Top 5 Gym Mistakes Ever

Published by Chuck Ryan Strogish on February 10th, 2012 - in Model Blog Posts

What’s up, what’s upppp, what’s uppppppppppp!

 

Sometimes knowing what you can be doing wrong is as useful as finding out browsing the net what you should be doing right. When it comes to working out to reach your goals, time and energy is results so you must do what is right for your body, subtract mistakes and time/energy wasters, and then maximize it by doing it consistently in a plan.

Just making a few easy mistakes could be impeding your results by months or more so as a fitness model and personal trainer, I am going to let you in on some mistakes you should avoid. I learned these from earlier making them on my own and fixing it. It cost me lots of time and energy and this article is to save you of that by knowing it now, so that if you happen to be making one or more of them, you can tweak your system.

Enjoy!

Top 5 Gym Mistakes…..Everrrrrrrrrr

5. Not carrying an adequate supply of water or using anything to give you an edge in it.

Usually anyone that is using the fountain here and there for a sip during their workout is usually not in great shape. Maybe their goal isn’t to be as lean as possible or look their best, but just to be healthier and feel better. If so that’s ok, but if you want to be in your best, leanest shape possible, this is a huge mistake.  Why?

So many processes in your body occur when hydrated. Add in how much you lose while training, you are running uphill. So just sipping from the fountain here and there is hard to do to get 100 ounces of water in your system. Without doing this, you’re not burning as much fat, using nutrients as well, nor ridding waste from your system.

Your muscles improve and grow like a tricky flower, only in a certain climate and environment. Your muscles will not grow nor will you burn fat if not in the profit column of water intake. This is soooooo important.

Tip: To burn more fat, and build more muscle faster drink 100 ounces of water per day at least. Drink as much as you can during workouts and fo an added bonus, add green tea extract to your water daily. Lots of it.

4. Not Lifting “Heavy” Enough

Not saying to train like a powerlifter would, but most don’t lift challenging enough weight for their own bodies potential in fear of  getting the bulky bodybuilder build. Do not be afraid of this. Your genes determine in how big you will get, most will not be able to get freakishly bulky unless they have a super planned out diet, training, rest, and supplementation regimen. Do not fear getting big. Stay in the 8-15 rep range and challenge yourself, always staying with good form.

This way, you will maximize muscle fiber usage and create the most muscle possible while you’re using weights. A big mistake is made using lighter weights to try and “shape” muscles. You can add in these exercises for variety sometimes, but to get lean muscle and look sexy, your bet is to challenge yourself with weights you can handle safely, yet be pooped after you’re done.  So many make this mistake.

Tip: Learn cardio methods and dieting to reduce fat and show this lean muscle. Your goal is to lift heavy weight while weight training, and then burning off the fat with cardio while preserving the most muscle possible. Then use proven dieting methods in streaks to really shape your muscles and show your hard earned work you did by lifting heavy.

3. Taking Too Many “Unnoticed” Breaks.

If someone is using a machine or piece of equipment you want to use, a big mistake is standing there or sitting down to wait til you can use it. You’re definitely hurting more by allowing your heart rate to come down and allowing your bodies metabolism to not burn as much fat. You don’t have to go balls to the walls every single second but you’re best bet is to find a similar machine or change up your routine and do the exercise a different way not allowing your body time to think you’re done training.

Also, not listening to motivating music or working with a partner who is not on your level of goals or fitness is going to hurt you as well. If you prefer to train with someone as a partner, it is important to pick someone who is in either better shape than you, or someone who is a smart work horse. A big mistake made is friends training together because in a few months, you missed out on a world of fat burned and results.

It’s just a matter of your goals, if you want to have the body you dreamed of, it’s gonna take attention and you will be happy you did later.

These little mistakes can be fatalistic if done too often. And typically these mistakes can lead to routine very easily, so be careful and think about what your goals are.

2.Avoiding carbs and making the mistake of when to use them.

Carbs are tricky because they can be the sword that gets you the body you want fast, and also can be the sword that keeps stabbing you away from your goals leaving you wondering what you can possibly be doing wrong.

I can write a book on carbs alone but I will keep it to the mistakes made. The media will tell you to avoid sugars and starchy carbs like the plague because they effect blood sugar levels and store as fat easily leading to obesity. But what they don’t tell you is that when it comes to fitness, they are good and bad. It’s ALL timing….really…..

Your body uses carbs(complex or simple) differently for all situations. You just need to know when to use them. Use them at the right time, and here comes your abs, use them at the wrong times and you are wondering why you feel like you’re regressing after all this time spent in the gym!

Here’s a simple and effective tip to live by. ONLY eat simple carbs immediately AFTER weight training. This is it. The only exception can be on a cheat day if you do those, but even then they should be minimized. BUT after weight training, it’s different.

They boost muscle growth, burn fat, turn up metabolism, repair your muscles, pull in water to support an effective environment for muscle growth. This is only after you used weights. Protein drinks with sugars, carbs and protein is ideal here.

There’s a drink I use that has 35 grams of protein, 60 grams of carbs, .05 gram of fat and TONS of sugar in it. I would never drink this unless it’s after a workout. You are better drinking that then drinking 20 grams of prtein, 0 carbs, 0 fat and sugar free ANY day. Result difference is huge!

Besides that, stick to a diet of about .05-1 gram of lb you weight of complex carbs(brown rice,oatmeal,sweet potato,whole grain breads, etc). Look up complex carbs list if you want some more examples of what to eat.

Simple carbs should not be used after cardio sessions alone, I would do a protein only after just cardio and low calories and carbs. But weight training days are different.

Catch my drift? It’s all about timing…… learn this and you will increase your result with dieting at least 100%.

1. Over Training

Over training is unfortunately a huge mistake made most commonly in gyms. You’d think it would be UNDER training, right? :-P . Nope, it’s over training. This doesn’t mean challenging yourself too hard or taking too few breaks or working out too long during your session. This simply means training body parts multiple times too close together without allowing adequate recovery time and rest while taking in the right nutrients like talked about above.

This is a common mistake everyone at one time has made, I made this mistake more than I’d like to talk about. But I learned from it. It actually pisses me off a little bit because if you love to train as a release besides your goals, that time of recovery can be agonizing. I guess this isn’t a bad problem to have, afterall, this is my goal of this blog for yrs is to let people see the addicting part of working out.

Everyone has it in them, and if activated, your life will change forever. Lots have already from my blog and I wish to have many more.It’s a real feeling that cannot be written, it is felt and there is no stopping it. Ok, back to over training.

An example of this would be to train your biceps on monday and then train your back on tuesday. Since your biceps are involved in almost all back exercises, you’re doing biceps two days in a row and might not realize it.

This is a very basic example but you see what I’m saying. You use alot of smaller muscles to support larger ones so its very easy to mess up if not over looked by you. A good training split will prevent this from happening where each body part is worked hard enough, yet there is a split that allows for each part to also to recover fully before being hit up hard again the next round.

The way to avoid this is to get a great training split created for you, and of course, follow it religiously for a period of 6-8 weeks before you must switch it again to avoid a plateau.

Now that you know some mistakes that are critical to your success, you’re already halfway there by knowing them. Avoid em and use what’s right, and your results are coming around the next bend, not miles and miles after the next bend.

Thanks for reading.

Nyc male model

Chuck Ryan Strogish


What’s Better? Shoulder Dumbbell Press VS Shoulder Barbell Press. Fight! Fight!

Published by Chuck Ryan Strogish on January 31st, 2012 - in Model Blog Posts

Heyyyy everyone. The model blog has always helped alot of people and I want it to help as many people as possible.

Thanks to you guys, the model blog is approaching one of the overall top 100,000 websites in the united states and top million in the world out of 400 million websites.

Thanks a ton everyone.  The better the rank, the more people we can help out and get their bodies the way they want them.

Shoulder Dumbbell Presses VS Shoulder Barbell Presses. What’s Better??

Pro’s of Dumbbell presses

  • Easily ready to pyramid weight by switching dumbbells then removing big and heavy plates from the barbells. This is key especially if you train for max fat burning by taking smaller rest breaks and jumping into sets faster than average.
  • More range of motion. You can go out wider to hit every single muscle fiber for a complete and proportional look.
  • Grip changes. You can turn the dumbbells sideways or regular for a full workout making sure to hit all angles during one workout.
  • Can be used to superset other muscle groups, one method I live by to stay lean.

Pro’s of Barbell Presses

  • Easier to lift heavier for maximum strength and muscle increases.
  • An even weight transfer so you can push straight up and really focus all your power into one movement with maximum weight.
  • Good for using to build up to heavier and bigger dumbbells.
  • Easier to go behind the head for a whole different set of muscle fibers to activate.
  • Easier to grip different fingers on the line for an even distance apart on the bar for total proportion.

Cons of Dumbbell Presses

  • Hard to get up to your start position from your knees when trying to go heavy. A training partner or barbells may be needed if max strength and muscle mass is your main priority.
  • More expensive if not in the gym to have a full set of necessary weight compared to a barbell set.
  • You have to balance the weight as you press as opposed to just focusing on powering up to a finish point.

Cons of Barbbell Presses

  • Can be awkward to maneuver the weight if going heavy, can also be more dangerous if not careful.
  • Not as versatile as dumbbells. Versatility is key because this allows you to superset easier, pyramid in less time or strip or add weight easily.
  • One grip is all you can do. Limits full activation of muscle fibers in medials.

 

Winner?

Shoulder Dumbbell Presses

 

Not that barbell presses aren’t good to do, they are great. You should always do both. But for my blog as a fitness model, my preparation is to stay as lean as possible year round with intentions on gaining a consistent slow progress of muscle mass without sacrificing fat.

They squeak out a victory in my opinion for the fact of one thing…..

versatility. You can put them down, grab lighter or heavier weights and go right back into for a pyramid or superset for maximum fat burning and intensity.

Don’t get me wrong, I use barbells and anyone should often, but if I walk into a workout and only had to pick one, I’d be grabbing some dumbbells. You can use them in so many different ways and really carve some fine detail into your shoulders.

Thanks for reading. :-)

NYC male model

Chuck Ryan Strogish


How To Cycle Carbs In a Few Steps

Published by Chuck Ryan Strogish on January 10th, 2012 - in Model Blog Posts

What’s up everybody? :-)

Have you ever used carb cycling before or know what it is? I talked about it before in other blog posts and use it alot on myself to get ready to look my best for shoots. I think it works well enough to mention it again because I believe if you try it out, you’ll be impressed that it works rather quickly.

Carb Cycling is basically doing periods periods of carb depleting and then periods of carb loading. Carbs are one of the few things that you can do to see changes in your body within days. It’s all a matter of timing and specific amounts. I’m going to show you how for two different goals now.

 

Is Your Goal To Burn Fat And Look As Lean As Possible?

Goal 1-Get Lean

1. For 6 days in a row, keep carb intake to a half gram per pound you weigh on workout days. For days you don’t workout, drop it to a quarter gram per pound you weight.

For example I usually weigh 180 lbs give or take so I would be using 90 carbs for 6 days on workout days and 45 grams of carbs on days I don’t workout.

2. Timing- You can only eat carbs for your first meal of the day after your night of sleep & right after you workout.

3. On the 7th day, eat 4 grams of carbs per pound of bodyweight. I even go up to 6 grams sometimes.

So doing that, and weighing 180 lbs for example, I’m stuffing down anywhere from 700-1000 grams of carbs that day. That’s alot!

Why does this work?

When you reduce carbs, your body relies on burning fat for fuel. Only problem is carbs are energy so it can be tough to workout hard without the carbs so it’s a matter of just doing it anyway since it will be worth it.

Then, when you carb load, your body doesn’t have time to store it as fat and will give your muscles a full look so that you not only look dry and lean from burning all that fat, you also aren’t flat from no carbs and the carb load will make your muscles stick out in all the right places.

Goal 2- Gaining Muscle

1. 3 days in a row of half a gram per pound you weigh.

2.1 day of a quarter gram of carbs per pound you weight.

3.3 days in a row of 4 grams of carbs per day.

4. On this goal, it is important to drink at least a gallon of water every day.Never anything below that. Drink as much as you can during your workout, you can get in at least half your gallon in a workout easily.

***Remember to stick to complex carbs(brown rice,ezekial bread,oatmeal,sweet potatoes, etc) and you can splurge on your high carb days with lots of simple carbs after your workout. Don’t be afraid to eat a package of gummy bears or whatever you crave after your workout, it won’t hurt you, you need lots of carbs on these days.***

Til Next Time

Chuck RyanStrogish

Male Model Blog

The Model Blog


Grains For Abs & Happy New Years!

Published by Chuck Ryan Strogish on December 31st, 2011 - in Model Blog Posts

Happy New Years guys, 2011 has been a great year but not as good as 2012 is gonna’ be because you are much more primed and informed to look the way you want now. If not, that’s ok, keep reading the model blog and learn the most effective ways to get your best body YA DIGGG

 

Grains For Abs. Not only are whole grains extremely important when it comes to shedding the fat off your hard earned workouts and workouts of ab exercises, they are also good for insulin levels and muscle growth.

Compared to a fat burner pill, whole grains would be like two trains moving full speed at each other across the country as opposed to the fat burner is two trains with one moving full speed and the other moving in walking speed.  What you think is going to get you there faster?

Chuck Ryan Strogish-Calvin Klein for Freshpair.com

Chuck Ryan Strogish-Calvin Klein for Freshpair.com

Here is the best 4 whole grains for you to work on getting in your system more.

  • Whole Wheat Pasta/1 cup/174 Calories/17 carbs/4 grams of fiber.
  • Oatmeal/1 cup/147 calories/25 carbs/4 grams of fiber
  • Brown Rice/218 calories/46 carbs/3.5 grams of fiber
  • Whole Wheat Bread/70 calories/15 carbs/2 grams of fiber

 

 

So what I do is if I’m at the store and, my goal is to get these over white rice, cereal, bread or toast,and spaghetti.

I honestly don’t care for oatmeal much, so I do add the milk and sugar to it which isn’t ideal but it’s still oatmeal and better than eating what I really crave, COOKIE CRUNCH. :-0

Any time you are forced to go out to eat or have to order in, always opt for brown rice if they have it. Or if yo go to eat, ask if they have brown rice as an option, and always get sushi with the brown rice option. Why is this?

Basically these whole grains sustain longer in your bloodstream, mostly effecting insulin. You want it to digest slowly and not turn to bodyfat like white bread and pasta, sugary cereals will do. Also, research has been shown(and of course just doing it yourself and noticing the differences) that people who eat a healthy diet and exercise consistently, although they will typically lose around the same amount of weight with those eating whole grains and those who are not, the whole grains group will in fact lose a significant more amount of body fat specifically in the ABS and MIDSECTION area. So keep that in mind when at the grocery store.

I can’t really sit here and type telling you how important this is, if you start eating brown rice and oatmeal, doing cardio, and training, it is almost like magic how much better you look really really fast.

Give it a shot, it really does work and is not BS. Happy New Years Everyone! Cheers!

Chuck Ryan Strogish

NYC Model

ModelChuckRyanStrogish.net


My Pre Shoot Must Have Supplement List-Updated

Published by Chuck Ryan Strogish on December 16th, 2011 - in Model Blog Posts

I know there is sooooo many supplements out there and the sucky part is some work, some don’t. Some are the same stuff as others, only difference is the huge price gap. Some you don’t need to waste money on, and some are ridiculously important in the goal of looking leaner and having a toned midsection.

There 4 current supplements that I took for a recent shoot and looked my best yet, and would like to spread them onto you.  They are of course natural and stuff you get from food if you eat perfectly, but who eats perfectly? It’s tough! There are TWO that I really, really feel you should be using to protect muscle lost during training and especially during the winter months.

Email chuckolate1984@ymail.com or go to modelchuckryanstrogish.net( my website) and email me from there to get them.

Talk soon,

Chuck Ryan Strogish

Nyc Model


How To Train Specific BodyParts-Shoulders

Published by Chuck Ryan Strogish on December 1st, 2011 - in Model Blog Posts

What’s happenin’. Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and used the previous post in their “dieting” for the week. If you did, you probably feel great and like you haven’t missed a beat ;-P.

Todays post is from the How to Train Specific Bodyparts from a fitness model. I believe that nutrition is by far the most important for results, but a close second is how you train. The only way you can get going the right way is breaking it up into body parts. Here’s a lil workout treasure for you, dealing specifically with shoulders.

How Important is Doing Shoulders Correctly?

When you do shoulders the way you supposed to, it gives you the appearance of a V shape, smaller waist, and lets people know you have “sexy” qualities. So it’s def worth doing shoulders like you mean it.

I would start with doing shoulders mostly 1 time per week, and an extra day just for traps and rear delts. But that’s just me, I like the appearance of poppin shoulders over being chest heavy, so shoulders is my priority.

You can stick to one shoulder day a week though and the important part is to use various pieces of machines and equipment to hit front delts( front raises, shoulder presses, ) laterals or side delts( lateral or side dumbbell raises, upright rows, incline bench side dumbell raises at an angle) Overall shoulder development(Shoulder presses in front of face, shoulder presses behind head, and military presses).

There are machines for all of these and of course, free weights and cables.

The key to shoulders is to use a full range of motion. For example, on shoulder presses, don’t go below lined up with the floor and make sure to extend your arms ALL the way up so that they are just before locked out.

Once you are exhausted in the 8-12 rep range, you can do a few extra reps with a lockout break to really fry the remaining muscle fibers that are stubborn.

If you have a thin build naturally, I would add in alot of shrugs, in front, on side, and behind back. Really try hard and use alot of weight.

 Having a thin build and then building up your traps is an awesome look as you appear bigger than you are, but still not bulky because you are thin.

If you are a bigger guy naturally, typically, bigger guys don’t need to do a whole lot of trap work, as they get em doing shoulders and they respond quickly.

I prefer to hit traps hard for my build and sometimes even twice a week. Once with shoulders, and once on its own day, sometimes on leg day.

Remember to mix it up and use different variations, don’t be afraid to cheat at the end but always use good form with a full range of motion.

Use grips that are close grip, neautral, and wide for different sets on each shoulder workout.

This should do it, and remember to definitely eat a big meal right after doing shoulders hard, your body needs the carbs, fats, sugars, and proteins to finish the muscle building job.

Til Next Time

Nyc model

Chuck Ryan Strogish


Thanksgiving “Dieting” The Fitness Model Way

Published by Chuck Ryan Strogish on November 15th, 2011 - in Model Blog Posts

Hey all. With the holidays coming up, this is the time of year when alot of people will say to hell with their diets and plan to re tackle their goal of getting leaner after the holidays and/or New Year.

But I’m here to show you that you can not only avoid blowing your diet around the holidays, but you can actually give yourself a huge edge on everyone else.

By the time everyone else is startting to get back on track, you are already there and ready to take an even bigger step.

There’s 2 ways you can go about doing this. For me, they both work just as well, I guess it depends on how I’m feeling at the time. But you can definitely do one or the other.

1. Carb timing or a planned cheat day- If you cut carbs a few days in advance(when I say cut carbs, I mean get .75-1 gram of carbs per day) as opposed to completely avoiding them at all. Then, when the day of your feast comes, you can carb load to shock your metabolism!

If that sounds like too much of a big deal, this one is better suited for someone who can resist food temptations a lil better.

2. The typical thanksgiving dinner has a few good diet foods in it already. Where you’re gonna hurt yourself is with the snacks and drinks. Just allow yourself to eat turkey(as much as you want), sweet potatoes, green beans(unless it’s casserole), cranberries, nuts.

Try to avoid dairy, stuffing, gravy, etc as this is the killers for getting leaner.

There ya go, pretty easy huh. Now it’s up to you to decide how you’re gonna do the next day left overs ;-) .

Til Next Time
Nyc Model
Chuck Ryan Strogish
ModelChuckRyanStrogish.net


Who’s Tryna Scorch Some Fat Right Quick?

Published by Chuck Ryan Strogish on October 31st, 2011 - in Model Blog Posts

Here is a simple, yet extremely effective cardio workout I do for myself to stay lean and always burning fat before it even gets a chance to do anything.

Use this and you’ll punch fat right in the lip right off the bat just like the Steelers did to the Patriots Sunday.

What You Need:

1.Treadmill that has incline

2.Legs

3.30 minutes

4.Big Jug Of Water With Green Tea Extract In It Or Take Green Tea Pills Before

5.Loud Music In Your Ears

Here’s How You Burn The Fat. I would preferably do this right after you trained with weights and already have a nice sweat built up. If not, do this twice for an hour instead of a half hour.

1. Start at 4.0 speed on treadmill at 0 incline.

2.For every minute of the first round, you up the cline by 1, so 1 for a minute, then incline 2 for a minute and so on until you get to incline 6. Once you hit 6, then go back down to 0 incline.

3. The next round is starting at .05 for the first minute, then again, increasing incline every minute for .05, then 1.5, then 2.5, etc until you get to 6.5. Then go back to incline again.

If you need to, decrease the speed by 1 after every round. Try not to go below 3.8.  Do this 6 days a week for 4 weeks straight. Also, eating jalopeno peppers before your workouts will boost metabolism, if you can handle the heat. A handful will do. ;-) .

Tear it up! It works!

Nyc Male Model

Chuck Ryan Strogish


My 8 Must Change Habits To Get Lean, Call Em Commandments :-P

Published by Chuck Ryan Strogish on October 16th, 2011 - in Model Blog Posts

CHUCKUNDERARMOUR

I always have stressed throughout my blog that in my opinion, to get leaner, you have to follow one path at a time and really nail it in.

 

 

The reason I write this blog is to help you not only pick that specific path, but to make sure it’s the right path. Practice only matters if you practice the right thing alot.

 

 

These 8 “commandments” will be solid principles to live by, and anyone know matter what their time schedules are, don’t know where to start, motivation etc can use these to benefit them tremendously.

So What Are They?

 

 

Here they are, just sub out what you usually do and sub in these. A good way to do it is to master 1 and only move onto two if you made 1 a habit, until you have all 8 mastered.

 

 Don’t focus on your goal of getting leaner, just focus on getting to 8, mastering it, and in the mean time, you are watching your diet, and working out as often and as hard as you safely can.

 

1.Only drink zero calorie or very low calorie beverages. Diet coke, coke zero, water with lemon, coffee, etc. Protein shakes don’t count toward this, this for anytime you are drinking for pleasure and not drinking water to cure thirst.

 

2. Don’t avoid carbs, just avoid simple(bad) ones. And if you have a high bad carb day, always avoid bad carbs the next day. Focus on complex carbs(sweet potato, oatmeal, whole grain, etc) most of the time. EXCEPT after lifting weights, you can splurge on simple(bad) carbs because you won’t store them as fat in this time.  Avoiding carbs all together will be the worst thing you can do in the long run.

 

3. Fats are one of the most important factors to getting lean. They are needed for almost every reason needed to promote muscle growth and the fat burning process high. Most bad fats are in foods you aren’t prob eating anyway(junk,treats,pastries,low grade meats,processed meats,pork) etc. Stick with fresh fish,almond/peanut butter(omega peanut butter preferably over regular peanut butter,avocados, nuts(walnuts,almonds,brazil nuts) etc. Don’t be afraid of fats, just don’t miss out on them or use bad fats often.

 

4.Drink 100 ounces of water at least a day, no matter how or when. It’s ridiculously important for fat burning. You burn around 18,000 calories extra  a yr by hitting this number. It adds up to lean riches!

 

5. If you go out to eat, always, always, always ask for a box before the food comes and put half of your meal in the box and close it. Splitting your meals up into smaller meals keeps and raises up your metabolism. If you don’t eat out, then you can prepare your food into correct serving sizes. Use as much as you can hold in one handful for each item and group it into small containers to be available to you when you are hungry. Mostly use grilled chicken, broccoli, sweet potato, mixed veggies, talapia or orange roughie, sometimes lean steak, black beans, asparugus, mixed nuts, salad, spinich, etc. Make yourself little tasty meals, it’s so important and works so good that doing it even for a 2 or 3 week goal will see great results.

 

6. Always take a B-Complex 125 supplement. These B’s will keep metabolism and digestion optimal, as you need the extra natural energy from using it working out and sometimes low carb days. Just take 1 when you wake up every single day. Preferably take a 1 a day multi vitamin before bed time as well. Any will do, even chewable ones. Every day :-) .

 

7. Find a way to do at least 30 minutes of cardio 6 days a week. Preferably after weight training and on an empty stomach. You should be at least above a 115 heartrate and go hard as you can without dreading doing it the next day. Just get the work in. Don’t gotta go so crazy you get stung out.

 

8. Do abs every other day. Pick one exercise and crush it that day, change it every other day. One day can be upper, do 3-5 sets of 15 perfect reps. Slow and controlled, make it hard to do and feel it in your stomach. Next day is lower. Do obliques one of the days, but do abs again after obliques, whatever you feel needs more work, upper or lower. For lower, do leg raises straight legged, and knee raises.

 

After researching and being naturally curious of success and why people become successful, I wanted to combine that into what all successful people have in common. And that is……

 

They have strong principles they live by. Whether it be, they live by em, stand up for them, and it keeps them moving and always improving.

 

 

These are your successful principles in fitness. Yeah, there could be more or less numbers, but I believe these 8 have dramatically helped me get the body I needed to win the fitness modeling jobs I wanted to win. They work even if you just master 1 out of 8. But 8 out of 8?

 

You will wonder why some people look like they make it easy.

Break it down into 14 days. Try this for 2 weeks and see how far you get. if you fail, start over. Just like around the world in a game of basketball, you can always try it again if you don’t make it all the way, the key is to learn and be better the next time around.

Nyc Model

Chuck Ryan Strogish

modelchuckryanstrogish.net


Stretch, Your Imagination :-)

Published by Chuck Ryan Strogish on October 6th, 2011 - in Model Blog Posts

The Model Blog is always talking about how to improve yourself and body in pretty much almost any fitness oriented category you can think of. But a friend of mine suggested I write about stretching!

how to model

Afterall, It has kinda gotton the short end of the stick on my blogs, but not because I don’t think it’s effective, it is, but more because I usually just like writing about more exciting shit! But stretching is very important, and you can easily mess up your results working out if you do it wrong.

I’m not going to talk about the different approaches to stretching or technical terms, I’m going to tell you the important reasons for it, and not doing it.

First things first, if you take anything away from this blog post, remember this…..

  • ALWAYS stretch the body part you are targeting resistence training during & after your workout.

Why? Because getting the “pump” is the goal, you want to get as much nutrients as possible into your bloodstream and eventually, your targeted muscle.

 Stretching the targeted muscle during keeps it open for more of a pump and stretching it after keeps it open for when you are about to slam a bunch of protein after your workout.

Why Not Before?

Well, you can before if you are trying to prevent injury, but usually it would be general stretches. Don’t stretch your targeted muscle group before you train them all out because you don’t want to lose strength.

It is possible to lose strength stretching out your muscle fibers before you hit the iron. So to be safe, just warm up lightly before, stretch during and after for best results.

See, stretching is pretty boring but if you didn’t know that, it can be HUGE for your results.

Thanks to my friend who reminded me to write about stretching! :-P

Til Next Time

Nyc Model

Chuck Ryan Strogish


More Effective Workout Preparation=More Effective Results, Read On.

Published by Chuck Ryan Strogish on September 30th, 2011 - in Model Blog Posts

Sometimes, if something isn’t working for you or the results you want, it could be hard to tell what the issue is. But it don’t have to be if you start at the usual suspects.

Before you begin thinking about your diet and workout intensity, progression, split, etc, consider replacing basic nutrients that your body absolutely needs to make results. Some are more important than others, but the bottom line is that your body loses these when you train. If not replaced on a consistent basis, your recovery and metabolism will suffer and in turn, so do your results.

So what are the ways to be prepared effectively for getting the results you want in the gym?

Here’s a few must haves because you use em up training and they need to be replenished for you to be able to see changes in your body as you go.

You can get them from food of course, that is the best way, but with dieting, sometimes you miss out from eating less calories.

1. Vitamin B Complex(125 mg each, added niacin, folic acid, inositol).

B vitamins are key in a bijillion chemical processes in your body and especially B6 and Folic Acid for training, without these, all the training in the world is gonna be wasting you alot of time. Just be sure to take a b complex everyday earlier in the day.

2. Magnesium- Most Americans are studied to show that they don’t consume enough of this mineral. It is even more important when it comes to training day in and day out.

Magnesium is needed for more than 300 biochemical reactions in the body. It helps maintain normal muscle and nerve function, keeps heart rhythm steady, supports a healthy immune system, and keeps bones strong.

As you can see, it’s pretty important, and you might be low if you are training, so definitely, definitely, take a magnesium supplement.

magnesium usually comes in 250 mg or approx 63 or so percent of your daily intake. Some people will take 1 of these a day before bed. Which is fine, but I prefer to take 2(1 in the morning and 1 before bed) to ensure that I am not low. I believe it does have an effect on testosterone as well, definitely noticable taking it as compared to when not.

3. Vitamin C- Vitamin C is a popular one known by everyone for it’s ability as an antioxidant to prevent and fight illness and colds. But it is more than that, it is responsible for almost every process your body needs to create results from training. Opt for the powder and mix it in your water bottle during workouts. You only need up to 2 grams of it per day. But no need to go over 1 gram of it per dose. Your body will just get rid of the extra you take in and will result in glowing yellow pee.

Put 1-2 grams in your water bottle and drink during your workout and throughout the day. You will be fully convered for all the benefits that Vitamin C provides, being able to train harder and longer, less chance of getting sick, and ridding free radicals that training creates that causes your results to drastically slow down.

Implement these 3 must have supplements into your daily life and feel at peace knowing that you are covered, and you can proceed training hard maximizing your efforts for results, building muscle, and burning fat. ALL DAY LONG YA DIGG :-) .

Til next Time

NYC Male Model

Fitness Blog

P.S.- Email me at modelchuckryanstrogish.net( my main site) to get 1 must have tip I use to carve a lean tummy. It’s similar to these but even more important for actually carving fat away in your midsection. It’s really easy to do but most mess it up.


CAUTION: This 1 Must Have Tip Is For You, And Has Easily Helped Me Carve a Lean Tummy :-).

Published by Chuck Ryan Strogish on September 23rd, 2011 - in Model Blog Posts

What’s up cats? :-)

I was thinking about choices and options the other day, and came to the conclusion that too many of them really suck sometimes.

You ever go out to a movie or to eat and get something like this,” So where you wanna go?”. “Hmm, I dunno, your call, wherever you want”.

fitness fail!

 

Geez!!!!!!! Can someone make a decision here for once? :-P .  It’s not just a few, I think most of us do this more than we’d like ha.

But the point of this is that I know my blogs say a ton of stuff about getting in better shape and helping you out step by step to look and feel a ton better, but I realize it’s just ALOT and so many choices to consider. So many routines, diets, supplements, and it’s just tough to pick.

Soooooo……

I thought I want to tremendously help you out and I narrowed it down to just 1 tip that doesn’t involve working out or changing anything you do noticeably.

It worked for me to prepare for a 4 day in a row Under Armour shoot that I needed to look my best every day, and it will help you look better by this time next month by far. All you have to do is….

1. Email me at chuckolate1984@ymail.com

2.Get your reply

3. Do what the email says for at least 24 days.

4. Repeat.

5.Success.

It really is easy and you don’t have to screw around tryin to decide which angle to take to start your plan to get in shape. Start with this, and then move on to more complex shit.

Talk to ya soon!

Chuck Ryan Strogish

NYC Male Model

NYC Personal Trainer


A Fitness Paradigm Shift Has Come-Get a Grip

Published by Chuck Ryan Strogish on September 10th, 2011 - in Model Blog Posts

Hey everyone, it’s me here to hook you up with some killer tips on to kicking ass and taking names in the gym. But more importantly, give you the “mental steroids” to learn how to take over control of your ever so complex body and get results you want, FASTTTTTERRRRRR.

Model Blog

Sometimes you just need to stop and think, what does it take to BE your goal? If you want to show lean muscle, you gotta BE the fat burner, to put on muscle, you have to BE the muscle builder. The first thing to do that is to make sure you’re on the right track, cuz if not, you’re gonna get to a point where you’re thinking, “Shit, this is not working”. So this is what the Model Blog is for, to put you on the right path. And it continues with this article where you’ll learn how grips and positions change the little intagibles that form a big picture of your physique or figure. Check it.

Fitness Grips To Change Up Example:

Chest- Wide Grip(outer pecs, Shoulder Width Grip(Middle Pecs), Close Grip(Inner Chest Lines,Tricep Development). Under Hand Grip(Another Way To Target Upper Chest If On a Flat Bench. —-> Also hits middle if underhand on a decline bench.

Tip: Don’t go heavy on an underhand grip as it could be dangerous, use this with light weight to finish off your chest with high reps and great slow form. Use a shoulder width or a lil wider grip.

As you can see, for almost every body part, there is different grips and they usually are the same. They all hit different angles of each muscle which although may be a tiny portion at the time you do it, but all together lead to a great complete sculpted muscle for the given area.

It is the same as with legs.

Take leg presses for example, if you point your toes outwards, you hit more of the medials, which is the cosmetic portion of your leg, as you can see this part with shorts on clearly. If you put your feet together, you start to zero in on your hamstrings and if legs are wide, you hit your inner thighs.

The key is too remember what you did last, so then you could do something different, but go just as hard but stay safe if trying it for the first time. ;-) .

Doing these isn’t just about giving your body a complete look, it’s to change your thinking about working out. There is so much to do exercise wise that your workouts should never be exactly the same.

Now if you already do this and know that you are supposed to do it, it’s always good to remember techniques that you may haven’t did in a while and you now remember that you needed to hit an angle you haven’t in a while. It happens to us all.

Til Next Time

Nyc Model

Nyc Personal Trainer

Chuck Ryan Strogish


Ask a Fitness Question And Answer From Email

Published by Chuck Ryan Strogish on August 28th, 2011 - in Model Blog Posts

Hey yall :-P . The cool thing about this blog has always been that you can email me and ask a modeling or fitness question. I might not always know it but I will give you my advice in something I have experience in being a full time nyc model and master level certified personal trainer.

I get emails from people around the world all the time and I love helping you out if you’re stuck on something and sick of google giving you a big sales pitch and you just want some fuckin real talk once in a while!

Here is a question I got in an email and think it might help out alot of readers on this blog, so here is ya digg.

 

Question:

I was googling “what is the best cardio for fat loss” and came across your model blog which was really informative!

The one thing that I can’t seem to find anywhere on the Internet is an explanation of why doing LESS intense cardio is better for fat loss then running as hard and fast as possible.

It seems to me that a more intense cardio workout (higher incline and faster speed) would burn more calories and more fat, but both your article on cardio for fat loss, and others that I have read say that lower intensity cardio burns more fat.

Can you explain why? I just can’t seem to wrap my head around this!

-Jim

Answer:

Hello Jim,

With cardio, the biggest reason slower, less intense cardio is better for being lean is because although you burn less calories and fat, you don’t give the chance of burning muscle.

So this works best to slowly peel off fat while maintaining all your muscle which gives you the lean look. That’s being lean though. Losing weight is a different story, doing intense fast cardio all the time is better for losing overall weight. You’re burning more calories, fat, muscle, everything.

But that’s for long periods of time, if you do interval sprints and combine it with rest breaks for a short period of time, your body won’t have the time to tell itself to start burning muscle. Only if you’re going 30-60 + minutes of high intensity cardio will it start to burn fat.

If you’re going 10-25 mins of interval sprints full speed, your body won’t necessarily burn muscle yet, so you can still get lean that way and preserve your muscle. It’s good to do both eventually and change it up.

I tell people to do less intense cardio and they sometimes will be shocked they don’t have to work hard. But of course, cardio is only effective to get lean if your diet is on point as you know.

If diet is terrible and lots of bad calories are being consumed, I would def always go with more and intense as possible cardio to offset that.

This should do it!

-C

Til Next Time

Nyc Male Model

Nyc Personal Trainer


Question And Answer About Post Below On Diet Calories

Published by Chuck Ryan Strogish on August 16th, 2011 - in Model Blog Posts
Question:
Hello Chuck:

I have been reading your blogs and I must say you are very inspiring. Thank you so much for all the information you have shared.
I am 5.2 about 114 lbs looking to get lean.
I lost my pregnancy weight of 30 pounds through the Body for Life method when my daughter was 7 months old. My little girl will turns 8 next month ! I also have a 11 year old son.
I have been able to maintain my weight thru Body for Life and diff researched work out routines. I lost my motivation and burned out with my routine till I fell upon your blog. I am motivated once again by your dedication :)
Regarding the diet how many egg whites should I eat. What roughly is the calorie count of the diet below?
Thank you so much. I hope to hear from you.
Best,
Bindya

Reply:
Hello Bindya. Thanks for reading my blog and finding it useful. That’s what it’s there for! With the calories of my current diet, they are overall relatively low. The way it’s set up is to be high protein to maintain muscle with low calories, but energy is supplied while keeping carbs low with eating a ton of vegetables and fruits.
The eggs can be anywhere from 4 whites and two yokes for a total of 6 eggs every morning or mine is 9 whites and 1 yolk just because I don’t fill up easily on eggs so you can do the first option if you don’t like eating a ton of egg whites.
But each egg white is 35 calories and 5 grams of protein and with the yolk it’s 70 calories and 7 grams of protein. So if you’re doing 9 egg whites, you got 315 calories and 1 yolk for 70 so 385 for that. Then a handful of walnuts is around 185. So you got 570, plus the salsa which isn’t much to even count. So 570 total for breakfast. So you still have room for something else like fruit or whatever if you wish.
Then two tilapia filets are 90 calories each and 21 gram of protein, only has healthy omega 3 and 6 fats in it, and no carbs. So that’s 180 calories and a sweet potato with it is 112 calories so 292 there. Eat that twice a day so 584 there total.
The shake I drink after working out happens to 580 calories. You can get away with more calories directly after working out cuz your body needs it most then to recover.
So total without counting snacking on veggies and fruits or whatever is 1,734 calories. So ends up being around 2,000 give or take. Protein is high and calories are low to be able to maintain lean muscle, keep metabolism up while burning fat.
Keep in mind it’s not great to cut out carbs so much like this for a long time. 1 day of the week, a carb loading day is good for shocking your metabolism. That’s the day you eat stuff you wish you could eat on the other days, get it out of your system and go all out lol. It’s a great day to look forward to. And it’s a great way to keep your body from going into “emergency” mode and start storing fat from all those days of eating clean and missing out on carbs.
Hope this helps, I might use this email if you don’t mind cuz that was a good question and I think it could help out my readers if they were wondering the same thing.
Thanks Bindya,
C


Diet of a Nyc Male Model-To Get Leaner, Not Bulk Up.

Published by Chuck Ryan Strogish on August 11th, 2011 - in Model Blog Posts

Hey hey. :-) . Most of the time, I put out articles or blog posts on diets more often than workouts. Mostly because a majority of people are making mistakes with what they want to do with their bodies with eating, rather than working out.

Usually, those read the Model Blog are working out consistently one way or another and still not seeing exactly what is wrong or why their not getting abs or a lean body like they were hoping for.

And most of the timeeeeeee, I put out articles of examples so you can take from that and use it on yourself. This time is a little different, I am going to give pretty much the exact diet and workout program I am currently on.

Nyc Male Model

The Model Blog-Nyc Model Chuck Ryan Strogish

Now this isn’t to get big or to bulk up. I’m currently looking to stay at a lean as possible weight so I’m not taking in a crazy amount of calories. This is for someone that wants to maintain lean muscle, while slowly melting off fat.

Breakfast Option 1: 9 egg whites, 1 whole egg with yolk, handful of shelled walnuts, 2 teaspoons of hot or mild salsa, a glass of wheat grass juice(greens)mixed with water.

Breakfast Option Two: 9 egg whites, 1 whole egg with yolk, 2 teaspoons of hot or mild salsa, glass of water, a good amount of fruit(blackberries,kiwi,grapefruit etc.

Meal 2: Two Tilapia Filets, sweet potato or asparagus.

Meal 3. After Workout/ 30 grams of whey protein blended with peanut butter, quaker oats, lethicen granules, creatine(every other week), and ice.

Meal 4: Meal 2 repeated over again

I’m a snacker throughout the day so I allow as much fruits and veggies as possible, coffee, any healthy snacks.

1 day of the week I do a cheat day and allow a carb load. Some prefer to eat healthy still but slip a little. I usually will over indulge and eat any thing I been wanting to eat all week just that day to get it out of my system! Donuts, burgers, pizza, pancakes, ice cream, pasta, whatever. If you already do not have built up a high metabolism, I wouldn’t do that to the extremes, until at least you do. But don’t worry one day of the week if you allow a burger or two or whatever. Just have it and enjoy it. Just get ready to get back to eating solid.

This is currently what I’m doing, and as you can see it’s not alot of calories. But it high protein and low carbs with fats coming from walnuts and fish.

Cardio- 30 mins 6 days a week after workout.  20 minutes of interval sprints of 15 seconds running full speed and 45 seconds dead stop resting. Then 10 minutes of fast walking or slow jogging with a heart rate of 125-130 range.  7th day off completely and rest.

Workouts are changing all the time weight wise so I won’t put that, there are plenty of other articles on the Model Blog to help you out if need be. I do abs every other day and calves every other day. Some body parts get hit twice a week to shock them and the weight changes between 8-15 range and 20-25 range. Just mix it up and challenge yourself, take little rest breaks and drink as much water as you possibly can handle in the time you work out.

Til Next Time

Nyc Model

Nyc Personal Trainer

Chuck Ryan Strogish


How To Get Those Defined Inner Chest Lines-Ask a Fitness Or Modeling Question

Published by Chuck Ryan Strogish on August 6th, 2011 - in Model Blog Posts

I get emails all the time from people around the world trying to improve themselves. Yeah, you could just google what you’re looking for, I do it all the time. But if you’re looking specifically for fitness or modeling info, I will give you my opinion on what I have experiences or seen others do that works. And I love to help others so feel free to email me at chuckolate1984@ymail.com and let me know what’s on your mind.

Here is a question I recently got in an email and am writing it on this blog post because I think it’s a topic alot of people like to know about better. Having defined inner chest lines is more about just getting them. Defined inner chest lines scream sexy, in shape, healthy, able to produce, confidence, stamina, & much more including more sexy time! They could help you in all aspects of life, besides just looking bad ass and taken seriously. Basically, it’s more than worth doing.

Nyc Model Chuck Ryan Strogish

Chuck Ryan Strogish Shooting With Gregory Vaughan in Brooklyn,NY

 

 

Here is the Question:

hey chuck,
is there and exercise that  works the inner chest to give a more defined line between the two pecs?

-Dustin

Reply To Dustin:

Dustin, I was going to write an article about that question here soon lol. There is a really good way, and many mess it up since it can be difficult to zero in on it. Dumbbell flyes don’t do it so well for this one. You need to go to a wide grip chest fly machine and put the seat low. Then grab the handles up high and go slow, but towards the top, straighten out your arms and hold it where you see your upper chest contracting for a second or two.

Really focus on form and squeezing with this one to start to get good lines between your pecs. Keep the weight challenging for 12-15, but make sure to make it so you can use just your chest to squeeze with arms straight at the top without risking shoulders and triceps getting fried.

C

As you can see my reply, dumbbells are one of, if not thee best for building muscle. But to target in on your upper inner chest, you can see it is not where alot of people can mess up.

The machine fly allows you to keep the resistance throughout the whole motion and not just everywhere but the TOP of the motion, where it counts for inner chest lines. Use the machine, sit low, grab the handles high, and use moderate weight to focus on form and prevent other muscles from jumping in. Really hold it at the top and squeeze the area you’re working on, imagine it getting shredded before your eyes!

Til Next Time

The Model Blog

Nyc Model

Nyc Personal Trainer

Chuck Ryan Strogish


View 300+ Model Blog Original Posts That Has Helped Hundreds Since 2009.

Published by Chuck Ryan Strogish on August 2nd, 2011 - in Model Blog Posts

Hey guys, my recent posts are now on this blog, but you can view the Model Blog archives here to see 300 + previous articles I wrote on modeling and fitness to help you out on a personal level.

The Model Blog is always original, high quality content that is your roadmap to success with your body and confidence. View the archives here and upgrade your fitness knowledge to a whole new world. If used correctly, you’ll be satisfied with the way your body looks and also be able to spread to others to help them out as well.

Soul Artist Management/Silver Model in NYC Chuck Ryan Strogish

The Model Blog, since 2009, is ranked as one of the top fitness model blogs online and ranked 6 million out of 278 million websites online. Thanks to everyone who reads, emails questions, and donates to help fight child hunger through my blog.

Stay tuned throughout this blog as all new posts will be here due to updating issues on the original location at my website(ModelChuckRyanStrogish.net).

Check out all the previous Model Blog Articles

Here!

NYC Male Model

NYC Personal Trainer

Chuck Ryan Strogish


Hope Is a Poor Substitute For Effort,Ya Digg.

Published by Chuck Ryan Strogish on July 27th, 2011 - in Model Blog Posts

I like that quote, read it in a book I’ve been following. It’s true in life and especially true in fitness or modeling. I get lots of emails from people either interested in bettering their image, getting in leaner shape, or how to go about getting into modeling.

Nyc Male Model Chuck Ryan Strogish

The biggest thing in succeeding in both is without a doubt not letting hope set you back. It’s easy to, I’ve done it, you’ve already probably done it, and I’m sure anyone who isn’t perfect has done it. You can talk to your friends and tell them,”You know, I wish I could just have abs like I see in magazines”. Or ” I always get told I should get into modeling, I think I’m gonna try it out the next chance I get to get working on it”. I’ve done this before and as you know, it’s not going to get you anywhere thinking about. You need friends, mentors, family to MAKE you start. They are rare to find because it’s not easy to make someone do something, but you need that support, in anything you do.

For example,the first step in getting abs is research. What do people with abs all have in common? What do they do that works besides working out? There is a method to everything. To get started in modeling, what is a realistic first step? If you’re selling a product, what do you need to do first? Begin building credibility and having an image like you aren’t messing around. You begin by finding photographers in your area and doing free shoots with them.

For me, success is my motivator. If I don’t succeed in something in a certain amount of time, I begin to lose focus and realize what is going on. When I succeed at anything, I feel a streak coming and makes me wanna bust my ass to make something else happen, take advantage of the momentum.  For you, you need to get a taste of success or you’re not going to continue. Succeed by getting a plan together in fitness, consult with a reputable trainer, find out what foods to eat, google info, begin taking action. For modeling, sign up to modelmayhem.com, contact photographers, contact local agencies, talk to people, accept any free assignments, don’t be in it for money, get photos.

These are successes, and you just need a taste of it, that’s what I believe. These aren’t the only ways to begin in each, but it’s an example. Don’t wait around doing your same ab workouts hoping to get your abs to show, and don’t hope that a modeling scout will find you. Although it’s not out of the question, it probably isn’t going to happen. So you just got to put in the effort, but better yet, put in researched effort.

You aren’t doing it just for looks, having a better body and having abs will boost almost all  aspects of life, coming from happiness, accomplished feeling, confidence, and the TASTE of SUCCESS on something you never would of done otherwise without a little bit of support.

I’m your support, email me at chuckolate1984@ymail.com and I’ll help you have a plan to start. But don’t email me if you aren’t going to seriously put in some effort in getting started, I’ll give you a solid plan that will get you started, you just have to forget about having hope and make things happen as best as you can control. Everything else falls into place.

You don’t have to tell people you’re serious about it, your plan and mindset will show for itself, you’ll be in the zone. Love that feeling!

 

Til Next Time

Nyc Male Model

Nyc Personal Trainer

Chuck Ryan Strogish


The Model Blog Donates To Help Fight Child Hunger

Published by Chuck Ryan Strogish on July 24th, 2011 - in Model Blog Posts

The Model Blog has been the best way to receive the highest quality content to improve your life and body free. All that I ask since 2009 is that you think about donating $2 to help fight child hunger through my website. Thank you for all the past donations and future as well. Let’s keep it going full speed!

Zara Mens Wear

To donate, just scroll to the bottom of the page to move to my main website. Where the link is at the top in really big and red letters.

Thanks again,

NYC Male Model

NYC Personal Trainer

Chuck Ryan Strogish


© Consult Physician Before Using Any Opinionated Advice On This Website.