Bodybuilding - Shoulder Exercises For Beginners

The shoulder muscles that concern bodybuilders are the main deltoids and although they work closely with the chest and arms muscles, the deltoid can be isolated in a training session. Unlike other parts of the body, but the shoulder is not designed for heavy lifting in all directions so beginners should take care and use lighter weights than usual for shoulder-isolating exercises.

The deltoid covers the shoulder and is composed of three distinct segments:

1. The anterior deltoid or the front allows you to raise your arm forward.

2. The medial or middle deltoid allows you to raise the arm laterally.

3. The posterior or rear deltoid allows you to draw your arm back when it is perpendicular to the trunk.

The front delt usually receive a lot of work with the chest exercises like bench press and iron, so you have to use common sense and listen to your body while performing exercises that specifically target this muscle. The shoulder exercises recommended for beginners are:

1. Seated dumbbell press - 3 sets of 10-15 repetitions. This exercise emphasizes the medial.

2. Increase Front - 3 sets of 10-15 repetitions. This exercise emphasizes the front delt.

3. Rear lateral flyes - 3 sets of 10-15 repetitions. This exercise targets the posterior deltoid.

As in all exercises to take care in scheduling specific body parts. To begin, you should incorporate the shoulder in a program similar to that proposed below:

Biceps Day 1:, back, abs

Day 2: Hamstrings, Shoulders, Abs

Day 3: Quads, forearms, calves

Day 4: Triceps, Chest, Abs

For the first couple of weeks complete one set but then add one set each week to a maximum of three. At the end of three months will be ready to go to more intense exercises intermediate level.

The Importance of Whey Protein In Achieving Significant Muscle Gain

Most bodybuilders agree that supplementation of whey protein is an important element for serious muscle growth. This article will examine the facts related protein supplement whey and help you decide if you need to follow this particular strategy.

Whey protein is produced during the process that sees milk turned into cheese. It can also be found in naturally in dairy products, eggs, soy and vegetable protein, but none of them compare in quality protein whey powder. Acids also highly questionable in the supply of branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) that are important in building and maintaining muscles.

Whey protein is highly favored by bodybuilders because it provides the necessary foundations to produce amino acids that the body uses to build muscle tissue. Various studies have shown that whey protein contains the perfect combination of amino acids concentration in fair to good performance in the body. It is also believed that the protein from whey has a role as an anti-oxidant and immune system builder.

It is best taken in powder mixed with milk or juice, spread throughout the day to maintain a positive nitrogen balance. Bodybuilders often consume up to 150 grams per day, but as a general rule, the daily protein intake for active trainers can be calculated by taking your weight in pounds and multiplying by 1 or 1.5. But remember, you need to know how much protein is taken from food and other sources, and then spread the remaining balance of whey protein during the day.

Whey protein is a fairly safe supplement but no more than 30 grams of protein should be taken in one sitting as excessive single doses can overload the liver. The safety of whey protein in milk has been well documented in numerous scientific studies and no clear evidence that taken consistently, coupled with regular exercise, will result in significant muscle gain.

Vitamins are useful

Let me tell you it is a vitamin that is and how it can be useful. Vitamin A is an organic compound and are essential to help your body to grow and stay healthy. What this means in simple terms, is that vitamin A is a natural chemical. Of essential vitamins, thirteen important, the lack of any one of them can mean that they are deficient in certain vitamins.

Vitamins are of two distinct types, the soluble and water soluble. Of the major vitamins A, D, E and K are fat soluble and B vitamins, and soluble in water. Water soluble vitamins are not stored in the body and therefore they must be covered regularly.

In general, if you have a normal balanced diet should provide your body the vitamins it needs, but if your diet is not totally balanced, then you may need to supplement the vitamins you get in your diet. This shows that vitamin supplements can be helpful. Some of these may suggest that you may need help with your intake of vitamins.

Vitamin B12 is found in the flesh so this is something that vegetarians should be aware. Vitamin C and B may be absent in the elderly. People who work night shifts could be a lack of vitamin D the body produces during the day. People with a lot of work, people under pressure, and those suffering from stress may be a lack of vitamin B and C. People with diets may also have a lack of vitamins 2. Vitamin B may be missing in heavy drinkers and vitamin C may be a problem area for heavy smokers and heavy drinkers.

The usual way to get vitamins into your body through the mouth. Some vitamins can be taken by injection, such as vitamin B12, but it is important that this is only done by a duly qualified medical practitioner. When taking vitamins orally, which must pass through your digestive system and strong acids in the stomach can destroy much of the usefulness of vitamins that they have to make sure you take the recommended dose, no more no less, but the recommended dose.

I have ruined your opinion about vitamins, but you must remember that while it may have a healthy and balanced diet, the natural processes of your body can destroy the value of absorption of vitamins. If you want to help preserve the effectiveness of eating fresh food and cook just a little help to increase the usefulness of vitamins.

Vitamin supplements can be used to help boost vitamin deficiencies you may have and extra vitamins are more readily available (and used) in the form of tablets. Vitamin pills can be of various types of vitamins or single vitamin. The decision as to what you take is yours, unless of course you have been advised to take supplements of vitamin A by your doctor. Vitamin C is often taken in winter and the time that preceded it. This has been shown to help maintain the common cold at bay.

You should only take vitamins to supplement a balanced diet and not go overboard, so taking vitamin A supplements in moderation. Take only what you need and nothing more, and if your diet is as good as it should be, then you may not need vitamin supplements. You must remember that they are, as the name implies, supplements and are not intended to replace a well balanced diet. Be sensible and use of dietary supplements with caution.

Steroids

One of the biggest problems in modern society is that people are always looking for the fastest solution. We are all influenced by the media adds that's why they are there. Everyone should keep in mind the old adage: "If it sounds too good, probably a lie." The fact is: there is no miracle pill or drug you can take to change body composition during the night (or a few weeks for that matter). If you are not satisfied with himself and wants to make a change, the only way is to work on it. You should maintain a healthy lifestyle!

Only after having a healthy diet, exercise, sleep hours, and the ability to maintain its coherence, is complemented help. This goes for steroids as well. Of course, some supplements like andro products, creatine, meal replacements and protein will be of some benefit to someone who can not have everything in place, but that does not help at full capacity. You have to help them help you. You must feed your body and therefore can be used to its full potential.

Steroids will not be a real benefit for a person who paid the price of time and hard work in the gym. A person who has no doubt that you will see gains after using a steroid correctly, however, that the possibilities for increasing the quality is very low, and certainly the person who will lose most of them. In short,not even steroids, can change the way we look at long run, without hard work and discipline.

If you ask ten athletes and steroids better get used ten different answers. If you ask for a reason as to why or how you get answers like: "The other guys in the gym to do it the same way," I heard that a particular is taking the same compound, "" I read the book enable him to get a fantastic result, "and many others can be heard. These statements only reflect what unfortunately is not reality: hardly a athlete knows better drugs should be used. What will be taken at what dose for how long? It's better when I try this combination or should try again? If I could know whether my preparations are truly original? Despite the fact that steroids have been used to improve athletic performance more than thirty years most athletes are still uncertain. Thus, they can be easily manipulated and influenced. The information for athletes, urgently needed is missing because there is no scientific evidence of public interest, the doctors that you are familiar with the subject are few, special magazines conceal the problem, and no more than deny the use of steroids. Consequently, many mistakes were made that in any case, lead to unsatisfactory results and side effects, often unnecessary. Although the range of errors is very far-reaching, some stand out since athletes to repeat them. All are taking steroids or considering that you must read carefully to make sure that it will be one of the several thousand athletes who continue to make these mistakes only.

1. The use of excessive dosages:

Culture, as more extreme than any other athlete. A acts on the incorrect assumption that the classic "more is better." If five tablets work well, then ten must double the effect. With this attitude the door is open to possible side effects, and not justified by a clearly improved effect. The effectiveness of almost all steroids is dose-dependent, to some degree and is achieved when it ran out of potential binding molecules of steroids and steroid receptors. When the receptors on the muscle cell are saturated the remaining steroid molecules begin looking for another goal. Hepatic dysfunction, renal dysfunction, hair loss, acne, high estrogen levels, reducing the production of body's own hormones, and aggressiveness often have their origin in dosages which are too high. So called mega doses do not lead to a significantly higher strength and mass increase. Those who believe that 50 Dianabol and 1000 mg of testosterone per day is the only way for the body of an "ideal" is, to say the least, the wrong information.

2. Duration of consumption is too long:

He did not stop the use of steroids is not recommended for most athletes for two reasons. First, when taking high doses for a long time, the risk of potential side effects increases considerable. Steroids rented The chances of organ damage are especially high when the 17-alpha-oral are continuously taken. Secondly, this behavior is highly questionable, since the effect of administered steroids weakens after a while, with a higher dose or a different preparation, can be stopped only briefly. Everyone should know that the stronger the steroid the faster its effect decreases so that the use for a long period of time is even more stupid. It Anadrol the gain increase usually is reduced after only 3-4 weeks, although with Deca Durabolin, for example, often continuous progress can be obtained over 10-12 weeks.

3. The inappropriate use of steroid preparations:

Not all steroids are the same. There is a clear distinction between highly androgenic, potentially-toxic steroids such as Anadrol, Methyltestosterone, Dianabol, Halotestin, etc. and the weaker androgenic, including anabolic steroids and less toxic preparations, such as B. Primobolan, Deca Durabolin, Oxandrolone, Andriol, and Winstrol, because, above all. the first drugs mentioned are those that cause various side effects it makes sense to reduce consumption to a maximum of 6-8 weeks. Especially women, young adults and older athletes should be very careful in the selection of preparations of steroids. Also desirable that the general public and the media considered this distinction in their future negative opinions and general articles.

4. The selection of an unfavorable intake schedule:

The effectiveness of every steroid program can be considerably increased by a clever combination of steroids, because they have a synergistic effect. This means that with a low total dosage can get better results. Because different receptors are attacked, you can delay the saturation of the receptor for the steroid combination will remain in force for longer. At the same time, possible side effects can be minimized. Instead of, for example, taking 50 mg per day of Dianabol, the athlete should take 20 mg Dianabol / day and 200 mg Deca Durabolin / week. In general we can say that the best results can be obtained by combining an oral with an injectable steroid. The combination of two oral preparations such as Dianabol with Anadrol or Oxandrolone with Methyltestosterone makes less sense. Since protein synthesis and nitrogen retention effect of most steroids decreases after a few weeks it should start with a low dose and increase slowly and steadily over the input range. Athletes whose steroid cycle is more than 6-8 weeks should usually switch to a completely different set. Another common mistake is the abrupt cessation of steroid regime. Many side effects, a possible rebound effect, and the strength and weight loss can be minimized if the doses are reduced slowly and evenly. This also includes the steroids at the end of the range of admission not very effective, such as testosterone and Anadrol are taken, but the athlete becomes light and includes those prepared during the outage.

5. The use of forgeries:

To correct this problem is very difficult for most athletes since the black market with its overwhelming preponderance of counterfeit drugs is the only source of supply. The unsatisfactory results, often no positive results at all, and an unusual number of side effects are unfortunately common and caused by the use of forgeries. Many counterfeit drugs are impure, do not contain the alleged substances, are often considerably with the dose or contain something completely different as specified on the label.

6. Disinterest in periodical exams by a doctor:

Every athlete who takes steroids should have a physician periodically check his blood, urine pH, the values of the liver, and blood pressure. As important as the implementation of these preliminary tests is the right time. It is important that the first test is performed before the procedure. Thus, one can determine if the athlete is physically able to use steroids, or, in certain factors should avoid certain preparations. This also helps obtain reference and comparison of data so that changes can later analyze the results can be easily determined. The second exam is recommended 5-6 weeks after taking steroids. In the administration of steroids should depend on the outcome of the tests. If the results are acceptable, four weeks after completing the steroid program another test should be done to check whether or not possible, small deviations were normalized. Ask your doctor to give a written copy of the results of blood and check the different values, together with your doctor.

7. The neglect of external factors:

The use of steroids alone does not guarantee impressive results. Its effect is strongly dependent on four individual factors which together have a synergistic effect, so he called the magic rectangle: Training, nutrition, rest and attitude. Especially when steroids are taken many athletes have a tendency to neglect these important requirements.

What you should do after training

What happens after you train with weights?

What is it exactly that starts there is the real muscle growth, but only going to get you give it special attention. There are many bodybuilders who have their eye during this critical process and therefore do not reach the results they want. This is a complex process that involves more than taking a hit of protein.
An intelligent system for training and recovery requires that controls three key things:
1. The recovery of this water with the balance of electrolytes.
2. The rapid recovery of the levels of glycogen
3. The restoration of muscle protein and thereby the prevention of catabolism.

The recovery of water and electrolytes.

Most bodybuilders do not care the need for adequate hydration as for training and for any activity of resistance to hydration is very important. All work with weights requires hydration levels very high. On top with the hot, humid atmospheres of many gyms need to drink plenty of water before during and after exercise to control body temperature and keep the cardiovascular efficiency.
During exercise that lasts for more than an hour dehydration varies depending on the weight of the individual. Varies between 2% and 6%. In fact just losing even 1% during the year which means that the individual reduces their income and put on maintenance all cardiovascular and thermal regulation. Pulled in training and the environment too hot can dehydrate us in 30 minutes if you do not drink water frequently. But drinking water during training is not enough to replace all the fluid lost in sweat just enough to replace half of the profit lost so athletes should make a conscious effort to drink at least an 8 to 10 glasses of water a day not only because there dehydration but also the entire body because the water is essential for all vital functions of the body.
The training of a bodybuilder and relatively short and very intense so the athletes sometimes beyond dehydration also have electrolyte imbalances which can be problematic in practice more than one hour because even if you drink lots of water levels of electrolytes are not replaced .
The key electrolytes are sodium potassium and magnesium, so you need to drink beverages containing them before during and after training. This can be done by drinking a sports drink that in its composition has vitamins minerals etc.

Tip
Before exercise:
Drink about a pint of water two hours before exercise.

During the year:
Fluid replacement should be equal to its loss. The recommended amount of water per hour must be between 600 ml and 1200 ml. The water should be consumed about a cup of water 15 in 15 minutes. After the exercise we need to ingest at least two thirds of liters of water per pound of weight lost during training.
Font: American College of Sports Medicine.

The recovery of glycogen stores after exercise.

Carbohydrates are the fuel of choice for bodybuilders, and the amount required depends on the objectives of the training.
If you want to increase the size of the muscles can consume more carbohydrates. A person accumulates a rating from 1500 to 2000 calories of carbohydrates in the form of glycogen in your muscles and liver.
Many bodybuilders being defined much lower their levels of carbohydrates in the body but be careful with it because we lose muscle mass. Because the body uses protein to maintain, repair and build muscle tissue, but when you reduce the deposits of carbohydrates in the liver and muscles are due to diet and exercise volume of the body begins to use protein to synthesize glucose . This basically stems protein of muscle tissue.
The depletion of glycogen can greatly reduce the muscle mass.
To prevent this from happening you should restore the levels of glycogen in the liver in the form of carbohydrates as soon as possible after training. The most important period is three hours after the workout. When you eat carbohydrates then increases the levels of glucose in the blood and promotes the secretion of insulin. Insulin is very important because besides regulating the recovery of muscle glycogen insulin stimulates the transport of amino acids to promote muscle protein synthesis and they have the increase in cortisol that would otherwise increase immediately after exercise. Cortisol increases delay when protein synthesis and stimulates the breakdown of proteins.
One of the problems of intense training is to control the desire to eat very soon after, should not eat, one should drink a drink rich in carbohydrates and minerals and then we spent an hour eating again.
We should eat normally throughout the day to go recover the levels of glycogen. Depending on your caloric needs and objectives should eat 4 to 6 times a day. It is the best way to meet the needs of the replacement body.

Tip
The recommended daily dose that is earlier than an hour and a half to train should consume one gram of carbohydrates per pound of body weight combined with protein, which is 3 to 4 grams of carbohydrates per each protein. For an individual of 100 kg suppose one hit of 100 grams of carbohydrates and 25 to 35 protein.

Retrieve the protein and prevent muscle catabolism.

The practice of bodybuilding demands that a positive nitrogen balance, so that the body receives the protein necessary for muscle growth and catabolism are checked. Increase muscle mass and strength through weight training requires a protein intake far exceeds standard made by an individual who does not train with weights. For many years bodybuilders have used a minimum intake of two grams of protein per kilogram of body weight.
At the time we eat protein also ingest carbohydrates to have a good protein synthesis. We must eat protein throughout the day divided into 4 or 6 meals a day, the first meal after the exercise should contain 20 to 40 grams of protein and 60 to 120 of carbohydrates. The intake of protein and carbohydrates after the training and throughout the day is crucial to a good muscle development.
The intake of protein and carbohydrates should be simultaneously and not separately to have a good protein synthesis.

Supplements.

Anyone who trains seriously should consider using dietary supplements to regain the muscle wastage produced by training.
Some of these supplements are Fostatidilserina; Glutamine, Creatine and HMB.

Fostatidilserina:
This supplement can reduce the production of curtizol, which is a hormone catabolism and also relieves the symptoms of sub training. The recommended doses are 800 mg 30 minutes before training.

Glutamine:
has an important role in building muscle and also strengthens our system imunelógico. Glutamine taken as a supplement causes our bodies can not enter into catabolic state and thus the protein is more easily determined to build muscle tissue and also does a better balance of nitrogen. If our practice are very heavy and intense it becomes necessary to take glutamine for a speedy recovery.
The recommended dose is 8 to 20 grams daily divided into 2 to 4 times per day, may yet have more if you take two dozes of 10 grams before and after training and rest days take 2 to 5 grams divided by day.


Creatine:
After the protein is the queen of nutrition supplements bodybuilders and other athletes. Creatine increases the setetinzar deposits of phosphates energy between the seris allowing you more energy to train.
Creatine also increases the volume of muscle cells which increases the intracellular fluid that helps transport nutrients and other substances necessary for muscle growth.
Creatine should be taken in doses of 3 to 5 grams daily and ideally combine it with a drink of carbohydrates and protein and then be taken after meals that have these two nutrients.
The amount of carbohydrates should be around 90 grams, is a dose sufficient to produce the insulin that their help in the absorption of creatine and of all nutrients.
With the high amount of insulin is a greater uptake of creatine and nutrients by the body.
Because creatine takes water to the muscles so when it is taken should drink well about a quarter liter of water for every 5 grams of creatine taken.


HMB (beta-hydroxy beta-metilbutrato):
This metabolic produces when it breaks down the amino acid called leucine. Due to the effects of nitrogen retention HMB may prevent the reduction of muscle damage that is associated with intense physical efforts. It also helps in the recovery of muscular disorders resulting from hard training. When combined with an intense training and proper nutrition HMB can increase muscle size strength and decrease body fat.
HMB should be taken in doses of 3 grams daily the dose should be divided into doses of 1 gram and should be taken with food. If the athlete weigh over 90 kg should then increase the dose to 5 or 6 grams per day, equally divided.

Note
If you follow these 3 guidelines will see it has a lot more results, muscle development and strength will increase and will be able to train with greater intensity.

Use Superset To Build Big Muscles

If you are lifting weights for a while or have been reading newspapers and magazines, bodybuilding, you've probably heard of super setting. However, how many times have you seen people super setting when lifting weights? If yes, you noticed that those guys who were super setting were almost always older boys. If you want to be great, then why not superset like them because you saw that super setting can help to build big muscles?

What is weight lifting superset? A superset is when you perform two exercises back, no rest between exercises. There are some variations as super, super-antagonist muscles, pre-super-exhaustion and exhaustion super post ... .. etc. We discuss these 3 just supersets of the most popular in this article.

• Superset antagonistic muscles

An antagonistic super game is when you exercise the muscle group opposite. While the muscles that are opposite, in fact, the support of each muscle during the movements. For example, when you do dumbbell curls for the biceps, when you lower the weight, triceps are called to act too. The same goes for the excitement of a bench press, your back is working very well when you're doing the line folded.

Thus, for example, an antagonistic superset on your, say, a day of chest and back, making a routine supine, then continue with an inclination to the line, or vice versa. This will be a superset. Rest for 2-3 minutes and then go to the second and so on. This work the muscles more deeply involved only two sets.

• Pre-exhaustion Superset

In a pre-exhaust superset, you work the same muscle group with an isolation exercise and then follow with a compound exercise without rest between sets. For example, although the chest and back day, you work with dumbbells Pajaro (year of isolation in the chest) and then soon after, a bench press (chest compound exercise).

By making an initial period of isolation (flyes), was pre-Exhuast target muscles are working, which in this case are in your chest (pecs) and then your pecs hard again with a compound movement (press card), which allows other muscles that are still fresh as your deltoids and triceps to assist the chest in exercise.

• Post - Exhaustion Superset

Another version of creation is the super-post method of exhaustion. It is exactly the opposite of the pre-exhaustion. In other words, lift compound exercise and then follow with an isolation exercise for the same muscle group. It allows you to lift more weight for the complex exercise because the muscle group is not pre-exhausted yet.

Varying each of these forms of superset every 2 to 3 months and watch your muscles explode with a large growth of muscle mass.

How To Gain Muscle Naturally... No Steroids!

He wondered how to gain muscle? There are many styles, tricks and "quick fixes" that are, but there really is a healthy way to gain muscle mass. You need not be gifted with a genetics or the illegal use of steroid hormones or potentially dangerous.

The "how to gain muscle" The question has two relatively simple steps:

1) increase caloric intake, and
Training 2). This combination will provide the desired results.

Do not be ashamed to look in the mirror! You can have the body you're searching for. When you start thinking about how to gain muscle, the first reaction might be "But I do not want to gain fat. The loss of muscle mass and gaining fat are two different goals, and are handled in two ways. At this point, we realize that dieting and exercise to lose weight is different from the diet and exercise to gain muscle.

By gaining muscle mass, caloric intake should be increased. You have to have more calories than your body is accustomed to making more proteins and fats, the body has no choice but to gain weight. Although nutritional supplements can be used, this should not be used as a substitute for a healthy diet. The increase in calories, then compensated by working with weights, to achieve greater muscle mass you want. This exercise will stimulate the growth of "overload" the muscles. The combination of blocks of calorie (which help to rebuild and repair muscle tissue), together with increased training.

If you're among the millions of people constantly trying to gain weight and build muscle, remember that a firm commitment, a good diet and a regimen of proper weight training are the best ways to achieve achieve your goal. Building muscle mass diet is rich in protein and enough calories to promote weight gain.

A good place to start is to multiply your current weight by 18. This number will give you a rough idea of the amount of calories your body needs from day to bulk up. If you are very active, sports, or have a faster metabolism than average, may be necessary to increase caloric intake even more. A healthy muscle building requires a great effort on your part. It is easy to get enough calories into three meals per day. A good suggestion would be to eat several small meals per day instead of three large meals.

Protein is an essential element in any diet for mass building. Ideally, you should eat one and a half grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. While this seems like a lot of protein, spread over several small meals per day will be much easier to achieve this goal. Fish, poultry, eggs and lean red meat are excellent sources of protein. Lots of fresh vegetables, simple carbohydrates, combined with plenty of protein should enable it to fulfill its quota of calories each day. The best diet muscle building is a combination of consuming adequate amounts of calories and the type of food.

Get Huge Muscular Arms - Build Big Triceps Exercises

So you want to get big huge muscular arms. Do not ignore your triceps exercises.

In gyms everywhere, you will see people doing bicep after biceps. If someone asks you to show your muscles, you will likely exercise your biceps. Do you? Well, since you're reading this article, then you should have known that have large muscular arms, you must build huge triceps.

You know why? It is because your tricep is 2 / 3 the size of your arm. Imagine, the biceps is only 30%, while the triceps is 60%. So if you are neglecting your triceps, you are neglecting 60% of the arms, while working in the 30% called the tiny biceps. Sure, you still need to work on your biceps that look well rounded muscle balance.

Also, since your triceps are involved in building the body of many other military exercises, like presses, bench presses and many other exercises, having strong triceps will help you lift heavier in other exercises, and thus stimulate more muscle growth in other parts of the body.

Your triceps consist of three main biceps, while only 2 of their names begin with "tri" and "bi". This is another reason why your triceps should be bigger.

Tricep Excercise Form

So I've been training your triceps but do not see good results. It could be due to its motion during the repetitions of the exercises are not performed to its full range of motion. You see, the mass concentration of the triceps muscle in the upper arm and, therefore, have to stretch your arms beyond what you feel is natural to reach the deep fibers of the triceps muscle.

The principle that the form must be strict with minimum elbow movements when performing triceps exercises like skull crushes and triceps extensions. These exercises reach deep into the triceps muscles when you do this with the full range of motion.

Tricep exercises like close grip press bench, and diamond plate pushdowns cable that does not give you limited range of motion and magnitude of these exercises. That does not mean that doing these exercises, just concentrate on them less.

So to build big huge triceps, you should feel the strength of the triceps muscles when the weight is in its lowest position before pulling back.

I want those big muscular arms? So do not forget to work on your triceps hard and do it in good shape.

Muscle Building Exercises - The Back

Every bodybuilder and weight trainer will have his favorite exercises for each body part. This is as it should be - as the progress through the different stages of learning that you understand what works best for you. It is useful, however, to assess their progress over time and conduct an analysis of where you are and what changes, if any, are needed to move upwards and forwards.

Part of this review should include an assessment of the basic exercises that make up your bodybuilding training program. In this article we will look for the back exercises that have proven their value to serious bodybuilders for many years. Where appropriate a series of exercises suitable for achieving exhaustion before being displayed. All exercises should be performed to failure with a set of six to eight representatives.

1. Lat machine pulldowns - this year was chosen because it allows you to isolate the lats and biceps complex exercise for the rest to follow.

- Take a shoulder width grip.

- Pull arms to maintain the arms legs straight.

- Pause.

- Return the bar slowly to the starting position.

2. Pulldowns - can use this exercise if you have sufficient experience. Using the same machine, have a tightness in accordance with this, because a better use of the biceps and to maximize the effects of the exercises.

- Take a shoulder width grip.

- Pull the bar to the chest area.

- Pause.

- Return the bar slowly to the starting position.

Abdominal Exercises For Beginners

The abdomen contains the muscles that most beginners, struggle with it a long time to develop and need a little body fat to be seen. The abdominal muscle group is composed of three main muscles:

1. Rectus abdominis - commonly known as ABS, is a great plan muscle that extends from the chest wall below the pubic bone.

2. Abdominal oblique - commonly known as the Obliques, this muscle is diagonal along the side of the mid section from the lower ribcage to the pubic area. The interior is located below the external oblique oblique.

3. Transversus abdominal - is a thin strip of muscle that runs horizontally through the abdomen.

You can target these muscles effectively by executing the following exercises:

1. Crunches - 3 sets of 15-20 reps. This exercise will work the upper abdomen.

2. Tilt the pelvis - 3 sets of 15-20 year reps.This focus on the lower abdomen below the navel.

3. Side bends - 3 sets of 15-20 reps. This exercise will work the Obliques.

As with all exercises you need to take care of scheduling specific body parts. To begin to incorporate your abdominal exercises in a program similar to one suggested below:

Day 1: biceps, back, Abs

Day 2: Hamstrings, shoulders, Abs

Day 3: Quads, forearms, calves

Day 4: triceps, chest, abs

For the first two weeks of a full set, but then add one set each week for a maximum of three. At the end of three months, you're ready to move to more intensive intermediate level exercises.

Having trouble building muscle?

You were going to the gym regularly for months and have not been able to deliver any poundage? If you answered yes to any question, it is time to go back and make some plans. Building muscle is not rocket science. There are four main factors that will mean the difference between building muscle and staying lean. You have to ask these four questions.

My diet is ideal for building muscle?

It's time to leave the "3 meals a day" mentality. If you want to win (or lose) weight you need to feed your body as a whole food, six times a day. This means that the division of large meals and eat every three hours. This is not only good for your metabolism, but your body with food, rather than storing them as fat.

The six meals a day should consist mainly of complex carbohydrates and proteins. You should aim for at least thirty grams of protein per meal. Include foods rich in protein from lean meat, poultry, fish, egg whites, cheese and dairy products. Complex carbohydrates are rice, bread and potatoes. Stay away from foods high in salt and sugar

I use supplements, and when I get them?

If you can afford to use supplements. All three are considered as the basis of proteins, carbohydrates and creatine. The supplementation of whey protein is the quickest way to deliver quality protein known to the muscles. Thus, it is particularly effective after shaking your workouts when your body is like the protein for muscle re-growth.

There are three key moments that supplements should be taken. From early morning, after his training and before bedtime. If your diet is zero, it is not necessary at any time. Do not use supplements to replace meals. Supplements are supplements, not replacements for food.

I am training hard and not smart?

The biggest mistake the new lifters make is thinking that the more exercise the more you receive. This could not be further from the truth! Two basic rules you should remember when it comes to weight training. Firstly, the quality is better than quantity. Second, compound exercises are the kings of building muscle.

Compound exercises require at least two sets of movements. Large compound exercises are the squat, bench press, wide grip pull up and seated row. These movements recruit many more fibers of the muscles used to move the weight. This means that more muscle groups are worked, the task is more difficult, the growth potential is much greater.

In general, you should do three exercises that are an exercise in isolation. For example, back / biceps exercise could be a great grip pull ups, seated row, bent over row and standing Bicep curl. You may think that this is not enough for their work biceps? Wrong. His biceps are worked heavily in all these exercises, biceps curl just finishes them.

The duration of the training sessions should not exceed one hour. And you only need to train a muscle group once a week. This means a part of the routine that you simply need to be three days a week. In fact, most professional bodybuilders only train four times a week. Remember quality not quantity.

I get enough rest and recovery time?

When you are training muscle building, which is breaking. The reason I searched for "pumps" when you're in academia, because it is your muscle tissue is swollen and damaged. Your muscles actually grow when you are resting. Thus, in simple terms, there is no rest equals muscle growth.

So easy when you're not working. Facility in the cardiovascular system. And be sure to get much sleep. Sleep is the number of the agency for a time to build muscles. This is also why it is important to eat before bedtime, so your body has the fuel to repair muscle in your sleep.

Simple huh?

This can be seen that, despite what you read in magazines or on the web about building muscle, it is surprisingly simple.

Build Big Muscles Fast. Gain Muscle Mass Guide

So, wants to build big muscles? Simple huh? Just join a gym and weights regularly beaten and raped in a few months, you will gain so much muscle mass that is ready to take on any bodybuilding contest. It's really easy to build big muscles? Well, to gain muscle mass, there is much more than hitting the gym regularly. Here are some tips to gain muscle mass --

a) Eat and Eat - To build muscles, you should eat. Your calorie intake should be more than your calorie expenditure. If you reduce all the calories you eat, then where are the calories to build muscles?

2) Protein - Make sure to eat enough protein. You should eat at least one gram of protein per kilogram of body weight per day if you want to gain muscle mass quickly. If you get enough protein, your muscles do not grow large.

3) Supplement - If you can not have enough protein in their normal diet, supplement with protein shakes. If you want more power so you can lift heavy weights to grow bigger muscles, take creatine supplements.

4) Weight Training - You must lift heavy loads and constantly to add more weight to progressively build your muscles. Yet it is very important not to sacrifice correct lifting techniques and as the cause of the body.

5) Lift Weights - Use free weights and Dumbells Barbells to recruit more muscle fibers so that more muscle fibers can be worked.

6) Compound Exercises - Work with compound exercises such as bench presses, Squats, Barbell rows, chin ups and dead lifts to build big muscle mass. If you concentrate on your work as your puny biceps muscles, then you will have only negligible muscle growth.

7) Get Enough Rest - Have rest days in days between the exercise and not working the same muscle group more than twice a week. Your muscles need to recover from its flexibility to grow.

8) get enough sleep - sleep at least 8 hours per day. More even better. Your muscles grow when you sleep.

8 If you do these steps consistently, your muscles will grow fast and big. Of course there are many more things you can do to achieve a competitive bodybuilder physical that I can cover in just an article here. So the search for more knowledge.

The 3 Core Muscle Building Exercises You Should Be Doing

When it comes to building muscles I like to keep things simple. It's easy to get caught in the hype of hot new products and exercises that promise to be the next best thing to build muscles. These exercises in imagination and use of long products "scientific like" words and explanations to demonstrate that work to build more muscle.

In this article, I will get back to basics. I'll show you three exercises muscle building can not afford not to do and why you should do them. These three exercises are the foundation for building muscle and are essential for any training program.

You may find it hard to believe, but with these three exercises alone you can pack a serious amount of muscle. I refer to these exercises as the "core" of any good program. When you start planning my suitability for a client program that always start with these three basic exercises and build the program around him.

3 core muscle building exercises:

Squatting
The occupation is the biggest exercise for packing serious poundage. No argument about that. Occupation is essentially an exercise in creation of the leg. Starting the year with a bar of rest between his shoulders up. After bending the knees and hips to lower the bar down until thighs are almost parallel to the ground. And then push the bar back to starting position.

The main muscle groups pulled squat action are the quadriceps, hamstrings and gluten. Secondary muscle groups include the lower back, adductors and, to some extent your shoulder muscles. As you can see many muscle groups are recruited for this exercise that the exercise more muscle and greater potential builder.

Like all basic fitness exercises, you should make the squat the first exercise you do on your leg training day. What is the biggest exercise you want your legs to be fresh and ready. If muscle building is your goal, the goal of Representatives on 8 / 12 on the squat. Because he was a good lift heavyweights warm is vital. The profession is very stressful for the lower body, especially the knees, for 5-10 minutes on the treadmill and some lights Squats first recommended.

Bank News
The Bank of pressure is the king of exercises to build upper body. For years, the bench press was used to measure the force of an elevator. How many times have you asked "how much you bench?" I bet you never asked, or how much you can do chin ups squat.

It is a simple exercise, but very powerful that targets the entire chest (pectorals), front shoulders (deltoids) and triceps. To perform a bench press must lie on his back on a flat bench, grasp the bar at slightly wider than the jaws and press the bar down to your chest.

The bench press is the largest manufacturer of the upper body, allowing you to move much weight as possible. This is his weight advantage over the press. With the help of a spotter you can also push up to lift heavy weights. There are other advanced techniques, such as bench press board presses, bench press negatives and chain presses. See our link below for more details.

Excellent adhesion Chin up
If you are only going to do an exercise to return to work independently. The large grip chin is the ultimate test of a power to weight lifters. This muscle building exercise is very demanding on the body.

The large grip chin up primarily hits the lats, but also the goals of the entire upper back, biceps and forearms. To perform this exercise, you need a chin up bar or chin up assist machine. Keep the bar in a high-grip (wider than shoulder) is confronted with his palms out of his body. It begins in a "hanging" position with arms fully extended. Pull until you can get your chin over the bar and lower back to starting position.

Most people will not be able to make great grip chin ups without some lat / back training first. You can use the assisted chin up machine or lat pull down machine to strengthen your lats before attempting wide grip chin ups. This is the most demanding back exercise you can do it is to be the first exercise in your session.

By doing these exercises should be

As mentioned earlier in this article, these exercises are the biggest muscle builders and also the imposition of the majority of your body for what should be done early in his training for maximum benefit. I recommend that you make up to 5 games each year and change the way these games every week. For example, in the first week you pyramid of assemblies, the second week you pyramid down and the third week of three sets. This prevents the muscles get used to your routine. Good luck packing on some serious pounds!

Anabolic Androgenic Steroid

An androgenic anabolic steroids is the best that can be understood from the words separately. Anabolic or anabolism refers to the metabolic process in living organisms and cells - and inside our bodies - it helps to gather and synthesize smaller molecules to build big. As against catabolism, which is the opposite, anabolism tends to join complex molecules, leaving as a whole grow.


Androgen means that the ownership of a natural or synthetic chemical compounds in vertebrates (eg humans), that stimulates or controls the development and maintenance of male characteristics. More commonly, androgens is indicative of the development of male sexuality, while testosterone, a known androgen, secreted in the testes of men and the ovaries of women.


Steroids, which occur as sterols as cholesterol, alcohol is a natural steroid, is a group of organic compounds, including many types of hormones, vitamins and alkaloids.


What follows, therefore, is that anabolic androgenic steroids is a type of substance, natural or artificial which helps the growth of cells and combining smaller molecules in the human body. In other words, anabolic androgenic steroid results in growth of several types of tissues, especially bones and muscles.


The use of anabolic androgenic steroids is very popular among people who are interested in improving the physical performance - for example, athletes and other athletes. Some people use because they perceive its use to improve their appearance and, in this case, it becomes almost an addiction.


Today, anabolic androgenic steroids Rakes more than its share of controversy, which is mainly due to drug use. Many developed countries have strict measures in an attempt to control their use and distribution. However, it also has medicinal benefits.


Classified as a Schedule III drug under the controlled substances Act (U.S. Department of Justice, DEA, 1997), anabolic androgenic steroids are prescribed for the treatment of anemia, osteoporosis, growth stimulation, gonadal dysfunction, gynecological disorders, and chronic conditions such as wasting cancer and AIDS, among others.

Creatine

Creatine is an amino acid that is formed naturally in the human body, especially in skeletal muscle. The human body generates Creatine naturally partly from the diet we take and partly on their own. A healthy person has about 120g of Creatine, most of which is in the form of a compound called PCR. The body can store a maximum Creatine quantity of 0.3 grams per kilogram of body weight. The body produces about 2 grams of creatine per day. The main dietary sources of creatine are fish and red meat. One pound of raw meat provides about 1g of Creatine for the body. Creatine does not come from food is produced endogenously by the body from amino acids.

There are several benefits of creatine. Creatine increases anaerobic energy in the body. It provides immediate energy for the body. Improves muscle strength and makes the appropriate muscles for high intensity, short duration, such as weightlifting or exercise Sprinting. It is also found to accelerate recovery. Significantly delayed fatigue. Promotes lean muscle mass and reduce muscle atrophy in post-surgical patients. It is also believed to help heart patients by increasing their exercise capacity, reducing heart spasms and thus increase cardiac function. Creatine is usually taken as a supplement for athletes who require strong bursts of energy. Creatine acts as a catalyst for a chemical reaction that occurs in the body when a person is high intensity and short duration work. The body generates Creatine enough to accommodate this type of reaction. To learn more effort, creatine should be deepened through food or through other ways.

Creatine has become very popular among athletes because of its many benefits and few side effects. The only side effect so far is documented weight gain. However, overdose of creatine or the use of creatine for a long period of time may also have other side effects, and are still testing to determine the effect of creatine in the long term. Creatine is available as a vitamin supplement pills, and in the form of OTC medicines. Creatine is classified as a "dietary supplement" and can be purchased without a prescription such as diet 1994 Supplement Health and Education Act. Moreover, creatine is not proven by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) and some side effects such as vomiting, diarrhea, and deep vein thrombosis were included in a 1998 report from the FDA.

Several supplement creatine products on the market today. Creatine is available in capsules, chewable tablets and powder forms. One teaspoon of powder contains 5 grams of creatine monohydrate. The recommended dose is 1-2 teaspoons with 8 ounces of water per day. However, the dose may vary depending on the agency's effort. The athletes usually follow a cycle that involves the dose and maintenance phases.

The Ultimate Muscle Meal Plan

With this article, I just wanted to share with you one of my special muscle meal plans that I love. Surprisingly, it actually comes in the form of a salad, but it is killer!

I know the ladies will love this idea, but for all of you guys out there that think eating a salad makes you less of a man... Well, you haven't tried my ultimate "salad on roids" yet!

Keep in mind that this salad is not low in calories. It's not low in fat. It's not low in carbs.

And guess what...that's the whole point! It's not low in anything, but it sure as hell is HIGH in everything under the sun that's good for your body... just about every vitamin, mineral, antioxidant, and phytonutrient on the planet! And that means your body will receive all the nutrition it needs to maintain optimal hormonal balance, function at it's highest capacity, keep your appetite satisfied for hours, and prevent any unwanted cravings.

Keep in mind that last point... when you fill your body with all of the nutrients it needs on a daily basis, you pretty much totally eliminate cravings! This happens because your body is satisfied and doesn't need to crave any more food, because it has all of the nutrients it needs.

I've experienced this myself. Years ago, I used to crave sweets ALL THE TIME. But now that I eat the balanced diet that I do these days, I can't say that I've had a craving in at least 5 years! No joke.

Alright, here's the special muscle meal plan recipe:

The Ultimate Muscle Salad

approx 1-2 cups spinach leaves
approx 1-2 cups mixed leaf lettuce
shredded carrots
1/2 of a ripe avocado, diced
2 hard boiled eggs, diced (preferrably organic, cage free)
3 Tbsp chopped pecans
1/4 cup dried cranberries
top with homemade dressing made of balsamic vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, and Udo's Choice Oil Blend (3/4 of total liquid should come from the vinegar)

Mix it all together and you've got one delicious and ridiculously nutritious salad. For an extra shot of antioxidants, wash it all down with some homemade iced green/white/oolong tea lightly sweetened with the natural sweetener Stevia or a little touch of raw honey.

Alright, now let's look at the approx macronutrient breakdown:

Prot: 23 g., Carbs: 48 g., Fiber: 12 g., Fat: 45 g., Calories: 650

Now before you throw your arms up in disgust and call me crazy for recommending such a high fat, high calorie meal, keep in mind to scale back the portion sizes for your own caloric goal. The portions above are simply the portions that I use considering that my maintenance caloric intake is around 3000 calories/day. If your maintenance is 2000 calories/day, then scale back the portions accordingly.

Also, I don't care about the high fat content of this meal... because every last gram of the fat in this meal is VERY healthy... from the pecans, the olive oil, the Udo's oil, the fresh avocado... and yes, even the fat from the eggs is good for you!

How about the carbs? Well, out of a total of 48 grams, you've got 12 grams of fiber. That's a pretty good ratio. Also, the healthy fats and protein in this meal will slow down the carbohydrate digestion, giving you a healthy glycemic response and steady controlled blood sugar.

Alright, so you're probably also wondering why there isn't a larger amount of protein. After all, protein is all the rage with bodybuilders, right. Well, actually 23 grams isn't too shabby, especially considering 14 grams of that comes from the highly bioavailable protein from the hard boiled eggs. Also consider that this meal has a whole lot of healthy fats, which increases the utilization of your protein. This happens because your body does not need to use your protein for energy, and can instead use it for muscle building or maintenance, and all of the other various functions that amino acids are needed for in the body.

Overall, with this meal plan, you've got a great mix of healthy fats, good fibrous carbs, quality protein, and a huge diversity of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and other trace nutrients.

Instantly Increase Your Strength On Every Back Exercise

Do you want a quick, simple and instant way to increase the amount of weight you can lift on virtually every back exercise you perform? Sound too good to be true? I speak the truth, my friend, and the reality is that if you aren’t utilizing this basic piece of gym equipment you’re missing out on some serious muscle size and strength gains. What tool am I talking about?

A pair of lifting straps!

This is such a basic and highly effective piece of equipment yet so many people neglect to use them. For those of you who are unaware, these are basically a set of thick straps made of extremely strong material that are placed around your wrists and then wrapped around the barbell, dumbbell or cable attachment. The purpose of lifting straps is to “eliminate” your grip from the equation by forming a secure connection between your wrist and the weight. If you use these straps properly you can basically hold onto the bar and perform your exercises while expending almost no energy from your forearms.

Why is this so valuable?

Picture this scenario…You’re performing a set of deadlifts (arguably the most powerful muscle-building exercise known to man) with the goal of performing 8 reps. You psych yourself up, grip the weight and clear the bar from the ground. The set is going well, but by the time you reach rep number 5, the strain on your grip is so great that you can no longer hold onto the bar. You’re forced to stop the set because your forearms reached muscular failure.

What exactly happened here?

Well, you gave yourself an amazing forearm workout! Congratulations! Unfortunately you severely limited the amount of muscle stimulation you could achieve on your back, shoulders, legs, and just about every other muscle in your body that the deadlift targets in the process. This is not a good thing!

Lifting straps completely eliminate this problem by making sure that you reach muscular failure in the major muscle groups that you are intending to target rather than on your forearms and grip. They can be used effectively for almost every back exercise or any other lift where the grip is of concern.

The main argument against lifting straps is the idea that they are a “crutch” and will negatively affect the development of grip strength and forearm size. Let’s get real here. What would you prefer, greater muscle mass and strength in your lats and upper back (and just about every other muscle group on your body) or greater ability to crack open a jar of pickles? Take your pick.

The positive effect that lifting straps will have on your overall muscle mass and strength gains will far outweigh any negative effect that they have on your forearms and grip. Besides, you can easily incorporate specific forearm movements into your routine to develop your grip strength and forearm size. If you aren’t using lifting straps already, get on it! You can find them at almost any store that sells sports or fitness equipment or you can order them online. They sell for about 10 or 15 bucks and are well worth the price!

A Few Simple Ideas to Mix Up Your Routine

Every now and then I catch myself stuck in the same routine and my workout starts to get a little boring. I know this is starting to happen when it gets easy to miss my regular workout. Recently, I noticed this had happened when I easily talked myself out of going to the gym for almost 2 weeks straight. Obviously, something needed to change. So here are a few ideas that I use from time to time just to spice up my workout. Give them a try, and I’m sure you’ll find some new excitement to your workout as well.

Change your Grip!

This is a small change compared to most of the others you can do, but one way to spice up your workout from time to time is to change the way you’re gripping the bar when doing barbell or machine exercises. One of my favorite grips is the palm grip. In fact, I’ve read several articles from fitness trainers and other professional athletes that suggest that on exercises like the bench press, you should only be using a palm grip.

So what is a palm grip? Let’s use the bench press as an example for the palm grip. Many of us have been guilty of using a standard grip on this exercise, myself included. A standard grip would be where you wrap your hand around bar as if you were holding a baseball bat. If you want a more effective bench press, try not wrapping your thumb around the bar. You might think that you’ll lose some stability by doing this, but I’ve never had that problem. You might have to bend your wrist a little more to compensate, or lower the weight just a little bit. The main benefit to using a palm grip on this type of exercise is that by putting your thumb in this position, you are reducing the amount of effort that your forearms will put into the exercise. Therefore, you chest and tricep muscles will have to work even harder to do the lift. Try this, and I’m sure you’ll notice a difference the next time you perform a bench press.

Try Trisets!

You’ve probably heard of super sets, where you do two exercise consecutively without resting in between. Have you ever tried doing three different exercises? This works extremely well with bicep exercises. The benefit to doing a triset with a bicep workout, is it allows you to hit the bicep really hard in three different ways. Here’s an example of a bicep triset: standing barbell curls, hammer curls, reverse barbell curls. You’ll also notice in this sequence that you have to change your grip with each set of the triset. This is the best way to utilize a triset. Here’s an example of a triset with triceps: straight bar cable push downs, rope cable push downs, reverse cable pushdowns. Again, the key here is to change the grip on each exercise. Give these a try, and I’m sure you’ll feel a new pump in whatever body part you utilize them with!

Change you Split!

Have you been following the same split routine for two long? Has your split routine consisted of chest and triceps, back and biceps, or something similar for several months? Try reversing your split or doing a 5 day split instead of a 3 day split. Do chest and biceps, back and triceps just to mix it up a little.

These are just a few basic ideas, but its always a good idea to mix up your routine on a continual basis. That way you can keep your body guessing and growing to adapt to the changes in stress that you place on your muscles.

Rock Hard Abs! Do You Have What it Takes?

If your abs look good, your whole body looks good. Having Big arms and chest is one thing but having rock hard defined abs is so another.

Everyone knows that nothing turns heads like a defined full set of abs. And hey, chicks love em. What more needs to be said.


Contrary to popular belief, the abs or Rectus Abdominis is really only one muscle. It stretches from the top of your pelvis up to your ribcage. The "six-pack" as it is called is merely sections of this one muscle.

Dispelling the Ab Myths:

The action of any muscle is simply to contract. And as you can't contract half your bicep or quad, it makes sense that you cannot contract half your abs as well. Therefore the myths about "upper ab" and "lower ab" training are total nonsense. I'm not discounting those training methods but the simple fact is that if you can't see your lower abs, it just means you've got fat covering them, not that you need to work them harder.

Say goodbye to hanging knee-raises, straight-leg raises, and any other type of leg raises for building your abs. They simply don't work. The primary role of your abs is to stabilize your body. When you raise your leg for example, your hip flexors pull on your spine and arch it forward/downward. Your abs stabilize this action by resisting and essentially keeping your back from breaking. Take note that this is the static action of the abs. It doesn't build or strengthen. Leg raising exercises only feel like they are effectively working your abs because of the repeated strain and exhaustion of your muscle producing catabolic, lactic acid build up. Search for "lactic acid" at http://www.muscle-body.com for more information.

What Really Works:

What does strengthen your abs is what strengthens any other muscle in your body. Contraction! In this case - Decreasing the distance between your rib cage and your pelvis.

So we come back to the good old sit-up. But there are a few things to keep in mind.

Firstly, forget about the cool all-the-way-up sit-ups you see in the movies. Your abs are fully contracted when your shoulders are about 5 to 6 inches off the ground. So don't bother trying to impress or outperform someone by touching your elbows to your knees. It does nothing for you. Crunches as they are sometimes called are the way to go.

Secondly, don't wedge your feet under something to help you get up. You don't need to do this if you are doing crunches properly anyway. Your legs should be at 90 degrees to each other and your knees at 45 degrees to your waist. If you need to, use something to press your heels back against to stabilize yourself. This way you will use your hamstrings instead of your hip flexors which will keep the focus on your abs.

Thirdly, keep your hands lightly held against the side of your head or crossed on your chest. Don't clasp them together behind your head or neck. If you do you will be tempted to pull with your hands to get the last few reps out, which will put unnecessary strain on this fragile part of the spine.

Alternative:

Another good exercise for abs is kneeling crunches. You will need special equipment to perform this exercise. This is where you kneel and contract your abs so that your upper body arches forward/downward. You hold a rope attached to a pulley with weights for extra resistance. Most gyms will have a rope attachment to the triceps pull down to perform this exercise. The idea is to lock your arms against your upper body so that you pull down only with your abs and not your arms.

Ab Training Devices:

In 2 words - Forget it.

You don't need them. Most of them do nothing for you. Building muscle is hard and it hurts. Most of these devices are designed to take the pressure off your body making the exercise seem easy and con you into thinking you are really targeting your muscles. Don't believe the hype. Ab training is definitely hard work but definitely worth it's reward.

The Secret:


The difficulty in obtaining great abs is not so much building the muscle. It's cutting enough fat from your body for them to show. You probably know by now that spot-reduction of fat simply doesn't work here. In order to show those abs you need overall fat loss.

Can You Build Muscle And Lose Body Fat At The Same Time?

One question I am continually asked is, "Is it possible to lose body fat and gain muscle at the same time?" My answer is an emphatic YES!

First of all, to build muscle, you must constantly overload the muscles in the gym. Heavy training is of utmost importance. Even when you are on a calorie-deprived diet to lose body fat, you must be mentally tough and continue to train heavily to preserve-and even build-muscle mass. And, as I've discussed several times already, back up heavy training by eating high-quality protein on a consistent basis.

To lose body fat and still gain muscle, you must really watch your diet closely. Keep your daily caloric intake below your maintenance level. When you reduce your calories, be sure to keep your diet high in quality protein. Most of your calories should come from your carbohydrate consumption. Of course, watch your fat intake.

Here is how I suggest you manipulate your carbohydrate consumption: For a couple of days, eat only vegetables for carbohydrates then go back to grains like rice, potatoes, and pasta for a couple of days. Rotate in this manner and see how quickly you start melting the fat. Because carbohydrates give you energy, this may become difficult at times. Nevertheless, it is a very effective strategy.

Benefits of Strength Training

The benefits of a good strength training program are almost endless. Less disease, happiness and most importantly, showing off your muscles at the beach.

Strength training should be part of everyone's routine. Even if you are low on time, strength training, according to the ACSM (American College of Sports Medicine), only needs to be done 2-3 times per week with each session lasting no more than one hour. For 2-3 hours per week, huge benefits can be realized.

Regular strength training will:

**help you in day to day activities around the house and in your yard. It will keep you independent which is especially important in the older population. Imagine not being able to lift a 5 pound bag of flour or take the garbage out by yourself.

**lower the risk of osteoporosis, hypertension and diabetes.

**help you avoid lower back pain.

**increase bone density which is important for post menopausal women.

**increase muscle mass which burns more calories throughout the day than an equal amount of fat.

Even with all these benefits, many people are reluctant to start training with weights. Concerns include injury, incorrect form and for women; not wanting to grow muscles and look like a man.

When beginning your strength training program, the risk of getting hurt can be greatly reduced by starting out with machines rather than free weights. As you become more comfortable with the machines, slowly learn to use free weights. If you want to stick with the machines, know that they will give you the same benifits as free weights. As for the concern that women will look like men, it won't happen without the help of steroids, which you shouldn't even consider using.

Sometimes when we think of being healthy, we think of eating and running. While these are important, strength training should never be left out. Strength training provides benefits to your health that cannot be found with any other mode of exercise and shouldn't be forgotten.

What Causes Muscle Growth?

In order for muscles to grow, three things are required:

1. Stimulus - exercise is needed to make the muscles work, use energy and cause microscopic damage to the fibers.

2. Nutrition - after intense exercise the muscles need to replenish their stores of fuel.

3. Rest - it is during the rest or recovery phase that the muscles repair the microscopic damage and grow.

Muscle size increases due to hypertrophic adaptation and an increase in the cross section area of individual muscle fibers. Intensive exercise impacts more on the strength influencing fast twitch type II fibers, therefore the increase in muscle size is accompanied by greater strength.

This will deplete the muscle's energy stores and cause microscopic damage to the muscle tissue. During recovery, these stores of glycogen and phosphocreatine will replenish from carbohydrates and creatine ingested as food or supplements. Amino acids supplied in the diet will trigger the protein synthesis that repairs the damaged muscle and lead to the creation of bigger muscle fibers.

To achieve continuous improvement you will need to keep reaching for higher levels of training intensity otherwise the improvement process will grind to a halt. Fortunately, this is relatively easy to plan for provided certain basic principles and rules are clearly followed. Subsequent articles in this series will examine these principles in detail.

Weight Gain Myths

The vast majority of myths about weight gain are mostly passed down from
"gym talk" and so-called experts who know nothing about the body's workings.

Myths that lead to wasted time, frustration and if are taken blindly as truth, can really set back your progress in the gym. Don't believe everything you hear in the gym when it comes to exercise and weight gain, do the research yourself.

Simple, basic principles apply to all weight and muscle gain such as progressive overload, variable frequency of reps and high intensity workouts. Lets take a look at some of the most common weight gain myths.


High repetitions burn fat while low repetitions build muscle.

Progressive overload is needed to make muscles bigger.
Meaning that you need to perform more reps than you did
for your last workout for that particular exercise.
If you perform the same amount of reps at each workout nothing
will change on you, also if the weight doesn’t changes on the bar nothing
will change on you. You need to become stronger.

Definition has two characteristics, muscle size and a low
incidence of body fat. To reduce body fat you will have to
reduce your calories; the high repetition exercise will burn
some calories, but wouldn't it be better to fast walk to burn these off?
Better still; use the low reps to build muscle, which will
elevate your metabolism and burn more calories (less fat).


Vegetarians can’t build muscle.

Yes they can! Strength training with supplementation of
soy Protein Isolate has shown to increase solid bodyweight.
Studies have shown that athletic performance is not impaired
by following a meat free diet, and people strength training
and consuming only soy protein isolate as a protein source
were able to gain lean muscle mass.


Strength Training will make you look masculine.

If it is not you’re intention to bulk up from strength training
you won’t. Putting on muscle is a long hard slow process.
Your strength-training regime coupled with quality food will
determine how much you will bulk up. To bulk up you also require
more food. Women don't produce enough testosterone to allow
for muscular growth as large as men.


By working out you can eat what ever you want to.

Of course you can eat whatever you want, if you don't care
how you want to look. Working out does not give you an open license
to consume as many calories as you want. Although you will
burn more calories if you workout than someone who doesn't,
you still need to balance your energy intake with you energy
expenditure.


If you take a week off you will lose most of your gains.

Taking one or two weeks off occasionally will not harm your
training. By taking this time off every eight to ten weeks
in between strength training cycles it has the habit of refreshing you and
to heal those small niggling injuries. By having longer layoffs
you do not actually lose muscle fibres, just volume
through not training, any size loss will be quickly re-gained.


By eating more protein I can build bigger muscles.

Building muscle mass involves two things, progressive overload
to stimulate muscles beyond their normal levels of resistance
and eating more calories than you can burn off. With all the
hype about high protein diets lately and because muscle is made
of protein, it’s easy to believe that protein is the best fuel
for building muscle, however muscles work on calories which
should predominately be derived from carbohydrates.


If I'm not sore after a workout, I didn't work out hard enough.

Post workout soreness is not an indication of how good the
exercise or strength training session was for you. The fitter
you are at a certain activity, the less soreness you will
experience after. As soon as you change an exercise, use a
heavier weight or do a few more reps you place extra stress
on that body part and this will cause soreness.


Resistance training doesn't burn fat.

Nothing could not be further from the truth. Muscle is a
metabolically active tissue and has a role in increasing
the metabolism. The faster metabolism we have the quicker
we can burn fat. Cardio exercise enables us to burn
calories whilst exercising but does little else for
fat loss afterwards.

Weight training enables us to burn calories whilst
exercising but also helps us to burn calories whilst
at rest. Weight training encourages muscle growth
and the more lean muscle mass we possess, the more
fat we burn though an increased and elevated metabolism.


No pain no gain.

This is one myth that hangs on and on. Pain is your body
signalling that something is wrong. If you feel real
pain during a workout, stop your workout and rest.
To develop muscle and increase endurance you may need
to have a slight level of discomfort, but that's not
actual pain.


Taking steroids will make me huge.

Not true, strength training and correct nutrition will
grow muscle. Taking steroids without training will not
make you muscular.

Most steroids allow faster muscle growth through greater
recovery, while others help increase strength which
allows for greater stress to be put onto a muscle.
Without food to build the muscle or training to stimulate
it nothing will happen. Most of the weight gain seen
with the use of some steroids is due to water
retention and is not actual muscle.


Strength training won’t work your heart.

Wrong!! Strength training with short rest periods will
increase your heartbeat well over a hundred beats
per minute. For example, performing a set of breathing
squats and you can be guaranteed that your heart will
be working overtime and that your entire cardiovascular
system will be given a great overall body workout.

Any intensive weightlifting routine that lasts for
20 minutes or more is a great workout for your heart
and the muscles involved.


I can gain muscle and lose fat at the same time.

Wrong. Only a few gifted people with superb genetics
can increase muscle size while not putting on body fat.
But for the average hard gainer, they have to increase
their muscle mass to its maximum potential and then cut
down their body fat percentage to achieve the desired shape.

Weight Lifting – What Every Beginner Should Know!

Here are a few things that beginners should know about weight lifting.

First you put good strain on your joints as well as your bones when you lift weights. This strengthens your bones. Strong bones protect our bodies against breakage and osteoporosis.

Another important point about weight lifting is that as your muscles increase in size your body becomes more shapely and firm - more attractive.

Weight lifting also helps you more vigorously perform your aerobic exercise, which in turn will increase your cardiovascular endurance and help your heart. The reason you are able to perform at a higher level is the weight lifting has increased your muscular strength, and therefore your ability to tolerate more intense exercise.

Weight lifting also gives you nice after effects to your metabolism. By adding muscle to your body through weight lifting, you likely will increase your metabolic rate. If you increase your metabolism you increase the amount of fat burning enzymes in your body. This means you’ll burn more body fat even at rest! What a great bonus!

When you lift weights you should find the right weight that allows you to do 8-12 repetitions of the same movement with the same weight. If you are able to repeat it more than 12 times the weight is too light for you. If you can't do at least 8 reps the weight is too heavy.

This 8-12 repetition practice is called a set. A beginning weight lifter should only be doing one or two sets of any weight lifting movement at one time.

Beginners often forget to breathe when they lift weights, which is dangerous because it can elevate your blood pressure. You should concentrate on inhaling on the eccentric or lowering phase of the lift and exhale on the concentric or lifting phase of the lift.

When weight lifting, you should always work your largest muscles first. Smaller muscles get tired faster. If they tire too quickly they can't help you work your large muscles. The first things you are going to work are your chest, back, shoulders and thighs. Then you do weight lifting exercises for your arms, abdominals and calves last. If you’re new to weight lifting, I would suggest picking 6-8 exercises that covers all the major body parts above. Perform these exercises 2-3 times per week making sure you allow at least 48 hours between workout sessions, so your body has time to recover.

Good Luck!

12 Secrets for gaining mass

If You really want to gain size stop reading articles out of magazines and find a trainer that knows what they are doing.

Eat organically, you are what you eat (if you give yourself a 59 cent hamburger you are giving your body 59 cent muscles that makes you look like garbage.)

Eat According to your metabolic type, "the metabolic typing diet"

Lift mainly in the 8-12 rep range

Your tempos should range from 3-1-3 to 4-1-4 and no more

You total time under tension for each lift should only last 60 sec or less (this is because you want to produce as much Testosterone and Growth Hormone.

Don't lift longer than 45 min per workout, less at a higher intensity equals more.

This would be different if you were on pro-hormones or juice, because of the recover time.

You shouldn't be performing any cardio

Lift according to your genetic makeup and your muscle fiber type if you tend to be more of an endurance athlete you will do better lifting a little higher reps, if you are more of a speed athlete you will do better lifting a little lower reps heavier weight.

Supplements and other things can help in achieving mass, as we all know what the pros use and most amateurs lifting in the gym.

Though follow science it can do way more for you than just taking some pill.

Mass is easy to gain when you lift correctly, don't waste years trying to reach your goal when you can invest in a trainer that can get you tons of results now. And if they don't get you results fire them immediately

Words of wisdom

work harder

Stay Away From Low Carb Diets To Gain Muscle Weight

Many people looking to gain muscle weight can become very confused when they read and hear all of the conflicting information that's spread on TV, magazines, the internet, and diet books.

One of the most misunderstood techniques is the low carb diets that have been very popular in the last several years.

The popular belief lately is that sugar (carbohydrates) should be kept to moderate to low levels in your eating, even if you are trying to build muscle mass and / or gain muscle weight.

The reason for this is because of the recent popularity of low-carb diets, such as The Atkins diet, The Southbeach diet, The Zone diet, etc.

Even in bodybuilding magazines all of a sudden everyone and their mother is recommending to keep carbs in your diets almost to a minimum.

Well, the misconception that sugar is somehow "evil" and will cause you to get fat, raise your bad cholesterol, and even lose your "insulin sensitivity" is based on several MYTHS that have been passed around by the media and "monkey see, monkey do" nutrition and exercise "gurus".

One of the main misconceptions is that eating carbs will cause a sharp rise of insulin in your blood, which supposedly causes your body to store fat.

A lot of this is based on the incorrect belief that you should avoid eating "high GI (glycemic index)" foods, and to mainly get most of your carbs from "low GI" foods.

Basically, the Glycemic Index is a chart that was developed years ago that measures how much of a rise in insulin a certain food causes in the blood once digested.

To put it simply, the higher the GI number is, the higher and quicker it makes your insulin rise.

(For some odd reason that's NOT based on any real, conclusive evidence. People seem to think that raising your insulin levels is "bad").

Well, in 1981, researchers at the University of Toronto were the first to accurately notice that "simple" carb foods (having a high GI) actually produced a smaller increase in blood sugar than most "complex" (or low GI) foods (everyone today thinks the opposite is true, of course based on what they read in the latest "how to gain muscle weight" article)!

In fact, eating table sugar (sucrose) actually causes a smaller increase in blood sugar than eating foods such as baked potatoes and whole wheat bread.

Foods containing added sugars do NOT have a higher GI than foods containing naturally occurring sugars.

In fact, you really can't count on the "GI" much at all!!!

Why?

Because the Glycemic Index does NOT take into account the differences in variety, ripeness, processing, or cooking foods, which have a huge impact on how that particular food affects your insulin levels, even if you are trying to gain muscle weight.

Also, the fat content of food also has an affect on insulin: foods that are high in fat have a lower GI, like peanuts, which only have a GI of 14.

In addition, there some foods that have a high GI number, but don't affect your insulin levels at all........like carrots!

Carrots have a GI of 95 (which is pretty high), but don't try to tell me that you'll get fat, get diabetes, etc., from eating carrots!!!

Bodybuilding magazines, supplement companies, and the internet spread myths to all of us seeking to build muscle mass, only leading us to NO RESULTS!

I guarantee you that if you are desperately trying to gain muscle, if you go on a low carb diet, not only are you not going to build any muscle weight, but you are actually going to get smaller than what you are already are.

If you are trying to eat your way to a leaner, more defined, more sculpted you, there is NO NEED TO BREAK DOWN YOUR EATING DOWN TO ALL KINDS OF RATIOS or PERCENTAGES.

Regardless of what type of foods you eat and in what combinations, "IT ALL COMES DOWN TO THE CALORIES"!

Whole Foods vs Shakes For Muscle Gain

After many years of spending hundreds, and even thousands, of dollars, after getting sick on them, and after seeing NO KIND OF RESULTS from them, many have finally realized that they are WORTHLESS.

Yet, many are still confused if the supplements that are sold as "Meal Replacements", "Weight Gainers", "natural supplements", and "amino acids" have some good use in substituting for some WHOLE FOODS.

Surely you see them in just about every other page in every-single bodybuilding / fitness magazine. Everyone at the gym uses them.

Go to any grocery store and they have them there too. Yes, even you have probably used them and / or are using them right now.........

Shakes and supplements.

Many different "meal replacement" powders and shakes, also known as RTD's, are sold as being a substitute for a real, whole food meal.

The makers claim that they are "just as good, if not better, than eating a real meal".

They claim to have higher amounts of protein, lower amounts of sugar, and add in ingredients such as BCAA's, Glutamine, Creatine, HMB, CLA, so on and so forth.

They claim that your muscles need a high amount of this and that, and that you can't get those from just eating the right foods. .....

That's what the makers claim.

First off, no supplement that is out on the market right now will build any kind of real, permanent muscle on your body, none!

Not creatine (which makes you gain nothing but "water weight"), not glutamine, not HMB, not NO2, not any one of them.

If you are skeptical, perform a test on yourself:

For one month, don't change anything about your training routine or your eating habits.

Measure your arms, your chest, and your waist with a measuring tape and fat calipers.

Take one supplement, and only one. Use it for that month.

Then take your measurements again.

I guarantee you that your measurements will reveal that your arms or chest didn't get any bigger or vascular, regardless of what the weight scale says.

Yes, some people report gaining 8-10 pounds of weight after one week of using creatine, but are those 8-10 pounds muscle? No!

They are made up of water and / or fat. The measuring tape and fat calipers will reveal that to you.

So, when a meal replacement shake or powder advertises that it is better than eating whole food because it contains all of these extra "muscle building ingredients", don't be fooled.

Even if it actually contains those ingredients, they don't work anyway!

Second, meal replacements claim to have a certain amount of protein grams, carb grams, and fat grams.

Well, lately there have been several analysis done on many popular supplements, and it has been discovered that many of them do not contain the amount of ingredients as printed on the label!!

Just a while back a report was written that a popular "protein bar", that claims to taste like Snickers, contained up to 7% less amount of protein than the label claims.

And it contained much more sugar than stated.

Many of these makers "skim" on the ingredients to bring the cost down of making those supplements, while lying on the nutrition labels, just to make a bigger profit!

Third, the price.

A meal replacement powder can cost you up to $3.00 PER PACKET, while it would probably cost you $1.00 or less if you were to eat the same amount of calories from real food.

I don't know about you, but I rather keep my money in my pocket.

Fourth, and probably the most important out of all, is that powders and shakes contain many ingredients that are down-right harmful to your internal body.

In order to make these "meal replacements" into powders and to be able to be stored for long periods of time (for shipping and sitting on the store shelves), many chemicals and preservatives must be added.

What do you think happens when you are constantly putting into your body foreign chemicals and preservatives, substances that are not from nature.

Your body does not handle well those types of unnatural substances.

Instead of making you gain muscle, all you will get is a BLOATED STOMACH, DIARRHEA, and EVEN FAT, since your body doesn't digest it well.

How many times have you drunk a protein shake and 30 minutes later you start to get "gas"?

That's your body's way of telling you that it cannot handle that shake.

Also, "meal replacements" DON'T contain vital nutrients that are a "must-have" if you want to grow a healthy physique, such as vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants, enzymes, etc.

These powders don't have any of those things.

Don't believe me, read the nutrition labels.

On the contrary, whole foods are natural, they contain all of the vital nutrients that your body requires to get big and strong, they are much less in price, and they won't cause you to go running to the nearest toilet.

Without a doubt, if you want to gain muscular weight, forget about those disgusting-tasting meal replacement powders and shakes, and eat real whole foods, just like our ancestors did back before the supplement industry came along with all of their lies.

Why My Muscles Won't Grow? Cortisol Stress Hormone Destroy Muscle Tissues

There are many reasons why your muscles won’t grow or why your muscle growth is retarded. One main culprit for your muscle tissue to in a catabolic and not in an anabolic state is the stress hormone called cortisol. This stress hormone, cortisol, is produced by your body when you are under stressful situations.

Yes, any type of stress, whether they are mental stress, physical stress or just emotional stress will trigger off an increased in the production of cortisol hormones. A high level of cortisol is always a bane for bodybuilders and that in itself, is creating more stress.

When you exercise or especially weightlifting body building exercises, you are placing a tremendous stress on your body. This in turn will cause the cortisol hormone in your body to rise to unacceptable level which may destroy your muscle tissues, bone density and causes weight gain especially abdominal fat. Ohhh...that abdominal fat that would not go away.

This hormone hates your muscles and wants you to grow fat. It takes away protein from the muscles. However to be fair to this hormone, the cortisol hormone has its positive functions.

Cortisol is produced by the adrenal cortex and is commonly known as a stress hormone because the level of cortisol in your body rises sharply when you are under stress. This hormone plays an important role in your body’s metabolic function, it facilitates cardiovascular function, carbohydrate metabolism and controls inflammation. After all, it is a steroid hormone.

As more cortisol is being produced, your muscle tissue breaks down further since the amino acids from your muscle protein is being converted into glucose for energy. This hormone also blocks new muscle tissues from growing because it interferes in protein synthesis in your muscles.

How to lower cortisol level?

• Get enough sleep – Let your body recuperate from the day’s stress and let the body rebuild its wears and tears. A lack of sleep will put your body under further stress and thus increasing cortisol levels.

• Avoid stress – Take up yoga, read a book, take a break from whatever you are doing. Learn meditation and breathing techniques to reduce everyday stress. Take a week or so break from your exercise routine after 6-8 weeks of regular training. As your body learns how to relax, the level of cortisol hormone will fall correspondingly.

• Do not over train – Over training is a common issue amongst athletes of all types. This is especially so in bodybuilding and weight lifting. You are already damaging your muscles when you lift weights, don’t let cortisol hormones rob your muscles of the much needed proteins and preventing muscle repair and growth.

Once your body and mind is free from stress, your cortisol production will be at a healthy level and you will once again see your muscles growing, provided that you are doing other things that are conducive to getting your muscles to grow.

Why You Should NOT Try to Isolate Muscle Groups When Weight Training

Working as a fitness professional, there is one type of question I get all the time that shows that many people are missing the big picture regarding the benefits of strength training. This popular question usually goes something like this:

"What exercise can I do to isolate my _______ (insert your muscle of choice – abs, quads, biceps, triceps, etc)?"

It doesn't matter which muscle someone is asking about, they always seem to be asking how to 'isolate' it. My first response to this question is always – Why in the world would you want to isolate it?

The first thing I try to teach my clients is that the body does not work well in muscle isolation. Rather, it works better in movements along a kinetic chain; that is, large portions of the body assist other portions of the body in completing a complex movement. In fact, there really is no such thing as true muscle isolation. There is almost always a nearby muscle group that will assist in some way with whatever movement you are doing. However, this article compares attempting to 'isolate' body parts via single-joint exercises to the much more effective strategy of performing multi-joint complex movements.

When you attempt to 'isolate' muscles by performing single-joint exercises, you are actually creating a body that is non-functional and will be more prone to injury. Essentially, you are creating a body that is a compilation of body parts, instead of a powerful, functional unit that works together.

Now if you really want to end up hobbling around in a body bandaged up with joint problems, tendonitis, and excess body fat, then by all means, continue trying to 'isolate' body parts. On the other hand, if you would rather have a lean, muscular, injury-free, functional body that works as a complete powerful unit to perform complex movements (in athletics or even everyday tasks), then you need to shift your focus away from muscle isolation. Believe me, focusing on how well your body functions will give you the side effect of a body that looks even better than it would have if you focused on muscle isolation. For example, take a look at the physiques of any NFL running backs, wide receivers, or even world class sprinters. Trust me when I say that these guys pretty much NEVER train for muscle isolation (their strength coaches wouldn’t be crazy enough to let them), yet they are absolutely ripped to shreds! Just look at guys like Maurice Green or Terrell Owens and tell me who wouldn’t want a physique like those guys.

Another benefit to moving away from the 'muscle isolation' mindset to a more 'complex movement' mindset is that you will find it much easier to lose body fat. The reason is that by focusing more on multi-joint complex movements as opposed to single-joint muscle isolation, you not only burn a lot more calories during each workout, but you also increase your metabolic rate, and stimulate production of more fat burning and muscle building hormones like growth hormone and testosterone.

Let's look at an example. The machine leg extension is a single joint exercise that works mainly the quadriceps, can potentially cause knee joint instability in the long run, and doesn’t even burn that many calories. On the other hand, exercises like squats, lunges, step-ups, and deadlifts are all multi-joint complex movements that work hundreds of muscles in the body (including the quadriceps) as a functional unit, create more stable and strong joints in the long run (when done properly), and also burn massive quantities of calories compared to the single-joint exercises.