Conditioning is essential to staying in shape. Jackson Yee says, “Once a week is more than enough if your goal is to gain great size.” If your goal is to burn fat that’s great, but from Jackson’s experience, conditioning more than once a week can possibly shrink you in size. He says if you want to get big and stay in shape, try these conditioning tips.
Tip 1:
Furious Full-Body
Doing a full body workout once a week of compound movements like deadlifts, squats, bench presses, rows and good mornings will help your muscles grow and adapt by doing different workouts. People get comfortable working on isolated muscles when really they should be switching it up from time to time. Athletes that condition do total body workouts because they train their bodies to work as a unit.
Tip 2:
Train to Raise Your Metabolism
When you’re at the gym lifting and finishing up your set, you may be hunched over in exhaustion. You’re probably raising your metabolism. An intense workout like such will elevate your metabolism. Instead of a pure cardio day, perform a barbell complex. One of Jackson’s favorite barbell complexes is the following: bent over row, front squat, military press, back squat and good mornings. Do five reps for each movement, and don’t put the barbell down until you are finished with all five moves. This barbell complex will get your heart rate and metabolism soaring. You’ll incinerate the fat in your body and get more muscular from this metabolic conditioning workout.
Tip 3:
Explode
Many new studies now suggest that training with faster movements recruit more fast-twitch muscle units – big muscles that have a lot of potential for growth. As a result, you develop bigger muscles than ever when you train like a conditioned athlete at maximum speed.
For your isolation body part days, where you shape muscle, you can continue to lift at a slower tempo. However, train explosively with compound movement. Lift the load as fast and forcefully as you can. Remember, it’s the intent to move fast that’s the most important factor, not the literal speed of the movement itself.
Tip 4:
Stay Off The Treadmill
Instead of running on the treadmill, Jackson Yee suggests you do sprints instead. Not only do sprints develop your cardiovascular system, but they also help you develop massive legs. The best part of a sprint workout is how brief the exercise is. You should only spend up to 15 minutes running sprints. If you do 8 rounds of 50 yard sprints on your cardio day, short sprints will get you in the best shape of your life while you remain as massive as possible.
Tip 5:
Minimize Machines
Machines are great for bodybuilding isolation movements. However, to break out of our training comfort zone, you should have a workout session where you don’t use any machines. Jackson doesn’t like to train his conditioning athletes on machines because they need to learn how to move. Machines are used as a form of artificial stability.
The biggest problem with machines is that you don’t have to brace your core when you work on one. Working out on a machine gives you stability, so you don’t have to tighten your abs when sitting or lying down on one. Now, when you train with free weights, you need to tighten up your core to maintain a sense of balance.
Tip 6:
Hit Those Hips
Just about all elite athletes in any sport view the hips as their true power zone. The hip is crucial to power movements like squat and deadlift. Training your hips will help you boost your conditioning and size. Kettle bell swings are one of the best conditioning movements to help you activate and understand the explosive power of the hip thrust. The stronger your hips are, the more potential you have to build bigger muscles.