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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