This week we continue the muscle development series with my favorite muscle group to train! SHOULDERS!

If you have followed any of my programs that i have developed or have been coached by me then you know the shoulders are a main focus in all my programs. Why you ask? Because when you have a full set of developed delts they are what stand out I would say the most and if you have some nice shoulders it also makes your back look bigger as well. What else? Yep thats right it makes your arms look bigger as well! Think of shoulders as the link to a great physique. Besides just looking bigger having strong shoulders also equates to healthier shoulders. Today we are going to discuss everything shoulders and hopefully after reading this you will be ready to build some diamond delts!

This week we continue the muscle development series with what i think most people lack the most especially us guys and that is LEGS!

For those of you that know me you know that i train legs hard and frequently. Most people just don't bring the same intensity to lower days as they do on upper and i don't understand this. Your legs are a complete power house! If you have big strong legs you are gonna be big all over and not just that but more muscle also means higher metabolic rate as well! Just another reason to not have chicken legs. In todays blog i'm hoping to answer any questions you guys have about lower body training and i hope i can spark some excitement for the next time you train legs. Enjoy the read!

This week we continue the muscle development series with what is probably my favorite muscle to train second to shoulders, which is BACK!

To put it simple if you have a big back you look massive no matter what. Developing that X frame physique all starts with the back.The back should have a high importance in everyones training. The back is one of the largest muscle groups in the body and should be trained a lot during the week because it can handle a ton of volume, a lot more anyway than most people do. As we will discuss today you will see there are lots of approaches to back training. Let just get right into the guide because i have lots to discuss with such a big muscle group!

So today we are starting a new blog series called muscle development. In This series i am going to be going through each individual muscle and give you my best advice on how you should go about structuring your routines to get the best results possible. I Hope this series allows you to train more efficiently and make the best progress you can. As i publish these over the coming weeks they will all be found in menu bar in muscle development series!

Today we start the series out with the chest! Everyone wants a big chest. If you say you don't then your lying to yourself. The chest is a cornerstone to a good physique, If you got a big chest you will automatically look bigger even if you lack some arm size. To no surprise the chest I would say is probably one of the most overworked muscles in the body when it comes to bodybuilding. I think too many people train the chest with so many unneeded exercises. You would be surprised how easy it is to build an impressive chest.

Today we answer another reader question...

"Hey Shawn First off i want to say thanks for last weeks blog on when to train after a meal. It was very helpful as i have always trained fasted but i might look into eating a little something before i train to see if it helps with energy and strength. Anyway though this might be a good question for your reader questions on your blog if you feel it works... So Lately at the gym i go too i have been watching how others approach heavy sets of weights and i see an ongoing trend that people like to work themselves up before they get under the bar for a heavy lift. Now for me i lift in a lot calmer state. Should i be getting worked up as well before i lift? Is it more effective to raise your adrenaline to lift? Thanks Shawn! Looking forward to hearing your response." - Sarah

Something often not talked about very much anymore when it comes to gaining muscle and strength is how soon after you eat a meal is the right amount of time to wait till you go train. Before "If It Fits Your Macros" and "Flexible Dieting" came about there was a time where people actually looked at timing there meals for the best performance they could achieve. Why not take a break from all the new hype of just hitting macros and go back to the basics for a bit and see if you can have even better training sessions from timing your meals with the proper amount of time between when you eat and train.

So in todays blog we are going to answer an email i got from a reader last week...

"Ok Shawn I know this is going to be a really random question but maybe you can shed some light. I am pretty new to the gym. I started training just about 6 months ago and I'm currently using your SHDUPA training plan which I'm really enjoying by the way :D But anyway at the gym I see a lot of people that have a dedicated gym bag. Now i understand the importance of it so you can carry your gear that you need but to be honest i'm clueless what to put in my gym bag haha. I know it sounds stupid but all i have is water, a towel, and some shoes. Can you please just for example let me know what you have in your gym bag? Thanks!" - Alex

Macros, macros and more macros. It's something we hear all the time now, specially in the fitness and nutrition world. Anywhere you go you can hear people asking what are the calories or how much grams of fat does this have, or how many carbs does this meal contain, or my favorite - can i see the package to this food, I have to scan it for my food diary.

I for the longest time was one of these people. There was a time once that i had over a 2,000 day tracking streak on MyFitnessPal so when i say tracking macros i mean i have done it and i have done it religiously in the past. So why now all these years later am i writing a blog stating that it might be hurting your gains then???

So in todays blog we are going to answer a readers question i got last week...

"Shawn I have followed you for some time now and i know for a while you were really into intermittent fasting. My question is - do you still recommend IF and also if you do recommend it is it possible to bulk with IF? Thanks Shawn been really enjoying you're recent blogs!" - John

A topic often discussed when talking about bodybuilding is the famous debate of bro splits vs the total body split for training. When i first started lifting i was all about the bro split and i was for my first 3 years of training, Using the bro split was actually my introduction into bodybuilding. After that is when i found powerlifting and i started using an Upper/Lower type of split routine and now with just about 10 years of training under my belt i still continue to prefer an upper/lower split (even tho i don't following powerlifting types of programming anymore) to the common bro split. So whats more effective? What should one start out with? Is there ever a time to use a bro split? What does the science actually say? All this and more will be answered in todays blog! Plus i will lay out a sample of all 3 split routines!

The one thing that everyone does in life is sleep. Sleep as you all are aware can make or break someones life completely. Not enough quality sleep has been shown to a numerous amount of negative health side affects [1] and is something that everyone should have at a high priority in life. Recent studies tho have shown that it is not the amount of sleep we get but the quality of the sleep that matters. Today i am going to provide you with 3 reasons you should be tracking sleep quality and how to track sleep quality to allow for better training sessions. I also will provide you with some simple things you can start doing to increase your sleep quality immediately,..

If you remember a while back i wrote a blog called "No More Carbon Pre Workout - Now What?" In that blog i discussed my future plan for pre and post workout nutrition since Layne Norton's Carbon Line was discontinued. In that blog i provided an alternative and while i still think thats a fine alternative i have recently discovered probably the best pre workout (other than the Carbon line of course). Best of all this option I'm going to provide will save you about $30 every month!

2018 is Here!!!! Along with the new year are all the new year resolutions as well. If you have followed me for a while you know that I'm not a fan of new year resolutions mainly for the fact that very few people ever stick with them. Every year at this time the gyms are flooded with a ton of new people and i'm all for seeing new people in the gym trying to make a healthier lifestyle. The sad thing about it tho is by spring over half the new people in the gym will have already quit! This is a cycle that happens every year. Well Today i'm hopefully going to have an impact on your goals this year. I have created a simple 6 step guide today that will hopefully allow you to build new healthier habits and actually stick to them!

2 Weeks of Recaps For You Guys This Week! I know i'm behind!

"Winter is coming" my friends and while thats a Game of Thrones reference it is also the time a lot of us fitness folks like to bulk up, well most of us anyways. Now if your a follower of mine and have been for a while you will know that I'm not really a fan of bulking for just winter because the truth is being natural you need a good 3 years in a constant surplus to make solid gains but with that said i know most of us are transitioning into our gaining season so today i'm going to present you with 7 tips to make the most out of this time.

2 Weeks of Recaps For You Guys This Week!

I think one of the most interesting approaches you can do to understand where you are in your fitness journey is reflecting back on previous times in your life when you sorta had ground breaking moments that forever change the way you approach fitness and or nutrition.  Since i have been training for about 10 years now i have pretty much experimented with every type of training there is for some time or another. I have done circuit programs, i have done cardio programs, i have done strength and powerlifting programs, I have done yoga programs, i have done lots of different types of bodybuilding training types and i even did some CrossFit in my life. Going through all these different training stages have taught me a ton and through the years i have discovered certain approaches that worked better than others. These are 10 things i wish i knew about training and nutrition when i first stated lifting that could have made my life a whole lot easier or at least more effective.

Its hard to believe but one of the most life threatening challenges we face daily is living with a desk job. The amount of studies showing negative side effects of sitting all the time are really depressing since i know that the majority of the population including myself is sitting in these death traps on the daily. Standing desks are becoming all the rage right now but what if your place of employment does not care about the health of their employees? Are we doomed to die early? Is there anything we can do to correct this issue or at least minimize the negatives that come from sitting all the time? Well today is your lucky day because over my 8 years of working behind a desk daily i have found some pretty great ways to stay pretty healthy and still spend the majority of your time sitting. Today i'm going to provide you with 8 tips to include in your daily life to keep your desk job from killing you!

Weekly Recap...

You know the days I'm talking about.... you get to the gym and you have a heavy lifting session on tap. As your getting into your routine tho you just don’t want to be there and your drive is not there for the day. Do you call it a day? Do you lighten the load for the day? or do your do some exercises and just call it a day? We all have those days. Even for those of us that seem to always be motivational and driven trust me when i say we also have those days as well. Those days suck i know but today i’m hoping to offer you a new method of training to use when these days do hit because trust me, everyone has days like that. Today im going to discus 10 unique methods that you can throw into your training to spice things up when things just get stale. Along with describing each method im even going to give an example routine for each method as well so today you will also get almost 10 new workouts you can try if you want to mix up your training from your regular routine.

Weekly Recap...

Lot of stuff to cover from the last two weeks...

Kinda an off topic for a blog this week but when i started this blog reboot i said i was going to be posting more than just fitness things because i believe to have a healthy life you need balance and you can't always be thinking about the gym so this week i give you my top 10 favorite TV shows to this day. Plus this week i have been spending entirely way to much of my free time on Legend of Zelda Breath of The Wild :D So this is what you get this week!

These are in no particular order so don't pay attention to the order. However i did rate them.

One of the most controversial topics talked about in health and fitness is the debate between being natural and on steroids. The thing i don’t think a lot of lifters know tho is that if you are natural you can not train like the people that are on something. Being natural requires a  certain knowledge base to get the best out of your training sessions. I’ve been natural all my life and chances are i will continue to stay natural. Let me also say that i have no problem with people who do choose to take steroids. It’s all a personal choice. Just know whatever route you choose there is always some general guidelines that can help you. Today i am going to discuss 5 rules that all natural lifters should follow to get the best out of their program.

On this weeks recap......

If there is one thing i see talked the most about online to do with training it is warming up and cooling down. In this modern age you either belong to 1 of these 2 camps. The first camp are the people who go in the gym and start foam rolling and then move onto a set of static stretches and then they do some dynamic drills to get the blood flowing, then 30 min later they are finally to their actual training session. The second camp are the ones that walk into the gym and load 135 on the bar and get right to it. So we have the extremist and the just do types of people. So with that said which method do i believe is right? I have written old blogs about this as well but recently i have tried some new ways of warming up and I'm really enjoying them as we will talk about today.

On this weeks recap......

You either love having them or you hate having them, thats right folks today we are talking rest days. Do you need rest days? how many rest days should you have? Are there benefits to a certain amount of rest days? What the heck should you do on a rest day? Tons of things to talk about so lets get to it.

So something new I'm trying with this blog is to be more open and allow you guys more into my complete life instead of just Fitness so i have decided every Friday or Saturday depending when i get the blog up to do a Friday recap of 10 topics for the week, these topics will include

1. What Im Currently Reading

2. What Im Currently Watching

3. What Im Currently Playing

4. What Im Excited For

5. Something I Learned

6. Brief Description of My Best Training Day of The Week

7. Quote or Bible Verse Im Currently Pondering

8. Music I'm Listening Too

9. Life Tip For The Week

10. Bonus Content If I Have Any

This will be a brief but pretty interesting little bit every week. Hope you guys enjoy it.

This week you may or may have not heard but my favorite pre and post workout (Carbon Prep and Recover) is being discontinued from Bodybuilding.com and if you have read my blogs for a while now or read at least some of my old articles you know that Carbon Supplements was something i loved a lot for the pure fact it was everything you needed in a pre workout without any added caffeine and a post workout not comparable to anyone else's supplement brand (well with the exception of Jim Stoppani's Supplement line. So now since theres not going to be anymore Carbon supplements your probably wondering what i will be using then? Well let me say that i have stocked up 7 months of carbon prep and recover so luckily i have a stash for a while but for those of you that don’t have that stash i decided i would write up what my future plan is for when i finally run out.

After doing several blogs on the flexible approach to dieting i had some emails last week about if you should have a more strategic approach to flexible dieting or if you can just do what you want. Well you could just pretty much follow the basics and I'm sure you would be fine. I like tho following 5 rules that help me stay on track and not slip off on a path of just saying “screw it, I'm flexible i can eat that”. Today we are going to discuss 5 rules that everyone who uses flexible dieting should probably follow just so they can stay in control and not spiral out of control overtime.

So after having a real gym membership now for about a month it has been a real eye opener to train around people on a regular basis and i actually really enjoy it! I have met some awesome new people as well! With that said though i have also found out that a lot of people are either training not very smart and doing very weird routines that have really no structure behind them and then there are the other types of people that do a few sets of this and that then leave the gym. So today i thought why not try to correct some of these very common issues that i see and see if we can maybe help some people out. After all you go to the gym to get results and have fun lifting so why even lift if your not seeing any progress or not having any fun? This Blog is not meant to talk bad about anybody's individual style of training, this blog  is just meant to help those looking for better and more efficient ways.

So you walk in the gym, you get your gear, fill up your pre workout and head to the weight room. As your warming up on the bench you see some other lifters walk in and you can tell they are fairly new to lifting. You see these younger lifters head right to the machines to start there sets and you see them do nothing less than 10 reps. The funny thing is that these are actually members of the gym and they have been members for 4 years now! How can someone lift for 4 years and still look like a newbie in the gym??? This brings us to our topic for today and thats “why you need to focus on strength early on in your journey and size will follow. 

After my blog from two weeks ago about how you can still train with a back injury i had quite a bit of emails about different questions on training with injures and something that came up a lot and is very common with back injuries is also the terrible terrible sciatica pain that can come from from many different reasons but the most popular one is the dreaded bulged disc. If you suffer from sciatica pain you know exactly how terrible it is to have and how it can affect your whole life in and outside of the gym. Also if your like me you can go anywhere from 3-4 weeks with zero flare ups at all but when a flare up does happen it will put a stop to any weight training and it just sucks until the flare up usually dies down. Well today i thought an appropriate blog would be 7 ways that you can reduce sciatica pain and hopefully get you back to your somewhat normal training as fast as possible. If you get something out of todays blog then all i ask is you click those share buttons below as i would greatly appreciate it. Happy Reading!

So i realized the other day that i have not done a nutrition type blog for a while. Also i probably should have done this post at the beginning of summer since so many people diet during the summer but i guess late is better than never. So something i think i hear once a week at least is the phrase “I just can’t find a way to stick to my diet.” or “I started a diet but i don’t know how long i can last.” So first off if you are thinking that way in a diet then you are doing everything wrong. Lets just stop you there. Today we are going to be discussing 5 tips to stick to a “diet”. If you guys get something out of todays blog please feel free to click those share buttons below as i greatly appreciate it.

So if you have been following this blog for a while now you obviously know that i injured my back a few months back (pun intended) and ever since the injury i have learned what i can and can't do till full recovery has taken place. I’m not going to discuss the type of injury i had but it was a significant one that has me not being able to back squat or deadlift or any movement that causes a loaded spine in a flexed position. After having this injury for a while now i really have had to redesign the way i train and the way i program my workout splits now and i also learned a lot of other people are dealing with a very similar injury and i thought why not share what i have learned this past few months and hopefully benefit some others going through very similar to what i have gone through. If you get something out of todays blog please feel free to share it as it will help this blog community grow and also hopefully get out to more people with back injuries limiting them in their fitness goals. Also i'm not a doctor so please if you need to, see a doctor.

This week I felt the certain urge to discuss something that i think might benefit a lot of people. Something that used to be not very popular has struck the fitness “industry” in full force. Powerlifting has never been such a big thing before but now its bigger than ever and its for good reasons. For one its a lot of fun and the fun factor was what really attracted me to it back in 2013. With that said tho all the recent bout of injuries I have gone through lately have really made me question - was it worth it? Be ready for a long rant today my friends. If you enjoy this one please give it a share as i know others are struggling with some of these issues as well. Happy Reading Folks :D

So Cardio is no doubt one of the last things you will ever here me talk about. Those of you that have followed me for some time know that i do not like cardio nor do i usually prescribe it to my clients. With That said tho my recent bout of injuries have left me really not being able to lift. From messing up my back a few months ago to messing up my shoulder just recently i have really only been able to do BFR (blood flow restriction) training and not much else. Since i haven't really been able to train lately very hard i have started doing a lot more just average exercise activity and this has lead to me taking more walks, bike rides and just being more active in general and a lot of Pokemon Go! (thank goodness that game came out when it did)

So today were going to talk about a program that i have already discussed a lot on and thats Layne Norton’s PH3. As you all know from my other blogs on this program

- Phase 1 Blog

- Phase 2 Blog

- Phase 3 Blog (overview)

I really did enjoy this program but getting injured at the end of this program made me really rethink how this program was structured and maybe there was some things to integrate to make this even a better program or maybe a more long term program. So Today I'm going to discuss with you 5 ways that you can incorporate into PH3 to make it even a more effective and hopefully safer routine. Now I'm not Layne Norton I'm just speaking on my opinion and what i witnessed my self as i went through this program. You may agree or you may disagree and thats fine. Layne Norton is my biggest fitness idol in this modern day and age so nothing is meant to be targeted toward Layne in a negative matter this is just my honest opinion and thoughts that one could try incorporating.

Pokemon last week and this week Dragon Ball Z! Yea i'm a nerd i know and I'm proud :D I want to say thanks for the great response from last weeks blog over Pokemon Go. I really did not expect that blog to get as many hits as it did so thanks for that! If you guys want me to cover other things like that in the future let me know. Speaking of that real quick what if they created a Dragon Ball Z GO GAME!!!! Oh man that would be epic...... Anyway tho we are back to strength and muscle science topics for this week, and this week we dive a little into supplements.

When it comes to supplements i usually like to not wright that many posts about them. Other than my quick start guide I don’t like discussing supplements too much because i don’t want to make it sound like you need them But since i have had several emails lately about what i think should be used in a pre workout i thought i would go into some info on sups that i use myself and that i recommend to clients to help them push through the hardest training sessions. This weeks blog is going to be a shorter one but I'm hoping i can at least provide you with some solid info. This week we will be discussing 3 supplements that are at the top of my list for a pre workout.

I know i know you are probably thinking that you clicked on the wrong website. "Shawn WTH this is a fitness blog! What is this Pokemon crap!" Well if thats you then please just stop reading then because I'm sorry but Pokemon is awesome! Today guys we are bringing out our inner nerds and going into the world of Pokemon! Pokemon Go has taken the world by storm so today I thought i would provide you with 10 tips to make you the best trainer as possible in Pokemon Go! Lets Catch Em All!

One thing I'm always getting asked about these days is programs. "Shawn what program should i do?", "Shawn i want to get on a program but i don't know what one and i cant afford a coach". are only some of the many questions i get regarding programming. Myself i have always been a fan of just doing my own programming and learning as i go and i still to this day design my own but i understand to do that it takes quite a bit of experience lifting and getting to know your body so i can understand why some people just want to follow someone else's program. So with that said it brings me to the topic of todays blog. Today i am going to discuss 3 programs from Bodybuidling.com that you actually can benefit from and you will also learn a lot from these programs too so in the future you can start to do your own programming.

You just got out of work, you climb in your car with your epic pre workout concoction. You turn on your amp up playlist and start your journey to the gym. You get to the gym and your ready to kill your training session. You begin your warm up sets on squats and as your warming up you just can’t get in the groove. You try and try but to no success this just is not your day. Yep we have all had them.... Sadly bad training days will happen for everyone and they suck big time. When you have such a passion for something and care about it so much it can really dictate your day and how good of a day you had. If only there was a way to minimize these bad sessions or almost eliminate them completely.... Well in todays blog i am going to discuss with you 5 tips that can take almost any bad training day and allow you to have a positive outcome from it. Now understand everyone has bad training days and they are guaranteed to sometimes happen so just get used to it but i can promise you that your bad days will be minimized when you start to implement these tips. 

Today we are going to be discussing one of the most talked about and questioned topics in powerlifting and to some extent bodybuilding as well. The High Bar and Low Bar Squat. For those of you that have been following me lately you know that before i had sustained my back injury that put me out from squats and deadlifts for over 4 weeks now i have recently switched from a higher position to a lower position and before i got injured squats were feeling the best they have ever felt. It really was a shame to get injured but i can feel my back recovering nicely so I'm hoping to be able to get back to one of my favorite lifts in a couple weeks. Before i begin today i just want to let you guys know that the following charts and info in this blog today came from the great website Strength Theory so i really recommend checking there article as they go a lot and i mean a lot more in depth on this subject. Today I'm going to be giving you my thoughts on the subject tho and maybe make it a little easier to understand for some people.

With 4th of July Weekend coming up I figured that this would be a great topic to cover as I'm sure a lot of you will be eating some really good food but also don't want to knock yourself to far from achieving your fitness goals. I think if i could look back at the most emailed questions i have been asked i think it always in some way or other pertain to how much calories or what is the macros of this said meal. With macros and tracking macros being such a huge subject right now i think a lot of people are confused on how to estimate macros for a meal that they can’t track to a t like going out to eat or eating at gathering events. Today i am here to solve that issue with a quick guide that you can use to estimate macros when you are not sure of the exact numbers. If you enjoy this blog topic or have topic ideas from future blogs make sure and let me know.

Something i want to accomplish with this blog is to show and explain the no bull shit ways and methods to reaching your fitness/strength goals. One thing in this industry that is overhyped like crazy is supplements. I remember when i first started my fitness journey i knew nothing about what was legit and what was just scams. The supplement company's sadly drained my wallet many times because i thought they were needed and i fell into all the overhyped crap. Thank goodness to sites like Examine.com you can now do a lot of research yourself and see what actually works and has science backing it up. Today we are going to be diving into the most researched supplement out in the market and this one actually is not crap and it actually has many studies backing up its positives effects, plus its super cheap! that ingredients is Caffeine. Today we are going to discuss 4 proven by science methods to increase the effects of caffeine and maximize your training performance.

Oh what a perfect topic for a blog for this week. If you have been following along my PH3 journey and from my review posts you might have remembered when i said how i got injured during an AMRAP set on the last deadlift day of PH3. At the time i thought i was going to be back before i knew it deadlifting over 300lbs again. Well 3 weeks later and i still can’t pull more than 250lbs without pain so as you can see  from someone that loves to deadlift heavy (and that being their best lift) having that taken away for the time being really sucks and it mentally brings you down when you are only capable of training under 200lbs. Well instead of dwelling in that disappointment i know that others out there have a similar issue so today i am going to provide to you 5 steps to take in your recovery to help you still progress and not detrain in the time your away from your regular routine.

The Time As Come! Phase 3 the last phase of PH3 is in the books! This last phase took my body to the limit but the program is planned that way for a reason. Today I'm going to go through my thoughts and review of Phase 3 of PH3. Hope you enjoy and be looking out for a full review of the program in the coming weeks. If you got something out of this review please feel free to share it with your friends and or family.

If you ask the majority of people out there that train what they want to achieve by being in the gym i almost guarantee most of them will say they want to be strong but also look jacked. Why do some people just get strong and not grow as well? Why do some people get jacked but are super weak? Today i am going to discuss 9 rules that you can incorporate in your training to make sure that you are on the path to a strong and jacked physique. If you guys get something out of this article all i ask is that you click those share buttons. Thanks! Enjoy the blog as its a long one this week!

Being in an Overreaching Phase for PH3 right now myself has lead to me being the most sore i think i have ever been in a training cycle. So i thought why not create a blog with methods of recovery that I'm using myself to help get through these tough training times. Today we are going to discuss 8 ways to improve your recovery so you can keep training hard through those intense sessions. If you enjoy this article all i ask is that you click those share buttons below as i would greatly appreciate it!