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Defeat your ego and conquer quality

Building muscle is about technique, not blunt force. This remark appears contra-intuitive for people who have never taken up gym training. However, once they have become permanent inhabitants in this world of pain – sorry, I meant in this joyous and beautiful world of gym training – they will also have learned to appreciate the truth of this statement. If you want a chiselled and aesthetically pleasing physique, you will have to master all the different techniques that the va

Defeat your ego and conquer quality

The reason I always go back to high volume training

Sometimes I have been prioritizing heavy weights and a lower training volume than the one I usually perform. The number of sets have been kept low (2-4/exercise) and the number of reps as well (3-6/set). Most sessions have been following the thoughts behind the so called reversed pyramid training – meaning that I have started out with the heaviest set, after which I have decreased the weight for the following 2 or 3 sets of the same exercise. It can be inspiring to change thi

The reason I always go back to high volume training

How weight training will strengthen you for life outside of the gym

Gym training is the best kind of workout you can spend time on in order to get in shape. There is no other sport or activity that match the benefits of resistance training where you are using weights and your own bodyweight. Besides the obvious ones there are also bonus benefits in the form of self-knowledge and body awareness. All this should be reason enough for most to want to start lifting weights if they are not already addicted to the iron game. But there is more. Body

How weight training will strengthen you for life outside of the gym

A protein drink in the style of the golden era

Development is a fine thing. We don’t want to live in a stale universe where things just remain the same, do we? No. We don’t. We want movement and change. We want news. This is true in many, if not most, fields of life. The world of fitness and muscle building is no exception. Things move on. We don’t want to just keep on doing what all previous generations already did. We evolve. We get better. We learn. We discover. We innovate. All this having been said, there are things

A protein drink in the style of the golden era

Gym manners - how to be a gentleman and not a fool

Gym manners - how to be a gentleman and not a fool Today I’ll make a list of what signifies good gym manners. I take it for granted that all readers here at Penandbarbell want to be regarded as someone belonging at the gym. If you’re not doing all that I'm listing, it is time to start doing so now. Don´t be a clumsy fool. Be a gentleman/gentlewoman. 1. Put the weights back after having used them At my last gym there was a sign on the wall that read: “Real strength is to be a

Gym manners - how to be a gentleman and not a fool

Defeat your ego and conquer quality

Building muscle is about technique, not blunt force. This remark appears contra-intuitive for people who have never taken up gym training. However, once they have become permanent inhabitants in this world of pain – sorry, I meant in this joyous and beautiful world of gym training – they will also have learned to appreciate the truth of this statement. If you want a chiselled and aesthetically pleasing physique, you will have to master all the different techniques that the va

Defeat your ego and conquer quality

Prioritizing will help you build muscle faster

Many people have goals at the gym that could be summed up something like this: I want to be in great shape, with a muscular and strong body that lacks weaknesses. I want an impressive upper body, six pack abs and well developed legs with great calves to go with them. This is not a bad ambition. On the contrary, it is a good thing to be conscious of the many different parts that together will form an impressive and aesthetically impressive physique. In today´s post, however, I

Prioritizing will help you build muscle faster

The most important kind of strength

Yesterday was arm day. But above all, it was focus day. When I arrived at the gym I had a clear vision of what I wanted to achieve, right down to the number of sets in each planned exercise. This isn´t rare for me – on the contrary, I most often have a detailed preconception of what’s going to take place at the gym. This time, however, it didn’t turn out like that. I had planned to do the following: Superset 1: Biceps chins 5x10 Triceps pushups 5x30 Superset 2: Inclined Bicep

The most important kind of strength

My favourite kind of warm-up routine

Many of us that regard lifting heavy weights as one of the greatest pleasure in life share a fault: we don´t always warm up properly. This is, of course, a bad thing. We really should get a hold of this bad habit of going straight to work when we hit the gym. One of the reasons - and in my opinion the major one - for the often felt urge to skip the warm-up, or at least keep it at an absolute minimum, is because we have entered the gym in a certain mind-set. We are there to li

My favourite kind of warm-up routine

The principles that will guide you to great results in the gym

A philosophy boiled down Here on PenandBarbell.com I am dedicating myself to the formulation and recording of my workout philosophy. This is a far-reaching subject that involves discussions on various topics, such as workout regimes, numbers of sets and reps, performance techniques, different exercises and combinations, etcetera, etcetera - within the frame of what I initially dubbed as my “workout philosophy” there is really no end to all the different details that in themse

The principles that will guide you to great results in the gym

3 factors that will ensure a good workout and a good pump

1. Improvisation. In general I’m all for planning, but I do believe that the best workouts (and, to a certain degree, the best performances in all fields of life) take place when the original plan is (for the right blood full reasons) abandoned and you allow yourself to go with the flow. One should not let the preconceived come in the way of true inspiration. I’m a strong believer in the power of knowledge - knowing what you do and why will accelerate your development - but o

3 factors that will ensure a good workout and a good pump

A 20 reps experiment

I have been lifting weights for many years. I have gone through thousands of workout sessions. I have tried many different approaches and pursued many different goals. But I’m still able to surprise myself – and to surprise my muscles. I’m not fully learned. And the fact is, in the iron game, one is never fully learned. If one tells oneself so, that only means one has gotten stale in one’s attitude. Gym training offers endless possibilities, endless variation and never ending

A 20 reps experiment

3x10 vs. 5x5

3x10 vs. 5x5 There was a time when the standard advice given to any beginner at the gym was to go for 3x10 – in other words, to perform 3 sets of 10 reps in each exercise. And the number of exercises per muscle group would most often be recommended to be 1-3. This concept was so often given as the beginner’s routine that even people who had never set foot in the gym knew about it. It was what one would call common knowledge”. Today the gym crawls with beginners going for a to

3x10 vs. 5x5

The importance of being present

24/3-16 Today pulling on my shoes demanded what felt like miraculous agility. And moving up an ordinarily designed stairway seemed to be the ultimate test of hamstring mobility. That’s how sore I am from yesterday’s workout session. Being sore is nothing out of the ordinary for anyone truly dedicated to the iron game. This time, however, I didn´t plan for it. Usually my soreness is invited, this time I intended to avoid it – but failed miserably. Yesterday’s session was low i

The importance of being present

Layers on layers of pump

8/11-2015. Just finished today´s workout session. Today was chest day. The following took place: Bench press, barbell, 5x5. Bench press, barbell No. 2, 5x6-10. Bench press, barbell, No.3, 5x12. Inclined bench press, dumbbells, 2x12-15. Dips, 4x8-12. That's 15 sets of flat barbell bench presses. A bit over the top some might say. And yes, I wouldn't plan a session to come out like that. It was a matter of improvisation, fueled by the inspiration that sprung from the first 5 se

Layers on layers of pump

Back to basics

5/12-15 The last six months I have been experimenting with my workout routine. I have, in fact, never before altered my overall program and my different workout sessions to such a degree as I have during this period. I have tried high volume training (in the shape of GVT; German Volume Training – where one aims for at least 6 sets of each exercise, all consisting of 12 reps each, adding up to plenty of reps and, more often than not, a strong pump in the targeted muscle) and I

Back to basics

Layers on layers of pump

8/11-2015. Just finished today´s workout session. Today was chest day. The following took place: Bench press, barbell, 5x5. Bench press, barbell No. 2, 5x6-10. Bench press, barbell, No.3, 5x12. Inclined bench press, dumbbells, 2x12-15. Dips, 4x8-12. That's 15 sets of flat barbell bench presses. A bit over the top some might say. And yes, I wouldn't plan a session to come out like that. It was a matter of improvisation, fueled by the inspiration that sprung from the first 5 se

Layers on layers of pump

Leg day is overrated

31/10-15 Leg day is seriously overrated. What should be highly rated depends only on your own personal ideals and goals. There is no magic involved in doing squats. Squats are not important, unless you re planning to compete in... Squatting. Deadlift is not an important exercise, unless you're planning to compete in... Yes, deadlifting. There is no king of exercises. There are no absolutely essential exercises that "has to" be involved in your workout routine. There is

Leg day is overrated

1 new photo and 7 principles

25/9-2015 There is a NEW PHOTO in the black and white gallery. And there are always reasons to read the article where I list and elaborate on what I consider to be the most important principles to follow if you are pursuing advanced goals at the gym. Take this article to heart and then live accordingly – and the results will surely come. The article is named 7 principles that ensures results in the gym and you can find it here: #TrainingPhilosophy

1 new photo and 7 principles

Hard to go easy

9/9-2015 In a recent post (31/8) I said I was going to spend the next few weeks working out in accordance with the following guidelines: 1. Low volume. No more than 10 sets per muscle group in one session – and no more than 6 reps in any set. 2. Finishing each set far from failure. 3. Most often only two different exercises per muscle group in one workout session. This is an approach that is significantly easier and much lower in volume than my usual routine. However, yesterd

Hard to go easy

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