Showing posts with label build muscle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label build muscle. Show all posts

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Want To Build Muscle While Burning Fat? Use Interval Training

By Jared Conley

You've been told a hundred times: it's impossible to build
muscle up and melt fat at the same time. You've been told that
building muscle involves an increase in calories, while fat
burning involves a decrease in calories. This conventional
wisdom is based in fact, but the beliefs are being tossed on
their ears with research into interval training. The truth
is, you can achieve muscle weight gain at the same time as
you burn fat if you add interval training to your sessions.

Interval training isn't new, but it's been more widely
understood, accepted, and implemented in recent years. While
standard cardiovascular training was looked at as the only
efficient way to shed fat, and the only effective workouts
for endurance athletes, high intensity interval training
(HIIT) has been shown to be advantageous to athletes in all
sports, and for people with wildly varying goals.

Standard aerobic activity is referred to as "steady state,"
which essentially means that you work up to a fixed
intensity level and continue working out at that level
throughout the workout. During the workout, your body gets
half of its fuel by burning fat, and gets the rest through
oxygen intake, and by tapping into your glycogen and muscle
stores.

Interval sessions, conversely, consist of short maximum
intensity intervals followed by lower intensity rest
periods. HIIT sessions are muscle sparing and are quick, but
pack a wallop. A fifteen-minute HIIT session can raise your
base metabolism for almost 24 hours, enabling you to
continue burning higher levels of fat for up to a day.

In addition to this, because your muscles consume calories
during every minute of the day, the more lean mass you have,
the more fat you burn, even while you're doing nothing.
Because HIIT not only spares your muscles, but also helps you
build muscles up, your future fat burning ability is
increased.

The bottom line is that regardless of your fitness goals,
HIIT sessions can help you increase your overall fitness
level with very short sessions. Better still, if your goals
include muscle building and fat burning, adding HIIT to your
workout schedule is a no-brainer.

Jared is a time-strapped professional who is always on the
lookout for techniques to get better results in less time.
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Friday, September 24, 2010

Want To Build Muscle? Focus On The Right Muscle Building Diet

By Robert Harvard

When most people begin muscle building, they typically focus
on the exercises necessary to build muscle and reduce
body fat. However, the bodybuilding diet is the most
important aspect of the entire process. Without a proper
diet, those muscles you've worked so hard to build will be
covered over with a layer of fat, which goes against
everything a bodybuilder tries to do.

A bodybuilding diet isn't difficult to keep up, it just
takes a little discipline and know how. With a few tips and
a lot of self control, you could be well on your way to the
physique you've only dreamed about.

Split Up Your Meals

As we grew up, our parents usually taught us to eat three
meals a day. Those meals were to contain the four food
groups and they were generally large enough to keep us
satiated until the next meal came around. However, the more
you eat in one sitting, the more your body has to work to
digest it. Health experts now tell us to split up our meals
into four to six smaller meals, eaten throughout the day.
This, too, is what the bodybuilding diet entails. By
splitting up your meals into four to six smaller, more
manageable, meals each day, our metabolisms speed up,
enabling us to burn more fat than ever before.

Stay Away From Processed Food

When you begin your bodybuilding diet, you want to refrain
from anything that uses processed flour. Experienced
bodybuilders will tell you to stay to the outside perimeter
of the supermarket, where the dairy, meat, fruit, veggies
and bread are located. They will tell you to stay away from
the inside aisles of the supermarket, where all the chips,
and other processed foods are located. The simplest way to
keep to your bodybuilding diet is to tell yourself to keep
it natural. Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables and stay
away from anything laden with sugar; as this will turn into
fat in the long run.

Water, Water, Water

It can't be said enough. When beginning any bodybuilding
diet, you can't refrain from drinking lots of water. Water
flushes the fat and toxins from our body and also helps us
in fighting disease and illness. After all, we are seventy
percent water so we need to drink plenty of water if we hope
to stay healthy. A good rule is to drink a glass of water
before each meal, during each meal and once between meals.
This will keep you plenty hydrated and that's important,
especially when it comes to your bodybuilding diet.

If you stick to the above tips and work hard, you could
become a bodybuilder in no time. Remember, being a
bodybuilder doesn't just mean having big muscles, it also
means having low body fat. While working out will give you
the muscles you want, it's the bodybuilding diet that will
strip you of that fat so that those muscles, and all your
hard work, will finally be revealed.

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Monday, July 6, 2009

5 Essential Bodybuilding Nutrition Rules

bodybuilding nutrition rules, bodybuilding, nutrition, sports nutrition, build muscle, sports supplements, diet, muscle building

By Chad J. Beck

Every successful bodybuilder understands that nutrition is a
key component of any training program. Following correct
nutritional practices will provide you with a stable amount
of energy needed for daily activities and for each training
session. Having an excellent nutrition base and enough rest
are vital for ongoing bodybuilding success. Not following a
sound nutritional plan will just limit your potential muscle
gains and may put to waste all your effort and time invested
on training.

According to Catherine Ratzin Jackson, author of the book
"Nutrition for the Recreational Athlete", the eating habits
of bodybuilders aren't always based on sound nutritional
advice. She explains that many bodybuilders base their diet
strategies on tips they've read in bodybuilding magazines or
from -experts' at nutrition stores. Unfortunately, much of
this advice is usually one-sided and does not provide the
complete picture of the essentials of calorie intake,
protein requirements and specific types of food to eat for
weight loss. If you're just getting started with
bodybuilding, here are some essential rules of nutrition
used by professional bodybuilders:

1. Avoid rapid weight loss. Rapid weight loss can result in
the loss of lean body tissue and make it very difficult to
increase muscle size and strength. Extreme weight loss often
results from starvation or low-calorie diets, and may result
in electrolyte imbalances, water and important lean body
mass. High protein, low-fat diets can be harmful to your
health and may prevent you from achieving your ideal body
weight
.

2. Always calculate your protein requirements. Muscles need
protein to build up strength and mass. Just make sure that
you are getting the right amount of it. Too much or too
little of this nutrient will not produce your desired
results. Different people need to take different amounts of
protein as measured by their Recommended Dietary Allowance
(RDA). The RDA of protein for sedentary individuals is
0.8g/kg per day. While for athletes, the RDA is set at
1.0-1.5 g/kg. Make it a habit now to check the nutritional
labels of each food you eat to keep track of your protein
consumption.

3. Eat Fresh Foods. Eating fresh foods is an important
component of any bodybuilding program. Stay away from
artificial and processed food as much as possible. Natural
foods
from animal and plant sources give out the most
nutrients to our bodies. Our bodies assimilate more
nutrients from natural foods as compared with artificial
foods.

4. Exercise caution in taking supplements. It is now widely
acceptable to use supplements for performance enhancement.
Supplements are a great help to any athlete but they do
cause some negative side effects, especially if abused.
Supplements are designed to be added, or supplement, our
nutrition program. Supplements are by no means created to
replace proper diet and exercise.

5. Watch what you eat before and after a workout. Muscle
builds up significantly before and after you exercise. What
you eat at this time will surely influence this process
either positively or negatively. Always monitor what you eat
at this time by keeping a written record.

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Saturday, July 4, 2009

Use These 5 Criteria When Choosing A Muscle Building Program To Fit You

muscle building, muscle building program, bodybuilding, build muscle fast, how to build muscle, muscle mass, weight gaining, gain weight, fitness

By Mark Dale

Why is it that so many people who have followed various
muscle building programs have failed to make the muscle mass
gains they desire? Well put simply, it's usually because
they've followed a muscle program that is completely
unsuitable for building muscle. If this sounds like you and
you're not seeing regular muscle growth and improvements in
the mirror then you are doing something wrong.

However, many muscle building programs can be completely
inappropriate to an individual's needs. The result of this
can be anything from little or no muscle gains or even
injury through over training.

If you are looking for a muscle building program that can be
customized for your goals, body type, and size then I
suggest you think about the following 5 main points when
choosing your next program:

1. Workout Time

Muscle building programs aimed at gaining lean muscle mass
will not have you training for hours in the gym. Your
workout routines should last no more than 45 mins, but
should be intense and push your strength to the limit.

2. Varying Your Workout Program

Keep your workout program varied and this will help to keep
your muscles growing by stimulating them in different ways.
Therefore re-structure your gym workouts every 8 - 12 weeks.
If you don't change routines your body will become used to
the same exercises and muscle growth will slow or even stop.

3. Rest is Part of Your Muscle Program

You need plenty of rest to help your muscles grow and to
help your body recover from your workouts. Every good muscle
building program must include rest days and you should
always take a week off at the end of your 8-12 weeks
program.

4. Perform Exercise with Correct Form

When doing any sort of physical activity you must make sure
that you do them safely, using the correct form and speed.
Look out for muscle building programs that provide you with
exercise databases that are either video or illustration
based. If you are unsure of how to do an exercise correctly
then don't do it -watch the video or study the illustrations
and practice with a light weight.

5. Diet - The Most Essential Part!

Diet is the key to every bodybuilder's success. However any
muscle building diet must be personalized to your body type
and goals. The best muscle building programs will provide
diet plans for every individual. This means diet plans will
cover all calorie levels and include meals from 2000 - 6000
calories a day. The best meal plans I've come across even
cater for vegetarians or those who need to avoid specific
foods.

So that's 5 very simple but very important tips to get you
on the right track to muscle building success. Make sure you
find answer to all these points when you are looking at
muscle building programs.

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Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Want A Lean, Ripped Body? Here's How

Man lifting weights, studio shot

By Joshua Owen

Who knows how to get a ripped six pack and a muscular body
to go along with it? Do you? Building muscle and burning fat
is a huge mystery to the world. People are unhealthier and
fatter than ever in today's world. Let me tell you how to
fix the problem...

Here's a list of 6 things you must do to get a ripped, lean,
and muscular body:

1) Weightlifting

The purpose of weightlifting is to build muscle and
strength. If you're lifting weights to burn calories, you've
got it all wrong. Lift weights to get stronger and build
muscle. When you do, your body will begin to transform.

2) Nutrition and Diet

You must eat only the best sources of food and the perfect
amounts of those foods in order to build muscle and burn fat
as quickly as possible. The correct combination of foods at
the correct times throughout the day is a MUST.

3) Cardio Exercise

You should be doing aerobic exercise for at least 3 sessions
of 30 minutes each and every week. You life depends on it.
Your body depends on it. Cardiovascular exercise helps burn
body fat and keeps you lean and muscular all year round.

4) Recovery and Rest

You build muscle when you're resting not while you're in the
gym. Proper sleep, decreasing stress, soft tissue massage,
weighted stretching, and some other special techniques will
have you building muscle and burning fat optimally.

You don't want to underestimate what I say concerning rest and
recovery. You don't want all your efforts going to waste,
right?

5) Tracking, Measuring, Adjusting

Your body adapts to anything you do. Most programs only work
for a few weeks. That's it! So, you need a program that
shows you how to make adjustments to what you are doing so
you continue to get results.

You must track and measure your results. When you notice
your results starting to slow, you must make adjustments.
This could be a weight training change, a diet change, or
something else. You've got to know what to change and when
to change it.

6) Planning and Goal Setting

You've got to learn how to make your mind work with you and
never against you. Have you ever thought to yourself, "I'll
never lose this fat," or "I'll never be able to build
muscle"? If you have, you've let your mind take control and
that's one reason you've never reached your goals.

When you learn how to do that, your mind will help you reach
each and every one of your goals. And just wait for the
results! You'll be amazed.

Follow the above 6 steps and watch your dream body become a
reality.

Implement all of the above correctly, and your results will
be so fast that you'll be smiling each and every day. This
stuff really works.

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Friday, May 29, 2009

How To Maximize Your Weight Loss Results

Silver dumbbells

Most of us want to lose weight and get fit. Starting an
exercise program or joining a gym always seems like a great
first step but if you have ever spent any time at a gym you
will notice that not everybody there makes progress on his
or her fitness goals. It is not being at the gym that helps
you to get fit but it is how hard you work at fitness that
makes the difference.

You are going to have to break a sweat in order to see any
real results from an exercise program. You will need to get
your heart rate into the training zone and make sure that it
stays there for a time. There have been some studies in the
past that have shown that exercising for longer periods of
time at a lower intensity will actually burn more fat than
carbohydrates. However good that sounds unfortunately it
does not translate to fat loss.

Burning fat as you exercise is important but not nearly as
important as just burning calories. For example if you are
doing a cardio workout and you keep your heart rate at the
lower ranges for 60 minutes you may burn 350 calories but if
you do that same 60 minute workout and add in some high
intensity interval training or HIIT, you will burn closer to
750 to 1000 calories. So which one will help you lose the
most weight?

High intensity interval training is extremely effective for
fat loss. The idea is to get your heart rate into the target
heart training zone and then for 30 to 60 second intervals
work really hard and raise your heart rate to the higher
ends of the zone and then let it come back down to the lower
ends and repeat a few times. If you do high intensity
interval training you can even cut your workout time by half
or more and still burn more calories and have more success.

In order to determine your target heart rate training zone,
take your age and subtract it from 220, then take that
number and multiply it by 60% and 80%. This gives you a
target heart-training zone. In order to see the best results
you will need to keep your heart rate in that zone while you
are doing your workout.

Another important aspect to losing weight and maximizing
your fat loss at the gym is to lift weights. The fact is
that in order to burn the most calories by just living
everyday you must have more muscle. Muscle is biologically
active and it helps your body to burn more calories just by
being there. Fat is basically an inactive substance and it
does not help your body burn any calories at all.

Exercise is important but you won't see any results from an
exercise program unless you also have a good diet. Abs are
built in the kitchen, not at the gym. Making sure that you
consume a healthy and nutritious diet is undoubtedly the
most important aspect of any fitness program. You will never
see results unless you follow a healthy diet, no matter how
much you exercise.

If you want to maximize your fat loss the most important
fundamentals should be to incorporate some HIIT into your
cardio routine, start a good weight-training program and
improve your diet. If you do all of these basic things you
will see results quite quickly.


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Thursday, May 28, 2009

The Most Powerful Muscle Building Concept On The Planet

Shirtless man flexing muscles outdoors at dusk

By Josh Owen

If you're looking for an easy way to finally build muscle
mass
, you've found the perfect article. I'm not sure why
anyone wouldn't want to build muscle. Muscle makes life so
much easier. You feel better, have higher energy levels,
you're stronger, and you're healthier. You can use this one
simple but powerful technique to build muscle quickly.

Building muscle doesn't 'just' help you look much better.
Muscle improves your appearance, and we all want that, but
do you know the true benefit of greater amounts of muscle
mass? Can you imagine feeling 100 times better? Imagine high
energy levels when you wake up. Imagine not feeling down or
tired any more. Body fat weighs you down while muscle mass
helps your body. You need more muscle and less body fat.
Then you'll feel better!

Okay, it's easy for me say you need more muscle mass and
less body fat, but how do you accomplish this? I'm going to
tell you about the most powerful muscle building concept on
the face of the earth. This is the secret to building
muscle:

Of course, the first thing you must do is start lifting
weights. Weight lifting is required. Once you have
everything you need to start lifting weights, you must start
eating healthier. You need to eat lean protein sources,
natural carbohydrate sources, and essential fats with every
meal. Eat more often. You've got to eat enough food to gain
weight in order to build muscle. But these things are not
the powerful concept I want to tell you about. I want to
discuss a plan for your weight lifting program.

Start your next weight lifting program with very light
weights. I don't care how easy the set may be. Do higher
reps starting out with lighter weights. I then want you to
increase the weight each workout while decreasing the number
of reps. For example, you could start out lifting 95 pounds
for 15 reps and end your program with 305 pounds for 4 reps.
That huge weight increase over the weeks will ensure that
you've built plenty of muscle as long as your body isn't
accustomed to those weight loads.

This allows you to constantly provide your body with a
muscle building stimulus. This means you get quick results
from each and every weightlifting workout when you eat
correctly and optimize your rest from each weight lifting
session. You begin to see results and huge increases in
muscle size.

After you use this method of increasing the weight each
weight training session, you'll soon reach a point in which
it's hard to increase the weight. Fight hard for a few more
weeks only increasing a small amount each workout, and
then take a one week break from weight lifting. Then start
over! It's that simple. That is the quickest way to gain
muscle size.

In order to build muscle with this powerful concept, you
have to focus on gaining weight each week. But you want this
weight to be muscle and not body fat, right? You must focus
on eating the proper foods. Have 6 meals each day, and make
sure you're drinking enough water and eating plenty of
veggies. You should always strive to gain about 1 to 2
pounds of muscle each week. I recommend 1 pound of muscle
per week as any more than that will be body fat, and you
don't want that. Be patient. One pound per week is 52 pounds
each year!

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Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Burn Fat And Gain Muscle - How To Do It

Side profile of a mid adult man standing and flexing his muscles

It is a fact that having those love handles and that beer
belly as well as those man boobs can be quite embarrassing.
If you want a body that you can be proud of and a body that
you can show off whenever you are at the beach, then you may
want to start working out.

So, what are the proper workout routines to burn fat and
gain muscles?

Basically, the best muscle burning technique is through
cardiovascular exercises, specifically interval training.
This helps in burning a lot of fat and calories which will
significantly help in weight loss. Diet is also an important
factor in order for you to lose fat and in most cases this
is the most difficult part of weight loss.

Dieting doesn't mean that you have to starve yourself in
order for you to lose fat. Eating right is.

What this means is that you need to eat less fatty foods and
eat more foods that your body needs in order to function
everyday. Eat foods that have plenty of fiber and in order
to promote muscle growth, eat food with plenty of protein,
such as beef.

You should also decrease the amount of carbohydrates you eat
everyday. By reducing at least 25 percent of the total
carbohydrates you eat everyday, you will see that it will
make a huge difference when it comes to losing weight
and burning off fat.

Doing a lot of cardiovascular exercises will also help in
burning off fat. Every morning before breakfast, try to at
least go jogging or walk for 30 minutes. This will
significantly improve your weight as well as your body. By
exercising before you eat breakfast, you will be able to
turn on your metabolism rate and make it a lot faster. This
means that you will be able to burn fat a lot more
efficiently than not exercising in the morning at all.

Eating breakfast is also important as it helps jump start
your metabolic rate. Always remember that it is advisable
that you eat your breakfast. It actually helps in weight
loss.

After doing cardiovascular exercises, it is now time to
develop your muscles with weights. For maximum muscle gain,
you might want to use as much free weights as you can. Try
to minimize the use of the machine as the machines only
focuses on the primary muscles and not the supporting
muscles. If you want to gain muscle mass, it is recommended
that you should strengthen the supporting muscles too. This
will help in muscle growth. In fact, if you don't strengthen
the supporting muscles, you will end up not being able to
promote the primary muscles to grow.

These are some of the things that you have to remember about
fat loss and muscle gain. Muscles burn fat and by
exercising, you will be able to promote muscle growth and at
the same time, promote fat loss. With these tips in mind and
following it, you can be sure that you will be able to get
rid of that fat and develop a body that you can be proud of.


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Tuesday, May 5, 2009

How To Get Huge Muscles - Advice From An Expert

Man doing bicep curls with dumbbells

Vince Delmonte Review

So you've taken a whack at the treadmill and ripped up the
weight room a few times, with little or no results. Or
perhaps you've been in and out of the gym for years, always
hoping that the world of muscle mass and serious strength
was just around the proverbial corner - but never quite
believing it. Your eyes were bound to drift, sooner or
later, to the sweating, gleaming behemoths that seem to have
all the size you could ever want, and wonder whether the
problem was in your genes instead of your training methods.
Just how did they manage to get so big?

Well, genes have a very significant part to play in the game
of getting and keeping those much sought-after slabs you'd
like to add to your shoulders, back, chest, arms and legs.
The good news is that having a spectacular physique is
something that's within just about anybody's reach. Take a
look at Lou Ferrigno. In his teenage years, he was puny
beyond belief, but by dint of consistent effort he managed
to give Arnold Schwarzeneggar a run for his money in that
much celebrated Olympia pose-off so beautifully recorded in
the 1975 documentary Pumping Iron.

Now, science has come a long way since the Pumping Iron
days. Our understanding of the bio-mechanics of
weightlifting, as well as of how the body utilizes various
kinds of nutrition and chemical stimuli has progressed by
light years. The science of size has never been more
complete, or more confusing. Fact is, looking at the
methodologies of those gleaming behemoths, of elite
bodybuilders and so on, will be the most misleading tack you
could possibly take. Their approaches, as is appropriate to
one advanced in the sport, focus on intensity, on using a
few simple exercises with colossal weight to cause maximum
damage to muscles that have learnt to ride a wave of
constant adaptation.

The optimal focus for a beginner in the gym is not strength
so much as ROM (Range of Motion). A joints ROM is the range
within which it can smoothly, in a controlled manner, move
any substantial weight, be it ten kilograms or one hundred.
We're talking about the ability to perform a full bench press
without popping your shoulder, to get your chin up and over
the bar, to lift your leg slowly into a kicking position
rather than just throwing it up there. Once this initial
active flexibility and control has been established, you're
much more likely to get through those intense workouts
without hurting yourself.

The best approach to developing a good ROM in crucial
exercises like the squat, bench press, military press and so
on, is to spend a good period of time stressing form while
working with light to medium weights. Studies show that
initial gains in strength from workouts occur more as a
result of neurological training than muscles gains. Once
you've made those initial gains, you'll be ready to start
tackling real weight without the setback of constant injury.
After that its a matter of working with the right dynamic
exercises to develop mass. For an approach that offers more
shortcuts to getting big once you've crossed the initial
hurdles of flexibility, check out Vince Delmontes excellent
e-book, No-Nonsense Muscle Building.

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Wednesday, April 29, 2009

What Does It Really Take To Reach Your Muscle Building Goals?

Weightlifter

The goal setting is one thing that I've often been excited
about, but I haven't always kept up with it the way I should
have. I've recently decided that I need to become more
consistent, and I've been reviewing my goals carefully. I
started to think about what it would take to achieve these
goals, and they got me thinking about what it really takes
to reach your fitness destination.

After reading quite a bit about the subject, I've realized
that desire and passion are essential components of reaching
your goals. In addition, you have to ask yourself if you are
really ready to work hard. Ask yourself what level of
sacrifice you're prepared to make in order to reach your
destination.

What does this have to do with building muscle? Well, I hope
you realize that building muscle is not a new one day or one
week thing. It takes a long commitment and diligence to
reach your goals, including building a muscular frame. So if
you really want to build a more muscular body, you're going
to have to give some things up in exchange for this.

You may think that you've heard all this before, and maybe
that's true. But hearing something a number of times and
actually putting it into practice are two completely
different things. Without action, that knowledge is
worthless.

Whether we're talking about a strength training program or
anything else in your life, achieving a big goal is going to
require a long commitment. It isn't going to happen
overnight, and you're probably going to have to give up some
other activities in order to achieve that.

So are you willing to do what it takes to reach your fitness
goals? Which do you prefer, watching that favorite TV show or
working on a solid strength training program? Can you give
up the incredibly tempting ice cream sundaes you eat every
day in exchange for a healthier and better looking body?

As much as we may try to deny it, you won't reach your goals
overnight with one single action. It's going to be a series
of small choices, probably hundreds or thousands of choices,
that decide whether or not you will be successful..

Remember that a little bit at a time is far better than a
big change all at once. Stick with your plan step by step
and you'll soon reach your muscle building goals.


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Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Muscle Building - Tips For Faster Results

Mans muscular torso

Muscle growth is not just about lifting weights and going to
the gym everyday but there is a science behind it. You have
to remember that the body has certain ways of dealing with
stress. Every person also has different metabolic rates,
and because of this, they may need different exercise
programs.

When it comes to body building, you should be able to know
about the different theories concerning it. By knowing about
the theories, you will be able to apply it in your exercise
regime and get the results you want at a much faster rate.

For building muscles, you have to remember that resting is
very important if you lift weights at the gym. Never ever
exercise the same muscle group everyday unless you are
concentrating on fat loss. However, if you want to gain
muscle, resting the muscles is a very important part of it.

For example, if you exercise your chest today, don't
exercise it tomorrow. This means no bench presses tomorrow.

You have to consider the fact that whenever we lift weights,
we injure our muscles. Therefore, the body will react by
fixing it with bigger and much stronger muscles. And, in
order to promote muscle repair, we need to get some sleep
and let the muscle we injure rest for at least two days.

Diet is also an important factor when you want to gain
muscle mass. Always remember that protein is very important
when it comes to muscle growth. Protein helps in rebuilding
muscles and promote muscle repair. So, how much protein
should you eat? Basically, the rule of thumb is that for every
pound you weigh, you need at least 1.5 grams of protein.
This means that if you weigh 200 pounds, you need to take in
300 grams of protein a day. That is if you work out
regularly.

There are supplements that you may want to try. Some are
rich in amino acids that also promote protein production and
muscle growth, while there is also whey protein that
directly introduces the needed daily protein intake in your
body.

If you want to gain muscle, another key is proper execution
of exercises and the right exercises.

The right exercises for muscle gain are usually free weight
exercises. As much as possible, you should do free weight
exercises and minimize the use of machines. Although
machines do lower the risk of injury, you have to remember
that free weight is much more effective in promoting muscle
growth. Always remember that in order to promote muscle
growth, you also need to strengthen the supporting muscles.
For example, if you want to promote muscle growth on your
biceps, you also need to strengthen the muscles that
surround the biceps.

And, only free weight exercises can do this. Machine
exercises virtually does not put any strain on the
supporting muscles, which means that it will not promote the
growth of your primary muscles as well as free weight
exercises can.

Proper execution of the exercise is also very important. By
doing the exercises slowly and in a controlled and smooth
motion, you will promote maximum muscle contractions which
means that it will promote muscle growth.

These are just some of the many body building muscle gain
tips that you need to keep in mind. There are quite a lot of
techniques that will be able to help you gain muscle. With
these tips, you will be able to get the body you want in no
time at all.

Friday, April 10, 2009

Why Resting Between Workouts Is Crucial For Bodybuilding

Man lifting weights


If you've spent any time in the bookstore browsing through
magazine articles on bodybuilding, you've no doubt come
across some pretty strong claims about how the latest
supplement fad can provide you with unbelievable results.
You may have also seen some recommendations on improving
your workout technique and other such advice.

What was probably missing from the discussion is the
importance of a solid recovery phase when embarking on a new
strength training or bodybuilding program. If you seem to
spend all your time in the gym without making any progress,
or if your initial muscle gains have reached a plateau, take
a moment to think about your recovery plans (or lack
thereof).

First of all, what exactly is the recovery phase? Well,
let's review how muscle is built in the first place. In
order for your body to build muscle, you first have to give
your body a reason to build it. You see, on a basic
biological level muscle is an expensive asset to have, and
the body would rather not have to maintain it. The only way
to stimulate new muscle growth is to give the body a reason
to build it, and the way to do this is to take advantage of
our basic biological need to survive.

When we lift a heavy weight that the body is not used to,
the muscle is damaged on a microscopic level. Because the
body does not want to be put under this same stress ever
again, the muscle will be rebuilt bigger and stronger
(provided there is enough material for growth in the form of
protein and other nutrients).

So how does this tie in to the importance of resting during
the recovery phase? Simply put, the muscles must be given
time to rebuild before they are put under heavy stress
again.

This means that we must limit the frequency of our workouts
in order to maximize their effect, and this is why many
bodybuilding experts recommend only a few hours of training
per week. You may have heard them refer to this concept
with the motto Less is More.

In addition to carefully planning your workouts to avoid
over training, you must make sure that you're getting plenty
of sleep in order to experience the best possible muscle
gains.

Sleep is, after all, when the body tends to repair. As we
discussed above, the body does have to repair itself and
build your muscles bigger and stronger than they were
before. That's why resting, and yes sleep, are crucial to
your success if you're serious about maximum muscle gain.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

5 EXERCISE MYTHS, MISTAKES AND MISCONCEPTIONS EXPOSED

View of a couple stretching


Have exercise misconceptions prevented you from starting an
exercise program? Clear up any confusion and let these
exercise tips improve your workout routine. Hopefully none
of these common exercise myths, mistakes and misconceptions
have prevented you from working out.

1. Common Mistake: Failure to set goals. Do you exercise
without a clear goal in mind? Having a clear goal set is a
critical step in exercise and weight loss success. Tracking
your progress in a journal will help ensure you see your
improvements, will help motivate you and help you meet your
ultimate goal.

2. Common Misconception: No Pain, No Gain. Pain is your
body’s way of letting you know something is wrong. Do not
ignore this. When you go beyond exercise and testing
yourself, you will encounter physical discomfort and need to
overcome it. An example of this would be training for a
marathon. It is important that you have the “base training”
before getting into the advance training. The base training
develops the body and gets it ready for extensive training.
You need to learn to “read” your body. Is the heavy
breathing because you are pushing your body or could it be
the beginning of a heart attack. Exercise is important. Do
it correctly and you can do it for the rest of your life.

It is normal for you to hurt after you exercise, but it must
be done gradually with a good amount of rest periods to
allow proper healing. There are two common problems here
with beginning exercisers. You can cause long lasting damage
to muscles, tendons and ligaments if you work out while you
are in pain, without allowing enough rest time to heal. You
might find yourself in constant and long lasting pain if you
do this which means that you will no longer be able to
exercise.

If you wake up the next morning after you exercised and can
barely drag your aching body out of bed because everything
hurts, you are going to be less motivated to exercise at
all. Constant pain is a sure way to kill your exercise
program.

3. Common Mistake: Sacrificing Quality for Quantity. When
you are ready to increase the number of reps of a particular
exercise, and strengthen the corresponding muscles, instead
of forcing yourself to do a little more each time try
decreasing the number of reps in a set but increase the
number of sets. Also, back off to half your usual number of
reps but add a couple of more sets. You will feel less tired
and will be able to gain strength in your fast-twitch
muscles.

4. Common Myth: Weight Training Makes Women Bulky.
Weight
training for a woman will strengthen and tone muscle, burn
fat and increase metabolism, not build mass. Women do not
produce enough of testosterone to build muscle mass the way
that men do.

5. Common Mistake: Over-Emphasizing Strengths. You should
start focusing on your weak points rather than what you are
good at. This will help you balance things. For example, if
your lower body is stronger than your upper body, then try to
work only on this area one day a week.

Being smart about how you exercise will take you a long way.
It is important to have a healthy body so get out there and
start exercising today.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Better Health With A Weightlifting Fitness Program

Hand Holding Blue Dumbbell


Getting fit can be difficult, particularly if you've spent
the last few years (or decades!) putting off fitness until
tomorrow. Well, your fitness is not something that can keep
waiting. Your health depends on it.

Staying fit doesn't require you to run 6 miles each day. It
only requires that your lungs are healthy and your heart is
strong. There are benefits for the rest of your body too,
such as losing that extra weight that somehow settled on
your tummy.

Is there a fast track way to losing weight and getting fit?
Surely hours on the everyday is not the only way?

Doing cardio work (running, cycling etc) is vital for heart
health, but you can speed up your fitness and weight loss
progress by undertaking a weightlifting fitness program.

Before you panic, don't for a second think that you are
going to turn into the incredible hulk! Lifting weights is a
proven beneficial exercise that has multiple benefits:

- As you build muscle and lose fat, you'll get rid of
weight much quicker.

- Bones become stronger.

- Your body will strengthen and you'll be more energetic.

There's no need to go to a gym if you don't want to.
Weightlifting fitness can be accomplished at home too. All
you'll need is a simple set of dumbbells to start with and
progress from there.

Start out with light, easy weight lifting and then progress
from there to more heavier weights. Within a few weeks you
will notice your muscle definition and your overall body
shape changing for the better.

Weight lifting brings about faster weight loss results than
just doing running or walking. However that does not mean
you should give up the cardio altogether: your body still
needs it. The ideal balance is 50% cardio and 50% weight
work.

A great routine to get into is to do your cardio work in the
morning (say 30 minutes of fast walking) and then weights in
the afternoon. But never work the same muscle with weights 2
days in a row: they must recover first. In fact, training
the same muscle group just twice per week is fine as the
muscle actually grows when you are recovering from a
workout.

Friday, March 13, 2009

Circuit Training - What Is It?

Thinkstock Single Image Set


By Richard Black

So you have decided that it is time to start going to the
gym regularly. You are ready to start working out, but where
do you begin?

Perhaps you want to try bicep curls first because you are
curious about how strong your biceps are. Or maybe you want
to do a leg press because your arms are tired from working
all day and you want to give them a rest before you start
those exercises. Maybe, rather than all of those, you want
to try a treadmill for a half hour first to burn away some
of the calories that you gained from that cheeseburger you
ate on the way over.

When you start working out, these questions may go through
your mind every time you open the gym doors. But this
uncertainty can lead to inefficient workouts, skipping
exercises, and failing to achieve the results you want
because you went in a poor order on one particular day.

To solve this, many trainers teach what is known as "circuit
training." Circuit training is a pre-specified exercise
routine that involves moving from exercise to exercise in a
specific order over a specific amount of time (as as though
you are moving through a circuit).

Circuit Training Techniques

Circuit training gives you significantly less time to rest,
and often involves working out at such an extreme pace that
many people receive an aerobic exercise even though they are
not technically doing any aerobic training methods. However,
just because they give you less time to rest does not mean
that circuit training is only for in shape, experienced
bodybuilders.

On the contrary, circuit training requires significantly
less repetitions (which are generally required with
standardized weight lifting), where you are trading excess
work (lifting with repetitions) for faster work (no
repetitions, faster moving through the workout). Because
there is less resting, many people experience some
impressive results as though they had rested and completed a
repetition.

Benefits of Circuit Training

There are two well known benefits for circuit training:

1) Time

Because you are quickly moving through every workout, you
save a great deal of time overall. If you are often on a
particularly busy schedule, this time saved can be
substantial, and you can cut your time at the gym down
significantly.

2) Efficiency - By rushing from exercise to
exercise in a specific order, you are not wasting any time
allowing your muscles to relax or harden up. Instead, you
are making sure that they are constantly being worked out as
you move from machine to machine, tiring them more and more
in the process.

Circuit training does require a less crowded gym (so that
you can get each machine when you need it), a lot of
planning, and a commitment to moving to the next workout
right away no matter how exhausted you are. But for those
that are on a busy schedule or want to see more results in
shorter time, circuit training is one of the best workout
courses you can put yourself through.

Sunday, March 1, 2009

The 3 Top Body Building Supplements

Man in shadow flexing muscles


If you've spent any time on a body building supplement
website, you have undoubtedly noticed that there is a wide
variety of supplements to choose from. You could probably
spend hours and hours on one of these sites and still not
know what you should use! The purpose of this article is to
go over three of the most common basic supplements: whey
protein, creatine, and glutamine.

Whey Protein

The best protein that you can use while working out is whey
protein. This is because it is absorbed quickly by the body
so your body can quickly put it to use. As you most likely
know, proteins are the building blocks of muscle and so you
need to make sure that you are getting enough protein in
your diet. Using a whey protein powder is a very convenient
way to get more high quality protein into your diet.

Creatine

Creatine is by far the most popular body building supplement
on the market today. Creatine supplements can help you
increase your energy levels and can also help to increase
lean muscle mass. The other great thing about creatine
supplements is they're usually cheap. There are a lot of
companies that put out supposedly more advanced formulas
that cost more, but you can get great results by just using
plain creatine monohydrate.

Glutamine

The most abundant amino acid in the body is glutamine. The
reason glutamine is popular is because it can help to reduce
muscle breakdown after workouts. When you put a lot of
stress on your muscles the glutamine levels in your muscles
can go down by as much as 50%. This leaves your muscles open
to breaking down rather than growing. Glutamine, like
creatine, is also rather cheap. But make sure you mix it in
with something because it has a rather nasty flavor if you
take it plain!

There are other useful body building supplements on the
market, but these three are a good place to start for
anybody. Also be careful of all the hype out there about
products that say that you will put on insane amounts of
muscle
without doing anything. Building a great body takes time
and dedication. Use supplements to help you achieve
better results - they won't do the work for you.

Friday, February 27, 2009

Turbulence Training - Scam Or The Real Deal

I assume that you are reading this article because you have
read about the Turbulence Training program but there's some
skepticism over its effectiveness. For this purpose, I would
not waste space by going into details about the program. The
thing I am going to discuss in this article is whether the
Turbulence Training program is for real or a scam.

Here are some of the key points I found out about the Turbulence
Training program:

1. You will lose fat and gain muscle: The ultimate focus of
any individual should be not just to lose fat, but also gain
muscle. This is because muscles are the only things that
can make your body stronger. Muscles also keep fat away;
since muscles demand a lot of energy to maintain them, your
body uses its surplus energy on these muscles instead of
storing it as fat!

With the TT program, you can not only lose weight, but also
gain valuable lean muscle and become healthy and strong.

2. You will need to work on the system at least 3 times per
week:
If you expect to see any immediate results from the
Turbulence Training program then this is not for you as
results may take time. Like most other legitimate weight loss
programs, you won't see any results until after a couple of
weeks have passed!

Also like any other weight loss program you need to be
committed to TT. You need to work on the system for at least
three times per week in order to see any tangible results.
If you are not someone who can remain committed to a fitness
program for a considerable time period, then I'm afraid that
TT is not for you.

3. It consists of an intense training and workout program:
Exercises are the focal point of the TT program - intense
exercises at that. However not all body types are suitable
for intense exercises. In order to make sure that you are
fit for the Turbulence Training program, you should consult
with your doctor before starting the program.

4. Made for busy people: If you think it is difficult to
find time for exercises, then the Turbulence Training
program is for you. Since TT uses intense workouts to help
people lose weight, you won't have to spend three or four
hours at a gym. In fact, TT is suited for busy people. With
the TT program the excuse of 'I am to busy' has no substance
because you do not even need a gym.

Based on the above evaluation, and also the fact that it can
help one lose weight successfully, I can safely conclude
that the Turbulence Training program is a completely
legitimate weight loss program that really produces results!

If you want to learn more on how to blowtorch body fat and
build muscle and claim a free workout or meal plan visit
the Turbulence Training site available at =>
http://www.theturbulencetrainingsite.com

Friday, January 30, 2009

The Importance Of Whey Protein In Building Muscle

You may be wondering why whey protein is important for
building muscle. You have probably heard about this supplement
from some of your bodybuilding friends or from your personal
trainer, and wondered what exactly it was. If you are
wondering whether or not you need to supplement your diet
with whey protein, here is the information that you need to decide.

Whey protein is a really good source of protein for
bodybuilders, because it is really high in quality. In fact,
whey is about 30% to 90% protein, which means that it is
going to be a really good source of protein. You don't have
to fill up your diet with other foods to get a lot of
protein.

You may be asking yourself whether or not whey is for you,
and the answer is going to depend on what your diet looks
like. The first step is to decide whether or not you need
additional protein. If you are working out, you are going
to need a lot more protein to keep your body moving, so
supplementing with a bodybuilding supplement is going to be
important.

Whey is going to be a good choice for those people who are
interested in getting a lot of pure protein and without getting
a lot of chemicals and other minerals in their supplements.
The only people who probably shouldn't use whey protein are
people who are sensitive to dairy products because it is made
from the byproducts of cheese.

There are three different types of whey proteins:
concentrates, isolates, and hydrolysates. There are some
differences between these three main types of whey proteins.
For example, whey protein concentrates are going to be low
in fat and cholesterol but they are only going to contain
between 30% and 90% of protein by weight.

Isolates are going to be processed to get rid of the fat in
them and are higher in protein than concentrates, but
some people report that they have a bad taste.

Hydrolysates are going to be able to be easily absorbed by
your body, but they are pricier than the other two types of
whey protein. The hydrolysates also tend to taste bad,
and you may have to mix this type of whey powder with
something else like juice to be able to stomach it.

So what exactly is whey protein going to do for you? The
answer is simple, its going to increase your muscle mass,
help you to recover faster and going to give you energy.
If these are things that you are looking for, you might want
to try adding whey protein to your supplement regimen. Whey
protein is something that not a lot of people know about,
but if you want to try it, it is going to help to improve your workouts.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

5 Simple Changes to Build Muscle Fast

If your goal is to get 100% better at something, what would
be the best way to go about it? I can think of two ends of
the continuum. The approach you select will be somewhere
along this continuum: doing one thing twice as good (or 100
percent better), or performing 100 activities 1 percent
better. I think that most people attempt the first approach,
but the latter is much more realistic.

Taken a step further, to make each of these small building
blocks more effective, you could also focus on things that
occur outside of your workouts. So you concentrate on
modifying your habits and making tiny improvements in many
areas that will stack on top of one another to bring you
massive benefits.

So here are 5 simple lifestyle changes you can make to help
you build muscle fast.

1) Replace Traditional Cardio with Interval Training

Aerobic exercise has a negative impact on muscle gaining
because it burns branched chain amino acids (BCAA) and
glycogen. Rather, concentrate on HIIT sessions for fat
burning, e.g. a 400-meter sprint followed by a 400-meter
recovery jog, repeated for a total of four times.

2) Increase Total Time Under Load (TTL)

Instead of focusing on the number of reps, concentrate on
the total time your muscles are under load. Try spending 2
seconds on the negative contraction, 1 second at neutral
(bottom of the exercise), and 1 second on the positive
contraction. Emphasizing the negative is an easy way to
overload muscles and promote muscle weight gain.

3) Eat More Fish

Not only is fish high in protein, it is also a natural
source of essential fatty acids, which are vital for both
your muscular health and your overall health. Omega-3's make
your muscles more sensitive to insulin, so they aid glycogen
storage and increase the absorption of amino acids into your
muscles, while also preserving glutamine storage.

4) Mix up your Total Time Under Load

One really easy way to add variety to a workout, confuse
your muscles, and build muscle up is to switch up your
repetition tempo by adding an explosive day once per week,
or an explosive set once per workout. It looks like this:
2-second negative contraction, 1-second neutral, explode as
fast as you can on the positive contraction and repeat.

5) Cheat on your Diet

If you haven't yet read the Cheat to Lose Diet, you should.
It's a pretty interesting theory into how the body
metabolizes food. The short story is that your body burns
fat in response to the presence of a hormone in your body,
and that hormone comes as a direct result of overeating! So
once a week, cheat, and follow your cheat day with two very
low-carbohydrate, high protein days. You'll enjoy the cheat
day and burn more fat to boot.

Want to blowtorch body fat and gain muscle, without long,
slow, boring cardio and no gym? Get your free workout and
free meal plan available at =>
Turbulence Training