Abs for Sexy

I am sure that many of you have watched numerous ab commercials suggesting products that would land you the perfect set of abs. You have probably wasted tons of cash on worthless products. I know I have. Do you know what you are doing every time you purchase one of these items? You are buying a dream. A dream that most likely will never become reality. In my opinion, there is no easy way to obtain six pack abs. You have to work at it. It is an ongoing process unless you were genetically blessed.
In order to develop your six pack, you will need to exercise regularly and set a strict diet. Doing one without the other will not cut it. You need both. I can not stress this enough, when you diet please form a plan. Do not just make up a meal as you go along. This could spell disaster for you. You should put yourself on a meal schedule and stick to it. I believe it is okay to go with a six and one plan. That is six days of dieting with one day off. You can diet Monday-Saturday, then take Sunday to enjoy yourself. To relax and enjoy your favorite food. This could prove to be very beneficial to your long term dieting plans.

 Diet Sample

Breakfast
 
1 bowl of oatmeal with 2 hard-boiled eggs
Snack
1 Packet of nuts

Lunch

 
Tuna fish and cooked shrimps with any dips of your choice.
Snack 2
Ox tail soup or breadless cheeseburger.

Dinner

 
Roast beef served with a large bowl of salad and a plate of berries (strawberries and blueberries) for dessert

Remember, along with the dieting you must get the proper exercise. Do lots of cardio. To see the best results, each exercise session should last 30 minutes to lose fat. Continuous cardio exercise such as walking, jogging, cycling or stair climbing should help tremendously. There is no set time for you to exercise. Just do it. You will burn fat whenever you exercise. However, to maximize your efforts it is suggested that you perform your cardio exercise early morning, before eating. You may find it difficult to get up some mornings to exercise, but you must stay motivated. Keep pushing yourself. Just imagine how good you will feel once you reach your goal. You will be more confident in yourself. You will attract the opposite sex. You will have increased levels of energy. You will most likely feel like a new person.

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Which Is More Important? Nutrition Or Training

 Legendary bodybuilding trainer Vince, "The Iron Guru" Gironda was famous for saying, "Bodybuilding is 80% nutrition!" But is this really true or is it just another fitness and bodybuilding myth passed down like gospel without ever being questioned? Which is really more important, nutrition or training? This IS an interesting question and I believe there is a definite answer:

The first thing I would say is that you cannot separate nutrition and training. The two work together synergistically. Regardless of your goals - gaining muscle, losing fat, athletic conditioning, whatever -you will get less than-optimal or even non-existent results without paying attention paid to both.

In fact, I like to look at gaining muscle or losing fat in three parts - weight training, cardio training and nutrition - with each part like a leg of a three legged stool. pull ANY one of the legs off the stool, and guess what happens?

In reality, it's impossible to put a specific percentage on which is more important - how could we possibly know such a number to the digit?

Nutrition and training are both important, but at certain stages of your training progress, I do believe placing more attention on one component over the other can create larger improvements. Let me explain:

If you're a beginner and you don't posses nutritional knowledge, then mastering nutrition is far more important than training and should become your number one priority. I say this because improving a poor diet can create rapid, quantum leaps in fat loss and muscle building progress.

For example, if you've been skipping meals and only eating 2 times per day, jumping your meal frequency up to 5 or 6 smaller meals a day will transform your physique very rapidly.

If you're still eating lots of processed fats and refined sugars, cutting them out and replacing them with good fats like the omega threes found in fish and unrefined foods like fruits, vegetables and whole grains will make an enormous and noticeable difference in your physique very quickly.

If your diet is low in protein, simply adding a complete protein food like chicken breast, fish or egg whites at each meal will muscle you up fast.

No matter how hard you train or what type of training routine you're on, it's all in vain if you don't provide yourself with the right nutritional support.

In beginners (or in advanced trainees who are still eating poorly), these changes in diet are more likely to result in great improvements than a change in training.

The muscular and nervous systems of a beginner are unaccustomed to exercise. Therefore, just about any training program can cause muscle growth and strength development to occur because it's all a "shock" to the untrained body.

You can almost always find ways to tweak your nutrition to higher and higher levels, but once you’ve mastered all the nutritional basics, then further improvements in your diet don't have as great of an impact as those initial important changes...

Eating more than six meals will have minimal effect. Eating more protein ad infinitum won't help. Once you're eating low fat, going to zero fat won't help more - it will probably hurt. If you're eating a wide variety of foods and taking a good multi vitamin/mineral, then more supplements probably wont help much either. If you're already eating natural complex carbs and lean proteins every three hours, there's not too much more you can do other than continue to be consistent day after day...

At this point, as an intermediate or advanced trainee who has the nutrition in place, changes in your training become much more important, relatively speaking. Your training must become downright scientific.

Except for the changes that need to be made between an "off season" muscle growth diet and a "precontest" cutting diet, the diet won't and can't change much - it will remain fairly constant.

But you can continue to pump up the intensity of your training and improve the efficiency of your workouts almost without limit. In fact, the more advanced you become, the more crucial training progression and variation becomes because the well-trained body adapts so quickly.

According to powerlifter Dave Tate, an advanced lifter may adapt to a routine within 1-2 weeks. That's why elite lifters rotate exercises constantly and use as many as 300 different variations on exercises.

Strength coach Ian King says that unless you're a beginner, you'll adapt to any training routine within 3-4 weeks. Coach Charles Poliquin says that you'll adapt within 5-6 workouts.

So, to answer the question, while nutrition is ALWAYS critically important, it's more important to emphasize for the beginner (or the person whose diet is still a "mess"), while training is more important for the advanced person... (in my opinion).

It's not that nutrition ever ceases to be important, the point is, further improvements in nutrition won't have as much impact once you already have all the fundamentals in place.

Once you've mastered nutrition, then it's all about keeping that nutrition consistent and progressively increasing the efficiency and intensity of your workouts, and mastering the art of planned workout variation, which is also known as "periodization."

The bottom line: There's a saying among strength coaches and personal trainers...

"You can't out-train a lousy diet!"

If your nutrition program is your weakest area, either because you're just starting out or you simply don't have the nutritional knowledge you know you need to get results.

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Learn How To Build Muscle In 4 Simple Steps ?

 Are you sick and tired of everyone telling you a different way to build muscle? Are you unhappy with how you look in the mirror? Are you frusturated with your slow progress in the gym? Are you ready to learn five simple steps that will teach you how to build muscle safely and effectively?

There is a good chance that you are not maximizing one of these four steps. Your problem and solution lies in correcting these essential steps before you have any chance of building a muscular and lean physique.

Get read to learn how to build muscle in four simple steps, in less time, without any drugs and without bogus supplements.

Step #1

Committ to lifting weights at least three to four times per week.
Your goal is to stimulate your muscles with resistance (stress) which results in your muscles growing bigger to avoid the stress from occuring again. Once you go home, let the muscle heal through nutrition and rest, it will grow bigger and you will repeat this process again. Ideally you should hit your muscles once every 72 hours so you could perform 2 upper body workouts per week and 2 lower body workouts per week.

Step #2

Focus on eating at least 5-7x a day with balanced meals from carbohydrates, proteins and fats.
If your goal is to build muscle than you should be eating at least 15-18 x your current body weight. Your carbohydrates should equate about 45% of your intake, your proteins should equate about 35% of your intake and your fat should be the remaining 20% of your intake. You should focus on over half of those meals being solid whole food meals and the remainder can be liquid meal replacment shakes.

Step #3

You should focus on stretching at least half the amount that you lift weights.
One of the biggest mistkakes I see is people training, training and training with out any stretching. Stretching helps restore normal length to the tissue and if you are constantly training, your muscle tissues will shorten and big to perform weaker and slower and have a higher incidence of injuries. So if you are lifting weights 4 hours in the week, at least an additional 2 hours should be dedicated to stretching. You must counteract the shortening of the muscle tissues that occurs with weights or else you are a injury screaming to happen.

Step #4

Avoid supplements that have not been around for longer than 3 years.
I learned this phisophy from an Australian strength coach who recommended not trying any supplement until it has been around at least 3 years to pass the test of time. This will make your life much easier and help you avoid all the marketing hoopla in the latest fitness and bodybuilding magazine. If you follow this rule, you will discover only a small handful of supplements still standing. Here are the ones you should not go with out: a high quality multi-vitamin, fish oil capsules, powdered creatine and a protein powder. These products will cover your nutritional basis for health, healthy body composition, strength and muscle mass.

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The 7 Pillars Of Success

Vision

Envisioning the end-result is enough to put the wheels in motion.

Possessing a vision of what you wish to accomplish, and the way you would like to present yourself to the world of bodybuilding is one of the first steps required to ensure a high level of success. By being aware of what it is you wish to achieve and the reasons along why this is important to you will enable you to posses a higher level of understanding, which will lead you to see the opportunities that exist to make your vision successful.

Chosen Empowering Personal Identity

You are whom you choose to be.

Attaining a high level of success is often reflected by the chosen personal identity that through that you choose to present yourself to the world of bodybuilding. It's wise to reasons that defining an identity, which is empowering will become your catalyst and allow you to achieve your desired level of success.

What You Can Offer To The World Of Bodybuilding

In order to receive, often one should be the first to take the step of giving.

In order to achieve your desired success in the world of bodybuilding, it's crucial to be aware of your unique knowledge, talents, and specialty that can serve others with great benefits. Identifying those elements will create a spiral of creation for new products and services that you will be able to contribute to the world of bodybuilding.

Being Your Best

No one ever regretted giving his best.

Making the decision to be the best at the specialty and dedicated vision that you choose to achieve can allow you to reach and have the ability to touch the lives of many with a positive impact.

If we literally did all the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves. - Albert Einstein

Giving your best will also allow you to become aware of your true abilities, that in result will boost your confidence and abilities to rise to a higher level of success.

Faith

Faith and Action go hand in hand.

Faith is a crucial element in any type of success.Developing faith in your abilities is achieved through self-belief.Applying that belief with result-producing action enables a person to attain a confirmation that what he beliefs are indeed possible.

Having A Marketing Strategy

Each possesses unique knowledge that can cater to the needs of others.

Becoming aware of what you can offer the to the world of bodybuilding is the first step to becoming a member of the bodybuilding world and a contributor. Yet developing a marketing strategy is vital in order have a means through which you desire to offer your products and services.

Multiple Streams Of Income

Invest your eggs over few baskets. Should one fail, you can always rely on the others.

Facilitating the positive environment that promotes the growth of your goals requires an important resource, which is financial stability. It's important to realize at the very beginning that possessing several sources of income can ensure the ability to facilitate positive environment for the growth of your goals. Taking the time to create a multiple streams of income strategy will ensure a greater level of success in your bodybuilding endeavors.

Mike Vainshtein, a bodybuilder and motivational speaker shares his power mental and motivational strategies to allow you to achieve your goals and dreams, and lead the life that you desire.

Mike Vainshtein is currently offering personal one-on-one consultation to allow you to create your own marketing plan and earn from your passion for bodybuilding.

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How To Gain Muscle Weight ?

Gaining weight is something most people try not to do. On every corner, in every store, on every magazine cover, and whatever direction you turn, people are obsessed with weight loss. Fat loss, fat loss, fat loss. Even 95% of all fitness related sites on the Internet are geared towards losing fat. However, there are some people, who struggle their whole lives trying to pack on extra pounds and are underweight. I was one of those people. People, pre-dispositioned to skinniness, are commonly referred to as “hard gainers.” This is the cool way to label your scrawny frame despite the fact that your body turns into a Number 2 pencil when you wear yellow!

It's not totally your fault you are skinny

In the skinny guys defence, the reality is that some have been cursed with traits like Lamborghini type metabolisms, giraffe like limbs, and the strength of a senior citizen. These people have to fight with every bone in their body to do something about their small frame and to keep up to their male buddies who seem to grow muscle just by sneezing.

Even though you might think that your genetic deficiencies have sentenced you to a life of frailty and surprised looks when you tell others you lift weights; I am living proof that hard gainers with very ‘muscle-unfriendly genes’ can fight back against their genetics and gain muscle weight.

Skinny guys must play by a different set of rules

 If you are underweight than your first step to gaining weight is to understand that you must play by a different set up rules. You must think outside the box and give up the excuse of being a ‘hardgainer.’ It is time to stop listening to all the naysayers who have told you that is impossible to gain weight because of your genetics. It is time to give up the eating habits and workouts that have not delivered the results you have been looking for. Regardless of what you have been lead to believe, you do have the potential to build an impressive physique that turns heads and build a new level of strength that intimidates!

Below I have provided four very practical and straight forward tips that you can apply today. If you have attempted to bulk up and are still on the light side of the scale it is because of one main reason - you are trying to build a house without the cement and wood. You are trying to buy a $50,000 car with only $25,000 in the bank. Both scenarios are literally impossible.

Four tips to growing like a skyscraper!

Let's take a look at the relation to building muscle and calories. Your muscles grow on calories and require more than you are currently eating. If you are underweight and no longer wish to resemble a microphone stand than you must overload your metabolism to ensure growth. Start following these simple steps to gain an extra 10 pounds of muscle weight in the next month guaranteed.

1. Double it up.

One of the most practical steps you can take is by doubling what you are currently eating in the kitchen right now. If you are eating one chicken breast per meal than cook up two. If you are only eating two slices of bread than make it four. If you are eating one handful of nuts than make it two. If you are using only two scoops of protein powder than make it three. Pretty simple? Most likely you are only a few dozen meals short of filling out those underdeveloped body parts. I assume you are already in the kitchen and have the food out. Perhaps finding the time to get in extra meal is your next challenge to overcome but for right now you have to excuse not to shovel down a greater percentage of calories by doubling it up!

2. Live your life around food.

Sure you know that you must eat every 2-3 hours but how well do you execute? Set your clock around or a countdown timer to go off every 2 and ½ hours so that you reinforce the habit of eating literally not a second late for each meal! You should be eating your first meal within 15-30 minutes of waking up - absolutely no later. Don’t be surprised if you are not gaining weight if you do not find yourself spending more time preparing food, more time eating food and more time cleaning your kitchen. You should also find yourself spending more time in the grocery store and you should also find that you are budgeting more money on food each week.

3. Use BIG eating equipment.

If you want to bulk than you have to eat like Hulk. Do you think Hulk eats out of small plate, or a small bowel or a small cup? If you are aiming to get BIG, you are going to require large amounts of food most likely close to double of what you are currently eating. So get BIG eating equipment! Get a BIG cup, get a BIG bowel and get a BIG plate. Surround yourself with BIG. Most of the time hard gainers are nothing more than ‘under eaters.’ If you struggle to complete a meal than a bigger serving on a bigger plate will look small!

4. Never train hungry.

How many times have you waken up, whipped up a protein shake and than headed off to the gym? Or maybe you had a long afternoon and missed a few meals and than attempted a weight training workout after work? I thought this was common sense until a few of my skinny clients confessed that they were showing up for their workouts having only eaten a piece of fruit and some crackers within the last half day. After dropping the 45 pound plate on my foot out of shock they reassured me that ‘they were not hungry.’ I sometimes screamed back, “Yeah, that’s because your metabolism is in starvation mode and shut right down you skinny pencil neck.”

I understand that training in the morning is the only time for some however I recommend to aim for a minimum of at least three solid meals in your system prior to eating. Would you take your car out on a long trip with a half empty fuel tank? Not unless you want the car to die and push it the rest of the way. So why would you take your body through a grueling training session on a empty stomach?

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12 Week Workout Program

- How many days per week should I workout?
- How many exercises should I do for each body part?
- How many sets and reps should I do?
- Should I lift heavy weights / low reps or light weights / high reps?
- How often should I train each body part?
- Etc. Etc. Etc...

In this article I will cover these questions and lay out a 12 week workout program that you can follow to make some good progress. And hopefully I will clear up some of the confusion about working out.

There is really no right or wrong way to workout. You could ask 10 different bodybuilders to explain their workout routine and most likely you would get 10 different answers.

"Everything works, but nothing works forever." That is probably the most important thing to remember for making consistent progress with your workouts. You can follow most any type of workout routine and you will make good progress for the first few weeks (provided that you are getting adequate nutrition, rest, etc.). But generally after a few weeks of following a set workout program your progress will slow down and eventually you will no longer make progress with that routine.

Our bodies are very smart and naturally accommodate to stress. Your body will add as little muscle as necessary to get the job done. This is why construction workers get only big enough to handle the exact amount of work they do during a days work and no bigger, even though they are doing physical work all day long.

Adding muscle is a very unnatural thing to your body. You must constantly throw "curve balls" at your muscles to get them to grow. Generally, you will make the best progress for the first 3 weeks of starting a new workout routine. After 3 weeks your body starts to adapt and your progress will slow down.

In the following workout routine I have placed 4 different, 3-week workout cycles back to back in order to make a 12 week workout program.

This program requires you to workout 4 days per week. Ideally you would workout on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. And rest on Wednesday's and weekends. But if this doesn't fit your schedule you can workout on other days of the week. Just make sure that you do not workout for more then 2 days in a row before taking a day off.

By doing this you will give your body plenty of time for recuperation and muscle growth. Muscles do not grow while you are working out; they grow while you are resting. Working out will stress and damage the muscles slightly. Then your body reacts by building up the muscles in order to handle the extra work and stress.

Note:
With each of the exercises do as many warm up sets as you need to get to your top working weight. Then perform the required sets and reps with the same weight.

For example:
So let’s just say your top weight for 5 sets of 5 reps is 100 lbs.

- Do one warm up set with 50 lbs.
- Do another warm up with 75 lbs.
- Then go to your top weight of 100 lbs. and perform 5 x 5 with 100 lbs.

If you get all 5 x 5 with good form, then up the weight to 105 lbs. for your next workout and repeat the process.

If you can't get all 5 x 5 or you found them extremely difficult, keep the same weight for your next workout.

The Workout Routine

Weeks 1, 2, and 3 do the following workout routine.

Monday: (five minutes of light cardio to warm up)

Squats:
- do a couple warm up sets first
- 5 sets of 5 reps (train heavy, but don't train to failure)

Dead lifts:
- do a couple warm up sets first
- 5 sets of 5 reps (train heavy, but don't train to failure)

Standing calf raise:
- 5 sets of 10 reps

Leg raises:
- 5 sets of 10 reps

Incline sit ups:
- 3 sets of 10-20 reps



Tuesday: (five minutes of light cardio to warm up)

Incline barbell bench press:
- do a couple warm up sets first
- 5 sets of 5 reps (train heavy, but don't train to failure)

Seated dumbbell shoulder press:
- 5 sets of 8 reps

Bicep cable curls: (from low pulley)
- 5 sets of 10 reps

Tricep push downs: (using straight bar attachment)
- 5 sets of 10 reps

Bent over dumbbell lateral raises:
- 3 sets of 10-15 reps



Thursday: (five minutes of light cardio to warm up)

Leg press:
- do a couple warm up sets first
- 4 sets of 15 reps

Leg curls:
- 4 sets of 15 reps

Wide grip pull downs:
- 4 sets of 15 reps

Hyper extensions:
- 4 sets of 10 reps

Pull down ab crunches:
- 4 sets of 15 reps



Friday: (five minutes of light cardio to warm up)

Incline dumbbell bench press:
- do a couple warm up sets first
- 4 sets of 10 reps

Dumbbell side lateral raises:
- 4 sets of 10 reps

Bicep dumbbell curls:
- 4 sets of 12 reps

Tricep push downs: (with rope attachment)
- 4 sets of 12 reps

Barbell upright rows:
- 3 sets of 15 reps

Keep records of the exercises, weights, sets, and reps that you do. Each workout try to beat what you did for your previous workout. With the squat, dead lift, and incline barbell bench press try to add 5 lbs. to the bar each week and do the same number of sets and reps.



Weeks 4, 5, and 6 do the following workout routine.

Monday: (five minutes of light cardio to warm up)

Bent over barbell rows:
- do a couple warm up sets first
- 5 sets of 8 reps

Barbell shoulder shrugs:
- 5 sets of 10 reps

Leg extensions:
- 5 sets of 10 reps

Leg curls:
- 5 sets of 10 reps

Seated calf raise:
- 5 sets of 10 reps

Incline sit ups:
- 3 sets of 10-20 reps



Tuesday: (five minutes of light cardio to warm up)

Decline barbell bench press:
- do a couple warm up sets first
- 5 sets of 5 reps (train heavy, but don't train to failure)

Seated barbell shoulder press: (i.e. military press)
- 5 sets of 8 reps

Preacher barbell curls:
- 5 sets of 10 reps

Lying tricep extensions: (with the EZ bar)
- 5 sets of 10 reps

Cable upright rows: (from the low pulley)
- 3 sets of 15 reps



Thursday: (five minutes of light cardio to warm up)

Hack Squat:
- do a couple warm up sets first
- 4 sets of 15 reps

Stiff leg dead lifts:
- 4 sets of 15 reps

Seated cable rows:
- 4 sets of 15 reps

Leg raises:
- 4 sets of 12 reps

Crunches:
- 4 sets of 25+ reps



Friday: (five minutes of light cardio to warm up)

Flat dumbbell bench press:
- do a couple warm up sets first
- 4 sets of 10 reps

Dumbbell front lateral raises:
- 4 sets of 10 reps

Bicep barbell curls:
- 4 sets of 12 reps

Tricep push downs: (with V bar attachment)
- 4 sets of 12 reps

Close grip pull downs:
- 4 sets of 15 reps

Keep records of the exercises, weights, sets, and reps that you do. Each workout try to beat what you did for your previous workout. With the decline bench press and the bent barbell row try to add 5 lbs. to the bar each week and do the same number of sets and reps.



Weeks 7, 8, and 9 do the following workout routine.

Monday: (five minutes of light cardio to warm up)

Squats:
- do a couple warm up sets first
- 5 sets of 5 reps (train heavy, but don't train to failure)

Partial Dead lifts: (use a power rack and set the bar just below your knees)
- do a couple warm up sets first
- 5 sets of 5 reps (train heavy, but don't train to failure)

Chin ups:
- 4 sets of as many reps as you can do

Pull down ab crunches:
- 5 sets of 10 reps

Leg raises:
- 5 sets of 10 reps



Tuesday: (five minutes of light cardio to warm up)

Flat barbell bench press:
- do a couple warm up sets first
- 5 sets of 5 reps (train heavy, but don't train to failure)

Bent over dumbbell lateral raises:
- 4 sets of 10 reps

Dumbbell side lateral raises:
- 4 sets of 10 reps

Dumbbell front lateral raises:
- 4 sets of 10 reps

Bicep cable curls: (from low pulley)
- 5 sets of 10 reps

Tricep push downs: (using straight bar attachment)
- 5 sets of 10 reps



Thursday: (five minutes of light cardio to warm up)

Hack Squat:
- do a couple warm up sets first
- 5 sets of 10 reps

Leg press:
- 4 sets of 15 reps

Chest supported row: (i.e. T-bar row, hammer strength seated row, etc.)
- 4 sets of 10 reps

Hyper extensions:
- 4 sets of 10 reps

Pull down ab crunches:
- 4 sets of 15 reps



Friday: (five minutes of light cardio to warm up)

Dumbbell bench press on the stability ball:
- do a couple warm up sets first
- 4 sets of 10 reps

Dumbbell shoulder press sitting on the stability ball:
- 4 sets of 10 reps

EZ bar bicep curls:
- 4 sets of 12 reps

One arm over head dumbbell extensions:
- 4 sets of 12 reps

One arm dumbbell rows:
- 3 sets of 15 reps

Keep records of the exercises, weights, sets, and reps that you do. Each workout try to beat what you did for your previous workout. With the squat, partial dead lift, and flat barbell bench press try to add 5 lbs. to the bar each week and do the same number of sets and reps.



Weeks 10, 11, and 12 do the following workout routine.

Monday: (five minutes of light cardio to warm up)

Leg press:
- do a couple warm up sets first
- 5 sets of 5 reps (train heavy, but don't train to failure)

Stiff leg dead lifts:
- do a couple warm up sets first
- 5 sets of 5 reps (train heavy, but don't train to failure)

Wide grip pull downs:
- 4 sets of 10 reps

Incline sit ups:
- 5 sets of 15 reps

Leg raises:
- 5 sets of 15 reps



Tuesday: (five minutes of light cardio to warm up)

Dips: (add extra weight if needed)
- do a couple warm up sets first
- 5 sets of 5 reps (train heavy, but don't train to failure)

Chin ups:
- 4 sets of as many reps as you can do

Side lateral raises:
- 4 sets of 10 reps

Seated barbell shoulder press: (i.e. military press)
- 4 sets of 10 reps

Bicep dumbbell preacher curls:
- 5 sets of 10 reps

Tricep push downs: (using rope attachment)
- 5 sets of 10 reps



Thursday: (five minutes of light cardio to warm up)

Squats:
- 4 sets of 15 reps

Leg curls:
- 4 sets of 15 reps

Leg extensions:
- 4 sets of 15 reps

Seated cable rows:
- 4 sets of 10 reps

Standing calf raise:
- 4 sets of 10 reps

Pull down ab crunches:
- 4 sets of 15 reps



Friday: (five minutes of light cardio to warm up)

Push ups with feet elevated on the stability ball:
- 4 sets of as many reps as you can do

Seated dumbbell shoulder press:
- 4 sets of 10 reps

Standing one arm dumbbell curls:
- 4 sets of 12 reps

(Super set the curls with the over head tricep extensions, you can use the same dumbbell for both exercises. For example, set of curls with one arm, set of curls with the other arm, set of extensions with one arm, set of extensions with the other arm, with no rest in between.)

One arm over head dumbbell extensions:
- 4 sets of 12 reps

Close grip pull downs:
- 4 sets of 15 reps

Keep records of the exercises, weights, sets, and reps that you do. Each workout try to beat what you did for your previous workout. With the weighted dips and leg press try to add 5 lbs. to the bar each week and do the same number of sets and reps.



Each 3 week cycle is different. You will focus on different exercises during each cycle. This will allow you to make consistent progress over the long term.

After you complete this 12 week workout program you can go through the program again and strive to beat your personal best lifts from the first time through. Or you can move on to something totally different.

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My Training Style for Bodybuilding

In my opinion there is no right or wrong way to train or eat for bodybuilding. I feel this way because you will see many people who are in fantastic shape and they all have their own unique way of training and eating. One person may get huge and ripped by eating a high protein, high carbohydrate, and low fat diet. Another person may get huge and ripped by eating a high protein, high fat, and low carbohydrate diet.

When you look at the training routines of Arnold, he did 20+ sets for every body part, six days a week, twice a day. There is no question that Arnold was a fantastic bodybuilder. Then you have Dorian Yates who trains every other day and does only a few sets per workout. There is no question that Dorian is a fantastic bodybuilder.

Question: Who is right?

Answer: They both are.

I like to follow the KISS rule (keep it simple STUPID!). My philosophy is if it isn't broke don't fix it. With my training I get the best results by sticking to basic heavy lifting. I do have a couple of special shock routines that I will use once every few months to add variety to my workouts (ie. the "Blast Your Bench" program.) But I mostly focus my workouts around the 3 basic exercises; the bench press, squat, and dead lift. I usually do one of the basic exercises and a few other assistant exercises that work that bodypart. I will choose different assistant exercises each workout. However, I usually always do the core exercises (bench, squat, and dead lift) because I find that they are the best exercises for building overall mass.

A sample chest workout would be:

    5 sets of bench presses
    3 sets of dips
    3 sets of incline dumb bell flyes

A sample leg workout would be:

    5 sets of squats
    3 sets of leg curls
    3 sets of leg extensions
    3 sets of standing calve raises

A sample back workout would be:

    5 sets of dead lifts
    3 sets of chins
    3 sets of hammer strength seated rows

That is it, nothing fancy but it gets the job done. Each workout I try to get one more rep then I did for my last workout or I will add a few pounds and try for the same number of reps. I used to do things such as forced reps, negatives, etc. but I find that they caused me to over train. Now I just do straight sets. I have tried various other workout routines, but I get the best results from workouts like I described above.

As for nutrition I don't worry about counting every once of food that goes into my mouth. During the off season I focus on 2 things with regards to nutrition:

    Eat at least 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight.
    Eat a meal every few hours.

I don't worry too much about fat or calorie intake during the off season. Now that doesn't mean I eat all junk either. But if I feel like eating some pizza, cookies, or some other tasty treat I will eat it with out any guilt. After all I am human!

However, when I am getting ready for a contest all the tasty treats stop. I get into my "tuna fish and brown rice is delicious" mode. I will eat a diet that is high in protein, moderate carbohydrate, and low in fat. I will try and eat 1 - 1.5 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight and 1 gram of carbohydrate per pound of bodyweight. I also do at least a half-hour of aerobic exercise each morning before breakfast to help accelerate the fat loss.

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Workouts Chest to Gain Muscle Fast

As I mentioned above the chest has always been a challenge, so let me give you several solid tips and chest exercises to nudge that stubborn chest into new growth.

Chest exercises fall into two main categories: presses and flyes. Although that seems pretty straight forward, it's what you do with your presses and flyes that can make the difference to your Chest Workouts.

Bench Press: Leave your ego at home - in other words, good form is the key, back on the bench, legs on the floor, no weird twisting, arching and jerking.


 Flyes: One tip when performing a fly is to keep your little finger a little higher than your thumb. For me, this hits the chest muscle better, try it and see what it does for you.

Legs: Believe it or not, you can add upper body mass by doing heavy leg work, especially squats. Some say by as much as 10%, so if you aren't doing heavy squats, start now!

 Incline over Flat: Include plenty of incline work; more than flat if possible. This really works the lower chest, preventing the Man Boob effect.

Intensity: Heavy negatives, drop sets, forced reps, rest pause, supersets, and tri-sets are great
               ways of increasing intensity during your chest workouts.

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Bodybuilding Supplements For Teens

Question

I'm 16 years old and have been thinking of taking bodybuilding supplements such as protein powders as I feel doing so will benefit me in building my muscles. The question is, which bodybuilding supplements are best suited for me? I have read many articles stating that supplements containing hormones or for boosting testosterone are not good for my age. What do you recommend I take to accelerate gains?

Answer

As a teenager who practices bodybuilding, I would focus my bodybuilding supplements program on:

1. A good set of multiple vitamins and minerals to avoid any nutritional deficiencies.

2. A good protein powder to take in between real meals so that it is easier and more convenient for you to increase your protein to the levels that you need. A good tub of high quality protein like Pro V60 will do the trick. If you need to gain weight however because you are a hardgainer (a person with a fast metabolism who has issues gaining weight) then I would go for a high quality weight gainer that is low in sugars and that has a variety of fast released and slow released proteins like Lean Body Mass 60.

3. A couple of tablespoons of good fats such as flax oil in order to cover your essential fatty acids needs. You can add these to your shakes.

I would save the creatine, and other more advanced supplements, for later on in your bodybuilding journey, once you have turned 20 and have achieved some pretty solid bodybuilding gains. Believe it or not, I did not use supplements such as creatine until I turned 25.

Definitely, stay away from any testosterone boosting supplementation. Right now (since you are a teenager) your body produces a ton of anabolic steroids (testosterone and growth hormone mainly) that will greatly help you in your quest to build muscle rapidly while losing body fat. Anything that you do trying to further boost your testosterone production may do the exact opposite. Save testosterone boosters for when your body starts to slowly decline in testosterone production, which is around 25 years old. However, research shows that 3,000 mg of Vitamin C lower cortisol levels (a muscle wasting hormone that does the exact opposite of what testosterone does) so 1000mg of Vitamin C at Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner will actually help you in your quest to a more muscular body.

The supplementation program above, in conjunction with a good bodybuilding diet, a good training program based off from basic exercises, rest (yes, you need at least 8 hours of sleep each night) and the determination to execute your bodybuilding program day in and day out will take you to where you want to be.

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10 Things You Can Do To Lose Fat

1. Eat smaller more frequent meals - not only is your metabolism boosted every time you eat something, your body can more efficiently process smaller meals. Instead of having 3 large meals in a day, try to break them up into 5 or 6 smaller meals.

2. Drink more water - regular water intake helps to flush away waste products in the body. Get at least six to eight 8 oz. glasses per day. An easy way to do this is to keep a water bottle handy and drink from it frequently.

3. Be inefficient - do you need to go to the kitchen to get a couple of things? Break it up into to two trips even if you can do it in one. Being inefficient like this can easily double your activity level, burning calories without even trying.

4. Eat more protein - sources of protein include foods such as chicken, fish, eggs, dairy, beans, lean red meats, etc. Your body burns more calories processing protein than either carbohydrates or fats. Protein also helps to support your muscle tissue, which burns calories all day long!

5. Take the stairs instead of the elevator - any time you can add in a little more physical activity, do it. This doesn't mean you need to slog up 20 flights of stairs. Even a flight or two done regularly will add up.

6. Don't let yourself get hungry - when you get hungry you will have a much greater tendency to overeat when you do finally get something to eat. As well, because your body is starting to go into starvation mode, it will be much more likely to hold onto whatever you give it.

7. Order small portions at restaurants - it's tough to order small french fries when "supersizing" your order is such a great "value." Take note, however, your real savings will occur in the calories that don't end up on your backside.

8. Eat more fiber - fiber is very filling. By eating more fiber you will find yourself full sooner. This feeling of fullness will last a long time as well.

9. Wait 20 minutes between servings - your brain takes at least 20 minutes to register that you're full. By waiting that long, you'll give your brain a chance to realize that you don't really need any more food.

10. Cheat on your diet - one thing I always make my clients promise is that they will cheat on their diet. The only thing I ask that they do is to cheat ONLY when they have planned to cheat. By planning when you are going to eat the foods you crave, you take back control of your eating habits.

This way you no longer "give in" to your cravings. You "reward yourself" for sticking to proper nutritional habits. Do this once or twice a week and you will feel far more in control of your eating.

In conclusion, if you follow even a few of these 10 easy tips in the long term, you will certainly notice a difference in your overall weight and health.

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How To Build A Wide Muscular Back ?

The back is one of the most critical areas to develop for a strong powerful physique. Many beginners overlook the importance of back training in their workouts as they tend to focus more on the show off muscles like the chest and arms. While having a well developed chest and arms are important to a complete physique. They are only a small part of the big picture. The back is the most crucial muscle group in the upper body for all around functional strength and an impressive muscular physique.

In fact the saying in bodybuilding competitions over the last decade or so is that "the contest is won from the back". And with very few exceptions most bodybuilding contests are won by the competitor with the best back development.

 A good back has two qualities: thickness and a v-taper shape.

The thickness will bring your shoulders back and allow you to maintain proper posture, thereby bringing more emphasis to a well-rounded, defined chest.

A more pronounced v-taper shaped back will give the optical illusion that the waist is smaller and the shoulders larger, which are important traits of a good physique.

Here is one of my favorite back workouts that will help pack slabs of thick muscle on your "wings". It is an advanced routine, so those who have at least a couple years of weight training under their belt can use it, but beginners would be better off starting with a less challenging workout.


Pull Ups

The first exercise is arguably the single best exercise for building back width - Pull Ups. You'd be surprised to find out just how few people can actually do a proper pull up. Most people look like they are doing some kind of funky horizontal bar work at a gymnastics tournament.

I like to do pull ups the way Arnold did back in the "muscle beach days"... 50 total reps using different grips.

Do a set of as many pull ups as you can do. Then rest a minute or two. Do anther set of as many reps as you can do. Rest, etc. until you have completed 50 total reps. Vary your grip with each set (i.e. wide grip, medium, narrow, underhand, etc.) this will work the back from several different angles and provide better muscle stimulation. 

 If you can't get all 50 reps, don't sweat it. Just do as many reps as you can and strive to get at least 1 more rep each workout. Overtime you'll eventually build up to the point of doing 50+ pull ups in a single workout. And when you get to that stage your back will most likely be one of your best bodyparts

 Deadlifts

Next we're going to move on to deadlifts. The deadlift is the oldest of all weight training exercises and is one of the most effective exercises for overall body development. This will build back thickness and real world functional strength like nothing else.  

Start off with light weight do sets of 5 reps pyramiding up with each set. You don't want to do too many reps during your warm ups as this will just waist energy and take away from your strength during your heavy sets.

Sample pyramid sets and reps:
135 lbs. x 5
185 lbs. x 5
225 lbs. x 5
275 lbs. x 5
315 lbs. x 5
etc...

Once you get to your top working weight perform 3 sets of 5 reps with the same weight. Train heavy, but don't train to failure. Deadlifts are taxing enough on the body that you don't need to rep out to failure to make great progress from them. Rest at least 2-3 minutes between each set so you'll have maximum strength and power. 

 Arm Dumbbell Rows

After the deadlifts we are going to move on to 1 arm dumbbell rows. This will work the lats hard, but give your lower back a much needed rest.

I like to straddle my legs apart and brace my non-working arm against the dumbbell rack or high exercise bench. This position will usually allow you to lift more weight then if you kneel on a bench as some people do. 

Do a couple progressively heavier warm up sets and then do 3 sets of 10-12 reps for each arm. Make sure to squeeze and contract the lats at the top of each rep for a second before lowering the dumbbell back down.

Face Pulls

Face pulls are one of my favorite upper back exercises. They hit the rear delts, traps, and rhomboids really well. Attach a rope to a cable cross over pulley and set it so that it is head height. Grab the ends of the rope and row it towards your face. This exercise works best for higher reps so do 3-4 sets of 15+ reps.

Hyper Extensions

The final finisher to this back workout is 100 total reps of hyper extensions. I've always been a big fan of hyper extensions. They are an excellent exercise that work the spinal effectors, glutes, and hamstrings. I finish off every single back workout with 100 total reps (i.e. 4 sets of 25 reps, 5 sets of 20, etc.). By this stage you will have already worked your lower back hard with the deadlifts, so just use your bodyweight and really go for the burn when doing hypers. 

 Stretching

After your workout you'll need to stretch out the muscles you just worked. So go back over to the pull up bar and just grab the bar and hang for as long as your grip will last. Repeat 3-4 more times using different hand positions to stretch out the back from different angles. Once your finished that then touch your toes (or try to) and hold the stretch for 1 minute to help loosen up the lower back.  

 Well there you have it, a complete back workout from top to bottom. Do this workout once a week as part of your bodypart training split. When doing a high volume workout like this it's best to set aside a day just for back training, rather then pairing it up with another bodypart.

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best Bodybuilding for Beginners - Workout,Eating & Supplement Program

 I'm a complete beginner to weight training. I'd like to make gains as fast as possible, but when I ask people how I should go about it all I keep getting different answers. Please help me, I need advice on all areas: diet, routine, exercises, supplements, etc.

This is one of the most common questions that I am asked. And for those who are just getting started it can be very confusing. I understand what you are going through because I went through the samething when I began bodybuilding.

We all have to start somewhere and it can be overwhelming at times because people often make things more complicated then they really are. When you put aside all of the hype you can see that building muscle and losing fat is not very complex.

What I am going to do is outline a good weight training, nutrition, and supplementation program that you can follow. You do not need to have much exercise equipment. In fact you can make great gains by training in a small home gym. But I would recommend that you workout in a commercial gym. Besides having more exercise equipment to choose from. There is a lot more energy in a commercial gym and there is a feeling of friendly competition. This will help motivate you to work hard and make improvements.

For a beginner I would suggest that you workout 3 days per week or every other day. By doing this you will give your body plenty of time for recuperation and muscle growth. Muscles do not grow while you are working out; they grow while you are resting. Working out will stress and damage the muscles slightly. Then your body reacts by building up the muscles in order to handle the extra work and stress. So by gradually increasing the workload you put on your muscles your body will become bigger and stronger.

Once you workout you have to give your body time to repair and build the muscles through rest. Then you repeat the process of working out and rest. A common mistake that people make is thinking that they will get better results if they workout for several hours everyday. This is not true because what happens is the muscles get stressed and damaged but they don’t get a chance to recover and build up. This is what is called “over training”. When you over train your body can’t build muscle and you may even lose some of the muscle you have now.

We can shorten the period it takes the body to recover from a workout through proper nutrition and supplements. By eating lots of nutritious foods you provide the body with the raw material it needs for muscle growth. Nutritional supplements can help provide extra nutrients. Supplements are not designed to replace real food, but to be taken in addition to real food. For example if you ate the typical 3 meals a day and then had a protein shake in between each meal this would be a great way to “supplement” your diet with extra protein.

For your nutrition you should eat at least 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight. For protein eat foods such as beef, chicken, turkey, fish, eggs, milk, protein shakes, etc. Eat plenty of carbohydrates such as rice, potatoes, yams, whole wheat pasta, whole wheat bread, oatmeal, fruit, vegetables, etc. Try to limit your fat intake, you don’t eliminate fat entirely just avoid eating excess fried foods and “junk-foods”. Eat a small meal every 2-3 hours. A protein drink or protein bar can be considered a meal. Strive to drink approx. 1 gallon of water per day and get 8 hours of sleep each night.

For supplements take a multivitamin and fish oil capsules with your breakfast and evening meal. You can have a protein shake between meals and after your workouts or any other time that you are unable to get a complete high protein food meal. For example, in the morning I’ll often have a big bowl of oatmeal and mix in 2 scoops of vanilla whey protein. This is a great way to have a quick high protein breakfast.

For lunch at school or work you could:

    Cook foods such as chicken, beef, turkey, rice, pasta, etc. ahead of time and put them in a Tupperware container to reheat in the microwave. Cooking on a George Foreman grill (or similar grill) is a fast and easy way to cook your meats, chicken, etc. for meals later in the day.
    Make sandwiches such as tuna, roast beef, turkey, etc.
    Mix a protein shake and take it with you in a thermos or shaker bottle.
    Take healthy snack foods like apples, bananas, carrots, dried fruit, nuts, etc.

Eating right is not that difficult it just takes a bit of planning ahead.

The biggest factor to your success is being consistent with your workouts and proper nutrition. You can follow several different workout routines and make good progress, just make sure to work all of the major muscle groups.

Here is a good workout routine that you can follow. With this routine you split up your workouts by exercising half of your body one workout and then exercising the other half the next workout.

Workout 1: 

 Bench press 3 sets of 10 reps (for the chest)

 Pull downs 3 sets of 10 reps (for the back)

 Military press 3 sets of 10 reps (for the shoulders)

 Crunches 3 sets of 25-50 reps (for the abdominals)

 Workout 2:

Squats 3 sets of 10 reps (for the quadriceps)

 Leg curls 3 sets of 10 reps (for the hamstrings)

 Barbell curls 3 sets of 10 reps (for the biceps)

 Triceps push downs 3 sets of 10 reps (for the triceps)

  Standing calve raises 3 sets of 15 reps (for the calves)

With this routine you workout every-other-day and alternate the two workout routines. The weight that you lift for the first couple of weeks should be light enough so you can complete the repetitions with ease. Then gradually, over time increase the amount of weight that you are lifting. For the first set of each exercise, use a light weight to warm up the muscles and prevent injury. For the other sets, increase the weight so that you have to work hard to complete the required repetitions.

At this stage it is best not to complicate things, keep your routine simple and be consistent with your eating and training. The biggest factor with success in bodybuilding is to just stick with it and focus on making small improvements overtime.

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Ab Sculpting Exercise - One Of The Most Productive Exercises For Your Abs

Before I talk about one of the most productive and forgotten Ab Development exercises ever developed, you will need to know how your abdominal muscles actually work. I know for a fact, if I don't offer some pretty convincing evidence, it will be very difficult for you to believe such a claim so here is where a little education will go a long way to prove my point.

Your abdominal muscles are really one big muscle called the Rectus Abdominus. You do not have upper, mid and lower abs unless you have some genetic anomaly. This is really critical to understand because the long muscle fibers in the abdominal muscles start at ribcage and ends at the pubic region.

So, when you contract your muscles during a curl-up or crunch, the two ends of the muscle fibers move toward each other. It is impossible for the lower portion of the Rectus Abdominus (abs) to function without equally "firing off" all the other muscle fibers in the abs.

Once the muscle relaxes and allows its two ends to move apart and reach its original stretched position, you will complete the full range-of-motion of an abdominal exercise,

I am not forgetting the external and internal Obliques because they are directly and indirectly involved while performing any abdominal movement so it's really not necessary to hammer out your Obliques regularly. In fact, since the only thing a muscle can do is shrink and grow (atrophy or hypertrophy), you probably will not want to overly develop the Obliques because it will create a thicker looking waistline.

That means the key to creating great-developed abs is to use exercises that fully contract the abdominal muscle until it is fatigued and that will take the muscle through it's full range-of-motion, just like any other muscle you build in your body.

Remember though, you will not see your abs if they are hidden under a layer of fat and you cannot spot reduce the fat from waistline by training your abs for hours on end. Simply doing hours of abdominal exercises may develop your abs but you will still carry that layer of fat around your body if you aren't burning the appropriate amount of calories. If you are trying to lose body fat, there are much bigger and better exercises than abdominal exercises for burning calories and body fat.

Now that you know how the abdominal muscle works, it's time to discover, "The most forgotten productive exercise for your Abs."

Reintroducing, TADA - The Sit Up.

Wait! Don't go yet. It's really, really important for you to know how to properly perform a Sit Up. If you perform the Sit Up like you did in Gym Class, you are reducing the Sit Up's effectiveness by almost 50% and you could cause some serious low back pain for yourself.

I know; if a personal trainer or non free-thinking exercise physiologist is reading this section right now they are going to tell me I am crazy for recommending Sit Ups. Here again, it is important to understand the rules behind Abdominal-development and the Sit Up exercise really qualifies as a very effective movement.

Remember, when the abdominal muscle is working, "Two ends of the muscle fibers must move toward each other and be able to fully contract".

Does the Sternum and Pubic area move toward each other when performing Sit Ups?

Does the Abdominal Muscle bend and stretch the spine in its full range of motion in a Sit Up?

Does the abdominal muscles reach full extension to full flexion?- YES, if you perform the exercise correctly! So, why does the sit up exercise get such a bad rap?

Primarily because the old style Sit Ups you performed incorrectly in gym class put too much stress on the lower back and hip flexors. But, do you know what is really crazy about that logic? If more muscles than one are involved, it is called a compound or multi-joint movement. You won't hear me saying compound movements are bad. Are these supposed experts trying to get people to actually believe that compound movements are great for every muscle except the abdominal muscles?

If I remember correctly, didn't these same exercise physiologists claim squats and Deadlifts put too much strain on your knees and back and that we all needed to stop doing those exercises too? Just a few years later, most of the experts are now eating their words, aren't they?

Description of Exercise - Here is the appropriate way to perform an effective Sit Up.

Lay flat on your back with a rolled up towel under your lower back. Bend your knees about 45° with heels on the floor and keep your toes pointing up. Do not anchor your feet.

Spread the knees apart approximately 6-8 inches to prevent the hip flexors from contributing too much to the exercise.

Next, extend your arms between your legs and keep your hands between your legs throughout the movement because it will help keep you in the proper position.

Now, exhale and lift your shoulders off the ground, keeping your neck in a neutral position. Concentrate on trying to force the lower portion of your ribcage into your knees by curling the spine upward into the sit up position. (DO NOT CURL YOUR NECK). Slowly lower yourself back down to the starting position by uncurling your spine and you are finished with the repetition when you feel the rolled up towel supporting your lower back again.

Notice how both ends of the abdominal muscle fully contract together and are stretched through its full range of motion. When you perform a Sit Up with proper biomechanics, your next crunch exercise will pale by comparison.

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Simple GPP Workout With An Exercise Rowing Machine

Often times strength and power athletes such as bodybuilders, powerlifters, and weight lifters focus the majority of their efforts on exercises that specifically develop size and strength and often neglect other areas of their fitness such as endurance and flexibility. I know I’ve been guilty of this in the past, especially during a heavy bulk up training phase when my main training emphasis is on getting as big and strong as possible.

While this type of focused training may work for a while, you’ll eventually reach a point of diminishing returns. You can be as strong as an ox, but if your endurance is poor you’ll never have the work capacity to be able to apply that strength to real world situations.

 Enter GPP

GPP stands for “General Physical Preparedness” which means your overall level of fitness. Basically it is a combination of all aspects of fitness; endurance, strength, flexibility, power, speed, and balance. By incorporating a solid GPP program into your workout routine will help expose your personal weaknesses and allow you to strengthen them and improve your overall fitness level and training performance.

All exercise will help to some degree to improve your GPP. But chances are that if you are reading this then the majority of your workouts are based around weight training. So incorporating some forms of muscular endurance and flexibility training into your workouts may be the best way to go.

The reality is that most people are just out of shape so basic cardio type workouts done on a treadmill, exercise bike, or elliptical are ok at first. But within the matter of weeks you’ll max out the benefits of these exercises and at that point they will not do much to improve your training performance, other then helping to burn off excess bodyfat.

Exercise like running does improve GPP, but for a lot of folks it is just too intense and hard on the joints. For me running causes bad shin splints and a lot of heavy impact on the knees and ankles. I’m 230 lbs. and 5’6 ½ tall so I’m not exactly the poster boy for “Runners World” and I prefer to do lower impact forms of cardiovascular exercise. 

If you’ve read other articles about GPP you’ve most likely heard of sled dragging while this is a fantastic way to improve work capacity it is not always practical for those of us who train at a typical commercial gym.     sled dragging

One of my favorite cardio machines that is available at most gyms is the rowing machine (ergo-meter). This is great low for improving your GPP. It also helps to strengthen all the muscles along the posterior chain (i.e. back, glutes, and hamstrings) and is a very challanging cardiovascular workout with zero impact on the joints.

One of the ways that I like to incorporate the rowing machine into my workouts is to do a 10 minutes before my weight training workouts and another 10 minutes after. 

For the first 10 minutes before my workout I just go at a moderate pace and use this as a general warm up for my weight training workout. The second 10 minute rowing session after my weight training workout I’ll go at a higher intensity level and really push myself.

I also like to vary the way I row to hit different muscle groups.

    I’ll start with 1 minute doing regular rowing pulling the handle to the mid-section, this works the entire back.

    Then I’ll go for 1 minute pulling the handle to my chest, works the middle back.

    1 minute pulling the handle to my chin with the elbows held high, sort of like a face pull, this targets the traps and upper back.

    1 minute of rowing to the mid-section with a reverse grip, this targets the lower lats more so.

    1 minute with a reverse grip and bicep curling the handle to my chin. This provides a great pump in the arms.


I’ll repeat this sequence twice for a total of 10 minutes of rowing session each time.

If you find that the resistance of the rowing machine is not hard enough, you can attach a rubber fitness band to the machine and wrap it around the rowing handle to provide additional resistance.

Flexibility

To improve flexibility I will perform a couple stretches for each bodypart that I worked during my weight training workout. This is something that is so simple to do, but most people just ignore it. One of the benefits of stretching directly after a bodypart is trained is better recuperation, recovery, and improved muscle growth through fascial stretching.

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Bench Press Tips

 It seems that anytime I write an article about chest training and discuss proper bench press technique I always hit a nerve with some people when I talk about body position and setting up to perform the bench press.

When I explain how to set up for a bench press I tell people to stick your chest out as far as you can by arching your upper back. And retract your scapula by pulling your shoulder blades back together behind you. This is the way you should be positioned when laying down on the bench.

You can see examples of what I mean by this in the pictures below: 

 In the pics on the left you can see the upper back is relaxed. And in the pics to the right you can see that the upper back is arched and the shoulder blades are pulled back.

The reason for doing this is because it activates the chest muscles to a greater degree. It gives your upper back a solid base on the bench. It reduces excessive shoulder rotation and places them in a safer and more advantageous position for benching.

To sum it up this proper set up targets the major muscles that you want to work, puts you in a stronger position to bench, and it reduces your risk of a shoulder / rotator cuff injury. 

 However, for a lot of people when ever they hear the words “arch” and “bench press” in the same sentence they automatically cringe.


There is a ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ way to arch for doing a bench press.

You’ll note in the description I outlined above I said to stick your chest out by arching your upper back and pulling your shoulder blades. We could also use the word “flex” your upper back instead of arch.

For those anti-archers out there please realize, I NEVER EVER recommended anything about “arching your lower back” at all. Arching your upper back is what is important. That’s what rests on the bench, that’s where all the action takes place. You just need to keep your feet solid on the floor and simply maintain the natural curvature in your lower back. 

 

 The Right Way To Arch

The Wrong Way To Arch

 Actually sit up in your chair and do this simple exercise with me right now…

Try to stick your chest out as far as you can, but you have to keep your back totally flat and your shoulders forward…

How did it go? I bet you couldn’t stick your chest out much if any.

Now try to stick your chest out again, but this time pull your shoulder blades back together behind you and “arch your upper back"… Now look down… whoa what’s that? It looks like you got a chest that sticks out further then Dolly Parton’s… well maybe I’m exaggerating a bit here, but you get the point.

You NEED to expand your chest and pull your shoulder blades back in order put your body in the safest and most advantageous position for bench pressing. And in order to do this it requires ‘arching’ or ‘flexing’ your upper back.
 

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