Taking Leg Day Seriously

I take all my workouts dead serious. Fitness is not a hobby for me. This involves my health, influences my kids, and provides for my family. Leg day is the most important of them all because it affects my cardiovascular system, reduces fat, and builds muscle more than any other muscle group. I do everything possible to make sure I am physically and mentally prepared to perform at the highest level for every workout, but especially leg day. Here is the run down of things I do and consider before every single leg workout.

*Proper Sleep: It’s very important to get proper sleep, at least 7 hours, the night before leg day. When I get less it affects my performance.

*Nutrition: I make sure to bring in proper nutrition the day before and especially the mornings of leg workouts. I never drink the night before. I eat a little extra carbs the morning before the beat down begins. P28 Foods high protein pancake mixes are my breakfast of choice on leg day. I make 2 big Belgium waffles with fruit, nuts, and Greek yogurt.

*Mental preparation: I start visualizing my leg workout the day before. I run through what I want to accomplish and have the workout outlined. I know its going to hurt so give myself time to accept it so I can attack it full force without holding back.

*Warming Up: When I get to the gym I make sure to get in at least 5 minutes on a treadmill or recumbent bike to warm up. This is very important to do before stretching. You don’t want to stretch cold.

*Stretching: After my 5 minute warm up I take 10 minutes to really stretch out my lower back and hamstrings. This helps me perform better and prevent potential injury.

*Proper Shoes: Foot wear can and will affect your performance when it comes to squats, lunges, deadlifts, and all the fun exercises. You don’t want a elevated heel. You need a good grip and ankle support. I have personally found Ryderwear D-Maks to be the best for weight lifting. I currently have 4 pair and will not wear anything else while lifting especially on leg day. Get 10% off Ryderwear.com with code WW10.

*Supplementation: If everything else is in place the right supplements give me that extra energy, strength, endurance, hydration, and recovery capabilities. Here is how I supplement around my leg workouts for maximum performance:

Before Workout: Pre-Kaged pre-workout, 2 scoops Citrulline, 1 scoop Creatine HCL. I mix this is 16oz of water and drink 30 mins before my workouts.

During Workout: I drink 1 scoop of whey (25g protein) at the beginning of my workout. 20 minutes into my workout I start drinking In-Kaged with 1 scoop of Citrulline. I make it with 20oz of water and sip on throughout my workout.

Post Workout: 1 scoop of Re-Kaged with 1 scoop Creatine HCL mixed in 10oz of water.

**Note that around my workouts I am drinking 55-65oz of water. Stay hydrated.

I take Kaged Muscle supplements exclusively. Get 15% off Kagedmuscle.com with code Wittig15.

Check out my latest Leg workout in details on my Facebook.com/WittigWorks.

-Wittig, ISSA CPT
Kaged Muscle Athlete

Tips To Secure Athlete Sponsorships

First let me share a little of my background. I’ve always had a passion for fitness, but I supported my family most of my adult life in the music business. My band Pillar was fairly successful in certain circles. Because of our platform we had endorsements with many music related companies, clothing, and other products. So when I stopped touring and decided to go into fitness full-time I applied all my marketing and networking knowledge into my new career. I am currently an official Athlete for Kaged Muscle, Ryderwear, 6 Pack bags, and SwoleO’Clock. I also have great relationships with the owners of P28 Foods and Shields Of Strength. Here are some of my thoughts and tips on how to secure Athlete sponsorships in the fitness industry. This is not the definitive guide by any means, but how I personally go about things.

*Build Your Business: Concentrate on building your business and not be in the business of just trying to land a specific sponsorship. Most fitness athletes are trainers, competitors, online coaches, models, business owners, and more. The companies they represent are a part of the whole not the entire picture.

*Be Unique: What makes you stand out of the crowd? Why are you different? There are thousands of fit people out there who want sponsorships. My personal angle is that I am 40, a husband and father of 4, and always natural. I proclaim, “Be your best at any age”.

*Love the Product: You should only try to partner with companies you truly believe in and love. These should be products you are already buying and paying for. Don’t be the one always looking for free handouts. Do the occasional post sharing your love for the product or why it’s important to you. Tag them accordingly. Be mindful not to be pushy or to look desperate here.

*Platform is Important: Athletes are basically one of the marketing avenues for companies much like magazine advertisements and tv commercials. As you all know social media marketing is a part of life nowadays. One big factor on being selected as a Athlete is your Reach. With this being said put daily work into expanding your Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Youtube, Twitter, etc. Quality of followers is important as well. Fake numbers don’t help as they can be seen a mile away. Once a company picks you up you will want to be able to do your part and help sell product. If you don’t hold your weight some companies will drop the dead weight. Building your social media takes time.

*Your Body is Your Billboard: This is the “fitness” industry. You need to look fit. It’s not necessary to have a championship physique, but years of hard work should be apparent. I have personally found that I get much more attention being cut than bulk huge. Everybody can bulk up, but how many put in the work and self-discipline to be super conditioned. Be sure you are putting more work into your body and fitness level rather than Instagram and Snapchat.

*Look Professional: In any business, be it music or fitness, I have found that “perception” is highly important. People pass mental judgement seconds upon seeing something. Find talented friends and spend some money on quality photographs and a professional website. Look at the level of quality the pros are putting out there and try to match that visual quality.

*Market Less: When it comes to posting make sure your social pages don’t look like a big magazine advertisement. People don’t like marketing and product shoved down their throats. Be sure to provide useful information, educate, inspire, and motivate. Give more than you expect to receive. You build trust by giving information and content. Then when you do “market” something you love your audience is more likely to listen.

*Be Kind: You would think this is a given, but it still has to be said. Kindness will take you to the top. As I said before “give more than you expect to receive”. Help others. It’s always better to be at the top with other good people.

*Be a Good Communicator: You should be able to communicate naturally and effectively in writing and on camera. This is a gift for some and others it takes work to perfect. This is something I am always working on especially when it comes to video. Companies are looking for people who have great communication skills not just for social media posts, but also on camera and in person as you represent their company.

*Respectful and considerate: Once you feel you have done a great job at all the above two things may happen. #1. The company will reach out to you because you’ve shown true love for their product and they want you to be apart of their team. #2. You write the company a nice, professional email explaining in short who you are, why you love their product and have been using it for years, and that you would like to be considered. Leave your social media links. Remember that despite you are writing a big company it is regular, real people who will read your email. Being pushy or rude will get you nowhere fast. Write them professionally and do not send them something publicly (like a Tweet or FB post). Don’t keep messaging them over and over again. Space your correspondence out over longer periods of time.

BE PATIENT! Nothing worthwhile happens over night. I have not only had a life-long passion for fitness, but I consider myself very knowledgeable when it comes to marketing. I was co-owner of a social media marketing company for years. My progress in the fitness industry took years of daily hard work.

Feel free to email me with any questions you may have Michael@WittigWorks.com.

-Wittig, ISSA CPT
Kaged Muscle Athlete
WittigWorks.com

Build Biceps with “Ladder Sets”

If you are having trouble building your stubborn Biceps I know from personal experience you have to beat them into submission in order for them to grow. Give my “Ladder Sets” a try on your next Biceps routine for something new and effective.

Let me know what you think with Likes, Comments, and Shares. Subscribe to this blog for much more to come.

Wittig is fueled by Kaged Muscle Supplements. Get 15% off Kagedmuscle.com with code Wittig15.

Red D-Mak lifting shoes and pants by Ryderwear. Get 10% off Ryderwear.com with code WW10.

-Wittig, ISSA CPT
Kaged Muscle Athlete

Transform your Cardio

If you find you are not getting the results you want it’s time to do things differently. Transform your workouts to transform your body. I find many people go into automatic mode once they enter the gym. They do the same routine and the same cardio. Maybe it works for them. But I personally know the benefit of changing things up and how it effects my results. I am not saying to scratch everything you are doing. Just be willing to throw in some change here and there. Instead of always jogging, biking, or whatever your cardio fall back is give something new a try. There really are no rules when it comes to putting together a cardio routine. Make up something different every time. Here are a few things I did this last weekend to keep my cardio interesting. I did two of these in one session and over this last weekend I did 2 separate am and pm sessions  both Saturday and Sunday. I hope they give you some ideas.

Alternate Cardio Routines:

Routine 1: This pattern is done continuously 8 times through.
A. Jog
B. Sprint (2 mail boxes in length)
C. Jog
D. Jumping Jacks 25 reps

Routine 2: Done back to back with no rest for 1 round. Do 4 rounds total.
A. Switch Lunge 30 reps (15 each side alternating). View Here.
B. Jump Squat 30 reps (alternating regular and wide stance)
C. Body Weight Squats 30 reps

Routine 3: Done back to back with no rest for 1 round. Do 4 rounds total.
A. Mountain Climbers: 50 total (25 each side alternating)
B. Knees to elbows: 20 total
C. Plank: 60 seconds

Routine 4:
My typical 30 minute jog, but dropping at random intervals to do 25 push ups. This last run I targeted to do 300 pushups. View Here.

Routine 5:
Burpees: 5 sets of 30 reps. 60 second rest between sets. View Here.

Routine 6: Do these 2 exercises back to back with no rest for 1 round. Do 5 rounds total.
A. Ball Slams: 30 reps. View Here.
B. Push ups: 20 reps. I like to do these on a special weighted ball with side handles.

Enhance your high intensity cardio by supplementing with the following:
*Pre-Kaged pre-workout: Take 30 minutes before your session.
*Hydracharge: Drink during and after your session for hydration.
*Re-Kaged: Drink immediately after your session for ultimate recovery.

Get 15% off Kagedmuscle.com with code Wittig15.

-Wittig, ISSA CPT
Kaged Muscle Athlete

Navigating the Cheat Meal

Nowadays I stay pretty darn lean year around. I take gaining muscle at a slower pace so I don’t gain too much body fat. And it makes getting extremely cut fairly easy. I accomplish this by being very consistent with my diet at all times. That does not mean I stay away my favorite foods such as donuts, pizza, Mexican, and my famous (at least in my household) home made bacon, egg, and cheese English Muffin sandwiches. Here are my tips to enjoy your absolute favorite foods and stay on track with your fitness goals. I follow these guidelines myself on a weekly basis with the exception of 2 weeks before a contest. So yes, that means 3 weeks out from competition I still have cheat meals.

• Have a set number of cheat meals a week not cheat days. I give myself 2 cheat meals every week when I eat and drink whatever I want until I am comfortably full. I am bringing in nutrition 7-8 times a day so these 2 meals is a very small percentage of my weekly intake especially with the adjustments I make around the cheat meals themselves.
• Plan your cheat meals. Know when they will be so you can plan the rest of your day in preparation. My cheat meals are typically going out to eat with the family or ordering pizza. This is normally on a Fri-Sun evening.
• The day of a cheat meal I make sure to eat lower carbs because my cheat meals are generally high in carbs and fat. So my breakfast will be just a whey shake upon waking and 6 eggs (3 full and 3 whites). I drop my oatmeal and fruit the morning of cheat meals. Often I will do this the morning after a cheat meal as well.
• Since my cheat meals are almost always dinner around 5-6pm I try not to eat again afterwards. If I do get hungry I pull out my Kaged Muscle Hydracharge, BCAA’s, and Glutamine and mix it all up in 20 ounces of water and sip on it. This normally does the trick.
• I take Kaged Muscle’s Clean Burn 3x a day- 2 caps 30 minutes before breakfast, lunch, and dinner to turn my body into a fat burning machine.
• On days of my epic cheat meals I make sure to get in a killer, high calorie burning workouts. My weekend workouts are often high intensity interval training sessions that I can do at home. Ideally I try to do two separate cardio sessions around my weekend cheat meals. Here are the two cardio workouts I did around yesterday’s cheat meal: Workout 1 and Workout 2.

-Wittig, ISSA CPT

Wittig fueled by Kaged Muscle Supplements. 15% off KagedMuscle.com w/code “Wittig15”. Email receipt to Michael@WittigWorks for a free copy of my ebook program.

Ab Monster Sets

One of my favorite techniques to tighten and define my midsection as I get closer to competitions are my Monster Sets. At this point I am not worried about building my abs. That has already been done. Now that I am in a calorie deficit it’s all about sharpening them up. The great thing about these Monster Sets are that you can do them on your living room floor and it only takes 10-15 minutes. My Monster Set is 10 exercises done back to back with no rest. I try to alternate between exercises that emphasize the lower and upper abs as well as the obliques near the end. Only 1 set needed to obliterate your core. Give this a go and let me know what you think with likes, comments, and especially shares. Subscribe to this blog for much more to come.

Ab Monster Set: 15-20 reps of each exercise

1. V Up
2. Legs Up Crunch
3. Leg Raise
4. Bicycle Crunch
5. Reverse Crunch
6. Full Body Crunch
7. Flutter Kicks
8. Side Crunches
9. Crunch (lift hip as you crunch up)
10. Side Leg Raises (for obliques)
*Bonus: Plank 60 seconds

-Wittig, ISSA CPT

 

 

 

 

Kaged Muscle’s Kasein Taste Test

I was excited to come home to a very large tub of Kaged Muscle’s new product Kasein protein. Casein is a slow digesting protein unlike the popular quick digesting whey we all know. Casein is then ideal before long periods of fast like sleeping. It feeds muscles a steady stream of protein throughout the night to help prevent catabolism whereas whey is ideal immediately after workouts with muscles are in need of nutrients for repair. Many will point out that cottage cheese and Greek yogurt are also slow digesting and can get the same job done. I personally don’t like cottage cheese and would throw up. I do like non-fat Greek yogurt and eat it often, but only with a little honey and chopped walnuts on it which adds a good amount of extra calories to a late night snack. Greek yogurt is also pretty darn expensive even at discount grocery stores like Aldi. I am 3 weeks out from my next Men’s Physique show and a low calorie, low sodium protein is ideal while watching a late night show before bed.

I use Kaged Muscle supplements “almost” exclusively and that is only because they currently don’t make a multi-vitamin and fish oil. I’ve been patiently waiting for this new Kasein as I currently have two other brands of casein laying around the house. While the other casein’s I have taste fairly good they are thick and have an odd texture. I have been waiting for a Kaged casein  because I want natural, 3rd party tested, and effective like all their other products.
So the Kaged Muscle Casein taste test! I was sent the Vanilla flavor. I mixed mine last night in 10oz of water and a few ice cubes. The first thing I noticed was that the powder was extremely fine. I mixed it by hand in my Kaged Muscle shaker. I started sipping on it 45 minutes before bed while watching Designated Survivor which is a sick new show by the way. I have to say Kaged Muscle’s Kasein tastes amazing like a vanilla shake without the typically thick casein texture. It is the best tasting casein I’ve ever had and the only one without the thicker texture. I am excited to give the chocolate a try someday. It will probably be awhile though as this vanilla tub has 50 servings. Wittig approved! Watch for Kaged Muscle’s Kasein on KagedMuscle.com.

-Wittig, ISSA CPT
Kaged Muscle Athlete

Get 15% off Kagedmuscle.com with code Wittig15. Email your receipt to Michael@WittigWorks.com for a free copy of my e-book program.