3 days Splits or 5 days?

Bodybuilding

Are 5 day Splits More or Less Effective than 3 Day Splits ?

This will depend on the trainee. For some, training 5 days a week is too much while for others it's too little. But for most people whose goal is to increase mass, 5-day splits are far superior.

3-day splits are mainly used for strength training, where the trainee wants to be able to have plenty of recovery time to fully recover their muscle and nervous system because their workout consists of lifting heavy reps and high intensity training.

5-day splits, on the other hand, allow trainees to consistently work on their muscles and exert stress; therefore stimulating more muscle growth. In addition, working out five days a week will burn more calories than three days a week.

On the other hand, 3-day splits can be beneficial to someone who is new to weight training. However, that can only be made possible if those three days consist of light and total body training. That will prime the new trainee's muscle and nervous system for harder workouts. A new trainee can still benefit from 5-day splits as well. Working out 5 days a week will keep the new trainee motivated and teach them the proper dedication bodybuilding requires.

Almost all trainees whose goal is to gain mass can benefit from using this type of training. However, the 5-day splits will probably benefit a more experienced trainee than one who just started because an experienced lifter is more primed to handle the amount of workload 5-day splits impose upon the body.

Trainees who will benefit the least from this kind of training will be those whose aim is only to gain strength, such as the power lifters. Working out five days a week is calling out for overtraining for power lifters since they will not have enough time for recovery.

For those whose goal is fat loss, 5-day splits are definitely a good choice. By training five days a week (along with cardio), trainees will lose a lot calories and thus priming for fat loss.

The 5-day splits can be used for both mass gaining and fat loss training. As you can see, it is versatile as it allows many different training techniques and exercises to be chosen from. Try it out and see how it goes!

What muscles are made off?

Bodybuilding - What are Muscles Made Off ?

Muscle is composed of bundles of muscle fibers or myofibers. Each fiber is composed of myofibrils, which, in turn, are composed of myofilaments. The myofilaments are made up of two proteins called myosin and actin. The myosin and actin act within the smallest functional unit of muscle, the sarcomere, to produce a contraction.

It is the myosin protein, however, which holds the key to the differences in muscle fiber types. In general, there are four different fiber types in skeletal muscle. These four include:

- Type I, also known as slow-twitch or slow fibers
- Type IIA
- IID
- IIB, also known collectively as fast-twitch or white fibers

Speed, Size & Endurance:
Type I are the slowest, smallest, and have the highest level of endurance of all the fibers. Next come the Type IIA, IID, and finally the Type IIB, which are the fastest, largest, and least endurance oriented in the group.

Muscle Contraction:
As you contract a muscle, you'll recruit those muscle fibers in a specific order. The smallest (lowest threshold) fibers, the Type I, are recruited first. As the speed or force of contraction is increased, you will sequentially recruit the Type IIA, IID, and IIB muscle fibers. However, to recruit the Type IIB fibers it may take over 90% of a maximal contraction!

Fiber Concentrations:
All people are born with these muscle fiber types. Most muscles contain almost an even split of slow (Type I) and fast (Type II) fibers. There are a few exceptions, however, as the soleus muscle of the calf is prominantly slow twitch, while the gastrocnemius muscle and the hamstrings are prominantly fast twitch.

Also, individuals on opposite ends of the athletic spectrum like sprinters and marathon runners for example, may possess a higher percentage of one fiber type.

Well, in order to obtain maximal muscle size we must regularly train all of our muscle fibers. A combination of bodybuilding (higher and lower rep), powerlifting, and even a little Olympic-style lifting may be best. Bodybuilding seems to stress the Type I and IIA fibers, while the IIB fibers may be best stimulated through powerlifting and Olympic lifting.

The IID fibers are perhaps stressed equally by all three forms of training. 

The key to long term progress in bodybuilding can be summed up by one important word: Variation!

Squats

Bodybuilding - King of all Leg Exercises : Squats

 

The king of all leg exercises. This movement is the number one mass builder for legs. If you want to build massive wheels... you will have to squat. And squat with good form. When performing this exercise... check your ego at the door.

Take some weight off the bar and perform them correctly. That means arch your back and squat deep. The top of your thighs should be parallel with the floor (or below)! This will ensure a full range of movement - which means maximum stimulation (and maximum growth).

I see way too many people load the bar up to 405 and move the weight 4 inches up and down. What are they really trying to achieve? Perform slow, controlled reps. Do not bounce the weight back up or you will damage your knees.

Stick your butt out - as if you are sitting down into a chair. And remember to spend plenty of time warming up! Do a high rep set of 20 to 25 with very light weight before doing your working sets. I typically perform 4 to 6 sets of squats - as I like to pyramid up the weight. When performed correctly, this exercise will hit the Quads, Hamstrings, and Glutes!

Calf workouts

Bodybuilding - Mass Building Calf Muscles' Workouts

It is important to know that for many people the calf responds to higher reps. See what works for you but for most you need to be doing at least 15 reps per set. You want to concentrate on really feeling the calf contracting during the set and get a good stretch at the bottom of the movement and a hard contraction at the top. Do not bounce during the movement. You want to make sure that during both the concentric and eccentric part of the movement is nice and slow and controlled.

Workout #1:
Standing Barbell Calf Raises 4x15
Seated Barbell Calf Raises 4x15
Donkey Calf Raises 4x15 

Workout #2:
Standing Barbell Calf Raises 4x15
Standing One-Leg Dumbbell Calf Raises 4x15
Seated Dumbbell Calf Raises 4x15

Workout #3:
Smith Machine Standing Calf Raises 4x15
Standing One-Leg Calf Raises 4x15
Donkey Calf Raises 4x15

Workout #4:
Calf Press on Leg Press Machine 4x15
Machine Standing Calf Raises 4x15
Machine Seated Calf Raises 4x15

Workout #5:
Calf Press on Leg Press Machine 4x15
Standing Barbell Calf Raises 4x15
Machine Seated Calf Raises 4x15

Workout #6 (Smith Machine):
Smith Machine Reverse Standing Calf Raises 4x15
Smith Machine Standing Calf Raises 4x15
Smith Machine Seated Calf Raises 4x15

Workout #7 (Bodyweight):
Standing Bodyweight Calf Raises 6x15
Standing One-Leg Bodyweight Calf Raises 6x15

Overload - Force your Muscles to grow

Bodybuilding - Overload and Force your Muscles to Grow

A muscle must be subjected to a stimulus that compels it to adapt and grow. If there is no reason for a muscle to grow, no hypertrophy will occur. Muscles increase their strength and size when they are forced to contract at levels close to their maximum.

Much more weight can be lifted with compound exercises than isolation movements. More weight, more overload and in turn more muscle. A compound exercise is a movement that involves more than one major muscle group. It involves a primary muscle and one or more secondary muscles.

An example of a compound exercise would be the barbell squat. The primary muscles are the quadriceps and the secondary muscles are the gluteus and hamstring muscles.

An isolation exercise targets just one muscle. Isolating a muscle during resistance training limits overload and muscle fiber stimulation, therefore it limits growth. Dumbbell flyes are an isolation movement for the chest, removing the shoulders and triceps out of the movement.

A common reason people do flyes is to shape the muscle. This is impossible to do- you cannot change the predetermined, genetic shape of your muscles. You can, however, make them bigger which may appear to change the shape.

Isolation movements require less weight and limit overload. They have their place in any training regimen, but not to increase muscle size.

Overload is the primary objective when muscle hypertrophy is the goal. Going through the motions will not produce results, you have to push your body to new limits in order to see increased development. Since heavy weight is the most influential stimulus for muscle growth, you must continue to strive for greater overload.

Muscle Growth = Intensity

Bodybuilding - Intensity, the Key to Muscle Growth

Intensity is defined as exceptionally great concentration, power or force. It is what separates those that make modest gains over the years from the ones that make massive gains year in and year out. If you look around the gym, it is easy to spot the people that train with a lot of intensity.

Training with maximum intensity will literally force your muscles to grow, it leaves them no choice. They have to adapt - they have to grow. Intensity and overload is the key to muscle growth. Don't expect to see gains if you spend your time in the gym socializing, reading, or watching television.

The amount of stimulation you are able to deliver to your muscles will effect how much they respond and develop. It is not enough to simply put in intense effort and try harder by going through the motions and using momentum. Increasing the weight without controlling the movement will not produce results.

Intensity is almost more of a psychological factor than a physiological one. It is generated from the degree of your motivation. How badly you want to see gains. When your body screams "stop!" and you ignore the ache and keep going, you force your muscles to grow and respond. Intensity will be your key to success, regardless of what muscle group you are training.

The mental intensity you are able to generate will cause physiological effects. Muscle protein accumulation and repair occurs when the rate of protein synthesis increases.

The rate of protein synthesis in the muscle depends on the rate of entry of amino acids into the muscle cells. And the intensity and duration of muscle tension directly influences amino acid transport into the muscle cells.

As the intensity and duration of muscle tension increases, amino acid uptake and the rate of protein synthesis increases. So protein synthesis is the basis of building muscle and can be increased by training with high intensity.

Time and workload are two factors that can be manipulated in order to increase intensity. Doing an increased amount of workload in the same time will surely make your workout more intense. You could also do the same amount of workload in less time.

So add more weight to the bar, take shorter rest periods or do both to increase intensity. Again, do not do this at the expense of jeopardizing your form and concentration. Remember, motions mean nothing.

Squats

Bodybuilding - Squat Supplements

Squats are the main diet for the powerlifter, Olympic lifter, football player, track & field competitor and every other competitive athlete. But there are many assistant exercises that deliver that extra for squat strength and quad development. These assistant exercises offer coordination and balance to specific muscle groups to execute squat performance and quad development. So, whether that boost is strength, power, size, or a combination of them all, assistant exercises play a very important factor in the squat.

The squat is a strength and mass builder. Squat assistance exercises are done for shaping, and also strength. Let me explain. Bodybuilders are not interested in getting their squat to an all time max as a powerlifter is. Not all of them anyway. The competitive bodybuilder uses squat assistance exercises for shaping. But, the powerlifter is more interested in serious strength gains.

Assistant squat exercises give an extra boost on all strength levels. Absolute strength, limit strength, starting strength and explosive strength. For those of you who are not referenced to these terms and those of you who need "strength" defined let me explain. Strength is the ability of the muscle to exert maximal force at a specific velocity.

There are many assistant exercises that can imitate the squat itself. Like placing your legs on the leg press or a hack machine with the same feet spacing you would for squatting. Assistant exercises can be box squats or reverse-hyper extensions, famed exercises performed by Louis Simmons students, step-ups, single leg presses, and many others. This is all good, but you ask why step-ups? Well, think about it. Step-ups are in all conventional terms a one legged squat. This specific assistant exercise will benefit you in gaining leg strength, the same as the single legged press would but with the added benefit of balance. Any individual who desires a good assistant exercise for squats should give single leg presses a try.

I hope you realize that one leg can't press what both can, so, start off light increasing your weight each set until you get to a good working weight performing 6-10 reps on each leg. When doing leg presses or hack squats place your feet together and try 20-reps for each set. I recommend only 2-3 sets of those. They're pretty grueling! I am sure your legs will be ready to explode after all that. If those of you whom have access to a "Reverse Hyper" - I highly recommend whole-heartedly to do them. Do reverses about 3 times a week, 2 sets of 15-20 reps each. Remember, start out slow and light and then add on 5 to 10 lbs. a week.

Huge Legs

Bodybuilding - Building Huge Legs

The basics of developing a set of mountains for legs begins with that exercise all true bodybuilders have a love hate relationship with. That's right, the squat! The squat is the core of any leg program. Do not give me any of that pansy importance of isolation exercises, if you give a full out and intense effort, giving all you could possibly give with your human body on your squats, you don't even have to worry about any other leg exercises.

If you have a bad back or knee problems, the leg press is a good alternative to the squat, as it will allow you to add more weight, but make sure you never sacrifice form for weight.

The next foundation that needs to be incorporated into the leg workout is the lunge. Amazing, that is all I can say about lunges. The legs you will develop doing heavy lunges make all the pain worth it. Lunges work the glutes, hamstrings, and quads. Lunges will take your legs to the next level, but as I said already, proper form is more important than anything. Many top bodybuilders swear by lunges, and you will also once you incorporate a set of heavy ones into your workout and watch your legs grow by the week.

The final foundation that you will want in your leg workouts will be the leg extension and the leg curl, alternated every week. The reason we are alternating these exercises is because this will allow the specific areas to recover, and also for maximum stimulation by being able to use heavier than normal weights when you come back. Forget the isolation, focus on building the mass. You cannot shape a muscle, you can only build it. Why not give your quads and hams some extra rest time each week, and then come back and blast them with "isolation" exercise and watch them grow fast.

Nutrition rules

Bodybuilding - No-Nonsense Nutrition Rules

1. Take The Time To Eat Breakfast In The Morning.
Breakfast should include complex carbohydrates and clean protein. Essentially, complex carbohydrates provide energy and the protein ensures that the body has material readily available for rebuilding tissues.

Combining the complex carbohydrate with a protein stabilizes blood sugar levels and stokes the metabolism. Fail to provide your body with the energy that it requires to function properly and it will feed off of your muscle tissue and ultimately hamper your metabolism. A good combination here is a bowl of oatmeal, eggs, grapefruit and a cup of coffee.

2. Eat Five To Six Small Meals Per Day.
This one requires some planning. The "meals" referred to consist of a protein, complex carbohydrate, and a fibrous carbohydrate. Some good combinations include:
Chicken/Brown rice/Broccoli
Tuna/Medium baked potato/Green beans
Lean cuts of beef (once a week)/Sweet potato/Salad
Salmon/Quinoa/Asparagus

3. Eat Every Three Hours.
This also requires some planning. Eating every three hours keeps the blood sugar/insulin levels stable throughout the day, controls cravings, prevents binging, reduces fat storage and keeps the metabolism burning hot.

Since you hear the word "metabolism" quite frequently in conjunction with nutrition, let's take a quick look at what it means. Basically, "metabolism" is the rate at which your body burns through food. When you hear that someone has a "fast metabolism," this simply means that the person's body is efficiently using the calories derived from food whether active or at rest.

Here is the thing; eating frequently makes you burn more calories. On the contrary, missing meals immediately slows the metabolism, triggers the body's starvation response and thus sounds the death knell for fat burning.

How to increase metabolism & enhance Fat-burning

Bodybuilding - How To Increase Metabolism, & Enhance Fat-Burning

1. Maintain A Healthy Weight In The Off-Season
The metabolism is adversely effected when one consumes a large amount of food, for a certain period of time. In fact, the term yo-yo dieting stems from many peoples attempts to lose weight, whilst reverting to bad eating habits, when they should be sticking to a sensible approach.

The body will simply adapt to maintaining a low metabolic rate if it has to continually adjust to a sharp decline in calories, for a period, followed by engorgement. This has obvious implications when it comes to losing weight when it counts (pre-competition for example). Attempting to lose fat at a rapid rate will also, inevitably, result in losses in protein, and, as discussed in detail later, a net loss of muscle protein means a decrease in metabolism.

2. Eat More Frequently, With Smaller Servings
Eating smaller servings, on a frequent basis, serves to keep the metabolic rate constantly heightened, and helps to stabilize blood sugar levels. A constantly stimulated metabolism means fat-burning over a longer period.
Stabilized blood sugar prevents the hypoglycemia that occurs when one eats a huge meal and feels tired and lethargic soon afterward, due to low glucose levels to the brain. The body is more likely to store fat when in a hypoglycemic state, due to a spike in insulin levels.

3. Train With Weights
This is an easy one given bodybuilders, and other fitness enthusiasts (for the most part), train with weights. Weight training builds muscle and muscle stimulates the metabolism to a significant degree. Bigger, more muscular, bodybuilders, ironically enough, tend to have more efficient metabolisms by virtue of muscles fat-burning effect.

4. Eat Sufficient Protein
Protein will stimulate the metabolism far more efficiently than either carbohydrates or fat, due to the energy demands of amino acid utilization.

In fact, eating a meal high in protein will stimulate the metabolism by as much as 30%, as opposed to fat or carbohydrates which increase it by around 4%. Furthermore, protein will heighten the metabolic rate for around 12-hours after eating.

5. Begin Dieting Early
One should allow plenty of time (at least 12 weeks, depending on the type of shape they are in) to lose all visible body-fat. Doing this will ensure only a small amount of fat will need to be lost per week (about half a pound) as opposed to a significant amount in a small space of time.

Dieting too close to competition time (which logically requires dropping calories to low) will send out a signal that the body is approaching a state of starvation, which results in the body shutting down the metabolism to conserve calories for this time of famine.

The importance of Water

Bodybuilding - The Importance of Water

Fat Metabolism:
Water is not only a natural appetite suppressant, but it actually helps the body metabolize stored fat. When the body does not have a good supply of water to draw from to perform required physiological tasks, it will draw water from inside the bodies cells, including fat cells, in order to perform the desired tasks.

Any fat stores in the body that are drawn on for water, are less likely to be mobilized and burned off as energy, resulting in increased fat stores over time if you were to remain in a constantly dehydrated state.

Kidneys & Liver:
In addition to this, did you know that the kidneys need a specific and plentiful water supply to function properly? If the kidneys are functioning at low capacity, they will recruit the liver to pick up the slack. One of the liver's primary functions is to metabolize stored fat for the body to use as energy.

It is only logical to say that if the liver is half occupied doing what the kidneys cannot do on their own due to lack of water, then it will not be able to perform its own functions, metabolizing fat being the most applicable in this case, with full effectiveness. So if it is metabolizing less fat, than it only goes to say that full fat loss cannot be achieved.

Water Retention:
In addition to hindered fat loss, one of the most common misconceptions is that drinking water cause water retention. The truth is the exact opposite. Lack of water causes water retention. The reason for this is that the body perceives the shortage when it is provided with less than it needs thus causing what is commonly referred to as "survival mode", retaining every least drop that it can.

Water & Exercise:
Water aids in enhanced muscle tone and contraction during exercise. It also helps maintain our performance and effort during exercise, and in turn our physical results.

If you are experiencing excessive hunger, excessive water retention, lack of muscle tone or fatigue during exercise, water consumption may be a huge factor in the negative effects you are experiencing.

The average active person needs far more than the standard 64oz. of water to function optimally. Perhaps you could purchase a 20 oz water bottle and focus on drinking at least 4 or 5 of them in an effort to consume 80oz - 100oz per day. This amount would be more appropriate to compensate for both bodily functions and physical activity.

Combination Training

Bodybuilding - Combination Training for the Best of Both Worlds

There is no one best program, as no program will produce results forever. Eventually, you will adapt and become immune to whatever program you are on. At this point you can either be a stimulus addict and just stick with the program you're on even though it is not producing results or you can wise up and switch to another program.

This is a hard concept to grasp when you are actually on a training program that is working extremely well. During this time it is easy to have the illusion that progress will keep coming indefinitely. Even when progress comes to a screeching halt, many trainees find it hard to "break up" with their beloved favorite program.

Similar to a bad relationship, the trainee often looks back to when the program was great and ignores the reality that it is no longer working in the present. Do not be this trainee. Do not be so attached to one training system that you cannot benefit from another training system. Do not make the mistake of being addicted to the stimulus of training that you overlook the fact that you are not making progress.

Just clocking in hours at the gym is not going to guarantee that progress is eminent. Just as clocking in hours in a business or job is not going to guarantee that you will make more money. You have to work smart not just hard. 

One option that works very well with training is to switch gears every three to four weeks. For example, do three weeks of high volume training such as 10x10 (ten sets of ten). Then switch to some moderate volume training with a higher intensity such as 5x5.

Finally, go to a low volume higher intensity program in which training with maximum weights is the goal. While the concept sounds simple enough, it requires discipline to move from one program to the next. Why? You will often be making great progress in week three as you get used to a program.

Once you switch to a new program the first week or two are uncomfortable as you adapt both mentally and physically. Once you get used to the program, it is time to switch again and that my friend is exactly the point. Rather than wait for the program to stall in week five or six, we stay one step ahead of the curve by switching gears before it is too late.

About your Heart

Bodybuilding - About your Heart

Bodybuilders train their muscles, but they often neglect the most important muscle of them all - the heart. Your heart is a great indicator of your level of fitness. Training your heart can improve all aspects of your health. Your heart can even be used as a guide to help improve your training and, more importantly, customize training to your body. When you understand how the heart works and how it can be used as an amazing tool for training, you will appreciate exactly how much the heart matters!

Your heart is between one to two times the size of your clenched fist. Contrary to popular belief, it is not located to one side of the body - it is located almost in the exact center of your chest. Due to the shape of the heart and chest cavity, the heart pounds against the chest wall on your left side, so the heart rate is stronger when felt there. Your heart is responsible for pumping about six quarts of blood throughout your body, with about the same amount of force that the average person applies when squeezing a tennis ball.

The heart is not under voluntary control. A system known as the autonomic nervous system, which includes the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system, is responsible for regulating your heart rate.

There are many ways to measure how healthy a heart is. A healthy heart should beat with a fairly regular rhythm that will change based on levels of exertion and oxygen requirements. A healthy heart has a high stroke volume, which refers to the amount of blood that is pumped out with each beat. A healthy heart does not have to work as hard to pump blood, so the resting heart rate of a healthy heart will be lower than average. Blood pressure is another indicator of heart health and should be in the healthy range of around 120 over 80, as determined by the national average.

Various types of training have different effects on the heart. Training that elevates the heart rate for even brief durations can increase the size of the heart. This will increase the stroke volume, and result in a lower resting heart rate. Training can also increase the rate at which the heart recovers from a bout of intense work. In other words, a trained individual will return to their resting heart rate faster than a sedentary individual. Exercise has been shown to lower blood pressure. In addition, regular cardiovascular exercise can increase the concentration of hemoglobin in blood, allowing the body to become more efficient at transporting oxygen to the cells that need it (as well as removing waste products such as carbon dioxide).

Interval Training for Weight Loss

Bodybuilding - Interval Training for Weight Loss

The theory behind interval training is this: By mixing bursts of high intensity work with low intensity periods of recovery, you're overloading both the aerobic and anaerobic systems at the same time, getting the benefits of both aspects of training simultaneously. You can realistically get a complete workout in thirty minutes with interval training.

How Is It Done?
Begin as you would on any other day. Start at an easy pace and gradually increase your heart rate for at least five minutes. You can monitor this by taking your pulse for fifteen seconds and multiplying it by four or using a heart rate monitor. When you're sufficiently warmed up, you're ready for a burst of high intensity work. If you're on a treadmill, break into a jog or a sprint, depending on what "high intensity" means to you. During the high intensity periods, you're decreasing your body's ability to exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide.

You begin to feel the "burn" as your body eliminates lactic acid (a toxic by-product) and your muscles begin to lose their ability to contract. You wouldn't physically be able to maintain this level of intensity for long.

When you begin to wear your muscles out, decrease the intensity level to something that you could maintain for a longer period. Don't slow down so much that your pulse dips too low, though, or you will lose the aerobic effect completely. Now, you're in the "active recovery period". Your body's ability to exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide increases and it can deliver nutrients to your muscles. The burn goes away and your breathing and heart rate slow down slightly. You have completed one cycle.

Repeat this process of maxing out and recovering your anaerobic system for at least thirty minutes. The high intensity periods should be shorter than the active recovery periods, especially at first. You might walk for five minutes and then run for one when you begin to introduce your body to this type of training. As you become more adept, increase the time you spend in high intensity periods. Forcing yourself to sustain long periods of high intensity activity is dangerous, so do use caution and work yourself up gradually.

Supplements for Recovery

Bodybuilding - Supplements for Recovery

Glutamine:
Glutamine is the most abundant amino acid in the body and makes up more than 60% of the amino acid pool inside muscles. Following an intense bout of exercise, it can take hours before your body is able to rebuild its supply of glutamine.

Symptoms of overtraining are associated with low levels of glutamine and this leads to a serious problem with recovery. By supplementing with glutamine you may support your body's ability to recover from strenuous training. Glutamine also helps to increase protein synthesis, aids in the health of the gastrointestinal tract, and enhance immune functioning, all of which are vital for proper recovery.

BCAA's:
Branched chain amino acids (BCAA) are one of the most important supplements for improving recovery. They are comprised of leucine, isoleucine, and valine. The most important of these three amino acids is leucine which is used up at the highest rate of all BCAA's. It, together with the other BCAA's, can increase protein synthesis, prevent protein breakdown, and speed up recovery.

Whey Protein:
Whey protein is a vital supplement for recovery. Protein in general is used by muscles for repairing and rebuilding, but whey in particular has numerous benefits in aiding recovery that go beyond the basic benefits of protein consumption.

Whey is rapidly absorbed, easily digested, and has the highest concentration of BCAA's of any source of protein. It is best consumed immediately after a workout when it will be absorbed rapidly and used to aid the body in recovery.

More on Carbs

Bodybuilding - Carbohydrates

The most abundant biological molecules, carbohydrates play a major role in energy storage and transport, structural functions, and immune system function. On the other hand, even slight excess consumption of this nutrient can lead to increased glycogen formation-which leads to fat storage. In the short run, carbohydrate manipulation is vital to achieve a striated physique rather than a smooth and undefined one.

Successful carbohydrate cycling for a peak week also varies depending on the individual and his or her respective metabolism, so what follows is a cycle that worked for me. Personally, I tend to watch my carbohydrate consumption very carefully because of a slower than average resting metabolic rate.

On the other hand, those who aim for maximum mass and metabolize carbohydrates more quickly should not bring their consumption to trace amounts. Such a practice may result in a depleted or famished physique, where the muscles are not as full as can be. It is widely recommended that an adult consumes approximately 40-55% of calories from carbs, I focus on consuming complex carbohydrates in the form of whole grains and oats, however, making sure to stay away from the simple carbohydrates found in sugary foods.

Cardio, who needs it?

Bodybuilding - Cardio, who needs it ?

If you look at losing bodyfat from a mathematical point of view, it's easy to see that the bulk of your caloric balance has to come from your diet. Ergo, the bulk of your caloric deficit will rest with your diet.
So of course even if you sweated yourself out doing cardio, you'd be hard pressed to lose a good amount of weight if you ate more than you burned.

Logically, that all works out. On the other hand, I don't think anyone should underestimate the power of cardio in accelerating fat loss, especially when you consider that it can be made to work in more than just one simple way.

In short, anybody looking to lose fat cannot afford to ignore cardio but instead needs to committed to do both - watch his or her diet and hit the cardiovascular exercise hard - because one is contingent upon the other.

Cutting body fat

Bodybuilding - Cutting body fat

Cutting body fat is not all about cardio. Here are a couple of things you must have in check to be successful in your goals.

Tips on diet:
- Avoid sugary food.

- Eat oats, fruits, veggies and lots of salads for carbs.

- Eat a good amount of protein to keep lean tissue.

- Do not consume carbohydrates after 7PM (no need for energy).

- Consume healthy fats (such include are olive oil, nuts and fish oils).

- Drink a lot of water for a faster metabolism.

- If you want, take a fat burner and green tea to give you an extra boost on your metabolism.

Other Random Tips:
- Do not limit your activity to your daily cardio, or walk. Instead take an extra step, park farther away from the parking lot, etc.

- Keep long and short term goals that will make it easier for you not to get discouraged.

- Be consistent, it won't happen in 2 weeks, follow your routine and soon it will pay off.

- Rest. Take about 8 hours of sleep per night. That will help your body, and it's excellent for your fat burning goal.

Calf

Bodybuilding - Anatomy of the Calf Muscle

The gastrocnemius is also called the calf muscle. The muscle itself is one that is visible on the body (meaning it doesn't lie underneath any other muscles and therefore is not visible by the eye). The gastrocnemius attaches to the heel (at the Achilles Tendon) and originates on the femur (behind the knee). The calf muscle has two heads (the medial and lateral heads).

Soleus:
Unlike the gastrocnemius, this is one of those muscles that I mentioned above that are not visible because it lies underneath another muscle. It is for this reason that the muscle isn't very well known among those just starting out. The medial head originates on the posterior tibia and the lateral head on the posterior fibula. These two heads unite and insert into the calcaneal tendon.

Plantaris:
The plantaris is a very small muscle. The long tendon of the plantaris passes between the gastrocnemius and soleus and inserts into the calcaneus. It originates at the lateral epicondyle of the femur, just above the origin of the lateral head of the gastrocnemius.

Does Lifting Weights Stunt Your Growth?

Supplements for Recovery

Bodybuilding - Supplements for Recovery

GWaxy Maize Starch: Waxy Maize Starch (WMS) is a relatively new carbohydrate product that has a high molecular weight. It is vital to replenish depleted muscle glycogen following a workout, and the more rapidly this can be done the better. WMS bypasses the stomach and is absorbed in the intestines which allows faster replenishment of glycogen.

Adaptogens: Adaptogens are herbal supplements that increase the body's resistance to stress. This stress can come from intense training, daily life, and environmental factors. Together the stress can seriously impact the ability of the body to recover after strenuous exercise.

Prolonged periods can even result in symptoms of overtraining and a grinding halt to progress. Adaptogens can counteract the effects of stress and even reduce levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Ashwagandha, rhodiola rosea, and panax ginseng are a few of the more effective adaptogens available as supplements. By using one or more of these herbal supplements, one can greatly enhance recovery.

Natural Testosterone Boosters: Natural Testosterone Boosters can be very helpful in promoting recovery. Testosterone levels can be decreased with intense training while cortisol is increased. The best approach to use with natural testosterone boosters is to choose a formula that contains several ingredients that directly and/or indirectly increase testosterone. Look for a product with effective ingredients like tribulus terrestris, avena sativa, and nettle root.

Worst Supplements for Recovery

Bodybuilding - Worst Supplements for Recovery

Amino Acid Tablets:
Amino acid tablets have ingredients that are very beneficial in promoting recovery including essential amino acids which include the three BCAA's. The problem is that they contain only a miniscule amount and nowhere near enough to impart any benefit. You would need to consume handful after handful of these tablets for there to be even the remote possibility that they might be beneficial.

These tablets should be relegated to the annals of bodybuilding history and replaced with a powdered BCAA product.

Glycocyamine:
Glycocyamine was once believed to have the potential ability to assist the body in manufacturing creatine. It has been marketed as a creatine precursor that may allow creatine nonresponders to enjoy the benefits of creatine. Unfortunately, this has not only been shown to be ineffective, but could also be dangerous.

Glycocyamine can raise homocysteine levels which could ultimately lead to cardiovascular disease. It is much wiser to stick with creatine monohydrate or another form that has been demonstrated to be beneficial. Many creatine nonresponders may get results from dicreatine malate, Kre-Alkalyn, or creatine ethyl ester. As you can see, there are far better alternatives than glycocyamine.

Chest Training

Bodybuilding - Chest Training

The chest is one of most frequently trained muscle groups, and a favorite amongst many bodybuilders. It is such a noticeable muscle group that draws lots of attention. It is also a difficult muscle group to develop, and for good reason; most people improperly train their chest.

Incline Dumbbell Bench Press:
This exercise targets the upper pecs, which tend to be difficult to develop. If you look at most bodybuilders' physiques, you'll see a lack in upper pec development. Many attribute this to genetics, and I absolutely agree, but there are other factors that are also involved.

First off, most people improperly train their upper pecs. Unlike popular belief, performing incline bench presses set on a 30 degree angle doesn't fully target the upper pecs. To shift all the work onto the upper pecs, the bench needs to be set to 60 degrees.

For those who have tried 60 degree incline bench presses and felt that their shoulders were mostly worked, chances are they were performing the exercise with bad form.

The correct way to perform incline bench presses is as follows. Drop your elbows and place them slightly forward, stick your chest out, place your shoulders back, and turn your wrists at an angle so your thumbs are up and your hands are forming an upside down v. If you do this correctly, you will feel all the work on your upper pecs.

Bodybuilding - Back Exercises - Deadlifts

The mother of all back exercises, deadlifts. This exercise is so effective for overall strength and size, it is ridiculous. As a matter of fact, it is somewhat difficult to decide what workout is good for including deadlifts. I do these on back day because that is where I feel it the most. Stand anyway that you want. I started out using a narrow stance, but I think that incorporated too much of my lower back and legs.

I switched to a very wide stance (sumo stance) and now I can really blast my back muscles. The key, as with every other back exercise, is to keep your form throughout the entire set. Deadlift at the beginning or end of your workout, it really doesn't matter because it hurts all the same. I prefer to deadlift at the very end of my workout because it is easier to use my back since I already have a pump.

As you can see, back training is very involved. Form is extremely crucial, it is easily the most important factor in training back. Now, for all of you who have made it this far, I'm going to let you in on a little secret that will force you to pull with your lats even more. For every back exercise, use a thumbless grip, this way you will take your biceps almost completely out of the picture. True, you will have to use wrist straps a little bit more, but use them only when necessary

Facts About antioxidants

Burn the Fat - Fat Burning Secrets of the World's Best Bodybuilders and Fitness Models

 

Health headlines today are always focused around the topics of antioxidants. You can not pick foods at the store without seeing the antioxidant hype. Everyday we are being attacked by millions of pollutants and toxins. Our bodies are working overtime to breakdown and remove the toxic invaders of our healthy systems.

The fear that just one of these free radicals might cause problems has lead us to a level of health food insecurity never before seen. The war against this toxic mass can often times be confusing and is associated with some terms that are often mis-used and more often mis-understood. Let's learn those terms first and then we all can work on the same playing field.

Our bodies have millions of chemical reactions which occur ever hour. All of these chemical reactions produce heat and if we produce enough chemical reactions, we get so hot that we can actually sweat. The control of these chemical reactions is based upon several factors, such as heat, concentrations and polar attraction.

Facts About antioxidants:
- The effects of long-term use and high concentrations of antioxidants have not been proven scientifically.
- Using natural sources for your antioxidants is better than taking a pill.
- Your body will absorb the natural vitamin much faster and more complete than the pill.
- Eating foods in their most raw and natural state is the best way to retain the maxim absorption of antioxidants.
- Water is necessary to allow the antioxidants the ability to work.

Burn the Fat - Fat Burning Secrets of the World's Best Bodybuilders and Fitness Models

Burn the Fat - Fat Burning Secrets of the World's Best Bodybuilders and Fitness Models

 

It is said that cardio makes you lose muscle, sad as it is this is true and scientifically proven, what happens is that muscle proteins are broken down and used for energy during aerobic exercise, but the thing is that you are constantly breaking down and re-building muscle tissue as you do your cardio workout, this process is called "protein turnover".

What's going on is your body is constantly alternating back and forth among anabolic (building) and catabolic (breaking down) cycles. Reducing the catabolic side just enough so that you stay on the anabolic side will gain you muscle or at least help you maintain muscle.

But if you'd like to do cardio and also maintain your muscle at least as they are I recommend circuit training, because this is sort of aerobic weight training. And since you use weights, muscle is not lost and can possibly be gained. So remember if you'd like to do cardio but not loose muscle or gain a bit of muscle, do some circuit training

25 Tips For More Muscle And Superstrength!

Apply these concepts to outgrow your clothes and break your lifting records. 

 

1/

Lose The Shoes

Lift barefoot, if possible, or in minimalist footwear like Vibram FiveFingers shoes, wrestling shoes, or converse chucks. having your feet flat on the floor lessens the distance you have to pull the bar on a deadlift, increasing your leverage and helping you lift heavier weights. Training barefoot also strengthens your feet, which in turn adds stability and traction to all your lifts.

2/

Be A Tight-Ass

Squeeze your glutes at all times during a set, especially on lifts like the bench press and overhead press. It stabilizes your entire torso.

3/

Use The 25-Rep Method

If the total number of reps you perform for an exercise adds up to 25, you're more likely to maximize muscle and strength gains. Just keep the reps relatively low and the sets moderate. Configurations like 5x5, 6x4, and 8x3 work well.

4/

Go Heavy, Then Light

Train with heavy loads one month, using sets of four to six reps. The next month, go lighter and stay in the 10-12 rep range. The heavy training allows your body to make even faster gains during the lighter weeks.
 

5/

Throw A Medicine Ball

Hold an 8- to 10-pounder and throw it hard into a wall a few feet in front of you, as if you were passing a basketball down the court. You can also reach overhead with the ball and then slam it hard into the floor. Do three sets of five reps. Explosive exercises fire up the central nervous system, helping you recruit more muscle fibers on lifts.

6/

Train Delts Shrink
Your Waist

Want to look leaner without
dieting? Develop the taper from
your shoulders to your waist with
this shoulder shocker: Hold a
dumbbell in each hand. Now
perform a lateral raise with your left arm. Keep your arm held up while you do a lateral raise with the right arm. Lower the right arm a quarter of the way down, raise it back up, then lower it all the way. Perform 10 reps like this. Rest three minutes, then switch arms. Perform one set first thing during your workout twice a week for four weeks.

7/

Use A Neutral Grip

If your sticking point on the bench press is at the bottom of the lift when the bar is on your chest, work on dumbbell bench presses with your palms facing each other. This positioning also forces you to tuck your elbows close to your sides when you lower the weights, which will become a habit when you press with a barbell. Benching with elbows tucked makes for a safer, stronger lift.

8/

Make Your Warm-Up Set Heavier

Here's a great bait-and-switch trick for the nervous system. Work up in weight as normal on a lift to warm up, but make your last warmup set a few pounds heavier than the load you plan to use for your first work set. Just make sure you perform fewer reps in the warmup set than in the work set. So, if you want to squat 315 for five, you might work up to 320 or 325 in your last warmup set for two reps—it shouldn't be very difficult or tiring. Rest, then back off to 315 and go for five reps as planned. The set should feel easier than it would've otherwise, and you might try to go heavier next week.

9/

Use Grip Tools

Wrap a towel around the bar or dumbbell handle to make the grip thicker—products like Grip4orce (grip4orce.com) and Fat Gripz work even better. Increasing the challenge to your grip with any exercise recruits more muscles in your hands and forearms. As a result, you can bring up these areas fast without any extra isolation work.

10/

Do Pull-Ups Twice A Day

Do one set of as many as you can in the morning. Do another all-out set at night. Repeat this every other day. After 30 days, test your max number of reps. You can expect to see up to a 10-rep increase. This system works for dips as well.

11/

Take Digestive Enzymes

If you're bulking up, taking in loads of extra food can be stressful to your gut and lead to poor absorption of nutrients. Digestive enzymes help break down that food. Make sure the ones you take contain protease, amylase, and lipase, which break down protein, starch, and fat, respectively.

12/

Train On Empty

The European Journal of Applied Physiology found that working out first thing in the morning on an empty stomach doubled the magnitude of muscle growth signals.

13/

Don't Let Your Elbows Move When Curling

If you let them drift, you won't fully extend them, and you'll be cheating yourself out of a full range of motion.

14/

Go Heavy

To build muscle, most of your sets need to be performed with weights that are at least 70% of your max weight for that exercise. This generally necessitates keeping reps to 12 and under.

15/

Do "Iso Hold" Dropsets

Hold a weight in the contracted position (usually the top of the lift) and have a partner take off plates or reduce the load. It forces your muscles to keep working through the weight change. Unlike with regular dropsets in which the lifter will usually get a few seconds to recover, you get no rest doing this. This technique works well for machine exercises like Hammer Strength or Smith machine chest or shoulder presses. It's also great for barbell curls.

16/

Try Post-Exhaustion

You're familiar with "preexhaustion," in which you do an isolation exercise followed by a compound movement. This will tire out the bigger muscle groups you're training, forcing you to use less weight on the compound lift. However, the compound movement is the one that helps you make the quickest gains. Instead, try flipping it around, performing the compound move first, then repping out with the isolation. For example, do a set of bench presses and then pick up dumbbells for flyes.

17/

Drive Your Toes Into The Front Of Your Shoes

Coordinate this action with the upward phase of a bench press, right as you push the bar off your chest. The drive of your legs will actually allow you to handle more weight.

18/

Use Pull-Up Aids

If you can't do a pull-up, lessening your body weight with the assistance of elastic bands makes the movement easier. loop a thick exercise band around a pullup bar and place your feet in it. the band will act as a slingshot to propel you over the bar. the pullup revolution pro (available at lifelineusa.com) offers various levels of assistance depending on your strength.

.

19/

Use The Total-Rep Method

Forget three sets of 10. Choose a weight you can get about 10 reps with, and aim for 30 total for that exercise. Perform each rep explosively and take as many sets as you need to get up to 30. The quality of your reps will likely be better, and you'll let your body determine the optimal number of sets.

20/

Try Curls On Lower-Body Days

You'll be fresher than if you had just done back exercises and able to train the biceps more frequently. Now you'll be hitting them not just with legs, but indirectly on back day as well.

21/

Follow Linear Periodization

Work up to a final set of eight reps on all your main barbell lifts for three weeks. Then go for a heavy five the next three weeks. Then three reps. Do just one hard work set per lift, then back it off by 10% and do another set of the same reps. Each wave builds on the gains of the previous one, and you should be setting personal records by the end of nine weeks.

22/

Put Your Ball To The Wall

Before any big pressing workout, take a light medicine ball and press it into a wall with your arm extended. Roll the ball around and make the shape of all 26 letters. Keep pressure on the ball so it doesn't slip. This fires up the rotator cuff so you can stabilize heavy loads better.

23/

Stand Your Ground

Two-thirds of all your muscle fibers are responsible for balance and coordination. The remaining third are designed for movement. Therefore, you get more out of exercises that are done standing than you do ones where you're seated, lying down, or strapped into a machine.

24/

Use Hydrosylates In Your Post-Workout Shake

Proteins that have been "hydrolyzed" digest superfast, so your muscles soak them up quickly. The fast absorption also spikes levels of insulin. Try adding hydrolysates to your whey and carb post-workout shake to boost its efficacy.

25/

Roll The Bar Up To Your Shins To Deadlift

Stand behind the bar, bend down to grab it, and then roll it back toward you. Just as it touches your shins, drop your butt and begin the lift. Time it right and you'll generate momentum that aids in the lift.

Grocery Shopping Tips

Bodybuilding - What Are Some Grocery Shopping Tips For A Bodybuilder?

Here are a few general rules to make your grocery shopping as painless and conducive to the bodybuilding lifestyle as possible.

Rule #1: Accept That You Will Be Buying Groceries More Often Than Sedentary People.

A weekly grocery trip will be the absolute minimum. Why will you need to shop so often? First, most of the foods you should be eating (meat, fruits, veggies, etc.) are perishable. Second, it's unlikely that you'll want to get everything at the same place.

For example, in addition to the grocery store, you may want to hit up a local bakery for some whole grain products or the farmers' market for local meat and produce. If you want to get the most out of your nutrition, you can't necessarily expect shopping to be convenient.

Rule #2: Accept That You Will Be Spending More On Groceries Than Sedentary People.

You may indeed find ways to work around this one to some extent (see Rule #3), but with food, as with most things, you get what you pay for. In addition to the fact that quality food often costs more than unhealthy food, you can expect to be buying quite a bit of it. Simply put, athletes need more calories, more calories mean more food, and more food means more money.

On the plus side, however, you shouldn't be buying soda, chips, fruit snacks, or other processed (and expensive garbage), so take comfort in the fact that you can save a lot of money in that area.

Rule #3: Buy In Bulk Whenever Possible.

There are numerous reasons to buy in bulk. First and foremost, it saves you money. Second, since you'll be going through a lot of food, it allows you to buy in quantities that will actually sustain you for awhile effectively reducing the frequency of you grocery store visits.

Rule #4: Shop Based On Need, Not Mood.

Plan your shopping out as precisely as possible ahead of time. Shopping based on mood (hungry, full, happy, depressed, whatever) can only lead to one thing: Buying the wrong types of food in the wrong quantities for the wrong reasons. Make a list and stick to it. Everything you eat should have a purpose.

Abs stimulator

Abs Stimulators - Do They Work ?

Day one

I applied that belt over my abs. The instant you turn it on, there is this very annoying feeling. The only word I can come up with is that it feels like my abs were being electrocuted. As lame as that explanation may be, it's the only one I can come up with. So I turn it off, look at it closely, and come up with the conclusion that what I felt is normal with the product.

I put it on, for 15 minutes. During the 15 minutes, it feels very annoying. They stated that you can put it on and go on about your day. After my 15 minutes were up, I took of the belt and I was truly amazed at what I found. My abs felt like I just did nothing for 15 minutes. Every time I work my abs, I feel the work I have done. With this belt, I felt nothing. I decide that I will go on with the process, and that it may be just a part of how it works.

Day two
I felt no soreness this morning; I usually do when I do my abs. Again, I felt that it was part of the process. I placed the belt in the exact same place. To make sure it was in the same place I had marked the center of the area with a marker (as bad as it may sound, I still did it). I find that I cannot get used to the feeling of the belt. Some things you can get used to, I don't see how I can get used to this. I go about my business while having the belt on, keeping a close eye to my watch. I take it off, and again felt nothing.

Fast forward... Day 7
Been doing the same thing, seen no progress, but its only been a week.

Fast forward... Day 14
No progress, I miss my Ab workouts. But I must go on, for the sack of science. The AB belt is still annoying as ever. I have decided that this will be my last week.

Last day
Having had no success with the belt, I decided to place it away. The belt like most other things you see on TV, are never as good as they say.

I will have to say that electronic Ab products do not work as good as they say, in my opinion they don't work at all. I have been to the chiropractor before, and there they have muscle stimulators. These products are meant for relieving muscles. Ab belts follow the same exact method, release electricity into the muscle to make it contract. Except they twist words, and say that it will tone and build muscles.

3 days vs 6 days !!!

Bodybuilding - Why Does This Work

Yes, that's it! It may sound crazy to somebody who is used to doing 30 sets for biceps and working out 6 days per week. Even crazier is lifting 6 days per week and not growing! Stop thinking that more is better! If you are a natural bodybuilder, you will not have near the recovery of a steroid user. Somebody on steroids can lift 6 days per week without overtraining, but you can't.

Many bodybuilders who are used to high volume training would laugh at a bodybuilder who does one set per exercise and only works out three days per week. I ask them how many times a week they work their biceps.

Almost always, they say once per week on "Bicep Day". Once per week!? So they work their biceps, then they let them rest for 7 days in a row? After 1 or 2 days, their biceps are no longer sore... yet the wait another 5 or 6 days to work them again. Their biceps are slowly shrinking during this long rest period.

In our workout you isolate each bodypart THREE times per week with a full, heavy set. You hit it on Monday, let it rest one day, hit it on Wednesday, let it rest, hit is on Friday and then give the poor muscle a two day break... before starting the cycle again. So we work our biceps (and all muscles) three full times per week which is 12 times per month. They work their biceps 12 times in 3 months! And they call us lazy...

Why is this good for muscle building? Think about when you build a callous on your hand. If you were to rub your hand until is was cut and started bleeding, then wait a week, then do it again, you would simply have a scar. On the otherhand, if you were to rub it a little each day or every other day, it would slowly build up a resistance to the rubbing, thus forming a protective callous. This is the same idea with our workout.

Another interesting thing is that people who do 12 sets per bodypart usually do not go to full failure on each set. This would be almost impossible as it would nearly kill them!

They will usually do their first few sets with ease because in the back of their mind they are saving their energy for the last few sets. Most of their sets are worthless since they are not going to failure. How often do you see somebody in your gym perform a full, balls to the wall set where they are almost about to die from the pain and effort. Not often.

Usually these people are just going through the motion, getting a good "burn", while making a few grunts. Then they walk out feeling better than you because they did 12 sets for biceps and you only did one. Your muscles will only grow if they are forced too! Otherwise, we would all have huge legs just from walking around all day.

Log what you do....

Bodybuilding Progression - You Need a Log

You must lift heavier each workout. If you lift 100 pounds for 10 reps each workout for months, your body will have no reason to get bigger and stronger. You will not grow unless your weights are going up repeatedly. The only way to fully track this is to write down everything you do in a workout log.

If last time you did 225 lbs for 10 reps on the bench press, you must go to at least 230 lbs for 8 reps on your next workout. If you do get 8 reps, then on your next workout you should get at least 9 reps with the same weight. Once you can get 10 reps, you must raise the weight again. Don't wuss out! Look at your log from your last workout, and beat it on every exercise. Even if you only get ? a rep more than before, you will be gaining.

It is very important that you also track your bodyweight and measurements so you can see how much progress you have made. I recommend weighing yourself before each workout and measuring a few of your important bodyparts (like arms, thighs and waist) before you go to the gym.

Cool!

45 minutes workout then get out of the gym...

Bodybuilding - The Workout The workout should last no longer than 45 minutes! Plan your rest between sets accordingly so that you finish in this time period. Studies have shown that after 47 ? minutes of intense weight training, your cortisol levels shoot up. This means that the longer you workout AFTER 47 minutes, the LESS results you will get and the more likely you will overtrain. So get in the gym, lift hard, stay focused, and get out. The most important thing is that you lift to absolute FAILURE! This is not an option. It is almost 100% necessary to have a workout partner. If you need to get 8 - 10 reps, choose a weight that allows you to get 8 - 10 reps? but not even ONE more. I am serious! Once you reach your last rep, you should not be physically able to do another one, no matter what. If Britney Spears promises to date you if you get one more, it wouldn't matter. You should NOT be able to do it. Only you can judge if you are truly putting all possible effort into each set. Unlike programs where you are doing 4 or 5 sets per exercise, you only have one chance to blast your muscles. Don't waste it! Perform each set with good form. Cheating will only hurt your gains. Do each rep slowly and do not use momentum. Each rep should use a full range of motion and take approximately 2 seconds on the way down and 2 seconds on the way up. Do not "jerk" the weight up. Slowly move it up and down. Use lighter weight if you must. This is VERY important to your gains so don't ignore this! Do not stop moving during any part of your set. Some people will go all the way down on squats, then come back up and lock their knees, rest for a second or two, then go back down. Do NOT do this or you will be making Baby Jesus cry. You should stay in constant motion without locking out on any exercise. Do not stop at the bottom of your bicep curls or any other exercise. Again: Keep moving for the whole set and do not lock out your arms or legs.

Lactic Acid for Growth

Bodybuilding - Lactic Acid for Growth

 We’ve all come to know the excruciatingly painful few seconds at the end of a set that relentlessly burn until you’re forced to drop the weight. As painful as those seconds are, you’ve got to live through them if you want to pack on monster-like muscle. An increasing amount of evidence supports the theory that lactic acid production triggers the release of powerful anabolic hormones such as testosterone and growth hormone. The presence of lactic acid in the blood after a gut-wrenching set may signal your body to crank up production of these crucial musclebuilding hormones. The best way to maximize your body’s production of lactic acid is to keep your sets in the 30-90 second range. This will tap into the glycolytic energy system, which produces lactic acid as a metabolic by-product during a set. If the average bodybuilder takes about two seconds to complete the concentric and two seconds to complete the eccentric phase of the rep, a twelve-rep set would take about 50 seconds to complete – an ideal time period for lactic acid production! If you can live through the agonizing pain of high-rep training, you’ll have all the lactic acid you need to send your body into anabolic overdrive

Muscle pumps

Bodybuilding - Maximum Muscle Pumps

In your body right now is five liters of nutrient-rich blood. Your blood is the highway that carries vital musclebuilding nutrients such as anabolic hormones, amino acids, glucose and minerals to muscles for repair and growth. It makes sense that the more blood you can flood your muscles with during a training session, the greater your chances are to trigger fiber-splitting growth. 

Sets in the range of 12 to 16 reps are an excellent way to squeeze as much blood into your muscles as possible. With every rep, more blood is forced into the muscle being trained, so that by the end of the set, blood hyper-saturates every fiber. If your nutrition program is on track and you’ve read some of the nutrition articles on our site, then your blood will be densely packed with all the vital compounds necessary to activate hypertrophy.

The pump is so much more than a euphoric rush of blood – it’s a powerful physiological process that can trigger rapid muscle growth. Heavy sets of one to eight reps are a great way to get some attention in the gym, but they won’t give you the same extreme pump you’ll get from a higher rep set with a moderate weight that forces rapid increases in muscle size.

Hypertrhophy

Bodybuilding - Explosive Growth with Glycogen Supercompensation

Bodybuilders know that muscles get bigger mostly from hypertrophy (an increase in muscle fiber diameter) and, to a lesser extent, hyperplasia (an increase in muscle fiber number). One of the most overlooked pathways to increasing muscle mass is to increase your muscle glycogen content. The average person stores about 400 grams of glycogen in muscle and about 100 grams in the liver. Factor in a well-designed training program and a diet rich in complex carbohydrates, and the average bodybuilder could accumulate up to 500 grams of muscle glycogen or more, depending on the amount of muscle mass and level of training experience.

Glycogen supercompensation occurs when muscle glycogen stores are emptied through a period of high-rep concentric training and a reduced carbohydrate diet, immediately followed by a period of increased carbohydrate intake and reduced training. During the glycogen depletion phase, insulin sensitivity is dramatically cranked up and your muscles are primed to receive a rapid influx of carbohydrates. When carbohydrates are cycled back into the diet, muscle glycogen tanks can be "supercompensated," or filled beyond the level they were at prior to the depletion. Accompanying every gram of glycogen that fills out your muscles is three grams of water. This super-hydrated intracellular environment means massive new gains in size and strength, all without changing the size or number of your muscle fibers!

Tips for each Exercise

Bodybuilding Workout - Tips for each Exercise

Squats - Since this is your first exercise, you may want to do 2 or 3 short and easy warm up sets to get ready. This will be your hardest exercise most likely, so we put it at the beginning so you can throw everything you can at it. Lifting to failure on squats means almost falling down on your last rep. Be sure to go all the way down and have a partner or rack there to help you if needed.

Leg Extensions - Use a full range of motion. Go all the way up and all the way down.

Leg Curls - Use a full range of motion and do not "jerk" the weight up.

Dumbbell Pullovers - Your first upper body exercise. Be sure to do a good warm up set so you do not injure yourself. Lift heavy and do not rest at the top of the movement.

Barbell Overhead Shoulder Press - Do these in front of your face, not behind the neck. You can injure your rotator cuff when doing them behind the neck. Go down until the bar is about at chin level, not lower. Slow, slow, slow reps!

Seated Rows - Keep your back straight up and down. Do not move far forward or lean far backwards. You want to be squeezing together your shoulder blades!

Bench Press - Slowly, go down and touch your chest around your nipple area. Do not use momentum to get the weight up. Use a spotter and get an extra rep with his help to really blast the muscle.

Barbell Bicep Curls - Do not sway! Keep your elbows at your side and do not move them. Squeeze your biceps upward.

Tricep Extensions - Keep your body straight up, do not lean over too much.

Weighted Pullups - If you can't do pull-ups, do pulldowns. Do these slowly and go all the way up and down. Use the wide-grip bent bar.

Weighted Dips - Strap on the weight! Keep your body straight up and down, do not lean over too much. You want to be working your triceps, not your lower chest.

Standing Calf Raises - Go all the way down and up. Don't use too heavy of a weight where you can only do partial reps. Feel the burn!

Abs - Choose a good exercise that uses some resistance. Don't work your abs on any off days. Abs are normal muscles just like your shoulders and chest!

Personal Home Gyms Guide

Personal Home Gyms Guide - Selecting the Best Home Gym Suited to your Needs

What Are The Best Personal Home Gyms For You?

The biggest lure of buying home gyms is the convenience and privacy that a home workout station offers. When buying home gyms, everyone has different goals and purposes, and to buy home gym equipment that will best fit your needs, there are some key factors you need to consider:

- What are your goals for this home gym, and what you hope to achieve
- Do you have enough room to place it
- What's your budget for a home gym
- Consider free weights vs. machines - what's better for you
- Consider weights based machines vs band resistance based machines
- Buying a home gym vs. going to public gyms

The above are some of the key points I considered while shopping for a home gym for myself.

Personal Home Gym Advantages & Disadvantages

Now lets take a quick look at some advantages and disadvantages of owning a home gym:

Home Gym Advantages:

- easy access, right in your home, and convenient
- you have the privacy of your home
- great for general fitness, but not for serious muscle building
- gives a decent overall body workout in a relatively small area
- relatively versatile
- does not require a spotter (in most cases)

Personal Gym Disadvantages:

- can get very, very pricey (great weight loss for your wallet
- can never replace the atmosphere and motivation a real gym provides (if you're after great muscle gains)
- you have much less room to move around
- you're severely limited for what power movements you can do (like squats, bench, dead lifts)
- it's a plain pain in the ass to assemble when you get it
- there's a much greater tendency to be lazy and slack off working out at home (I think most of you would agree on this with me

Please note, some of the advantages and disadvantages are coming from a point of view of gaining muscle mass - mainly my point of view. You could be in a very different situation, and some may not apply.

No Weight Loss

No Weight Loss Dear Michel,

By: Natasha Turner The inability to lose weight while following a seemingly perfect nutrition, exercise and supplement program is very frustrating and unmotivating. This inability to lose weight can arise from a number of different causes, but two main causes contributing to this problem include: * Medications - antidepressants, high blood pressure pills, corticosteroid medications, hormone replacement or birth control pills, cancer treatments and many other medications. * Hormonal imbalance and medical conditions associated with hormonal imbalance - hypothyroidism, autoimmune disease, Cushing's disease and other conditions. Hormonal Balance Fat loss is so dependant upon healthy hormonal balance, that unless we are well and in hormonal balance, it can be unattainable. Our hormones influence all of our cells - the brain, skin, hair, bones and more. They control growth, development, metabolism and reproduction. Hormones also influence where we store fat and our ability to lose it. PMS, hypoglycemia, cravings, fatigue, mood changes or sleep disruption are subtle signs of hormonal imbalance. We should thank our body for these clues because they tell us we need to take necessary steps to get back in balance -through nutrition, exercise, supplements, lifestyle changes and even altering the way we think. Yet, since these symptoms are so common, they are often ignored or accepted as normal. It's only after a more serious health concern arises are we forced to pay attention to what our body is telling us. Many different types of hormones impact our wellness and body composition. Becoming familiar with these hormones and their associated symptoms of imbalance allows us to alter our habits sooner, achieve optimal health and maintain fat loss. Let's discuss a few of the major players. Insulin We now know obesity is preceded by high insulin in the fasting state. Insulin instructs the body to store sugars as fat if they are not consumed as fuel. When insulin levels are too high, weight accumulates in the "love handles". Cravings, chronic hunger, high blood pressure or high cholesterol can also indicate insulin imbalance. Abdominal fat related to insulin excess is not only unsightly; it also poses a serious long-term health for metabolic syndrome, diabetes and heart disease. TrueCoQPlus, TrueLean/ABS and TrueLeanExtreme can be particularly useful in this case. To determine if insulin is the cause of your weight loss problems or for more information about insulin, refer to the trouble-shooting sheet on insulin resistance and fat loss. Thyroid Hormone Thyroid hormone regulates metabolism. If your metabolism slows down, weight gain may result - sometimes even with proper diet and exercise. It is important to note that not all individuals experience weight gain when an insufficiency of thyroid hormone exists. Symptoms can vary and may include: * Cold intolerance, feeling cold * Dry skin * Lack of or diminished ability to sweat during exercise * Hair loss * Irregular menses or heavy menstrual bleeding * Constipation * Unexplained fatigue or lethargy, depression, poor concentration * Unexplained weight gain or an inability to lose weight This is a very common cause of weight gain and weight loss problems. Three tests must be completed by your doctor for thorough assessment of your thyroid function - not just the TSH. TSH, Free T3 and Free T4 should be measured in all cases of a suspected thyroid condition. TSH levels should be less than 2, while T3 and T4 levels are fine if they measure in the middle range. Cortisol Cortisol allows us to cope with long-term stress, whereas adrenalin is the hormone involved in the immediate response to stress. Chronically elevated levels of cortisol destroy muscle fibers, suppress immunity, affect memory and concentration, weaken bone mineral density and contribute to cancer. Stress kills your "mojo" and if all this is not incentive enough to address your daily stressors, stress also causes increased abdominal fat and interferes with thyroid hormone. If you suspect stress to be a cause, add TrueStress Support and visit the coping stress page in the Attitude section of Truestar.com. Estrogen and Testosterone Pre-menopausal women suffering from PMS, uterine fibroids, fibrocystic breast, abnormal pap smears, ovarian cysts or stress may have abnormally high estrogen levels compared to progesterone, a condition called estrogen dominance. It is essential to address this abnormal level of estrogen early, otherwise menopause can be problematic and the risk of estrogen-related cancers (breast, uterine) is increased. When estrogen levels are high during the pre-menopausal years, more body fat is common, particularly around the hips and thighs, but the right balance of progesterone relative to estrogen can prevent this pattern of weight gain. At menopause, many women accumulate weight around the waist rather than the hips. This "apple shape" over the "pear shape" is a result of hormonal changes at menopause, including a drop in estrogen and progesterone often coupled with an increase in cortisol and insulin. Men tend to possess more estrogen as they age which can lead to an accumulation of abdominal fat and an increased risk of heart disease. Testosterone naturally lessens in both sexes with aging and stress. This contributes to muscle loss, decreased bone mass, increased body fat, decreased energy and lack of libido. Growth Hormone Human growth hormone is released after strenuous exercise and during deep sleep following the release of melatonin. Growth hormone orchestrates the process of repair, rebuilds lean body mass and bone and influences body composition. Without enough sleep, the body will not repair as effectively and as a result, this leads to premature aging and weight gain. Not sleeping enough or in complete darkness will decrease our production of melatonin, therefore altering growth hormone release. Fortunately, growth hormone levels can be replenished by improving sleep habits, stress management and by taking the right supplements including TrueRENEW. This product contains amino acids known to stimulate GH production. Serotonin Our "happy hormone", serotonin, controls appetite and cravings. If levels are low, cravings for carbohydrates become stronger, making it difficult to avoid unhealthy carbohydrate choices such as cookies, pastries or muffins. Simply taking chromium or supplements containing 5 HTP that increase serotonin production can prevent cravings and reduce weight gain. Look for TrueCRAVING Control, it has both of these beneficial ingredients and it is safe for long-term use. By paying close attention to subtle signs, hormonal imbalances that may alter body composition can be recognized and treated. Once hormonal balances are identified, a harmonious blend of nutrition, sleep, supplements, exercise and, more importantly, a positive mental attitude can contribute to the perfect balance for weight loss and wellness. NutriSearch Comparative Guide