This post is a special request from some of my initial Body By Aipa Crew.

GO BULLDOGS!

The bench press is over rated.

Don’t get me wrong, I love to bench press.  But when it comes to building a chest that pops and impresses, the bench press isn’t the almighty.

Of course, everyone is worried what they bench, especially the braddahs, and “How much you bench, bro?” is usually the first question someone will ask you when talking about lifting weights.

Yes, having a high bench number can be impressive but let’s be honest, you’re also looking for a bullet proof looking chest.

My personal chest routines usually consist of either 3-4 exercises depending on how I feel.  It’s nothing special or ground breaking news worthy, but it’s effective.

It’s all about picking the exercises where you get the most bang for your buck but as well as the execution of the lifts.  Doing burn out sets with light weights, isn’t going to build that Ku Chest.  Chasing after that pump and deep burn is easy to do and has it’s place.  If you are looking for just a pump, then just drop to the ground and do push-ups until you start crying.

An Officer and a Gentleman…great movie

I dare you.  You’ll guarantee have the biggest pump and definitely feel the deep burn.

Just to let you know – You can skip ahead to the workout routine towards the bottom, but what’s about to follow doesn’t just apply to your chest.  I want to share with you the simple factors behind muscle growth.

So what causes muscle growth?

To make it as simple as I can I did some research and came across three factors; Mechanical Tension, Muscle Damage, and Metabolic Stress.

Mechanical Tension: This is the load you place on the muscles during an exercise.  Mostly known as the intensity of the lift.  Basically, make sure you are moving heavy weights.

Muscle Damage: During workouts you tear muscle fibers down.  This is where the soreness comes in which is an inflammatory response which activates the satellite cells’ growth process.  This is where damage control is essential through correct nutrition and hydration.  You can’t keep tearing yourself down without building yourself back up.

That’s what I tell my athletes:

I tear you down, only to bring you back up!

Good times.

Metabolic Stress: That pump and deep burn feeling many chase after falls under the umbrella of Metabolic Stress, the build up of metabolic byproducts such as lactate and hydrogen ions along with the lack of oxygen supply in the muscles.  

Okay?

Three main factors.

Got it?

Good.

So when you are looking for rapid muscle growth, make sure you have these three factors working in your favor.

Ku Chest Workout. 

Now that I’m bodybuilding for a show, the exercise selection is critical for developing the chest.  For simply physique reasons, the upper chest on many guys are not as well developed.  This is an area where I’m actually working on building up.  It’s for aesthetics, and bodybuilders see their bodies as a piece of art.  Well, some do.

My chest workouts are actually geared around these 3 factors, because 1) I like to move heavy weights and 2) I like the feeling of ‘zee pahmp!’ (enter your best Arnold voice).

Exercise 1: (Choose 1 from the following list) I like starting off with an exercise that targets the upper pecs.

- Incline Barbell Press
-Dumbbell Incline Press
- Hammer Strength Incline Press
- Guillotine Press (use caution when performing this, it may be tough on the shoulders if you don’t have the flexibility.  Start off light to get the form and correct recruitment.)

Sets: 3-5
Reps: 5-7
Rest: 2-3 minutes

It is important to rest between these sets to really focus on the Mechanical Tension factor.  If you keep your rest short between these sets, your body won’t be able to hand the workload to overload the muscle and you will be going performing more into the Metabolic Stress area.  We’ll get there.

Exercise 2:  (Choose 1 from the following list) 

- Bench Press
- DB Bench Press
- Squeeze Press
- Floor Press
- Dips

Sets: 3-4
Reps: 8-10
Rest: 45 sec – 60 sec.
*Last set = Drop Set: After your last set – Subtract 10-25% and go till failure.  Try for 8-10 more reps with a help from a spotter if possible. If you are feeling awesome, subtract another 10-25% and squeeze out a couple more.

Exercise 3: (Choose 1 from the following list) 

- Low Pulley Crossover
- Pec Dec Fly
- Mid Pulley Fly
- Squeeze Press to Eccentric Fly

Sets: 2-3
Reps: 30 sec TUT (Time Under Tension)*
Rest: 30 – 45 secs.
*Prepare for Metabolic Stress – Choose a weight you feel you can do between 10-12 reps.  You can have a partner time you or you can time yourself and you perform the exercise for 30 seconds.  Whatever you do – DO NOT REST.  At all times you want to keep the muscle under tension. Start off with full ROM, when that gets hard do partials, if that gets hard hold the contraction, you get the point.  If you start crying, have someone else wipe your tears.

Just a little more advice.  When I prescribe sets, I’m talking about your working sets.  The sets that actually count.  That is why I give rep ranges as well.  Because let’s say you do a set and hit 10 but know you probably could do a couple more.  That set did not count.  You want your reps to fall right in that sweet spot in order for the set to count.

Try this workout and feel free to share it with others by clicking on the Share Bar on the left side of the screen. Simple.

You can take the same protocol and use it for any other muscle group as well.  Do you see a leg workout coming soon? Yea, buddy.  SWEET SPOT!

Aloha.  

AIPA

If you aren’t passionate about something, then you are not living your life.

I’m mostly known as a pretty quiet and laid back kind of guy. I don’t really show much emotion.  Actually my wife sometimes has to tell me to get excited.

But then when I talk about fitness, working out, creating and building a project, she sees a whole different side to me.  It’s these things that drive me to keep going.  It’s what I’m passionate about.

Recently, I made The Aipa Project into a Limited Liability Corporation (LLC), an officially registered business in Hawaii and was able to cross it off my Impossible List.  The main reason, for me, was to show myself just how serious and passionate I feel about my mission to help others Build a Ku Body.

Its a continuous evolution of an idea that is constantly developing and along the way I’m learning so much about myself.  My dream is becoming more of a clear vision.

Some people have different ways of showing their passion but I believe the underlining is all the same.

1.  Your Thoughts are Powerful.

At a talk I gave at Iolani High School, I was asked by a student, “Why did you choose writing as an avenue to share your idea.”  Because words can create emotions, inspire an idea, and start a movement.  Maybe you’ve read some of my past blog posts and felt inspired or thought of something for yourself.  But as much as your thoughts can have an effect on others, it mostly has an effect on yourself.  That’s why it’s so powerful.  Everything in life is in response to your thoughts – that’s what we call mana.

2.  Stop Lying to Yourself.

When you try to be like someone else, you lose sight of who YOU are.  You are unique.  There will never be another YOU, so frickin’ own it.  Don’t be afraid to explore and discover what you think is fun or what you feel passionate about.  There are countless stories of people leaving their corporate lives to follow their passion.  Now, am I saying to drop everything you are doing now, quit your job, and find your passion.  No.  But it shouldn’t stop you from exploring.

3.  What Would You do if You Knew You Couldn’t Fail?

Sometimes ask myself this question and I just start writing things down.  Some of them are on my Impossible List which I think everyone should create.  This sort of exercise just shows what you really want but lack the courage to  go out and try because you either think you’ll fail or you’re not good enough.

4.  Stay Rooted.

Being away from Hawaii for several years and experiencing life away from the islands, I would obsess over things, overwhelm myself, and lose my grounding.  Having my Hawaiian culture and the lessons my family taught me has become more of a reference point for me to help me stay rooted such as: (just to name a few)

Ho’omau
Eia
Ho’okipa
Mana

5. Give Back

We all want to do something to help others or to make the world a better place, or I sure hope so.  But with your passion, make sure you take time to give to others.  Giving is an art.  Like Seth Godin said, “Art is a personal gift that changes the recipient. The medium doesn’t matter. The intent does.” In Hawaii, that’s Aloha.

Feel free to share what you are passionate about.  What in life do you enjoy doing most?  

ANNOUNCEMENT: Join me on Thursday, October 17 at Na Mea Hawaii in Ward Center @ 630PM, I’ll be a guest speaker for PONO TODAY, a free workshop presenting inspiring speakers of Hawaii and indigenous cultures towards more PONO (excellent) tomorrow, and talking about my book ‘Aloha to You’ as well as my mission towards Building a Ku Body.  

Trends in the fitness industry are a pain in the ass.

This may come off as a rant, but it’s really not.  You see, when new fitness trends come out that are viewed as different and unique, everyone flocks to them like a bunch of cockaroaches.  Look at CrossFit, when a new Box aka ‘CrossFit Gym’ starts up in a town it becomes like one of those light traps for insects.

Another trend that really took off when it broke out into the fitness world was instability or balance training; bosu balls, wobble boards, stability balls, etc.

Everyone including myself jumped on the bandwagon and began doing basic exercises on these new trendy tools and we even gave it a name – “Functional” Training.

The basic idea behind training on an unstable surface was to strengthen the stability muscles and stimulate the core to help maintain balance.  Sounds good right? It did to me. But then all this changed when I began seeing people and trainers take it a bit too far which then became more of a competition of who could do the most ridiculous thing on an unstable surface.

One of the scariest thing I saw was at a gym in New York where I overheard an elder woman tell her friends about her balance problem she’s been having and that her personal trainer suggested she do squats on a bosu ball.  She continued that it’s amazing and so challenging because she even has a hard time getting onto the bosu ball.

All I could do was think, “Great, now I’m going to be freaking out every time I see her trying to stand on a bosu ball without any help.”

And yes…she did end up falling off the bosu ball one day.  Good thing there were other people who were thinking the same as me and were close enough to save another hip replacement.

THE REAL LIFE FUNCTIONAL TRAINING

All this “functional” talk is thrown around like candy at a parade and quite frankly I’m tired of it.  I don’t know what I was thinking when I thought balancing on a ball doing bicep curls to shoulder press was functional.  When will I ever do that? Yes, it’s difficult and challenging.  But so is trying to lick your elbow.

Note: I’m not saying that balance training is a waste of time and should be exiled to a far away island.  I believe there are times for it.  It’s a tool that I may use every now and then.

As I became more aware and stopped jumping on fitness trends, I looked towards people who I think who do ‘Real Life Functional Training’; farmers, construction workers, firefighters, carpenters, etc.  You know real people whose lifestyle is based off of physical movement.

I was at a conference where Rulon Gardner, olympic Greco-Roman wrestling gold medalist who defeated the legendary undefeated Aleksandr Karelin, told of his training background that helped him build his strength which was throwing hay bales at the farm he grew up at.

Then there was another day when my mentor, Josh, and I were training at the University of Redlands and figuring our the correct way to flip a close to 500lb tire.  Check out these old school pics of me  from 2007 flipping that tire.

Good times in The Bone Yard at University of Redlands

Anyways, as we were standing around scratching our heads trying to figure out the best way to flip the tire and coach the right technique, the Athletics Grounds Crew, who takes care of all the fields, drove by in their carts.  Kelly, the genius behind the unreal fields at the university asked, “What the hell are you guys doing now?”

Of course we explained it to him, there was a few words exchanged, and then finally a bet was thrown out there.  Josh challenged Kelly to flip the tire, and if he did – Josh would let Kelly roll that big ass tire down the hill with him inside.  I didn’t want any part in this bet because usually they always end bad.

Allow me to give a small bit of information about Kelly just to make my point clearer.  He doesn’t lift weights very often because his job itself is labor intensive already.

Kelly walks up to this tire, lowers himself down, wedges his hands under the treads, and ends up flipping over the damn tire.

By the way, Josh still hasn’t owned up to his bet. One day.

Now you may be wondering since I’m talking about real life functional training, when would anyone else flip tires or throw hay bales on their average day.  That’s true, not many would be but if I had to choose between someone doing a squat on a bosu ball or exercise ball and flipping a tire.  I’d choose flipping the tire any damn day.

There are many tools you can use to create a more Real Life Functional Training; Ultimate Sandbag, kegs, boulders, tires, slosh pipes, and a suspension trainer like the Jungle Gym XT.  Instead of standing on an unstable surface, train with an unstable load that shifts during the exercise.

I’ve been incorporating more bodyweight exercises in my training, loaded carries like farmer and suitcase walks, and other fun things in my workouts.  These sorts of movements transfer more over to everyday life.  The strength you build with these sorts of movements will be strength you can use in life.

I know this made you smile. Who doesn’t love a sleeping Monk Seal?

I’ve been really talking about exercise and training a lot lately, mainly because I believe living a healthy and active lifestyle is essential.

I really don’t care what you do that is active be it: bodybuilding, yoga, powerlifting, crossfit, pilates, zumba or what ever it is.  The main thing is that you are being active and determined to live a healthy lifestyle.  That’s what The Aipa Project is all about.  I’m about inspiring and creating projects that promote a active and healthy lifestyle.

But I digress, I’m talking about why we lose motivation.

When many make the decision of jumping on board the exercise train and kicking ass – they go for it.  They are driven and ready to crush it.  Then at some point, they notice their motivation isn’t the same as it was in the beginning.

The first thing you will come across when it comes to exercise and loss of motivation is..wait for it…overtraining.  YouTube it, Google it, and there are endless amounts of thoughts, studies, theories, and so on about ‘overtraining’.

Really quick, what is Overtraining?

According to Wikipedia, hence the ‘really quick’:

“Overtraining is a physical, behavioral, and emotional condition that occurs when the volume and intensity of an individual’s exercise exceeds their recovery capacity. They cease making progress, and can even begin to lose strength and fitness. Overtraining is a common problem in weight training, but it can also be experienced by runners and other athletes.

But today, I don’t want to talk about overtraining.  Because there are more factors other than exercise that could be causing you to lose motivation and set you back.

I actually had this thought on my way out to train and made a quick 3 minute video to make sure I didn’t lose it.  So here you go, raw and uncut footage of my thoughts.

I wanted to make this explanation as simple as possible.  There is so much information that throws around fancy jargon that only creates more confusion.  So uncool. Or in my words, not-so-Ku.

Did you think my video was Ku? Please feel free to share it with your friends or leave a comment, I always look forward to what my readers are thinking.

Aloha and Be Ku!

There are many people who are bound to the desk for the majority of their day.  Maybe you are one of them.  But aside from being inactive for most of the day, your coworkers and workplace could be crushing your plans to lose weight or even build muscle.

Dr. Nicholas Christakis, a social scientist at Harvard Medical School, stated, “Social influence in the workplace profoundly affects many aspects of our lives, including our health…”

That’s true.

I worked in various settings; farm, law firm, bar, and gym, to name a few.  Simply put, working in the gym made it much easier to stay fit, healthy, and strong because you are surrounded by people who want the same and you are an environment that is full of energy.

But when I worked at a bar, there was much more social influence to have several drinks and enjoy deep fried bar foods.  I’m proud to say, I didn’t succumb to the pressure very much especially since I was preparing for my first bodybuilding competition during that time.

For you it may be harder.

You have a goal of losing weight and getting into the best damn shape of your life.  You have it all planned out to workout in the morning, having a healthy breakfast, take your packed lunch, and carpe diem.  But, then you find out it’s someone’s birthday and your workplace is throwing a mini birthday party with pizza, cake, and ice cream.  That’s okay, because you have your packed lunch, right?

You sing the Happy Birthday, clap your hands, and while everyone starts digging in to the pizza – you pull out your bagged lunch and all eyes burn holes through your clothes.

“You’re not going to eat pizza?”

“Are you on a diet?”

“No birthday cake?”

“Wow, you are sooo good, I could never resist this?”

Sounds familiar?  It’s as if everyone suddenly becomes super defensive because you want to eat something different and become healthier.  Okay.  Maybe it is a special occasion and you want some damn birthday cake. But you get the point.

It’s like when their is bowl of fruits next to the box of donuts in the morning.  Everyone is grabbing their donuts to go along with their cup of joe, but then you make the decision to reach for an apple instead and the questions begin to fly away.

Another study by Dr. Jon LaPook found that obesity is become a “contagious disease” – spreading person to person like a virus.

Usually when we want to get into better shape and live healthier, we tell our family and friends first.  So let’s say, we have them all on board even though that doesn’t always happen.  You know because family and friends are supportive and want to help you out in any way especially when you tell them how important it is to you.

Fun fact: From the study by Dr. LaPook he found, “Among married couples, when one spouse becomes obese, the risk to the other increases by 37 percent. For siblings, the risk rises 40 percent.”

I digress, a little, but let’s get back to the workplace.

The fact above can also be angled towards your coworkers.  You spend the majority of your day and week with them.  They have an influence on your life as well.

So how can you get your job to help you cut the fat and look and feel damn good? 

Sharing your personal goals, especially when it comes to fitness and let’s be honest, your looks, is not as easy as telling your family and friends.  In the workplace, over lunch, people talk about diets, exercise, wanting to lose weight, their crazy night, gossip about other coworkers, and what not.

If you can get a group of coworkers to join in on your quest to being healthier, it’ll make your journey a lot easier.

1)  Throw out a friendly challenge to see who can lose the most body fat.

2) Get the boss in on the mix to maybe have more an incentive for the winner.  Work it from this angle:

In addition to lost productivity costs, employers often pay more in medical costs for overweight or obese employees. Obese workers cost companies 42 percent more in medical expenditures, according to the Southeast Missourian. But there are ways businesses can mitigate the costs. For every $1 that companies invest in wellness programs, they earn back $3 to $6, the Southeast Missourian reports.

3)  Create a buddy system to hold each other accountable

4)  Bring in a good looking professional fitness expert, I’d like to think I’m good looking, to present on ways to increase healthy habits and fitness in the workplace and at home.

5)  Take the initiative to start a health and wellness program at work.

Instead of having obesity in the workplace be the “contagious disease” – make a goal to have healthy and fit the new “contagious disease”.

Stay Strong.  Be Healthy.  Be Ku!

Aloha.

PS: Need a little guidance for yourself or your team, check out my coaching programs or you can contact me through email at AIPA@THE AIPAPROJECT.COM to set up something.