One of the greatest ways to gain strength, build muscle and lose fat!

If you are not incorporating functional training into your workouts, you are being left behind!

What is Functional Training?

Functional training involves exercises or movement patterns that emulate movements and activities that are done in every day life. Functional Training often incorporates variations in stability to enhance total body muscle activation, nervous system activation and balance.

Why is it important?

1. Functional Training enhances our ability to function at our max ability outside of the gym.

2. You lose more fat! The full body movement patterns that are performed in functional training burn more calories than single joint movements often used in basic strength training and weight loss programs.

3. Greater strength increases! Functional training enhances full body muscle activation and enhanced nervous system function. Basically you teach the body to work together!

How Do I Incorporate Functional Training Into My Workouts?

A great way to make your workouts more functional is to add full body movements to your weight training exercises. For example: instead of just doing a shoulder press, squat first before pressing the weight upwards. This makes is a full body, multi-joint movement.

You could also take away stability for your exercises. For example: When doing a chest press, use a cable machine with no back support rather than a bench. This lack of supports forces your abdominal muscles to tighten and to add support to the movement. It's called "working the Invisible." You could also change the level of stability of your exercises. For example: you could stand on one foot, use a Bosu Ball, Balance Disk, etc...

Oh yeah...Do not get carried away and make the exercises so complex that they become "Dysfunctional" exercises. Keep them relatively simple. The picture below is very awesome, however; it is very dysfunctional.

Nutritional Tips to Pack on Muscle

When packing on pounds of muscle, proper nutrition is the key. You can lift heavy, train intensely, and take hundreds of dollars worth of supplements but without a sound bodybuilding diet, the results will be hard to come by. Here are some steps to help you pack on the muscle and reach your bodybuilding goals.

Step 1: Eat…Eat…and Eat Some More!
Calorie consumption is the most important aspect of building muscle. No matter what supplements or how much protein you are taking, if you aren’t getting adequate amounts of calories you will not grow! Long time bodybuilders say that when trying to build muscle mass you need to eat anything edible that is not bolted to the table. I would however recommend eating clean by not getting all of your calories from; fast food, candy or any other unhealthy foods.

Tip: Eat 5-8 small meals every day, including off days.
If it is hard for you to get the needed calories try drinking more fruit juices.

Step 2: Increase Your Protein
Protein is the most important macronutrient for building muscle mass; it is what your muscles are made of. When you go to the gym and work out you damage and tear your muscle tissue. Protein rebuilds and restores your muscle tissue and makes it bigger and stronger. High quality protein aids in muscle recovery, this will shorten the time needed for your muscles to recover so that you can hit the gym harder. Protein also contains key amino acids which will release hormones, maintain nitrogen balance and prevent the breakdown of muscle tissue.

Tip: Try using high quality protein shakes to get the needed protein. Take protein daily, including off days. (GET 40 grams post workout)

Step 3: Get Your Carbohydrates
If you neglect carbohydrates in your diet you will loose muscle. When your body doesn’t have the carbs it needs it will break down the protein within your muscles to form carbohydrates.

Tip: Get most of your carbs from breads, grains, cereals, fruits and vegetables.
Feel free to eat a large amount of carbs before working out; this will cause the carbs to be stored as muscle glycogen, which will enhance your muscle building potential. (GET 30 grams post workout!)

Step 4: Take Your Supplements
When trying to build muscle mass, it is impossible to get all the nutrients you need from your diet alone, this is why supplementation is important. Supplements allow you to maximize your results and attain the best physique possible.
Some of the most beneficial supplements for body building are; protein, weight gainers, multi vitamins, branch chain amino acids (BCAA’s), Amino Acids, L-Arginine, Creatine, and L-Glutamine.

Recommendations:
Protein: 1gram per lb of lean body mass per day
BCAA’s: 2g pre and 2g post workout
Arginine: 2-5g pre workout
Creatine: 5g post workout.
L-Glutamine: 5g post workout

Tip: Take your supplements consistently and at the right times.

Step 5: Eat a Variety of Foods
A variety of vitamins and minerals are required for all bodily processes including muscle gain. Eating a variety of foods, including fruits and vegetables will ensure that you stay healthy and promote lean muscle growth. Getting these nutrients from a variety of sources will also enhance your immune system so that you may continue to hit the gym and build more muscle.

Tip: Taking a multivitamin and/or fruit and vegetable supplement will help you get needed vitamins and minerals which you wouldn’t be able to get in your normal diet.

Step 6: Drink More Water
Water plays a crucial role in all bodily processes including muscle gain; it will facilitate muscle growth and keep you healthy.

Tip: Drink at least 1 gallon of water per day.

Step 7: Get Plenty of Rest
Growth hormones are released during sleep, therefore more time sleeping will allow for proper hormone release. It will also aid in muscle recovery and keep you energized so that you can keep hitting the gym.

Quick Tips for Getting Ripped

1. Eat Breakfast Every Day!
This will get your metabolism going so you will burn calories not store them. If you don’t eat breakfast you will store more body fat!

2. Eat 5-6 Small meals every day!
This will keep your metabolism going all day long!

3. Stop Eating Out!
It is hard to find healthy food when eating out. Therefore; you should be getting most, if not all of your calories from healthy, home cook meals. If you are on the run or at work, consider preparing your meals before hand and storing them in a container or small cooler so you can eat them later.

4. Water: Natures Diet Drink!
Be sure to drink plenty of water, around 1 gallon per day! This will help with the bodily processes associated with fat loss. It will also prevent you from drinking soda pop or other unhealthy drinks.

5. Cut the Fat!
Keep your diet low in fat! Especially saturated fats.

6. Cut down on the Sugar!
Sugar is everywhere! Decrease the amounts you eat by reading food labels and not drinking soda or eating candy!

7. Get your Cardio!
Perform at least 30 minutes of cardio every day. This will burn body fat and keep you in the right calorie range for fat loss. Some great cardio activities for fat loss are: swimming, jogging, sprinting, basketball, soccer, aerobics, etc…

8. Pump some Iron!
Weight training will help reduce body fat by increasing lean muscle tissue. The more lean tissue you have the more calories you will burn throughout the day. High intensity weight training is recommended because you will not only burn more calories, but you will increase your metabolism for up to 2 days afterwards.

9. Eat in Moderation!
Think of eating as “fueling your body.” You only need to eat to sustain your body for what it needs to do and nothing more.

10. Get 8 Hours of Sleep Every Night!
During sleep is when growth hormones are released. These hormones will help build lean muscle tissue which will lead to a decrease in body fat. Getting enough sleep will also keep your body healthy and able to meet daily stressors.

11. Reduce Your Stress!
Stress causes the release of excess Cortisol. Excess Cortisol leads to the build up of body fat.

12. Eat More Protein!
Get more protein in your diet by eating more; chicken, fish, milk, yogurt or cottage cheese, or by using protein bars or shakes. Be sure to choose foods high in protein and low in fat and calories!! Get at least 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body weight.

13. Time Your Carbs!
Don’t eat many carbs before times of little or no physical activity.

14. Monitor your Progress!
Track your results to see if you need to make any changes to your diet or exercise routine.