What are the Best Exercises to Gain Weight?

Exercises to Gain Weight

If you want to gain weight fast and healthily in the form of muscles, then exercising is a must. However, there are literally hundreds of different exercises you can do, but not all of them will help you gain weight.

One of the most common mistakes, many Ectomorphs (aka Hard Gainer) make when they first enter the gym arena (myself included), is they spend way too much time doing the wrong exercises, such as riding the bike, or bicep curls.

Sure, riding a bike for 30-60 minutes might be good for your cardiovascular health, but it will hinder you from gaining weight for two main reasons:

        It causes you to burn more calories
        It will increase your metabolism

As a Hard Gainer you will probably already struggle to eat all of the calories you need to gain weight, and you don’t need to make this more difficult on yourself by doing too much cardio!

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Exercise To Gain Weight : Lat Pull Downs

 Lat Pull Downs

There has been much debate about whether Pull Ups or Lat Pull Downs are superior for maximizing back muscles, but my personal preference is Lat Pull Downs.

Sure, Pull Ups might utilize more stabilizer muscles, but what if you can’t do pull ups yet and what do you do once you can easily lift your own weight?

In order to gain weight, you need to stimulate muscle growth, and this requires you to do a certain amount of reps and lift a certain amount of weights, which will change over time.

Lat Pulls Downs offers you this flexibility. You can easily adjust the weights as you get stronger and stronger, and can even lift more than your own weight if you wanted to.

What’s great about this exercise is that you stretch and squeeze your lats more than you could with Pull Ups, and can easily control the weights to MAXIMIZE your muscle growth.

        TIP: Squeeze and hold onto your lats for a second at the bottom of the motion

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Exercise To Gain Weight : Overhead Press

Overhead Press

‘Overhead Press’

                       is another great exercise to help you gain weight and build bigger and stronger shoulder muscles.

What I really like about this exercise it that it complements the Bench Press exercise.

For instance, if you warm up with Bench Press then there’s no need to warm up before doing your Overhead Press (although you still can if you want).

Also, by strengthening your shoulder muscles and rotator cuffs by doing Overhead Pres you will be able to lift more weights with Bench Press.

        TIP: Keep your core and abs tight during this exercise

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Exercise To Gain Weight : Bench Press

Bench Press

Next on my list of best exercises to gain weight is Bench Press, which I believe is the best Upper Body Exercise to gain weight for two reasons:

You are able to lift more weights than other upper body exercises

You are able to target muscle large muscle groups such as your chest, shoulders, and triceps.

Basically just like Leg Press you are able to lift a lot of weights, and the more you can lift, the more muscles and weight you can gain!


        TIP #1: Start with dumbbells if you struggle to lift the bar like I did when I first started

        TIP #2: Make sure you have spotter especially if you are lifting very heavy weights

Exercise To Gain Weight : Leg Press

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Exercise To Gain Weight : Leg Press

Leg Press

Many experts will tell you that ‘Squats’ is the best exercise to gain weight, but from personal experience I have found that ‘Leg Press’ is actually a lot better.

You might be wondering, why that is?

Doesn’t ‘Squats’ utilize more muscle groups and joints than ‘Leg Press’ does?

Well if you look at that criteria alone then ‘Yes’ I would agree with you, but if you take other considerations such as amount of weights you can lift, and risk of injury, then I think Leg Press is the better contender.

For instance, with the Leg Press machine I am able to lift over 300kg (over 660 pounds), but with Squats I can’t even do a quarter of that amount without injuring myself!

        TIP: Start off with light weights and gradually build up from there E.g. 20-40kg increments

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Body Building Supplements

Body Building Supplements

Bodybuilding supplements consists of various substances including proteins and amino acids, metal replacement products, prohormones, testosterone boosters and are taken by boy builders and sports persons to help building muscle or supplement fat loss. These bodybuilding supplements are also suitable for improving sports performance.

Amino acids, Branched chain amino acids, glutamine and protein:

Protein consumed by our body metabolizes into amino acids. The bodybuilders prefer most commonly three branched chain amino acids leucine, isoleucine and valine. Muscles metabolize these branched chain amino acids. Additionally these branched chain amino acids are assumed to have resistance towards muscle breakdown.

Although soy protein, a naturally occurring complete protein may sometime exhibit estrogenic activity and is therefore avoided by many of the bodybuilders, however egg protein is preferred as it is also a complete protein. Casein, another richest protein source of amino acid glutamine is preferred as it contains casomorphine additionally, which releases amino acids at regular intervals.

Bodybuilders prefer to take protein just after exercise or as a replacement of meal. Protein powders are available in the market and right quantity of these at recommended helps in making muscles, as muscles are primarily made of protein and protein also helps us in repairing and growth of muscles.

Whenever you purchase a protein packet, you must look for total serving in the pocket and gram protein, gram carbs, gram sugar and gram fat per servings. If you are lactose intolerant, you should select a protein packet, which does not contain lactose. On the basis of all these information you must select the right product suitable for you.

Metal Replacement Products:

The metal replacement products are either available in powder form or in bar form. Powder form can be mixed with water, milk or juice and can be taken thereafter, however bars can be consumed straight away.

These are made available for complete meal replacement and contains high amount of proteins, moderate amount of carbohydrates and also contains various vitamins and minerals.

Various manufacturers of metal replacement products claim to have added soy protein, egg albumin, whey protein or micellar casein as source of protein. For replacement of carbohydrates ingredients derived from oat fiber, wheat flour or maltodextrin have been added. Some may contain essential fatty acids substitute and other mineral substitutes. Some other products such as glutamine peptide and additional amino acids are also added by some of the manufacturers.

Creatine Monohydrate:

Creatine monohydrate is one of the essential organic acids. It is one of the few products suitable for making healthy muscles. Creatine monohydrate is useful for sports persons engaged in weight lifting and short-range sprinters. Creatine monohydrate works in our body and plays a vital role in making and replenishing of ATP. It is also occurs naturally in beef, pork, and salmon.

If you are on creatine, you may notice a weight gain as creatine has a volumizing effect and draws water and various other nutrients to muscle cells.

Some of the common and minor side effects associated with intake of creatine include stomach upset and gastrointestinal distress. Although, some of the recent studies on creatine shows that it has a positive influence on our heart health and it lowers our lipid profile.

Prohormone Supplements:

Prohormones are precursors to both male and female hormones. Body builders are only interested in the supplements capable to increase male hormone testosterone as at elevated level testosterone will lead to improved muscle growth. Studies carried out on various prohormone have not given the desired results. Some of the horhormone are not significant and effective and may have side effects.

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Bodybuilding: From The Pros To The Everyday Trainers

Bodybuilding: From The Pros To The Everyday Trainers

Bodybuilding’s Jay Cutler wakes up to a breakfast of 15 egg whites, a couple of whole eggs and some toast. He’s just getting started. A steak dinner comes a couple hours later. He then heads to the gym for an intense weight training session. After that, meals of chicken, buffalo meat and turkey are on the schedule. In between meals he’s taking in various supplements for extra protein and vitamin coverage.

Tomorrow’s schedule isn’t going to get any easier.

Cutler is a disciplined trainer. He has to be. In 2006 he took pro bodybuilding’s most prestigious title, Mr. Olympia, away from a legend. Ronnie Coleman, perhaps the most recognizable bodybuilder since Shwarzenegger, had won the title 8 consecutive times. Word is that Coleman wasn’t at all pleased to relinquish the title and is focused on taking it back in 2007.

When these guys walk on stage, it is an impressive sight. They weigh in excess of 260 lbs. with body fat percentages so low they aren’t even worth mentioning. It’s a display of just how far the human physique can be pushed. It’s a battle of nutrition and training strategies.

But, most of all, it’s a battle of dedication.

Bodybuilding’s rise in popularity can be traced not only to the professional ranks but to a health-conscious public that is discovering the benefits of natural bodybuilding. Keeping the workout intensity and healthy diet but subtracting the drugs has led to increase in six-pack abs and bulging biceps in the everyday population.

The dedication put forth by the sport’s top pros may be a bit much for the average person — a daily diet of 5 lbs. of meat and truly grueling training is a lot to ask. However, impressive results are attainable with a more tempered approach.

People willing to put in a few intense hours a week in the gym and show some diet savvy are finding that natural bodybuilding training techniques have true power. They are feeling and looking younger. They are getting stronger and experiencing the thrill of having their physiques demand double-takes.

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3 Keys To Sexy Abs!

3 Keys To Sexy Abs!

There are three basic factors that will help you lose your belly while body building: strength training (which increases resting metabolic rate), cardiovascular exercise (which burns calories), and proper nutrition. Without all three, you can do crunches all day and never get the flat tummy you desire.

Let’s start with cardio. You need to do a cardio exercise you enjoy, 30-45 minutes, 3 or 4 times a week. Running, walking, biking, you pick. Strength training should be performed 2 or 3 times a week. Remember having more muscle mass means you burn more calories during the day. And last but not least, watch what you eat! The stomach is one of the first places bodyfat is stored. So when extra calories are consumed, a “spare tire” appears. Dieting off the fat is absolutely necessary if you want to reveal the muscles of your midsection.

One way to get the most out of your ab exercises is a better form. Follow these few tips during your work-outs. Keep your hands folded across your chest or rest them at your ears. This will ensure your abs do all the work during the exercise. Many people want to put their hands behind their head-don’t- this will only put pressure on your cervical vertebrae. Instead of raising your shoulders towards the ceiling, think about bringing your ribs and pelvis together. You will get a more intense crunch if you concentrate on using only those muscles.

The key behind great abs is your DIET! If you do not lose the fat that covers your muscles while bodybilding you will never be able to show off your six pack. Great Abs is 90% what you eat and 10% exercise. So start burning fat calories and you’ll see your tight abs in no time!

Gina is an ISSA certified personal trainer. She works with her clients in their own homes and offers online fitness training. She writes a weekly fitness article for her local newspaper. Her passion is fitness and helping others reach their fitness goals. She participates in dualthons and 5K races all the way to marathons.

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Know Your Muscle Building Exercises – The Back

Know Your Muscle Building Exercises – The Back

Every bodybuilder and weight trainer will have his or her favorite exercises for each body part. That’s how it should be – as you progress through the various stages of learning you’ll understand what works best for you. It is useful, however, to take stock of your progress every so often and carry out an analysis of where you are and what changes, if any, are needed to move onwards and upwards.

Part of this analysis should include an assessment of the core exercises that make up your bodybuilding training program. In this article we’ll look at the back exercises that have proven their worth to serious bodybuilders for many years. Where appropriate a series of exercises suitable for achieving pre-exhaustion will be presented. All exercises should be performed to failure with one set of six to eight reps.

1. Lat machine pulldowns – this exercise has been chosen because it allows you to isolate the lats and rest the biceps for the compound exercise to follow.

• Take a shoulder width grip.

• Pull arms towards the thighs keeping the arms straight.

• Pause.

• Return the bar slowly to the starting position.

2. Pulldowns – you can move straight on to this exercise if you are sufficiently experienced. Using the same machine, take an under hand grip because this will make better use of biceps strength thus maximizing the effects of the workout.

• Take a shoulder width grip.

• Pull bar to the chest area.

• Pause.

• Return the bar slowly to the starting position.

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Six Pack Abs – Get Sexy Looking Abs

Six Pack Abs – Get Sexy Looking Abs

If there is one thing that most people are really looking for when they start to work out, six pack abs are it. This is the ultimate image associated with people who are in shape, and as such, you should not be surprised that most people spend a lot of time working very hard to achieve the perfect abdominal area. While this is not the easiest thing to achieve, it is not impossible. With some work, you should be able to get awesome abs and the six pack you’ve always wanted.

Strength-Training, Cardio And A Low Fat Food Intake Create Enviable Abs

The first thing that you should keep in mind is that no six pack ab workout plan will work for you unless you are definitely going to keep on working your abs out regularly and consistently. Make sure that you do a variety of both upper and lower abdominal exercises so that you develop the full six pack. With some hard work, you should be able to achieve the look you want.

The second thing that you should realize is that these ab workouts will only help you if you incorporate a basic fat burning cardio program for 30-45 minutes, three to four days per week at 75% of your maximum heart rate. And remember that beginners will have to start slowly. After all, it is not physically possible to work off the fat in just one part of your body – you have to workout in order to make yourself leaner overall. Cardio fat burning exercises will help you lose fat instead of just muscle and water weight – which is not something that will happen if you just go on a regular diet.

The third and final point here is that abdominal definition is seriously dependent upon diet. The abs are always the last place on your body to lose fat, thus you will have to be quite strict with your diet and meal plan if you want to have awesome abs – Just remember our little tip: EVERYONE has abs, it’s just that most people have a layer of fat over them. If you want to see them, you need to LOSE the fat!!

The most important tip for a healthy, low fat food intake is to eat smaller, more frequent, nutritionally balanced meals. Divide all your food amongst six small meals per day (eat a complete meal every 3-4 hours) in order to have the food convert to muscle rather than fat. We recommend that you limit flour products like bread and pasta and replace them with complex carbs like brown rice and oatmeal. Cut back on fatty foods and eat lots of high quality (preferably organic) protein like skinless chicken, lean beef and baked or broiled fish. If you follow these basic guidelines you will be well on your way to unleashing your abs within and proudly displaying them on the beach some time soon!

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Are you having trouble building muscle?

Are you having trouble building muscle?

Have you been going to the gym regularly for months and haven’t been able to put on any serious poundage? If you answered yes to any of these questions, it’s time to take a step back and make some plans. Building muscle is not rocket science. There are four key factors that will mean the difference between building muscle and staying skinny. You have to ask yourself these four questions.

Is my diet optimized for building muscle?
It’s time to get out of the “3 meals per day” mentality. If you want to gain (or lose) weight you need to feed your body whole foods, six times per day. This means splitting your large meals up and eating about once every three hours. Not only is this good for your metabolism, but your body will use the foods instead of storing them as fat.
Your six meals per day should consist of mainly complex carbohydrates and protein. You should aim for at least thirty grams of protein per meal. High protein foods include lean meat, chicken, fish, egg whites, cheese and milk products. Complex carbohydrates are found in brown rice, brown bread and potatoes. Stay away from foods high in salt and sugar.

Should I be using supplements, and when should I be taking them?
If you can afford supplements you should be using them. The basic three you should be considering are protein, carbs and creatine. Whey protein supplements are the fastest known way to deliver quality protein to your muscles. This makes shakes particularly effective after your workouts, when your body is craving protein for muscle re-growth.
There are three key times that supplements should be taken. First thing in the morning, after your workout and before bed. If your diet is up to scratch you shouldn’t need supplements at any other time. Don’t use supplements to replace meals. Supplements are supplements, not meal replacements.

Am I training hard and not smart?
The biggest mistake the new lifters make is thinking that the more they workout the bigger they’ll get. This couldn’t be further from the truth! Two basic rules you must remember when it comes to weight training. First, quality is better than quantity. Second, compound exercises are the kings of building muscle.
Compound exercises require at least two joint movements. Big compound exercises are the squat, bench press, wide grip pull up and seated row. These movements recruit many more muscles fibers to use to move the weight. This means more muscle groups are worked, the exercise is more challenging and the potential for growth is much greater.
Generally you should be doing three compound exercises for one isolation exercise. For example your back/biceps workout might consist of wide grip pull ups, seated row, bent over row and standing bicep curl. You might think this is not enough work for your biceps? Wrong. Your biceps are worked heavily in all over these exercises; the bicep curl just finishes them off.
The length of any training session should not exceed one hour. And you only need to train one muscle group once per week. This means a split routine should only need to be three days per week. In fact, most professional bodybuilders only train four times per week. Remember, it’s quality not quantity.

Do I get enough rest and recovery time?
When you workout you’re not building your muscles, you’re breaking them down. The reason why you looked “pumped up” when you’re in the gym is because your muscle tissue is swollen and damaged. Your muscles actually grow when you are resting. So in simple terms, no rest equals no muscle growth.
So take it easy when you’re not working out. Ease up on the cardio. And make sure you get plenty of sleep. Sleep is the body’s number one time for building muscle. This is also why it’s important to eat before bed, so your body has the fuel to repair muscle in your sleep.

Simple isn’t it?
So you can see that despite what you read in magazines or on the web about building muscle, it’s surprisingly simple. If you get the four aspects I have mentioned in this article right, you will build muscle. If you’ve got any questions, I’m available on the forum on my site. See links in my bio.

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Bodybuilding

Bodybuilding

Bodybuilding is an activity that operates according to scientific principles and science is mathematically based. Bodybuilding is not an exact science and it’s not healthy to look up to some guru for all your answers. Bodybuilding is the art and the science of developing your body. Modern bodybuilding is ritual, religion, sport, art, and science, awash in Western chemistry and mathematics. An extremely important aspect of bodybuilding is proper nutrition. The diet aspect of bodybuilding is just as important, if not more, than the weight-lifting aspect. Bodybuilding is not a one-hour training session five days a week. Bodybuilding is more a philosophy of life than a straightforward physical activity. Bodybuilding is not just a sport; it is an investment in your body and your life. Bodybuilding is not about lifting weights, but about training muscles. Bodybuilding is designed to develop the muscles for general, sportive or corrective purposes. Bodybuilding is more than just a sport, it’s a life style. Bodybuilding is a sport that mainly emphasizes physical appearance, body configuration and shape, trying to achieve aesthetics perfection.

If you’re looking for a way to feel and look great – then bodybuilding is for you. Bodybuilding is, in its method and ideals, a contradictory practice.

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Know Your Muscle Building Exercises – The Chest

Know Your Muscle Building Exercises – The Chest

Every bodybuilder and weight trainer will have his or her favorite exercises for each body part. That’s how it should be – as you progress through the various stages of learning you’ll understand what works best for you. It is useful, however, to take stock of your progress every so often and carry out an analysis of where you are and what changes, if any, are needed to move onwards and upwards.

Part of this analysis should include an assessment of the core exercises that make up your bodybuilding training program. In this article we’ll look at the chest exercises that have proven their worth to serious bodybuilders for many years. Where appropriate a series of exercises suitable for achieving pre-exhaustion will be presented. All exercises should be performed to failure with one set of six to eight reps.

1. Dumbbell flyes – this exercise provides a useful means of isolating the pectorals and preserving the triceps for the subsequent exercise. The exercise should be performed as follows:

• Hold dumbbells directly overhead.

• Lower them to sides with elbows slightly bent, pulled back and to the side. Lower no further than level with the torso. 

• Use the pectorals to pull the weights back up to the starting position. 

 

2. Incline bench press – you can move straight on to this exercise if you have reached an appropriate level of experience. If you perform this exercise as the second part of a pre-exhaust routine you may have to use lighter weights than normally.

Take a shoulder width grip.

Lower the bar to the chest with the elbows pointed to the side.

Return to the starting position.

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Scientific Principles For Effective Muscle Gain

Scientific Principles For Effective Muscle Gain

It’s an unfortunate reality that throughout the years there has been a growth of strength training techniques that have no scientific proof to back them up. Have a look at the facts presented in this outline of muscle gain principles and make up your own mind.

Below you will find Scientific Guidelines for strength training that have always been around but are not followed by many training systems these days.

1. Limited Energy Level

A strength-training program should be short and simple as you only have a limited amount of energy per training session.Scientific studies reveal that blood sugar levels (energy) start to deplete after 30 mins, so exercise selection and the time taken to perform them is crucial.What you should be aiming for is stimulating as many muscle fibres in the shortest period of time available.Your blood sugar levels deplete after high intensity training (usually between 20 – 30 minutes) and remember that you need energy to recuperate after the workout.The trick is to give yourself a high intensity workout before your blood sugar level depletes, and then you will have given your body the exercise that it requires to gain the maximum amount of muscle possible.

2. Progressive Overload

Basically this means that when the body is stressed by high intensity training beyond its normal demands, the body will adapt to these new demands of improved strength.When I say “normal demands,” I mean what level of stress/strength your body is used to now.An example: The set that you performed last week using the same technique and weight, your body will now have adapted to. If you stay at this level your muscles will not become stronger or bigger, so this is where the Progressive Overload plays a major part.Once your muscles have adapted to a particular weight then it’ll be time to overload them further (add more weight, speed, repetitions). You’ll need to keep on repeating this process of overload if you want to become stronger.Remember to always use GOOD TECHNIQUE. Technique must never be sacrificed for extra load.Progressive Overload is the main exercise principle you need to be aware of in order to get the results that you’re after with strength training.

The two most important points are:

• Complete your exercise with perfect technique

• Push to total failure when doing a set and overload the weight on the bar progressively. (Overload your targeted muscles to beyond what there used to) 

3. Training Frequency

The sad reality is that the popular high volume type of training that you find in bodybuilding books and magazines (and used by the stars) is irrelevant to the majority of the population and has a shocking failure rate.What is good for Joe Star is probably not good for you. Everybody has different genetics; most of us have poor genetics and are not taking steroids like the stars. The only way the majority of us can make any gains at all is to perform short intense workouts followed by long periods of rest so that we don’t overtrain.

4. Over-Compensation

Many studies conducted around the world have shown clearly that recuperation from strength training requires far more rest time than previously thought. Infrequent, short, high intensity weight training sessions, followed by the required amount of time to recover and become stronger is necessary for you to increase your functional muscle.Here’s what you need to do – allow your body enough recuperation time for over compensation to take place, so that the muscles can adjust to their new strength and growth.

5. Exercise selection for intensity

I can’t stress enough of how exercise selection is absolutely crucial. There are only a few exercises that you really need to perform. These exercises consist of multi-joint movements. These particular exercises are far superior to that of isolation exercises (working 1 muscle group at a time) because you are required to use more muscles from every muscle group.By using these exercises your whole body will be worked hard.

6. Visualization

Over my 20 years in the industry, I’ve noticed that this area is by far the most neglected by mainstream health and fitness professionals…Most books or courses concentrate on the physical side of muscle gain or fat loss and completely neglect the mental side of things.By training your mental state as well as your physical body you can even further progress in muscle growth.

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Healthy Foods To Make Sure You Eat When Dieting

Healthy Foods To Make Sure You Eat When Dieting

A very important part of your weight loss program and effort is your diet. This article will give you some tips on foods that you can eat to help you on your weight loss journey.

Focus on eating lean meats, such as turkey, chicken, and fish. If you eat too many fatty meats, this is both unhealthy and detrimental to your weight loss efforts. You can still eat red meats, but you just need to eat them in moderation and in the right sized portions.

Eat plenty of dark leafy greens such as spinach. These are very nutrient rich and beneficial to your daily diet. They contain plenty of vitamins, and they are great for your digestion system and your weight loss efforts.

Have you ever heard of negative calorie foods? These are the foods that actually help you burn calories and contain absolutely zero calories themselves. Have a pickle!

Nuts and seeds are great snacks for those times when you’re feeling a little hungry. You should be snacking throughout the day anyway, and nuts are very nutritious snacks to have.

You should be eating egg whites, and you should leave out the egg yolks completely. The egg whites are very beneficial to your diet, and they are low-calorie as well as low-fat.

You should definitely be eating plenty of oats and other whole grains. Certain types of oatmeal and breakfast bars are wonderful for morning time and eating whole grains.

Eat plenty of lentils and beans, as they are very high in protein and helpful to many parts of your body. They are an essential part of any balanced diet, and they can easily be included in many different recipes.

Salmon is a very tasty fish when you are looking for something different as far as a meat selection. Some people do not like fish very much, but salmon is very tasty. Give it a try!

Fruits that are rich in fiber, as well as other healthy and fiber-rich foods, are great for your daily diet. Try some apples, as these fruits are great for your body.

If you eat a lot of pasta, it can be unhealthy for you. Instead of eating regular pastas, try eating whole wheat pasta instead. This is a very healthy substitute.

Yogurt in many different forms is a great snack. You can eat healthy and low-fat yogurts in a wide variety of flavors for a snack, or you can have frozen yogurt instead of ice cream. You can enjoy a yogurt and granola snack or a yogurt and fruit parfait. There are so many ways to incorporate yogurt as a daily snack. Plain yogurt is even more healthier for you if you find that you want to eat yogurt regularly in larger quantities.

If you want to start your weight loss journey right away, then knowing what foods to include in your diet is very crucial. The suggestions you have read here in this article should help you in your weight loss efforts.

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Use Superset To Build Big Muscles

Use Superset To Build Big Muscles

If you have been lifting weights for sometime or have been reading bodybuilding magazines and journals, you would have probably heard of super

setting. However, how often have you seen people super setting when weight lifting? If you did, did you notice those guys who were super setting

were almost invariably the bigger boys. If you want to be big, then why didn’t you superset like them since you have seen that super setting can

• help you build big muscles?

What is weight lifting superset? A superset is when you perform two exercises back to back with no rest in between the exercises. There are a few

variations of superset such as, antagonistic muscle superset, pre-exhaustion superset and post exhaustion superset…..etc. We will discuss just

these 3 of the more popular supersets in this article.

• Antagonistic Muscles Superset

An antagonistic super set is when you exercise opposite muscle group. Although they are opposite muscles, they actually support each muscle

during your movements. For example, when you do dumb bell curls for your biceps, when you lower the dumb bells, your triceps are called into

action as well. Similarly for the negative movement of a bench press, your back is working too like when you are doing the bent over row.

So for example of an antagonistic superset on your, say chest and back day, do a bench press routine then follow up with a bent over row or vice

versa. That will be one superset. Rest for 2-3 minutes and then proceed with the second set and so on. This will work the muscles involved more

deeply than mere straight sets.

• Pre-exhaustion Superset

In a pre-exhaustion superset, you work on the same muscle group with an isolation exercise and then follow up with a compound exercise without

rest in between sets. For example, still on your chest and back day, you work out with dumb bell flyes (chest isolation exercise) then

immediately thereafter with a bench press (chest compound exercise).

By performing with an isolation exercise first (flyes), you pre-exhuast the targeted muscles you are working on, which in this instance are your

pectorals (pecs) and then hit your pecs hard again with a compound movement (bench press) that allows other muscles that are still fresh such as

your deltoids and triceps to assist your pecs in the exercise.

• Post – Exhaustion Superset

Another version of super setting is the post-exhaustion method. It is the exact reverse of the pre-exhaustion. In other words, lift compound

exercise first and then follow up with an isolation exercise for the same muscle group. It will allow you to lift heavier weight for the compound

exercise because your targeted muscle group is not pre-exhausted yet.

Vary each of these various forms of superset every 2 – 3 months and watch your muscles explode with big massive muscle growth.

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Want To Own A Muscular Greek God Body?

Want To Own A Muscular Greek God Body?

If you are clueless at the gym and yet hungry for plain, good ‘ol professional advice to help you on the road to that sculpted physique of a Greek god, fret not! All you have to do is to have a solid commitment, use the knowledge gleaned from this article and you will attain the body you want pronto. But remember to warm up and cool down, as well as stretching before and after each session; Or even better, after each set for better muscle recovery and prevention of injuries.

1. Use Free Weights instead of Machines More Often

Machines will have its uses, but for a start, concentrate on free weights. That means work almost exclusively with barbells and dumb bells. Free weights recruit many stabilizing muscles for balance and control. That means you will work a lot more muscle parts other than the intended ones. That will give rise to little bumps, striations and definitions all over your body instead of one huge lump of muscle on your intended muscle. Because of the extra stimulant created, your muscles grow faster too. Why else do you think all professional body builders almost exclusively use free weights?

1. Compound Exercises Instead Of Isolation Exercises

Use as many compound exercises as possible to your workouts. Compound exercises are exercises that involve 2 or more joint movements. Because they utilize more joints, that means greater muscle mass are involved. Greater muscle mass means heavier weights. Heavier weights means greater muscle gain.

Some excellent compound exercises are the Squat, Deadlift, Chin ups, Dips, Bench press, Barbell Press, Lunges, Bent-Over Barbell Row…etc.

1. Train with Intensity

You must train intensively like a mad man for your muscle to grow. Try to do more reps or add more weight than the previous session or your muscles will think, “Ah… we’ve done that. Nothing new, so no need to grow bigger and stronger.”

Because of this, it is important that every time you train hard, you give your body time to recover as it has suffered strains and actually sustained many small scarring. Your muscles grow when you rest, especially when you sleep and not in the gym. So sleep at least 8 hours a day. Also, do not train everyday or work the same muscle group more than once or twice a week. If your training was vigorous enough, do no more than an hour per session.

Try not to do cardio work on the same day as your weight lifting work. In fact, during the muscle building phase, you should do less cardio work as aerobic exercises burn muscles. You can increase your cardio work when we come to the cutting phase, to lose fats and gain rippling definition.

1. Correct Technique And Form

Everywhere, everyday, you will see people using wrong form and technique when training with weights. This not only compromises your growth, it will also make you susceptible to injuries.

Wrong form occurs usually when people try to lift weights that are too heavy, whether out of vanity or ignorance. As a guide, always lift with strict focus on the muscle you intend to build for that particular exercise. Feel it contract and extend. Lift the weights deliberately and slowly. Never ever swing your weights up especially when doing bicep curls or the military press. Lower the weights slowly, taking about 3 seconds instead of letting gravity pull the weight down. You must fight gravity to stimulate the muscles, if not, half of your effort is going to waste. Another common mistake is when people arch their back when they are doing their bench presses. By arching your back, you are using your spine to press the weight up. Your back must be pressed against the bench at all times for the exercise to be effectively working on your chest! However you MUST arch your back when doing squats and deadlift.

With some exceptions, as a general rule, if you can lift a weight in good form for more than 10 reps, it is too light. Conversely, if you can’t lift it more than 5 times in good form, it is too heavy.

1. To Grow Fast and Huge, You Must Perform Lower Body Exercises!

This is what most people don’t realize. Your lower body makes up 60-70% of your musculature. If you don’t train them, not only will you look spider-legged, your entire body will not grow as quickly and as large. Don’t think that you can hide those skinny legs in your pants! Most people do not train their legs because squats, dead lifts and lunges can be very grueling exercises. But it is precisely because of such intensity that you will produce more growth hormones when you sleep and overall muscular development is stimulated.

1. EAT and EAT Correctly

Losing weight and building muscles cannot happen at the same time although there are methods to do so and will be too technical to describe here. To lose weight, you must have a caloric deficit. To build muscles, you must have more calories, period! So do not be afraid to eat. Have plenty of protein, moderate complex carbs and some good oil like Omega, olive, flaxseed, fish etc., especially immediately after a workout. That is when your body is most nutrient hungry and will absorb whatever you eat very quickly. The longer you delay eating after a workout, the less effective it will be. Even better, take quick absorption protein shakes and high glycemic carbs during this time. The carbs will induce insulin production almost immediately and shuttle the protein to your muscle cells very quickly.

Eat about 2 gm of protein for each kg of your bodyweight or 1 gm per pound of your body weight. Spread your meals evenly throughout the day about 3 hours apart. It is advisable that you have supplementation of Creatine, Protein, Multivitamins and L-Glutamine.

Yes, you will probably gain weight, but a lot of it will be muscle weight because muscles are heavier than fats. You may also gain some fats because of the extra calories consumed. Don’t worry, it is a happy problem because the more muscles you have, the easier the fats are to shed when you come to the cutting up phase to get those rippling definitions.

Easy isn’t it? Now that you know the facts, the rest is up to your determination.

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Your Weight in Muscle

Your Weight in Muscle

You probably have heard that muscle weighs more than fat. Many people notice a small weight gain when they begin lifting weights consistently. As a general rule, if you lift weights 2 to 3 times a week, you can gain 1 pound of muscle per month for about 6 months. After that, the rate of increase slows down as you start to reach your genetic potential. For the same reason, you will make a lot of progress on weight progression at the beginning, but the longer you lift; your progression will lessen because you are reaching your genetic potential.

Don’t be alarmed at the extra pounds of weight from weight training because it is well worth the effort. For every 3 pounds of muscle you build, research shows you increase your resting metabolic rate by about 7 percent. For example, if your body burns 1,200 calories per day (not counting exercise or any other movement), you would burn an extra 84 calories per day with those 3 extra pounds of muscle.

Many women have a difficult time outgrowing 2-3 pound dumbbell weights, because they are afraid that if they increase the weight they will bulk up. If you are happy with the strength and appearance of your muscles, you can do a maintenance program with 5 pound weights. However, if you want more strength, you could progress to 8 or 10 pound weights and still not bulk up. Using heavier weights can increase muscle size, but it’s highly unlikely that you’ll get bulky. Women don’t naturally have enough of the hormone, testosterone, required to build huge muscles, and even if you could bulk up, you’d have to use significantly heavier weights.

Another option to tone muscle is to increase your repetitions instead of increasing weight. A high-repetition/light-weight program will develop muscle tone and increase strength and endurance without significantly increasing muscle size.

I like to tell my clients to not just go through the motion when lifting weights. I use the word “squeeze” a lot to describe the contraction of the muscle you should be focusing on. Think about the muscle you are working and squeeze or contract it as you are lifting. You will get a lot more benefit for your efforts if you squeeze the muscle on the lift rather than just raising and lowering the weight without focusing on the muscle.

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8 Proven Strategies For Maximum Muscle Gains

8 Proven Strategies For Maximum Muscle Gains

There is so much conflicting information out there when it comes to the topic of body building and building muscle, and sometimes it can be very difficult to know where to start. If you’re an average beginner looking for some basic guidelines to follow in the gym, the following 8 points will start you off on the right track.

1. Train With Weights and Focus On Compound, Free Weight Movements.

If you want to make solid, noteworthy gains in muscle size and strength, you absolutely must train with free weights and focus on basic, compound exercises. A compound exercise is any lift that stimulates more than one muscle group at a time. Examples of these lifts are the squat, dead lift, bench press, chin up, barbell row, overhead press, dip and lunge. Compound movements allow you to handle the most weight and will stimulate the greatest amount of total muscle fibers.

1. Be Prepared To Train Hard.

One of the biggest factors that separates those who make modest gains from those who make serious gains is their level of training intensity. In order to stimulate your muscle fibers to their utmost potential, you must be willing to take every set you perform in the gym to the point of muscular failure.

Muscular Failure: The point at which no further repetitions can be completed using proper form.

Sub-maximal training intensity will leave you with sub-maximal results, plain and simple.

1. Track Your Progress In The Gym From Week To Week.

Our bodies build muscle because of an adaptive response to the environment. When you go to the gym, you break down your muscle fibers by training with weights. Your body senses this as a potential threat to its survival and will react accordingly by rebuilding the damaged fibers larger and stronger in order to protect against any possible future threat. Therefore, in order to make continual gains in muscle size and strength, you must always focus on progressing in the gym from week to week. This could mean performing 1 or 2 more reps for each exercise or adding more weight to the bar. Keep a detailed training log to track your progress as your strength increases over time.

1. Avoid Overtraining.

Overtraining is your number one enemy when it comes to building muscle size and strength. When most people begin a workout program, they are stuck with the misguided notion that more is better. They naturally assume that the more time they spend in the gym, the better results they will achieve. When it comes to building muscle, nothing could be farther from the truth! If you spend too much time in the gym, you will actually take yourself farther away from your goals rather than closer to them. Remember, your muscles do not grow in the gym; they grow out of the gym, while you are resting and eating. Recovery is absolutely vital to the muscle growth process. If you don’t provide your body with the proper recovery time in between workouts, your muscles will never have a chance to grow.

1. Eat More Frequently.

The main area where most people fail miserably on their muscle-building mission is on the all-too important task of proper nutrition. Training with weights is only half of the equation! You break down your muscle fibers in the gym, but if you don’t provide your body with the proper nutrients at the proper times, the muscle growth process will be next to impossible. You should be eating anywhere from 5-7 meals per day, spaced every 2-3 hours in order to keep your body in an anabolic, muscle-building state at all times. Each meal should consist of high quality protein and complex carbohydrates.

1. Increase Your Protein Intake.

Of the 3 major nutrients (protein, carbohydrates and fats) protein is without a doubt the most important for those who are looking to gain muscle size and strength. Protein is found in literally every single one of the 30 trillion cells that your body is made up of and its main role is to build and repair body tissues. Without sufficient protein intake, it will be physically impossible for your body to synthesize a significant amount of lean muscle mass. If your body were a house, think of protein as the bricks. A general guideline is to consume 1-1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight each day from high quality sources such as fish, poultry, eggs, beef, milk, peanut butter and cottage cheese.

1. Increase Your Water Intake

If you want a simple, easy and highly effective way to maximize your muscle gains, drinking more water is it. Water plays so many vital roles in the body and its importance cannot be overstated. In fact, your muscles alone are made up of 70% water! Not only will drinking more water cause your muscles to appear fuller and more vascular, but it will also increase your strength as well. Research has shown that merely a 3-4% drop in your body’s water levels can impact muscle contractions by 10-20%! Aim to consume 0.6 ounces for every pound of bodyweight each day for optimal gains.

1. Be Consistent!

Consistency is everything. Those who make the greatest gains in muscular size and strength are the ones who are able to implement the proper techniques on a highly consistent basis. Simply knowing is not enough, you must apply!

Building muscle and body bilding in general is a result of the cumulative effect of small steps. Sure, performing 1 extra rep on your bench press will not make a huge difference to your overall results, and neither will consuming a single meal. However, over the long haul, all of those extra reps you perform and all of those small meals you consume will decide your overall success. If you work hard and complete all of your muscle-building tasks in a consistent fashion, all of those individual steps will equate to massive gains in overall size and strength.

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Weight loss diet tips

 Weight loss diet tips

Losing weight

         is not a simple task. Many people who are trying to lose weight have been on various diets and have also tried with every “fad diet” that has been around. It is also important to keep in mind that your weight should be lost slowly. You should not expect miracles overnight which are promised by some fad diets. When you first begin with dieting, you will probably lose more water weight, therefore you may be losing more pounds in the beginning. However, if you are doing it in the right manner, your weight loss will get down to an average 1-2 pounds per week.

Weight loss diet and exercise is the only way to lose weight. There are no short cuts available for losing weight. There is no weight loss diet supplement or no magic exercise that can decrease your weight. The means for losing your weight is proper weight loss diet along with some appropriate exercise techniques.

Everybody possesses a fantastic weight loss diet tip these days. Following are some of the great diet tips for weight loss:

Treat your calorie intake as you would treat your savings account. Let’s say you commit to intake 1800 calories per day to promote weight loss. This means that you possess 1800 calories to spend all over the day. For determining calories read carefully the food labels and then reduce that amount from your calorie bucks. This will be helpful in reducing your total amount of calorie intake.

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Waxing 

Waxing

is basically a method of semi-permanent hair removal which eradicates the hair from the root cause. New hairs will not grow again in the previously waxed area for 2-8 weeks. Most likely any area of the body can be waxed, including face, eyebrows, bikini area, legs, arms, back, feet and abdomen. There are many types of waxing which are suitable for removing unwanted hair. If waxing is carried out regularly for many years, permanent reduction of hair can be achieved. 

Waxing is achieved by spreading a combination of wax thinly over the skin. A paper strip or cloth is then pressed on the top and ripped off with a rapid movement against the hair growth direction. This removes the wax including the hair. Another method which is widely used is hard wax. In this method, the wax is applied a bit thickly and with no cloth or paper strips. The wax after hardens when it cools, thus permitting the easy removal by a therapist without the help of clothes. This waxing method is very helpful to people who have sensitive skin. 

Before any hair removal treatment ensure that you do not bath or shower an hour or so prior to the service. The extra content of water on the surface of the skin in addition to the emulsifying effects of warm water along with soaps may offer the skin irritation or extra sensitivity.

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Back Waxing

Back waxing

  is basically a procedure which makes use of hot wax as a means of achieving hair removal from the back. The process is more or less similar to other types of waxing, in which the hot wax is applied to some portion of the skin and allowed to harden to some extent. Once the hardened wax has been affixed to the hair follicles, the wax is quickly removed from the area. Back waxing can leave the area smooth for several weeks.

The back waxing technique is most commonly used with males who wish to get rid of unwanted hair from the back and the shoulders. Different from shaving and use of depilatory creams, this kind of male hair removal are unable to cut the hair down to the level of the skin. Actually, back waxing removes the hair from the root. The result is that the left over traces of the hair root are below the level of the skin and the back will be left over free of visible hair for 2-4 weeks.

Athletes mostly use back waxing method for achieving a smooth texture to the skin. The waxing is also practical in contact sports, as the presence of hair on the back could generate additional friction during repeated contact at the time of playing and irritate the skin. From this perspective, the use of back waxing helps in minimizing the incidence of rashes and other skin conditions that can adversely impact the performance.

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Male waxing

Male waxing

   is basically a method of male public hair removal. It is believed to have become more acceptable in the 1990s, though the exact number of users is not yet known. Male waxing is popular in the male modeling and body building community. There are many types of wax suitable for removal of hair.

Waxing is done by spreading a combination of wax thinly over the surface of the skin. A paper or cloth strip is then pressed on the top and ripped off with a fast movement against the direction of hair growth. This removes the wax including the dead skin cells and hair, making the skin smoother. Kits of home waxing have become more and more popular over the years.

Men are likely to have curlier, thicker and courser hair as compared to women. So ensuring that you are well informed prior to getting on some serious male waxing, here are a few points that you should consider.

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