain's chair or hanging
from a pull up bar. The idea here is that we don't just raise our legs, but we curl our
hips up. Like with the leg raises on the floor, we brought our hips off the ground.
Another exercise you can do is mountain climbers. The best way to go about doing
this exercise is to keep our hips in the flexed position throughout the exercise and then getting our knees to practically go past our collar bones. You can also do it in a
way where we are in the push up position, bring our hips in flexing our abs and then
bringing our knees, one at a time to the opposite elbow. By the way, you don't have
to necessarily train the abs by area like this to get them to be fit/strong, this is just to provide detail and in case you might want to know.
Every other muscle
• Upper Pec: When emphasizing the upper pec, we will be pushing or doing flies a little higher than horizontal. Typically using an incline bench. This can also be done
on a machine or with cables, resistance bands and even dumbbells. If doing more
isolation, easier than pressing, flies are a great option. Dumbbell flies on an incline
bench, cable flies with the cable or resistance band lower than where our hands will
be at the end of the rep. Either during a press or a fly, we have our shoulders
positioned, keeping them there the best we can to not have our shoulders go up and/or forwards, bringing our arms back with elbows out from our side to get a
stretch, not too far to prevent shoulder strain, then squeezing our pecs throughout
the press or fly. Compound exercises are going to be push-ups, bench press (these can be done in other variations just like with the flies also), then the flies are going to be isolation.
• Lower Pec: It is the same as for the upper pec, but this time we would have the cable be higher up and we won't be using an incline bench, but a decline bench. We
will be pressing or doing flies with our arms going below horizontal. You don't have to train pecs like this by training certain areas either. You can just do basic exercises
where you press forward instead of at a certain angle, the same with flies.
• Latissimus Dorsi (lat): Lat pulldowns, rows and pullovers. It's kind of a short list
with some of these muscles because of the amount of variations there are for just
one exercise like rows for example. You can do these with cables, resistance bands,
dumbbells, barbells, standing, seated and kneeling. The same rules still apply, even when doing different variations or at different angles. We keep our shoulders down
and back, keeping our abs tight, pulling our elbows behind us squeezing our back
muscles.
• Quadriceps: These can actually be trained pretty simply through just regular leg
training. Lunges, squats, leg press, but then also step ups and Bulgarian split
squats. Again, all different types of variations with rules still applying to them all with us staying tight in our abs, putting our shoulders in a good position, keeping our
knees out, going down slowly, pressing through our heels up and keeping our chins
down.
• Calves: The key here is getting a lot of sets (let's say at least 6) with at least 10
reps per set, since these are endurance muscles, and getting a full range of motion.
Elevating the front half of our feet to keep our heels from touching the surface. This
can be done on a machine or simply an object on the floor. This is to allow us to stretch the calves as we lower the heel and then be flexing our calves all the way
and flexing them at the top. This can be done with bodyweight or using a form of resistance like a machine or holding a dumbbell with the opposite hand.
• Biceps: Curls with dumbbells, cables, resistance bands, barbells and even machines. What is important to know here is that the grip we take is going to emphasize how we are training our biceps as well. A pronated grip emphasizes
forearm and long head activation, neutral grip is similar to pronated, but less forearm
activation, then supinated which emphasizes short head development. Doing our
curls with our arms going across and in front of our bodies will emphasize the long
head. Our arms being curled the regular way will train the bicep overall and then our
arms curling away from our bodies will emphasize our short head. Keeping our
hands from curling in will flex our forearms more, decreasing our bicep activation.
• Triceps: Locking out our elbows is key to squeezing our triceps. The two angles
to be used are us pressing above our heads and then us pushing the resistance down or at least away from us. Examples of these motions are
overhead tricep extensions and rope pushdowns. Of course, there are so many
variations like kickbacks, other attachments and pieces of equipment to use.
• Forearms: Wrist curls for flexors and extensors. Short range of motion is going
to have us be using higher rep ranges. These muscles can also be trained by doing
farmer's carries which are not just us standing there holding the weights, but also us
walking a path making it harder to stabilize the muscles.
• Upper traps: Very short range of motion. Therefore, high reps and making sure we are squeezing at the top with shrugs. Shrugs can be done in many different ways
as you can imagine, although it's important for us to keep our shoulders moving up and behind our ears. Upper traps are very often used daily and in many exercises.
This can be said for all of the muscles on the body, but if these become
overpowered, this can create issues of scapula instability.
• Deltoid (anterior and lateral): Shoulder press, lateral raises. Presses can be done with barbells, dumbbells, bands, and cables, seated and standing or even
machines. The same for lateral raises except for barbells. It's important that these
muscles are strong, but not like the rear deltoids. It's not like we have to be very
cautious when training them with the idea of them becoming overpowered, because
if we are training our rear deltoids and other posture muscles, this worry can be
reduced. Anterior deltoid raises are unnecessary because the shoulder press is what
is training this muscle already. Remember, when pressing up while standing, we
need to keep our abs tight to protect our backs.
Compound vs isolation
• Compound is using much more complex movements that involve more muscles.
What really makes it a complex movement is the form. Examples for compound
would be exercises like bench press, shoulder press, lat pulldowns, pull ups, rows,
squats, leg press, lunges and push-ups. These exercises allow us to develop the most strength.
• Isolation is using practically just one muscle at a time. Therefore, bicep
curls, tricep pushdowns, calf raises, crunches, leg raises, chest flies, rear deltoid
flies, wrist curls are going to be much more simpler in form. The benefit of isolation is
being able to target a very specific area of our body to make sure it is being trained
efficiently.
Form for upper body
• From info about Lats: Keeping our shoulders down and back, keeping our abs tight, pulling our elbows behind us squeezing our back muscles.
Form for lower body
• From info about Quadriceps: Staying tight in our abs, putting our shoulders in a
good position, keeping our knees out, going down slowly, pressing through our heels
up and keeping our chins down.
Mobility and warm up for upper/lower body
• The purpose for doing mobility work and warming ourselves up is preparation physically and even mentally. It allows our body to loosen up, create more blood
flow, get in the groove of performing basic movements, wake ourselves up, even
pump up our muscles a little bit and prepare our joints to be moved, stretched, and
have pressure put on them from any sort of resistance that we're using. It's also to be viewed as the transition from us walking into the gym to us putting ourselves through physically challenging exercise. When warming up for training, it's not a
waste of time to warm up the entire body. So it's not a dumb idea to warm up the
legs if we are doing only upper body exercises. It's just that you might not
necessarily have to and if you're trying to save some time, it won't kill you, that's for
sure. The difference between mobility and a warm up is that mobility is almost like
active stretching while a warm up is us getting simply warmed up through light
activity. An example of a mobility exercise is the shoulder dislocation. Awful name,
which is why I refer to them as "pull throughs", but a great exercise. An example of a warm up could actually be us just going for a walk on a treadmill or very light weight
rows. In case it needs to be clarified, the upper body muscles are from the waist up
and the lower body is from the waist down.
• Upper body: T-spine rotations, shoulder dislocations (pull throughs), external rotation for shoulders, Is Ys and Ts, resistance band pull aparts (for rear deltoids)
and then doing the first exercise of the workout with a light weight and with control
as well.
• Lower body: When we are preparing our lower body, we will be using warm-
up/mobility exercises for the upper body because the upper body is still being used
quite a bit during a lower body workout. Our shoulders and backs are put under
tension during squats for example. So, we will do T-spine rotations, shoulder
dislocations (pull throughs) and external rotation for shoulders. We will then move
onto doing 5 knee hugs per leg and the same with the ankle to shoulder exercise.
Then in a squat position, we will be pushing our elbows into our knees to push our
hips open, after that we will do 10 controlled bodyweight squats. After all this, we
then pyramid up with our first compound exercise to the weight that we will want to use.
Rep ranges
• Keep in mind with this list that you don't just grab a weight and simply move it 12
times (reps) to grow your muscles. When you hit failure (when you no longer can move the weight with good form) on rep 9 during a set, that's the amount of times
that you can move that weight. Although, you might have certain points in your
training when you go by feel instead of # of reps. Like myself for example, when I'm
doing bicep curls, the purpose of that exercise for me is to stretch and squeeze my
biceps rather than get a pump in my arms. So clearly, I'm not training for the amount
of weight I can move and how many times I can move it for; I'm going by feel. If I
grab 20-pound dumbbells for my curls and I get 10 reps (which is for muscle building), but I don't feel that I had the ability to get that specific pumping feeling that
I wanted, I will lower the weight to 15 pounds and emphasize the form of the exercise, stretching and squeezing my biceps to get the pump. There's also the fact
that an exercise's range of motion is something to keep in mind as well. A pull up is
a much farther distance travelled than a calf raise. Six reps on a squat is not like the six reps for a shrug exercise. Therefore, we have to increase the rep ranges for
these short range of motion exercises for muscle growth for a lot of people. Some
people have great muscle growth by just doing some push-ups, others by throwing
stones, but most by organizing their training as such. With the endurance aspect of training, usually people are runners, but also want to strengthen their legs. The way to get better at running is to run more, but weight training will always benefit us by
creating more durability in our bones, decreasing our risk of injuring something, and
the obvious, decreasing muscle fatigue.
• Below is a list of rep ranges and what each emphasize.
• 1-6 Strength (I recommend avoiding 1-3 rep range due to the risk involved)
• 8-12 Hypertrophy (Muscle size increase)
• 14+ Endurance
Rest
• When we train, we breakdown our muscles, then to increase performance, we then allow the muscles to regrow and even adapt to the stress put on them
previously. This is done by stretching, myofascial release, nutrition, sleep, non-active and even active rest. Too little rest is typically a muscle being trained again in less
than 48 hours and too much is typically more than 96 hours. It's pretty difficult to say
how much rest is too much, but it's always a good idea to train as often as possible with the 48-hour rule in place. If we are still very sore after 96 hours to the point it
feels like we trained these muscles yesterday, our training is possibly excessive. We
might find that we are doing too many exercises, too many sets, not warming up
properly and/or not cooling down properly. The point is to challenge ourselves, but
not hurt ourselves. It is always better to train smart than to train hard. Typically, our
rest times between sets is going to be shorter the more reps we get. The higher rep
ranges are usually going to affect our endurance and to increase our endurance is to utilize lower rest times as well ( our strength; therefore, we will need more rest (90 seconds>). Lastly there is general
fitness or even muscle building centered training which won't need that much rest, but could use a little also (45-90 seconds). Obviously, if you feel you need more rest,
take your time, but let's not become lazy or time wasters either.
• Between Sets:
• 1-6 Strength = 90 seconds>
• 8-12 Hypertrophy = 45-90 seconds
• 14+ Endurance = • Between Workout Sessions: 48-96 hours.
Volume (how much training/how many sets)
• When we are training, we want to do our best to balance out the amount of volume we do for all the muscles in our body. At least to not have the muscles
anterior to our body (like pecs and quads) getting more work than our posterior
muscles (like lower traps and glutes). This will prevent imbalances in strength which
will then help prevent poor posture and inefficient training. The more experienced we
become with training, often times leads to more volume necessary to cause change in our bodies. If we are doing 4 sets of 6 exercises in a workout and feel over
trained, then maybe we should decrease the total amount of sets done from 24 to 18 and see how we feel then.
How to program
• Frequency: When we are making a training program for ourselves, we want to first start with how many times a week we know we will work out. This is the starting
point because if we are very busy, then we clearly can't be efficient with a 6
workouts per week plan. Ideally, we would train each muscle at least twice a week.
So, when we decide how many days per week we would like to have including a
workout, then now we are making the program more custom with our lives and it
then also determines which splits to use and which ones to avoid for more efficient
training.
• Splits: Splits are the customization of which muscles to be training on a certain
day. An example of this would be after we decided to train 4 times a week, we then
decide to do an upper body day and then a lower body day. This can be spread out in a way that ensures the next time you train a certain muscle, it would have gotten
at least 48 hours of rest beforehand. So, this split could be set up like this: Saturday,
Upper body. Sunday, Lower body. Tuesday, Upper body. Thursday, Lower body.
The days off can be utilized for cardio as well if you would like, but if on the same
day of training, preferably after lifting weights.
• Exercise selection: After we now know what muscles each day will
consist of, we will then choose which exercises to do. Ideally, we would have at least
one compound movement for each area we are targeting. Like having a row for our
backs and a squat for our legs. We are also keeping in mind which muscles require
more isolation such as our rhomboids or rear deltoids for example.
• Volume: So, with our exercise selection finished, we have a pretty good look at what our workouts are going to be like. What we have to figure out now is how
volume we will be doing during the workouts. Volume is mainly another word for how
many sets we are doing that day in total. If we are doing a total of 18 sets, but we
feel we could actually do more, then we should. So, we would increase the amount of sets and see if we feel over-trained or just right. We should feel
fatigued, but not like we could barely finish the workout. When we diversify our sets,
we would be matching how many sets we do with the muscles on the front of our
body with the muscles on the back of our body, or matching the amount of sets dealt with our pushing muscles with our pulling muscles. If we can't for some reason, let's
at least try to have the amount of sets leaning more towards our posterior/pulling
muscles.
• Rest/Recovery: This consists of the breaks we take between sets, days off between workouts and the action we are taking to help our bodies heal and at least
maintain their function. This could be consisting of icing, stretching and myofascial
release along with our sleep and balanced nutrition. There may also be a time for us to take a de-load week as well. This is where we have become so taxed physically
and possibly even emotionally that we do no physical activity for an entire week. We
wouldn't be doing this very often obviously, but it's important to know that this is
something that can be done if we ever feel we have gotten to this point.
• Progress: Progress happens when we have been pushing ourselves, doing what needs to be done and then our body adapts to it. The way to know if this is
happening is by tracking what weight you lift and how many times, what your arms
measured up to be in the morning, how long you used to be able to run vs now and so on. If you hit failure with a weight at rep 9, then several weeks later you hit failure with the same weight with the same exercise, but on rep 12, that's showing you've
gotten stronger. I strongly recommend everyone tracks anything they are trying to
progress on by at least writing down their progress every week. If just going by
memory, I promise, that's not very effective.
• Plateaus in programing: When we have challenged our bodies and then
provided them what they need to recover, they will eventually adapt to get better and our bodies are going to then need a new challenge. Once the previous challenge
stops producing results, this is what is referred to as a plateau. When we are doing a
training program, it's a good idea to change it at least a little bit every two weeks
(this timeframe is a general guideline). This is to prevent plateaus from occurring
and hindering our results. It's a good idea to, every two weeks, do something at least
like this: go from barbell to dumbbell, or cable to barbell, or dumbbell to bodyweight,
or decline to flat, or swap out the exercise all together. For example: go from cable
rows to dumbbell rows, or going from leg press to front squat.
Different grips
• From arm curls all the way to squats, there are different ways to use our hands
during a set. Sometimes it's just a simple preference, sometimes it can be injury
prevention. During a bench press for example, there is something called suicide grip
that has the person not wrapping their thumbs around the bar. This can make it
easier for someone to drop the barbell onto themselves, but some people do it because they can feel their chest being used more during the exercise. Obviously,
we should be doing everything we can to prevent any accident while training, so stay
away from this one. A certain grip can also be used to emphasize something like in our biceps for example. If using a pronated grip, we will be using far more forearm
than before during a bicep curl. If we are doing a curl and our wrists hurt while
supinating the dumbbell, we can try placing our hands in a different location on the handle of the dumbbell instead of just always being in the middle.

Equipment
• Examples of equipment: Lifting belt, wrist straps, wrist wraps, elbow wraps, elbow braces, knee wraps and knee braces.
• The purpose of equipment when training is to assist our lifting and also help
prevent injury, but the idea is to not have to need equipment in order to lift weights or for any other type of training. If we do need some sort of equipment, our training
would ideally be also getting ourselves to the point where we don't need the
equipment anymore. This is a very general statement because if we are just training
to be healthy and fit and our equipment is being used because we prefer to train with it than without it. If we are athletes preparing for a competition, clearly, this is now a
different situation. For example, if you have weakness in your grip strength and you
are a competitive rower, you should not be masking this deficiency with equipment if
you want to get the best results. Now if you are someone like me and you are not
training to be a competitive athlete, but to just be strong, healthy and look a certain
way, then this grip strength deficiency may not really be an issue at all. Even if I
didn't have noticeable weakness in my grip, I may still want to use equipment that
takes my grip out of my exercises (wrist straps) because that's just what I like to do.
Drop sets, super sets, pyramid sets, isometrics
• Drop Sets: Starting with the weight that we would do for a normal set, go to failure and then immediately take a lighter weight and go to failure again. This can
be as many or as few times as you'd like. It's also referred to as "running the rack".
The purpose of doing this is just to add more intensity and/or volume to our
workouts. Also, this is very beneficial if we are doing an exercise for hypertrophy (8- 12 reps).
• Super Sets: Doing two exercises back-to-back. Usually, we do a set of a single exercise and then we take a break until we do the next set. A super set is when we
do a set of a single exercise and then without a break, do a set of a different
exercise and then we take our break. This will increase intensity to challenge
ourselves more, but is also useful to decrease the amount of time we need to do our
workout for the day. There are also multiple benefits to training opposing muscles
together (biceps superset with triceps, lats superset with chest). One of those
benefits is our ability to make sure we are balancing out the amount of work done to one side of our bodies to the other. This can also be utilized when we have several
low intensity isolation exercises because we can just do them all together. Like
taking exercises that train the upper, lower and the sides of our abdominals together
into a circuit.
• Pyramid Sets: These are pretty much drop sets, but in reverse, not going to failure and feeling free to take at least a short break. I use this method for warming
up to our working weight. This is us warming up starting with bodyweight, then
adding a very light amount of weight and then gradually increasing the amount used
without going to failure until we get to our working weight. I do not recommend this:
starting with a light amount of weight going to failure and gradually going up in weight to add volume and intensity. This can lead to poor form with heavy weight
while fatigued. I do recommend using it for warming up.
• Isometrics: This is not dealing with reps, but with time because we are not moving. Examples for this would be wall sits and planks. These are beneficial for
many reasons, but absolutely are when we are training to be in a certain position for
a period of time. For example: wall sits for snowboarding or hanging from a pull up
bar for climbing.
Going to failure, when to end a set
• This might be obvious, but it's very important to know this, especially when
training alone. First, if something hurts, stop. If it is muscle fatigue, that is completely
different and something you should try to push through. Although, if it feels like joint
pain, something is about to pop, tear or anything like that, stop. Getting one or even
three more reps is not worth risking an injury. "No pain no gain" is referring to you
becoming fatigued and needing to challenge yourself in order for your body to need to improve, but it's not about you being in pain to the point you hurt yourself.
When to breathe during the positive and negative reps
• To know what part of a rep is positive or negative is helpful, but it is almost
necessary when knowing when to breathe. We will inhale during the negative of the
rep (also known as the eccentric) and we will then exhale during the positive of the rep (concentric). The positive of a rep is going to be the hardest part of the rep. It's
going to be when we push the barbell off of our chest during a bench press, when
we lift a weight during a bicep curl, when we stand up for a squat and even when we
pull whatever resistance towards us when we do a rowing exercise. The negative of the rep is when we are doing the opposite. During a squat, we are lowering
ourselves, during a lat pulldown, we are letting the bar raise back up, and during a
shoulder press, we are letting the weight come back down. This part of the rep is our
opportunity to prepare for the hardest part of the next rep by taking a deep breath in and then pushing it out as we push ourselves. Breathing is pretty important to keep
ourselves alive, so it's probably going to be important to do it while we train
properly.
Stretches and Myofascial Release
• After we have done our workout, we will use myofascial release to restore motion
and reduce tightness. Throughout the workout, the muscles have been
tightening/contracting; myofascial release loosens the muscles and simply releases
them as well. After we use myofascial release, we then stretch and bring length back
to these muscles as well. To prevent muscles becoming overly active and/or tight to the point it affects our posture and/or mobility, stretching and myofascial release will
do the trick. Hanging from a pull up bar will also be good for decompressing the
spine and letting our entire upper body stretch. By the way, for stretches and myofascial release, a lot of it can be google searched for information and variety. If
you need to find a stretch for hamstrings, googling "hamstring stretches" will give
you so much to view. Another thing to remember, stretching and/or myofascial
release should be done after workouts, but can also be done at other times in addition.

• List of upper body areas to be stretching:
• Chest (moving arm above shoulder to emphasize upper pec).
• Wrist/Forearm/Bicep (kneel on floor, push wrists into floor with fingers pointed
towards us.
• Lats
• Upper traps
• Rotator cuffs (sleeper stretch, on our side with arm straight out bent at 90 degrees, then rolling onto it, gently pushing our wrists towards the floor).
• Triceps
• Lower body:
• Kneeling hip flexor stretch (making sure we are curling our pelvis up, can be done by flexing abs)
• Quadriceps
• Hamstrings
• Glutes

• Cut the lawn
• Spread mulch
• Weeding/removal of dead trees
• Picked up litter/trash
• Organized work areas