American IFBB Pro fitness and figure competitor Dana Linn Bailey is sharing some useful fitness tips for anyone trying to build serious muscle at home. Bailey, 40, posted a video of herself wearing blue leggings and a black sports bra, lifting smaller weights. “3 TIPS to get bigger muscles with lighter weight. 1️⃣ 1.5 reps 2️⃣ Alternating ISO Holds 3️⃣ Resistance bands. You can use these techniques on a variety of different exercise. So if you train at home and are limited on dumbbells, you can make lighter weights not only feel heavier but make them work for you. Add some of these into your training and spice things up and more time under tension,” she captioned the post.
1. Training Schedule
Bailey’s favorite part of training is chest day because she loves to bench. “My schedule is legs, chest, back, shoulders, legs, rest and that's basically my current split,” she told Six Pack Fitness. “I do a day off and then I start all over again. I'm trying to get cut more in my legs, so I'll do one heavy leg day, and at the end of the week I'll do one light circuit day. Every visit to the gym pretty much changes. On a chest day, I might start with an incline. The next time I'll start with quads. The following time I'll start with a decline.”
2. Lots of Carbs
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Bailey says the most important aspect of nutrition is consistency. “You’ve got to find out what works well for you,” she told Six Pack Fitness. “Some girls I know do better on really restricted carbs diets. Some girls do better on lower fat diets. For me, I love carbs. I eat carbs all day long, but everything else is very clean. I do more of a low-fat diet. All my meats are very clean. The only time I eat something high glycemic would be like, post-workout.”
3. No Weight Fluctuations
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Bailey refuses to yo-yo with her weight. “Competing is extreme,” she told Muscular Development. “You’re going down to the lowest body fat possible, then you turn around in the off-season and gain a bunch of weight. I never did that. I’ve seen girls who gained 30 pounds within a month or two after competing. Going up and down in weight like that isn’t healthy. Staying in shape actually got easier for me once I stopped competing, because there was no more fluctuation. I used to diet for 30 weeks and then lose that peak look in a few days after the show. I’d rather look good and be healthy year-round. At 5-4, I stay right at 135 pounds.”
4. Meat Brownies
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Bailey food preps through the week, and always includes what she calls ‘meat brownies’. “It's just ground turkey,” she told Six Pack Fitness. “I do two pounds 99% and one pound of 93%, and I mush it all together with salsa and bake it in a brownie dish. Then I cut them into squares so they look like brownies. They're my favorite with some ketchup and brown rice.”
5. No Retirement
Bailey has no intention of slowing down. “I’ve never used the word ‘retired,’ because there’s a silly part of me that always thinks, maybe,” she told Muscular Development. “I do look at myself now and I’m in better shape now than I’ve ever been. I kind of would like to see what I’d look like. I’m turning 40 in a few weeks and I still think, maybe just one more time.”
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Dana Linn Bailey/Instagram
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