Recently Published Articles – FitLode.com

Over the past six months I have had the privilege of being a staff writer for FitLode.com based in Toronto, Canada. Each week I publish a research based article focused on various topics in the fitness community.

Here are some recently published articles of mine from FitLode.com “The Mother Lode for Fitness and Health Info”.

Shape You Body with Insulin (5.6.2011)
http://fitlode.com/2011/05/06/using-insulin-to-shape-your-body/

Hardcore Hybrid Training for Massive Strength (5.13.2011)
http://fitlode.com/2011/05/13/hardcore-hybrid-training-for-massive-strength/

Choosing the Right Physique for You (6.4.2011)
http://fitlode.com/2011/06/04/choosing-the-right-physique-for-you/

Please visit the following link for a listing of my published articles
http://fitlode.com/author/michael-harrington/

Results – 2011 Musclemania Orange County

This past Saturday, May 28, 2011 was the 2011 Musclemania Orange County at the Brea Civic Center in Brea, California. Staying close to the natural bodybuilding scene, I have heard multiple things about the Musclemania organization. I have heard people tell me that it is completely untested, while others tell me their rules and regulations are over the top. With such a wide variety of critiques, it was time for me to find out what I thought about Musclemania for myself.

Musclemania is an international Natural organization consisting of Fitness, Figure, Bikini, Modeling, and Bodybuilding Divisions on Professional and Amateur levels. The shows are conducted similar to a television show, with Announcers, MC’s, Introductions, and Interviews conducted throughout the length of the competition. The high quality of the production makes the competitions exciting to be a part of, as well as enjoyable to watch for friends and family. And Yes, they do drug test their bodybuilders.

The 2011 Musclemania Orange County is deliberately meant for Novice and Beginners in all of the classes. I entered the Novice Division, weighing in at 160.5 lb (my lowest weight competing at to date). The lowered weight paid off though, taking my conditioning to a new level while showing new muscles in my Legs, Back, and Abdominals. The Pre-Judging Mandatory Posing lasted for what seemed like hours, moving us from side to side, and then back again multiple times.

When Finals came around, it was my time to shine. 1st Place Overall Novice!

I am extremely excited with my progress, and have not been swayed by the scale when entering my shows. After all, at a lower weight my body looked bigger and better than ever before. Only time will tell how my physique continues to progress.

Q & A – Michael “So Cal Muscle” Harrington Part III

What is your greatest bodybuilding/fitness achievement so far?

I recently took 1st Place in the Novice Medium/Tall Height Class at the 2011 INBA Iron Gladiator in Corona, California. The progress I made over the past off-season was just as rewarding as the trophy I received. I’m looking forward to getting an Overall Title in my upcoming shows.

What are your future goals?

I have a multitude of goals related to fitness and bodybuilding. As a Natural Bodybuilder I plan to remain 100% Natural while competing in pursuit of my Natural Pro Card. My goal is to represent a supplement company as a sponsored Pro Natural Bodybuilder. I also plan to continue to train my clients on a regular basis, and hopefully one day open my own gym focused on changing individuals’ lives through health and fitness. Along the way my goal is to continue to educate myself on a regular basis, earning more NASM certifications and the CSCS Certification as well.

The sky’s the limit for my physique and careers!

Q & A – Michael “So Cal Muscle” Harrington Part II

How long do you usually spend in the gym?

As a Personal Trainer and Competitive Natural Bodybuilder, I literally spend the majority of my day in the gym. My mornings and late nights are dedicated to training clients in my gym. I block 4 hours of my day to focus on my own training and development in separate gyms, along with preparing meals and promoting myself across the fitness community.

My usual workouts leave me in the gym for anywhere from 1-2 hours total. Any longer and I’m bound to start getting hungry which isn’t good at all.

What is your training routine like?

Over the years I have accumulated multiple splits, routines, and regimens that I put my body through. These splits usually rotate every 8-12 weeks, providing my body ample time to develop but not quite long enough to adapt. Within these splits I refuse to ever endure the same workout twice. Through periodizing and always keeping my workouts fresh, I haven’t hit a plateau in the gym for years.

I am currently following the training principles outlined in Layne Norton’s “PHAT” training focused on Power Hypertrophy Adaptive Training. This training style has proved to bring me extreme increases in strength along with consistent gains in lean muscle mass. The workload you endure puts a strain on your body so I make sure to keep my macronutrients at heightened levels to avoid exhaustion. Because of the workout split, I keep my cardio to only 20 minutes bouts on the Stair Master or 20 minutes of HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) on the Treadmill.

My current split is

Monday – Upper Body Power
Tuesday – Lower Body Power
Wednesday- REST or Abs & Cardio
Thursday – Back & Shoulders Hypertrophy
Friday – Legs Hypertrophy
Saturday – Chest & Arms Hypertrophy

Please refer to my post on PHAT Training for further details.

Q & A – Michael “So Cal Muscle” Harrington Part I

How and When did you start training?

I have always been an athlete, starting every game of football I played for over 12 years of my life. My Senior year I was set to start for the Varsity Football team once again, but only one week before the season started I backed out for good. Without sports dominating my time I turned to Natural Bodybuilding. I began working out on my own at the local 24 Hour Fitness, doing what I thought was bodybuilding training. Looking back I laugh at the volume of training I attempted, but I can’t blame myself for being stoked to train.

How do you manage to stay motivated and consistent?

It has never been an issue for me to stay motivated in the gym. If it wasn’t something I thoroughly enjoyed then I wouldn’t be pursuing it for the past decade. I always keep things in focus, imagining what changes will come in my physique after the hard work I continue to put in day in and day out. Just when you reach your personal best, you instantly know you have to push yourself to the next level. I’ve seen the progress my body has made over the years, and know the best is yet to come.

PHAT – Power Hypertrophy Adaptive Training

I have always believed that you should never do the same workout twice. If you stay consistent with the same workouts, you will consistently find yourself hitting a plateau in the gym. While I may do the same exercises from time to time, I never find myself going through identical workouts. By keeping things fresh in the gym I have been able to avoid plateaus, continually add size, and gain strength on a multitude of lifts.

I have recently began a new training split only days after placing 1st in my height class at the 2011 INBA Iron Gladiator. I do realize that my past training split brought me my 1st place trophy, but I also realize that I followed my previous regimen for 3 months. It would only be a matter of time before I hit a road block in the gym if I did not introduce a different training split.

My new training split is a variation of Layne Norton’s “PHAT” Training. PHAT stands for Power Hypertrophy Adaptive Training and focuses on bringing up your strength and power in the beginning of the week, and adding muscular size for the remainder of the week. For at least the next 7 weeks (I am on week 2 of this training period) I will be following this split with each workout being completely different than the previous one.

Monday – Upper Body Power Focus
Tuesday – Lower Body Power Focus
Wednesday – Abs & Cardio
Thursday – Back & Shoulders Hypertrophy Focus
Friday – Legs Hypertrophy Focus
Saturday – Chest & Arms Hypertrophy Focus
Sunday – REST

I look forward to adding quality muscular size along with strength gains on a weekly basis during my prep for my upcoming shows this season.

For further information on Layne Norton’s PHAT Training, please read his in-depth article.

http://www.simplyshredded.com/mega-feature-layne-norton-training-series-full-powerhypertrophy-routine-updated-2011.html

RESULTS – 2011 INBA Iron Gladiator

The 2011 INBA Iron Gladiator in Corona, California this past weekend was evidence that Natural Bodybuilding is alive and well in Southern California. With the INBA continually growing around the world, and more shows being offered in Southern California than any other natural organization,there is no doubt that the shows will get even better every year. This year’s show offered Novice & Open Bodybuilding, Figure, Sports Model, Team, Bikini Divas, and even Teen & Master classes for every division. There were 17 athletes in the Novice classes this year, providing sufficient competition for any Bodybuilder to pose against.

I entered the Novice Medium Tall Height Class (Standing at 5’9) at this show ready to show my progress since my previous show in September. There were 3 other men in my class, all of which had well developed physiques. I knew it would be tough on stage, but with my progress, build, posing, and poise, I could take my class. There was good comradery back stage, and I made sure to keep in contact with the other competitors in my class so we could enjoy the hours back stage. After all, we all went through contest prep, so who else understands us better than one another back stage.

I stood tall on stage and worked my best to showcase my quad and hamstring development. Quad vascularity is something I keep working for and it was nice to see a few bursting through the skin. After the first set of mandatories I was moved over one spot. Since there were 4 of us I only went from Right Middle to Left Middle. More quarter turns, and once again they moved the other guys round me, but kept me still. I posed next to everyone and was kept in the middle for it all.

When the Finals came at night, I was sure I presented my best on stage but was not completely sure on the placings seeing that there was no actual front center on stage. After my posing routine came the trophy presentations. 4th Place… Good. 3rd Place… Good. 2nd Place… Good. 1st Place… Michael Harrington… Amp’d.

I did it. I took 1st Place in my Class!

With a shortened contest prep, I am extremely excited with how things turned out. My progress was further than I had expected, and I can only wait to see what the continual hard work, dedication, and dieting will do to my physique when I step on stage again later this season.

2011 INBA Iron Gladiator – Corona, CA

April 2nd is the 2011 INBA Iron Gladiator in Corona, California. This will be my first show of the 2011 Bodybuilding Season, and I am excited about the first stages of my 2011 stage ready physique. The INBA promotes Natural Bodybuilding with WADA drug testing before every show for every athlete. While at times they may ban some supplements I find nothing wrong with, in the end it’s a MUCH more even playing field for all of the Natural Athletes. I will be competing in the Novice Middle/Tall Height Class, and looking forward to bringing home a Top finish.

FYI April 2st is my Birthday so I am currently applying multiple coats of ProTan on my Birthday. The cake is going to have to wait until after my show. Cake tastes better when it’s accompanied by a trophy.

RESULTS – 2011 NPC Muscle Contest

This past weekend was the 2011 NPC Muscle Contest in Culver City, California where my lovely lady Raven Barnes competed in her first ever NPC Bikini competition. It was amazing seeing Raven step on stage after seeing all of her hard work and dedication over the past months. It may have been more stressful than stepping on stage myself though, watching and waiting for contest to unfold.

Raven was in Bikini class D where she was 1 of 23 ladies on stage. In an amazing fete, Raven was brought out for the first call outs, and only one pose later, moved to the center! As the ladies around her were moved, Raven stayed front and center in her first competition ever!

In the end, Raven placed FIRST in her Bikini Class D at the 2011 NPC Muscle Contest! For the overalls, she placed second after a 10 minute showdown between the ladies. It was a nail biter, but in the end I am so proud of Raven Barnes for everything she did.

With her 1st place win, Raven has qualified for Nationals where she plans on traveling across the nation to compete in the Jr. USA’s in South Carolina in search of her IFBB Bikini Pro Card.

Feel free to contact Raven via e-mail with any questions, encouragement, or inquiries for training or modeling.
Raven.W.Barnes@Hotmail.com

“Sculpting Your Body Requires A Set Menu” – FitLode.com

Here is a link to my most recently published article on FitLode “The Mother Lode for Health and Fitness Info”. Find out the importance of planning and timing your meals properly for maximum growth and development inside and outside of the gym.

Sculpting Your Body Requires A Set Menu
http://fitlode.com/2011/04/01/sculpting-your-body-requires-a-set-menu/