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Post-competition Training and Staying Motivated
By IFBB Pro Josh Wade
Sponsored by ALLMAX
I’ve had a lot of clients just finish shows and have had this conversation with most of them, so I thought this was a great place to share.
I love training. What excites me is seeing what I can do, how hard I can push myself, and making me better physically than I was the day before. There is a way I had to start training immediately after a competition that differs from what I’ve done in the past that I think people around 40 years old or above should consider. After a competition you’re depleted. Joints and tendons are dry and usually energy is down. Then as soon as you increase calories again, strength and energy jump up crazy fast. This is where you must be careful! It’s fun to get strong again and see your lifts increasing every week. You keep pushing yourself then suddenly everything starts hurting! For me it was around four weeks post competition when the muscles start outgrowing the tendons and boom! Tendinitis starts flaring up all over and it’s no longer fun to train due to the pain. But prep is coming so “I can’t take a break now.”
What I had to start doing post show was minimize my rest periods to 45-60 seconds between sets on most exercises and watch the clock. Two things happened for me. Minimizing rest makes the weight a whole lot heavier, therefore I don’t need to push crazy weight to reach temporary muscle failure. This gives me a crazy pump but doesn’t put the same strain on the tendons and joints. Also, it keeps me focused and motivated as I’m watching the second hand on the clock instead of taking long rest periods and letting my mind wander to work or outside gym obligations.
I also tell them that a lot of times motivation starts to fade when you start losing your shape and detail, so keeping a clean baseline diet is the only way to keep metabolism up to be able to handle the cheat meals that most people start doing immediately after a show. If you keep eating clean consistent food that’s easily digestible, your body will process the cheat meals better than if you kept doing them back-to-back. You must sprinkle cheat meals in to keep the best shape possible when hormones start coming down and you might not be as anabolic, therefore you will store fat faster as protein synthesis will not be as high and able to build the most muscle tissue.
Consistency is the key to anything; do what works for you and keep getting better at it!
Chest Workout for Bigger Pecs
Q: I have a hard time connecting with my chest during workouts. Are there any pointers you can give?
A: As a personal trainer, form on chest exercises is probably the one thing I correct more than anything else. The first thing is most people don’t create enough arch in the back. This is even harder for people that work at a desk because they don’t have the best curvature of the spine due to leaning forward or rounding shoulders, so the tissue in the pecs and delts becomes so tight that they are internally rotated. Make sure you stretch your pecs daily, so that your shoulders sit back in the proper position and not rolled forward. When setting yourself up on all chest exercises, make sure you roll your head back as hard as you comfortably can, so your back is arched, shoulders are rolled back under you and your chest is the highest point and not your anterior delts. Then when you press, make sure you extend the arms to contract the pecs but don’t reach, which will pull the back of the shoulder off the pad. Then it’s very important to control the negative portion of the exercise while still trying to squeeze the chest. Remember the better mind-muscle connection you have, the more stimulation will happen!
Another way I like to start my chest workouts is to start on a machine press. That way you don’t have to worry about stabilizing and can focus just on the contraction and resistance. If you have a pump, it’s easier to feel the muscle working. Another important factor is minimizing rest periods at this point to make sure you do get a good pump to start the workout! Try this routine, which is one of my favorite chest workouts that I do most frequently.
Seated Chest Press: 2 x 15 warm-up (30-second rest), 4 x 12-10 (last set 2 drops) (45-60 second rest on working sets)
Incline Bench: 4 x 12-8 (60-90 second rest). Here you can push more weight safely as the muscle is already warmed up and pre-exhausted.
Incline Dumbbell Press: 4 x 12-10, superset with:
Incline Dumbbell Flyes: (pronated grip) 4x12-10
Do your press, then immediately reduce the weight by about 50 percent and go right into pronated flyes; which for me really stretch the pecs and puts a nasty burn and pump in the muscle.
Machine Flyes: 3 x 12 (squeeze contraction for 1 second on every rep). Once the muscle is pumped, here you can squeeze the life out of it till it’s done!
I hope this helps you connect with pecs and stay injury free.
Fuel Workouts to Train Harder
Q: How often do you change your supplement stack?
A: Whether off-season or pre-contest, my ALLMAX supplement stack for pre-, intra- and post-workout usually doesn’t vary much because I always want my workouts to be fueled so I can train as hard as possible even if calories are reduced during prep.
This is my standard supplement stack:
Pre-workout: 1 scoop Impact Igniter Xtreme, 1/2 scoop Carbion (25g carbs)
Intra-workout: 1 scoop Aminocore, 1 scoop Impact Pump, 5g Creatine, 10g Glutamine, 2 scoops Carbion (100g carbs)
Post-workout: 2 scoops Isoflex, 10g Glutamine, 1 cup oatmeal, 1 cup mixed berries
For the first time to date my supplement regimen did change in 2019. With only the one week I had between Chicago and Vancouver to get as shredded as possible, I pulled out all my Carbion from pre- and intra-workout, plus dropped the oats and berries from post-workout, which was around a 200g carbohydrate reduction. Workouts did suffer due to less fuel and carbs but sometimes you must deplete that hard if behind, which I hated and hope to never have to do again!
Post-workout I use slower-digesting carbs instead of fast-digesting carbs. I feel because I’m never depleted with all the carbs pre- and intra-workout that I drink if I added more fast-digesting carbs post-workout my body wouldn’t absorb them all, so slower-digesting carbs post-workout will continue to feed my muscles without overloading my system and not give me a blood sugar crash, as the slower-digesting carbs from oatmeal and berries are going to trickle into my bloodstream.
Please send questions for this column to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Website: www.teamwadefitness.com
Instagram:
@ifbbprojoshwade
@teamallmax
@allmaxtraining
For more information, visit allmaxnutrition.com
ALLMAX is now selling directly to the consumer. Go to store.allmaxnutrition.com and use code JOSHWADE15 for 15% off.
DISCUSS ON OUR FORUMSSUBSCRIBE TO MD TODAYGET OFFICIAL MD STUFFVISIT OUR STORE
ALSO, MAKE SURE TO FOLLOW US ON:
FACEBOOKTWITTERINSTAGRAM YOUTUBE
Post-competition Training and Staying Motivated
By IFBB Pro Josh Wade
Sponsored by ALLMAX
I’ve had a lot of clients just finish shows and have had this conversation with most of them, so I thought this was a great place to share.
I love training. What excites me is seeing what I can do, how hard I can push myself, and making me better physically than I was the day before. There is a way I had to start training immediately after a competition that differs from what I’ve done in the past that I think people around 40 years old or above should consider. After a competition you’re depleted. Joints and tendons are dry and usually energy is down. Then as soon as you increase calories again, strength and energy jump up crazy fast. This is where you must be careful! It’s fun to get strong again and see your lifts increasing every week. You keep pushing yourself then suddenly everything starts hurting! For me it was around four weeks post competition when the muscles start outgrowing the tendons and boom! Tendinitis starts flaring up all over and it’s no longer fun to train due to the pain. But prep is coming so “I can’t take a break now.”
What I had to start doing post show was minimize my rest periods to 45-60 seconds between sets on most exercises and watch the clock. Two things happened for me. Minimizing rest makes the weight a whole lot heavier, therefore I don’t need to push crazy weight to reach temporary muscle failure. This gives me a crazy pump but doesn’t put the same strain on the tendons and joints. Also, it keeps me focused and motivated as I’m watching the second hand on the clock instead of taking long rest periods and letting my mind wander to work or outside gym obligations.
I also tell them that a lot of times motivation starts to fade when you start losing your shape and detail, so keeping a clean baseline diet is the only way to keep metabolism up to be able to handle the cheat meals that most people start doing immediately after a show. If you keep eating clean consistent food that’s easily digestible, your body will process the cheat meals better than if you kept doing them back-to-back. You must sprinkle cheat meals in to keep the best shape possible when hormones start coming down and you might not be as anabolic, therefore you will store fat faster as protein synthesis will not be as high and able to build the most muscle tissue.
Consistency is the key to anything; do what works for you and keep getting better at it!
Chest Workout for Bigger Pecs
Q: I have a hard time connecting with my chest during workouts. Are there any pointers you can give?
A: As a personal trainer, form on chest exercises is probably the one thing I correct more than anything else. The first thing is most people don’t create enough arch in the back. This is even harder for people that work at a desk because they don’t have the best curvature of the spine due to leaning forward or rounding shoulders, so the tissue in the pecs and delts becomes so tight that they are internally rotated. Make sure you stretch your pecs daily, so that your shoulders sit back in the proper position and not rolled forward. When setting yourself up on all chest exercises, make sure you roll your head back as hard as you comfortably can, so your back is arched, shoulders are rolled back under you and your chest is the highest point and not your anterior delts. Then when you press, make sure you extend the arms to contract the pecs but don’t reach, which will pull the back of the shoulder off the pad. Then it’s very important to control the negative portion of the exercise while still trying to squeeze the chest. Remember the better mind-muscle connection you have, the more stimulation will happen!
Another way I like to start my chest workouts is to start on a machine press. That way you don’t have to worry about stabilizing and can focus just on the contraction and resistance. If you have a pump, it’s easier to feel the muscle working. Another important factor is minimizing rest periods at this point to make sure you do get a good pump to start the workout! Try this routine, which is one of my favorite chest workouts that I do most frequently.
Seated Chest Press: 2 x 15 warm-up (30-second rest), 4 x 12-10 (last set 2 drops) (45-60 second rest on working sets)
Incline Bench: 4 x 12-8 (60-90 second rest). Here you can push more weight safely as the muscle is already warmed up and pre-exhausted.
Incline Dumbbell Press: 4 x 12-10, superset with:
Incline Dumbbell Flyes: (pronated grip) 4x12-10
Do your press, then immediately reduce the weight by about 50 percent and go right into pronated flyes; which for me really stretch the pecs and puts a nasty burn and pump in the muscle.
Machine Flyes: 3 x 12 (squeeze contraction for 1 second on every rep). Once the muscle is pumped, here you can squeeze the life out of it till it’s done!
I hope this helps you connect with pecs and stay injury free.
Fuel Workouts to Train Harder
Q: How often do you change your supplement stack?
A: Whether off-season or pre-contest, my ALLMAX supplement stack for pre-, intra- and post-workout usually doesn’t vary much because I always want my workouts to be fueled so I can train as hard as possible even if calories are reduced during prep.
This is my standard supplement stack:
Pre-workout: 1 scoop Impact Igniter Xtreme, 1/2 scoop Carbion (25g carbs)
Intra-workout: 1 scoop Aminocore, 1 scoop Impact Pump, 5g Creatine, 10g Glutamine, 2 scoops Carbion (100g carbs)
Post-workout: 2 scoops Isoflex, 10g Glutamine, 1 cup oatmeal, 1 cup mixed berries
For the first time to date my supplement regimen did change in 2019. With only the one week I had between Chicago and Vancouver to get as shredded as possible, I pulled out all my Carbion from pre- and intra-workout, plus dropped the oats and berries from post-workout, which was around a 200g carbohydrate reduction. Workouts did suffer due to less fuel and carbs but sometimes you must deplete that hard if behind, which I hated and hope to never have to do again!
Post-workout I use slower-digesting carbs instead of fast-digesting carbs. I feel because I’m never depleted with all the carbs pre- and intra-workout that I drink if I added more fast-digesting carbs post-workout my body wouldn’t absorb them all, so slower-digesting carbs post-workout will continue to feed my muscles without overloading my system and not give me a blood sugar crash, as the slower-digesting carbs from oatmeal and berries are going to trickle into my bloodstream.
Please send questions for this column to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Website: www.teamwadefitness.com
Instagram:
@ifbbprojoshwade
@teamallmax
@allmaxtraining
For more information, visit allmaxnutrition.com
ALLMAX is now selling directly to the consumer. Go to store.allmaxnutrition.com and use code JOSHWADE15 for 15% off.
DISCUSS ON OUR FORUMS
SUBSCRIBE TO MD TODAY
GET OFFICIAL MD STUFF
VISIT OUR STORE
ALSO, MAKE SURE TO FOLLOW US ON:
FACEBOOK
TWITTER
INSTAGRAM
YOUTUBE
Click here to view the article.
By IFBB Pro Josh Wade
Sponsored by ALLMAX
I’ve had a lot of clients just finish shows and have had this conversation with most of them, so I thought this was a great place to share.
I love training. What excites me is seeing what I can do, how hard I can push myself, and making me better physically than I was the day before. There is a way I had to start training immediately after a competition that differs from what I’ve done in the past that I think people around 40 years old or above should consider. After a competition you’re depleted. Joints and tendons are dry and usually energy is down. Then as soon as you increase calories again, strength and energy jump up crazy fast. This is where you must be careful! It’s fun to get strong again and see your lifts increasing every week. You keep pushing yourself then suddenly everything starts hurting! For me it was around four weeks post competition when the muscles start outgrowing the tendons and boom! Tendinitis starts flaring up all over and it’s no longer fun to train due to the pain. But prep is coming so “I can’t take a break now.”
What I had to start doing post show was minimize my rest periods to 45-60 seconds between sets on most exercises and watch the clock. Two things happened for me. Minimizing rest makes the weight a whole lot heavier, therefore I don’t need to push crazy weight to reach temporary muscle failure. This gives me a crazy pump but doesn’t put the same strain on the tendons and joints. Also, it keeps me focused and motivated as I’m watching the second hand on the clock instead of taking long rest periods and letting my mind wander to work or outside gym obligations.
I also tell them that a lot of times motivation starts to fade when you start losing your shape and detail, so keeping a clean baseline diet is the only way to keep metabolism up to be able to handle the cheat meals that most people start doing immediately after a show. If you keep eating clean consistent food that’s easily digestible, your body will process the cheat meals better than if you kept doing them back-to-back. You must sprinkle cheat meals in to keep the best shape possible when hormones start coming down and you might not be as anabolic, therefore you will store fat faster as protein synthesis will not be as high and able to build the most muscle tissue.
Consistency is the key to anything; do what works for you and keep getting better at it!
Chest Workout for Bigger Pecs
Q: I have a hard time connecting with my chest during workouts. Are there any pointers you can give?
A: As a personal trainer, form on chest exercises is probably the one thing I correct more than anything else. The first thing is most people don’t create enough arch in the back. This is even harder for people that work at a desk because they don’t have the best curvature of the spine due to leaning forward or rounding shoulders, so the tissue in the pecs and delts becomes so tight that they are internally rotated. Make sure you stretch your pecs daily, so that your shoulders sit back in the proper position and not rolled forward. When setting yourself up on all chest exercises, make sure you roll your head back as hard as you comfortably can, so your back is arched, shoulders are rolled back under you and your chest is the highest point and not your anterior delts. Then when you press, make sure you extend the arms to contract the pecs but don’t reach, which will pull the back of the shoulder off the pad. Then it’s very important to control the negative portion of the exercise while still trying to squeeze the chest. Remember the better mind-muscle connection you have, the more stimulation will happen!
Another way I like to start my chest workouts is to start on a machine press. That way you don’t have to worry about stabilizing and can focus just on the contraction and resistance. If you have a pump, it’s easier to feel the muscle working. Another important factor is minimizing rest periods at this point to make sure you do get a good pump to start the workout! Try this routine, which is one of my favorite chest workouts that I do most frequently.
Seated Chest Press: 2 x 15 warm-up (30-second rest), 4 x 12-10 (last set 2 drops) (45-60 second rest on working sets)
Incline Bench: 4 x 12-8 (60-90 second rest). Here you can push more weight safely as the muscle is already warmed up and pre-exhausted.
Incline Dumbbell Press: 4 x 12-10, superset with:
Incline Dumbbell Flyes: (pronated grip) 4x12-10
Do your press, then immediately reduce the weight by about 50 percent and go right into pronated flyes; which for me really stretch the pecs and puts a nasty burn and pump in the muscle.
Machine Flyes: 3 x 12 (squeeze contraction for 1 second on every rep). Once the muscle is pumped, here you can squeeze the life out of it till it’s done!
I hope this helps you connect with pecs and stay injury free.
Fuel Workouts to Train Harder
Q: How often do you change your supplement stack?
A: Whether off-season or pre-contest, my ALLMAX supplement stack for pre-, intra- and post-workout usually doesn’t vary much because I always want my workouts to be fueled so I can train as hard as possible even if calories are reduced during prep.
This is my standard supplement stack:
Pre-workout: 1 scoop Impact Igniter Xtreme, 1/2 scoop Carbion (25g carbs)
Intra-workout: 1 scoop Aminocore, 1 scoop Impact Pump, 5g Creatine, 10g Glutamine, 2 scoops Carbion (100g carbs)
Post-workout: 2 scoops Isoflex, 10g Glutamine, 1 cup oatmeal, 1 cup mixed berries
For the first time to date my supplement regimen did change in 2019. With only the one week I had between Chicago and Vancouver to get as shredded as possible, I pulled out all my Carbion from pre- and intra-workout, plus dropped the oats and berries from post-workout, which was around a 200g carbohydrate reduction. Workouts did suffer due to less fuel and carbs but sometimes you must deplete that hard if behind, which I hated and hope to never have to do again!
Post-workout I use slower-digesting carbs instead of fast-digesting carbs. I feel because I’m never depleted with all the carbs pre- and intra-workout that I drink if I added more fast-digesting carbs post-workout my body wouldn’t absorb them all, so slower-digesting carbs post-workout will continue to feed my muscles without overloading my system and not give me a blood sugar crash, as the slower-digesting carbs from oatmeal and berries are going to trickle into my bloodstream.
Please send questions for this column to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Website: www.teamwadefitness.com
Instagram:
@ifbbprojoshwade
@teamallmax
@allmaxtraining
For more information, visit allmaxnutrition.com
ALLMAX is now selling directly to the consumer. Go to store.allmaxnutrition.com and use code JOSHWADE15 for 15% off.
DISCUSS ON OUR FORUMSSUBSCRIBE TO MD TODAYGET OFFICIAL MD STUFFVISIT OUR STORE
ALSO, MAKE SURE TO FOLLOW US ON:
FACEBOOKTWITTERINSTAGRAM YOUTUBE
Post-competition Training and Staying Motivated
By IFBB Pro Josh Wade
Sponsored by ALLMAX
I’ve had a lot of clients just finish shows and have had this conversation with most of them, so I thought this was a great place to share.
I love training. What excites me is seeing what I can do, how hard I can push myself, and making me better physically than I was the day before. There is a way I had to start training immediately after a competition that differs from what I’ve done in the past that I think people around 40 years old or above should consider. After a competition you’re depleted. Joints and tendons are dry and usually energy is down. Then as soon as you increase calories again, strength and energy jump up crazy fast. This is where you must be careful! It’s fun to get strong again and see your lifts increasing every week. You keep pushing yourself then suddenly everything starts hurting! For me it was around four weeks post competition when the muscles start outgrowing the tendons and boom! Tendinitis starts flaring up all over and it’s no longer fun to train due to the pain. But prep is coming so “I can’t take a break now.”
What I had to start doing post show was minimize my rest periods to 45-60 seconds between sets on most exercises and watch the clock. Two things happened for me. Minimizing rest makes the weight a whole lot heavier, therefore I don’t need to push crazy weight to reach temporary muscle failure. This gives me a crazy pump but doesn’t put the same strain on the tendons and joints. Also, it keeps me focused and motivated as I’m watching the second hand on the clock instead of taking long rest periods and letting my mind wander to work or outside gym obligations.
I also tell them that a lot of times motivation starts to fade when you start losing your shape and detail, so keeping a clean baseline diet is the only way to keep metabolism up to be able to handle the cheat meals that most people start doing immediately after a show. If you keep eating clean consistent food that’s easily digestible, your body will process the cheat meals better than if you kept doing them back-to-back. You must sprinkle cheat meals in to keep the best shape possible when hormones start coming down and you might not be as anabolic, therefore you will store fat faster as protein synthesis will not be as high and able to build the most muscle tissue.
Consistency is the key to anything; do what works for you and keep getting better at it!
Chest Workout for Bigger Pecs
Q: I have a hard time connecting with my chest during workouts. Are there any pointers you can give?
A: As a personal trainer, form on chest exercises is probably the one thing I correct more than anything else. The first thing is most people don’t create enough arch in the back. This is even harder for people that work at a desk because they don’t have the best curvature of the spine due to leaning forward or rounding shoulders, so the tissue in the pecs and delts becomes so tight that they are internally rotated. Make sure you stretch your pecs daily, so that your shoulders sit back in the proper position and not rolled forward. When setting yourself up on all chest exercises, make sure you roll your head back as hard as you comfortably can, so your back is arched, shoulders are rolled back under you and your chest is the highest point and not your anterior delts. Then when you press, make sure you extend the arms to contract the pecs but don’t reach, which will pull the back of the shoulder off the pad. Then it’s very important to control the negative portion of the exercise while still trying to squeeze the chest. Remember the better mind-muscle connection you have, the more stimulation will happen!
Another way I like to start my chest workouts is to start on a machine press. That way you don’t have to worry about stabilizing and can focus just on the contraction and resistance. If you have a pump, it’s easier to feel the muscle working. Another important factor is minimizing rest periods at this point to make sure you do get a good pump to start the workout! Try this routine, which is one of my favorite chest workouts that I do most frequently.
Seated Chest Press: 2 x 15 warm-up (30-second rest), 4 x 12-10 (last set 2 drops) (45-60 second rest on working sets)
Incline Bench: 4 x 12-8 (60-90 second rest). Here you can push more weight safely as the muscle is already warmed up and pre-exhausted.
Incline Dumbbell Press: 4 x 12-10, superset with:
Incline Dumbbell Flyes: (pronated grip) 4x12-10
Do your press, then immediately reduce the weight by about 50 percent and go right into pronated flyes; which for me really stretch the pecs and puts a nasty burn and pump in the muscle.
Machine Flyes: 3 x 12 (squeeze contraction for 1 second on every rep). Once the muscle is pumped, here you can squeeze the life out of it till it’s done!
I hope this helps you connect with pecs and stay injury free.
Fuel Workouts to Train Harder
Q: How often do you change your supplement stack?
A: Whether off-season or pre-contest, my ALLMAX supplement stack for pre-, intra- and post-workout usually doesn’t vary much because I always want my workouts to be fueled so I can train as hard as possible even if calories are reduced during prep.
This is my standard supplement stack:
Pre-workout: 1 scoop Impact Igniter Xtreme, 1/2 scoop Carbion (25g carbs)
Intra-workout: 1 scoop Aminocore, 1 scoop Impact Pump, 5g Creatine, 10g Glutamine, 2 scoops Carbion (100g carbs)
Post-workout: 2 scoops Isoflex, 10g Glutamine, 1 cup oatmeal, 1 cup mixed berries
For the first time to date my supplement regimen did change in 2019. With only the one week I had between Chicago and Vancouver to get as shredded as possible, I pulled out all my Carbion from pre- and intra-workout, plus dropped the oats and berries from post-workout, which was around a 200g carbohydrate reduction. Workouts did suffer due to less fuel and carbs but sometimes you must deplete that hard if behind, which I hated and hope to never have to do again!
Post-workout I use slower-digesting carbs instead of fast-digesting carbs. I feel because I’m never depleted with all the carbs pre- and intra-workout that I drink if I added more fast-digesting carbs post-workout my body wouldn’t absorb them all, so slower-digesting carbs post-workout will continue to feed my muscles without overloading my system and not give me a blood sugar crash, as the slower-digesting carbs from oatmeal and berries are going to trickle into my bloodstream.
Please send questions for this column to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Website: www.teamwadefitness.com
Instagram:
@ifbbprojoshwade
@teamallmax
@allmaxtraining
For more information, visit allmaxnutrition.com
ALLMAX is now selling directly to the consumer. Go to store.allmaxnutrition.com and use code JOSHWADE15 for 15% off.
DISCUSS ON OUR FORUMS
SUBSCRIBE TO MD TODAY
GET OFFICIAL MD STUFF
VISIT OUR STORE
ALSO, MAKE SURE TO FOLLOW US ON:
YOUTUBE
Click here to view the article.
