Ask Thomas: Wraps, Fasted Training & Gaining Muscle?

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Published on Monday, 16 June 2014 19:32

Written by Thomas Murphy, CSCS, PN1

ARE WRAPS GOOD?

If you are going really heavy and want to keep your kneecaps intact you might want to wrap your knees. It will keep your joints tight and the elasticity will actually make the lift easier. Personally, I choose to just dial it back a bit so as not to injure myself. Every once in a while I’ll jump in there with some power lifters and take the time to wrap it up. (Taking them off and on can be a hassle if you are used to moving quickly. You can’t just leave the wraps on for long because it will cut off blood circulation.)

IF FASTED CARDIO IS GOOD FOR BURNING FAT, ARE FASTED WORKOUTS JUST AS GOOD?

That’s a good question and the first time I’ve heard it. I guess the first thing to figure out is if fasted cardio is indeed the most effective way to burn fat. If you can muster the energy to tough it out, I do believe from experience that it works. I take Amino-X before I train to preserve muscle mass. Fasted workouts might be counterproductive for someone used to going ape shit in the gym, though. Personally, I would rather carb up and work on getting stronger, but when prepping for a contest I have to switch to fat-burning mode which basically puts you in a catabolic state... What do you think? Leave your comment below.

WHAT’S THE BEST WAY TO GAIN MUSCLE?

Eat a good balanced diet of quality protein and whole foods and follow more of a bodybuilder workout routine, hitting each muscle group separately.  I’ve always found the best results and gains in strength by sticking to:

Mon-LEGS
Tue-CHEST
Wed-BACK
Thur-SHOULDERS
Fri-BIS/TRIS
Sat-CARDIO
Sun-REST

I start my workouts with a warm up set and then go right to a drop set of 10 then 5 then go for my max or something I think I can get maybe 3 times. On this set, get as many as you can and burn it out. Drop the weight like 20-30 pounds and get as many as you can again. Keep dropping the weight until you get to 20 reps. 

This starts my workout with some real strength training while I’m still fresh and then subsequent sets I focus more on hypertrophy rep ranges 8-12.

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