Daily Motivation- Practice Makes Perfect
Practice Makes Perfect. You heard the expression, right? But what does it mean to you? To me, it means that there's this long staircase and every step up means I'm one step closer to the top. And I'll never be perfect, but the closer I get to the top, the better I become as an athlete and as a man...
----- MP's WORKOUT OF THE DAY ------
- IN GYM
- AT HOME
Get a deck of cards. The goal is to do each card one after the other with no rest.
When you get a random number of a card, you multiply it by 2 and that is reps you do. For example: Card 5= 5 x 2 = 10 reps
The suit determines the type of workout you do. Here is how we ranked them:
Heart = Toe-Touches
Diamond = Jump Squats
Clubs or Spades = Dips
Kings, Queens, or Jacks = Push-Ups
Ace = Sit-Ups
Joker = Diamond Push-Ups
Ask Your Question Below
Muscle Prodigy
James, doing cardio in the morning is definitely beneficial since two-a-days are going to ramp up your metabolic rate and burn extra calories, however doing the bike for 30 minutes is certainly not recommended. Here's why. First off, running burns significantly more calories than the bike, due to the fact that your core has to stabilize itself while moving, whereas doing the bike only requires movement from your legs. Second, doing steady-state cardio is not beneficial because while it burns calories, it also breaks down your muscular tissue in the process. Being lean and looking your best is about having the most amount of muscle on your body compared to fat, no matter how much you weigh. This is body fat percentage, and this is the most important statistic you should be concerned with- not your weight. The cardio that you should be performing should be high intensity interval training, that includes sprints! 30 minutes is more than enough time, but it needs to be an incredibly intense session. This not only spares muscle tissue (just make sure you have something like whey protein beforehand), but also burns calories far after the exercise is over since more energy is required to recover from an intense session rather than a session doing the same speed for the entire time. As far as your lifting, the whole light weight/high reps thing is in reality a myth. Muscle is muscle; and fat is fat. Each muscle group responds best to a specific number of reps dependent on the type of muscle fibers it is predominantly made up of. The most important thing you need to bring to your weightlifting sessions is INTENSITY and that means going to failure while using your mind to connect the muscle. If you would really like to learn about how your body works, then I really suggest you purchase MP45, which gives you a detailed 45 day plan showing you exactly what kind of cardio I'm talking about, when to perform it, and what exactly to train in the gym when looking to torch the fat. If you don't create this mind-muscle connection in the gym and bring your muscle to total failure to pop them out, then you're practically wasting your time in the gym. Also, nutrition is going to play the ultimate X factor in your quest to losing weight- learn exactly what to eat for every meal of the day for all 45 days. You will not regret your purchase of MP45. www.MP45.com
James Hammond
I'm enlisting in the Navy soon and I'm trying to cut the fat. I graduated from high school last year playing football and i'm stuck with the same weight i was back during the season. I'm 5' 8". I weight 270. I've been getting on the bike and going for 30 min each day to start my day. After work each night I got to the gym and do light weight/ high reps (a friend told me that's the best way to burn fat around muscle). What is your opinion on this? Anything thing i can do to speed the process up?
Muscle Prodigy
Don, getting ripped is all about a systemic process, which is a result of your training and your diet. You need to build muscle and burn fat through exercise, but more importantly, you need to make sure your body is creating the proper hormones (namely, testosterone and hgh) to get to the low levels of body fat you are referring to. This is very difficult with the high amount of long distance running you are doing on a practically daily basis- 70 miles...ouch!
Steady state cardio and lifting without intensity (meaning minimal weights used) will not cause you to lose much in the way of fat, because even though you burn a lot of calories, you break down muscular tissue during the process and the less muscle you have, the less fat you burn- so the more calories you put into your body, the less it goes to recovery of the muscles to build them up and the more it goes to storing for energy (and if you don't use that energy, it gets stored as fat). And you can see how this process repeats itself over and over again. Since you are a cross country runner, you cannot change around the particular type of cardio you are doing, but you need to implement some form of higher intensity exercise such as sprints and strength training, where you are lifting with near maximal loads (three days a week, as prescribed by your team is enough to get a significant response, if done with the PROPER intensity). It is not about how much weight you lose, but what the mirror sees- and that is particularly why your body composition is so important- your ratio of muscle to fat.
With getting a ripped physique with minimal body fat at 6.5 or 7%, it requires pushing yourself within your workouts by being very intense during short brief bouts, lasting only seconds long where you've reached momentary failure (I explain exactly how to do this in our MP45 program- www.mp45.com), then resting briefly, and repeating the process. But there is a fine line that must not be crossed- you cannot do this for extended periods of time in the same day and you cannot do it every day to the point where you overtrain. This will hinder your hormone balance and create CORTISOL.
My recommendation to you though since you cannot change up your exercise much, is you do things with nutrition to help prevent muscle breakdown during your runs. Make sure to take a whey protein and complex carb source like maltodextrin before you run and immediately after. Also, I recommend taking a BCAA supplement before your runs. I highly value HumaPro tabs made by ALRI, which is a specific vegetable origin 8 essential amino acid formulation with the proper enzymatic structure so your body can break it down and utilize it. Best of luck!
Don Blight
im 6 foot and weigh 172 lbs. I run cross country for Wayne State University. In order for me to take my athletic to the next level I need to cut some weight. I want to maintain my strength and cut fat. Im currently around 9 percent and would like to reach 6.5 or 7 percent. How should I approach this?? We run 70 miles a week and lift 3 days. Plus basketball twice a week
Muscle Prodigy
Jason, your training needs to be where you look to achieve what's called a pump through your training and where you are actually taking your muscle to complete failure to present it with progressive overload. Nutrition is going to make up a huge composition of gaining those 10 pounds- you need to be taking in an adequate amount of nutrients very frequently and particularly your post-workout meal and breakfast are extremely important if you want to pack on LEAN muscle. . The number of reps you should perform differs based upon the actual muscle you are working, since each muscle is particularly responsive to a set number of reps based on the fibers they are made up of (predominantly fast twitch or slow twitch). This is explained fully in the MP45 program at http://www.mp45.com. This is a workout program designed exclusively by Muscle Prodigy. It tells you the exercises to perform, the amount of reps to do, the number of sets, on what days to lift, when to take off, etc.- step by step workout and diet plan for all 45 days.
Jason Bourne
I'm looking to put on some lean muscle (approx 10 pounds) without getting overly muscular or bulky. How many reps and how many sets of each exercise should I be looking at doing in the gym?
Muscle Prodigy
Sorry for this spam issue.
Muscle Prodigy
Daryl, If you would like to be a Prodigy of the month, please email us with a short bio and pictures of yourself to enter the evaluation process. That goes for anyone interested in this esteemed position.
Muscle Prodigy
Alex, you most likely are suffering from elbow tendinitis, which is inflammation of the tendons that attach to the outside part of the elbow. This could be a very painful condition, but is almost always worsened by performing certain movements that involve a pressing motion, where a lot of pressure is placed on your elbow. That means every time you are doing a shoulder press, bench press, dip, pressdown, etc., you are exacerbating it, and never giving it a chance to heal. If you mentally cannot afford a break from exercising your upper body altogether, you need to modify your exercises and choose the ones that give you the least amount of pain. However, you must consult with your primary physician to find out what the real problem is, because it could be a much more severe condition such as a hairline fracture. Best of luck.
Daryl Butler
How does the prodigy selection work
Alex Chavez
how to I get rid of elbow pain wen i do shoulder presses of anything with triceps?
Brian C
I love hill sprints. Go 8 seconds as hard as you can, stop for 12 then go 8 then 12. I read this is most optimal for fat burning. And yes...Alex Timber, I do that for chest also. It's wicked good!
Alex Timber
I never extend all the way up when doing bench press. I like to keep a slight bend in my elbow and squeeze the chest at the top. I feel a much better pump. Does anyone do it this way?
Brett James
Pull-ups with weight tied to your belt is the best! DO IT!
Chris Andrews
I love doing squats with low weight. I try to shoot for 20-30 reps with my legs perfectly parallel. I squeeze at the bottom of each rep and explode up. I never felt stronger in my life doing this stuff! Everyone must try this!
-------- Daily Tips --------
When doing rope extensions for the triceps, the only movement taking place should be at the elbow joints. Make sure you're not leaning in to move the weight. Therefore, do not use momentum. Make sure your back is straight and your abs are tightened throughout the entire movement.
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