Abdominal Exercises For Beginning Bodybuilders

The abdomen contains the muscles that most beginners struggle with because they take a long time to develop and need a low level of body fat to be seen. The abdominal muscle group consists of three main muscles:

1. Rectus abdominis - commonly known as the abs, this is a large flat muscle wall that runs from the lower chest to the pubic bone.

2. Obliquus abdominis - commonly known as the obliques, this muscle runs diagonally along the side of the mid-section from the lower ribcage to the pubic area. The internal obliques lie underneath the external obliques.

3. Transversus abdominis - this is a thin strip of muscle that runs horizontally across the abdomen.

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

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

2. Pelvic tilts - 3 sets of 15-20 reps.This exercise will target the lower portion of the abdomen below the navel.

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

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

Day 1: Biceps, Back, Abs

Day 2: Hamstrings, Shoulders, Abs

Day 3: Quads, Forearms, Calves

Day 4: Triceps, Chest, Abs

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

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3 Amazing Ways to Shape Up Your Muscles in Less Than 7 days !

Imagine you need to look great to get all theattention at the biggest party of the year. The cloakhas already started ticking and you have got 7 days tofix yourself for the D-Day. If you can take out 15 to30 minutes in the next few days, you can be ready foraction.

Step 1:

Exercise: Start with skipping and jogging and chin-upsby hanging from a rod for warming up.

Two steps of crunches or sit-ups for strengthening andtoning your abdominal muscles.

Then go for Flat bench press and dumbbell flyers forthe entire chest area, focusing mainly on the innerchest and followed by 2 sets of push-ups.

Work on your trapezium for the collar muscle andshoulder pressing.

For biceps the exercise to be followed is standingbarbell curl.

Next you can work out on your Triceps with Singledumbbell or French press and fore forearms.

Skipping will have an effect on your legs, other wiseyou can go for Squats and back with lat pull down.

Step 2:

Diets are just as important as exercise, because it isthe most important part of getting the body you want.You have to eat good to look good. You need protein,and you don't need fat. Stay away from junk and fattyfoods. Not all fat is bad; there is a healthy fat.This fat can be found in fish, Nuts and some oils.Have Lots of fibers such as leafy vegetables, saladsand daily products.

Step 3: 


The results though wont come easily and theywont come very fast either, So Stay dedicated,motivated and consistent, and do all 3 steps correctlyto get the desired result.

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Injury Prevention Training - The 5 Golden Rules Of Staying Injury-Free In The Gym

 Listen, if you want to get big, you have to train big. Entering to the gym and simply going through the motions without a sweat just isn’t going to get the job done. You have to overload those muscles with heavy weight and high intensity if you want to see real results. This is without a doubt the most effective means of stimulating muscular growth. Muscles grow due to a natural adaptive survival response, and if you don’t give them a damn good reason to grow, well, they won’t.

While training hard and heavy may be awesome for your muscles, it can be trouble for the health of your joints and connective tissue. This is simply the reality of intense weight training, and while there are no guarantees that you will be able to completely avoid getting injured, you can certainly take specific steps to lessen the chance. An injury is the absolute last thing you could ever hope for, as it will stop you dead in your muscle-building tracks. Most serious weightlifters will experience some form of injury at one time or another throughout their training careers.

Down below I’m going to outline my “5 golden rules” when it comes to minimizing the risk of injury. If you can honestly say that you implement all 5 of these into your training program, then your risk of getting hurt will be much lower than someone who does not focus on injury prevention training.

1) Always perform a thorough warmup.

A proper warmup is the single best thing you can do to minimize your risk of injury. This simple 15-20 minute process will prepare your mind and body for the hard work to come by increasing blood flow into the surrounding connective tissue and by lubricating your joints. I would recommend that you perform 5 minutes of light cardiovascular exercise before each workout followed by 4-5 warmup sets for your first major exercise of the routine.

2) Always train with proper form.

This should go without saying. Every exercise that you perform in the gym should be done with proper form and technique in order to keep the stress off of your joints. If you start squatting or deadlifting with a rounded back, jerking the weights around in a ballistic manner or performing dangerous exercises you are almost guaranteed to hurt yourself at some point.

3) Always train within your own personal limits.

Weightlifting is a personal battle, and letting your ego take over is almost always a recipe for disaster. It doesn’t matter what the guy next to you is benching and it is completely irrelevant to your training program. You must always use weights that you can handle and control with proper form, and if you start piling on the plates to impress the people around you, you’ll be stretching your limits and putting yourself in a very vulnerable position.

4) Always know when to quit.

If you cannot complete another rep of an exercise using proper form, the set is over, plain and simple. Put the weight down and rest up for your next set. If you start using huge amounts of momentum and jerky body motions to crank out a couple of extra reps, you’ll be on the sidelines before you know it.

5) Never ignore your aches and pains.

This is a hugely important point and I think we can all admit that we’ve all been guilty of it at some point. I know I have. When you’re motoring along through a training program and are making progress from week to week, the idea of quitting just seems impossible. This can sometimes lead us to ignore those obvious injuries and pretend as if they aren’t really there as we often “work through” the pain and hope that it magically disappears. More often than not, it will only get worse. If you feel that something definitely isn’t right and can sense that you probably shouldn’t be training, listen to your gut and take some time off. Get the problem checked out by a professional and then take the proper measures to heal. While it may hurt your progress in the short term, the overall long-term effect will be a positive one.

So there you have it, 5 basic rules for injury prevention training that you can follow in the gym to keep those joints healthy and to keep you training for years on end. Follow them closely, because I guarantee that if you end up with an injury due to your own bad judgment, you’ll be very, very sorry!

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How Long Should You Rest Between Muscle Building Sessions?

In an earlier article we concluded that muscles must be worked to failure if an adequate hypertrophic response is to occur. Whether this involves one or more sets is irrelevant as in either scenario the muscles must be worked to failure and beyond. This causes significant microscopic damage to the muscle tissues and it is during the period of recovery that protein synthesis undertakes the repair process that results in bigger muscle fibers.

But how long does this process take and when is it safe to expose those same muscles to further intensive exercise? Scientific studies suggest that muscle fiber degradation takes approximately five to seven days to repair and recover. Any further exposure of the affected muscle to intensive activity will interfere with the recovery process and actually prevent it from achieving maximum growth. However, using the muscle to assist in exercising other body parts or even taking part in low intensity aerobic exercise will not prevent recovery.

It follows therefore that each muscle group should be trained intensively only once each week in order to allow full recovery. This can be achieved by incorportating a split training regime that allows you to work out several times each week but still exercise each muscle group intensively only once every seven days.

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How To Build A Thick Muscular Armour Plated Chest ?

 Everyone wants a huge chest, plain and simple. The chest has always been regarded as one of the most powerful muscle groups in the body. A man with a well-developed chest is usually characterized as strong and virile.

Just imagine for a moment if King Kong had flexed his biceps to display his supremacy rather than pound his massive chest. No doubt it would still be impressive, but not nearly as daunting.

There are many different chest workouts and exercises you can perform to develop your pecs, heavy benching isn't the only way to build a chiseled chest. While the standard barbell bench press is a fantastic exercise and is one of the most popular gym lifts. It often times gets over used as a lot of guys judge their progress based on how much they can bench. Egos sometimes get in the way of proper training, and oftentimes guys end up lifting too heavy and using poor technique in effort to move more weight.

tart With A Mass Building Compound Exercise

My personal favorite chest mass building compound exercise is the dumbbell bench press. This exercise has all the muscle building benefits of the regular barbell bench press, but it has some other unique muscle building advantages as well.

Dumbbells allow you to work through a more natural range of motion. You are not locked into a fixed position as you are when holding a barbell. This generally places less strain on the wrists, elbows, and shoulder joints.

Dumbbells also force both the left and right sides of the body to handle an equal workload and thus develop both sides of the chest equally. When you use a barbell or machines your stronger side can actually compensate for your weaker side and perform more of the lifting.

And because you have to stabilize and balance 2 dumbbells, instead of just 1 barbell, there is a higher level of nero-muscular activation. You’ll recruit more of the small stabilizer muscles to help balance and support the weights. Most people will feel a deeper level of muscular fatigue after doing an all out set of dumbbell bench presses compared to doing an all out set of barbell bench presses.

Dumbbell Bench Press

To get in position for the dumbbell bench press set the dumbbells down in front of the bench about a foot apart.

Bend your legs and squat down as if you were doing a dumbbell deadlift, stand up and then hold the ends of the dumbbells against the front of your thighs.

Sit back onto the end of the bench with the dumbbells resting on your thighs.

Keeping your body in this position, let yourself slowly fall back onto the bench so that the dumbbells are resting against your chest. And then securely position your feet flat on the floor.

This may seem simple and easy to do when using light-weights. But when you get to the point of using dumbbells where the combined weight is equal to or greater then your bodyweight, then getting in position to do the exercise is a lot more difficult and proper set up technique is critical.



Fully Stretched Exercise

Doing exercises where you work the muscles through a full range of motion and experience a good stretch in the bottom of the lift are incredibly effective for maximizing your muscle growth. In the case of chest training nothing works better here then the dumbbell flye.

When I do dumbbell flyes I purposely use light to moderate weights, higher reps, and really emphasize the stretch at the bottom. Rather then trying to lift heavy, I simply focus my attention on doing dynamic stretching with weights. Stretching exercises, like dumbbell flyes, help to stretch the connective tissue which surrounds the muscles, and there by expand the fascia and enable the muscles to grow bigger and stronger.

The ideal time to perform fully stretched exercises is right after you’ve trained a particular bodypart with a big basic compound movement and the muscles are “pumped up” and feeling tight. At this stage the connective tissues are already being stretched from the blood volume in the muscles, and then by doing full range of motion stretching with weights you will really stretch the fascia and increase the muscle growth potential.

My personal favorite variation is the incline dumbbell flyes performed on a 45 degree angle bench. This really stretches out the upper chest and I find the angle doesn’t place as much stress on my shoulder joints.

Incline Dumbbell Flyes

When doing dumbbell flyes, start off really light, I’ll start off with just 20 lb. dumbbells and work up to only 50’s at most, and I’m an experienced bodybuilder. The weight is not important here. The main thing is feeling the deep stretch and working the muscles through a full range of motion. If you go too heavy you’ll not be able to stretch as deep and you’ll risk pulling or tearing a muscle.

Hold the bottom position for a second or two to really emphasis the stretch, and then only bring your arms half way up before lowering them down to the bottom position again. DO NOT lift your arms all the way to the top where the dumbbells touch, as this just takes the tension off the chest muscles.



Peak Contraction Exercise

Peak contraction exercises are basically the opposite of fully stretched exercises. The majority of the tension is in the muscles is at the top of the movement when muscles are fully contracted. And there is less tension at the beginning and mid-range of the exercise.

In the case of chest training, exercises like pec-deck flyes and cable crossovers work the chest hardest in the full contracted position. You have to strain to keep the handles together at the completion of the movement, you can’t lock out the weight at the top and get a little break like you can with bench presses.

After completing a heavy mass building compound mid-range exercise like the bench press, then doing a fully stretched exercise like the dumbbell flye, finishing up with a peaked contraction exercise like the cable cross over will really work the entire chest through a full range of motion.

Again heavy weights are not critical here. The main thing is squeezing and flexing the chest muscles. Hold the peak contracted position for 1-2 seconds at the top of each rep. Don’t worry about the stretch with this exercise, just focus your attention on the top half of the lift and pumping as much blood as possible into your chest muscles.

Cable Cross Overs

 The Final Pump Up...

If you have anything left in the tank after completing the previous 3 exercises then you can finish off your chest workout with high rep push ups.

Push ups are one of my favorite chest exercises of all time. Before I got involved with bodybuilding I was training in martial arts and got quite good at doing high rep push ups. At my peak I could pump out 100 push ups in a single set. I honestly feel that all the push ups that I did while training in martial arts really helped give my chest development a head start and is part of the reason why my chest is one of my best body parts today.

Push ups are quite simple, just hit the floor and pump them out. I shoot for 100 total reps at the completion of my chest workouts. Basically, I’ll do a set for as many reps as I can, rest a minute, do another set, rest a minute, etc. until I’ve completed 100 total reps.

Push Ups

After you’ve done 100 push ups at the completion of your chest workout your pecs will feel so pumped and tight that you’ll think they are going to burst.



Re-Cap Of The Workout

Here is just a final re-cap of the entire mass building chest workout:

Start with a mass building mid-range compound exercise:
Do a variation of the bench press, such as dumbbell bench press, barbell bench press, incline bench press, decline bench press, etc.

Warm up with light-weights and pyramid up in weight each set until you get to your top work set weight. Use a top weight that allows you to complete between 5-10 reps per set. This is your compound power movement so do 3 heavy sets.

Perform a fully stretched exercise:
Use a variation of the dumbbell flye (i.e. incline, flat, or decline).

Warm up with really light-weights and stretch out the muscles. Gradually increase the weights, but don’t go too heavy. Focus on stretching the muscles, not moving big weights. Work up to 2-3 sets of 12-15 reps.

Finish off with a peak contraction exercise:
Do either pec-deck flyes or cable cross overs.

Do 1-2 warm up sets and then jump to a working weight that allows you to complete 2-3 sets of 12-15 reps. Focus on squeezing and flexing the muscles with each rep rather then moving big weights.

Optional Exercise:
High rep push ups, strive to complete 100 total reps if you can.

Well, there you have it... a complete muscle pumping chest workout that will help pack on slabs of new muscle growth to your pecs.

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Re-ignite Your Chest Training Progress

Effective Chest Training, Like Everything Else, Begins With The Proper Mindset

An attitude of always wanting more, never being satisfied, is a key element in becoming successful in whatever you do. There's always a higher level of development to achieve-if you're constantly searching for it.

Having that mindset is essential to lasting success. It's also the cornerstone of the habits you need to develop if you want to maximize your chest training. You'll also need to cultivate such winning characteristics as optimism, patience,perseverance, determination and flexibility.

A number of physical factors can also affect your mental attitude, including the frequency of your chest workouts, the number of sets you use, the number of repetitions you set out to perform on every set, the amount of weight you use and the length of time you spend in the gym. When you overtrain physically it gives your mental well being a serious blow, too.

Train to Absolute Failure The ultimate goal of every single set in your chest workout must be to train to absolute failure.

By that I mean you must give 100 percent effort during every set. You shouldn't have anything left in reserve at the end of the set. This is very taxing, mentally and physically, which is why you can't withstand many sets and why you need to work on your mindset. You need to control or get rid of that litte voice in your head that is always telling you to settle.

That requirement is crucial to efficient chest training.

Obviously, you'll need a training partner, or the proper equipment such as a power rack, a machine, or using dumbbells, if you're going to train to absolute failure and train safely.

For now, let's throw out any well-known, legitimate reason you could come up with that takes your training success or failure out of your own hands.

Whatever program you use, the important thing is to put all the effort you can into your training.

One thing that is very important is to go over what it is you are trying to accomplish. I briefly review in my head what I want before I do each set of my workout. What's my goal in the set? What will accomplishing the set goal mean to my other goals?

Now, about that intensity - you probably think you know what intensity is,right? You train hard, right? But is training hard the same as training with 100% intensity of effort? If you polled the people in your gym, 99% of them would tell you they workout extremely hard.

I'm the same way. And yet when I look back on my workouts, I always realize I could've trained a little harder. But that's okay, because I am constantly improving my effort every time I workout. I'm always striving for a higher level of effort andincreasing the quality of each workout.

You Can Increase the htensity of Your Chest Training Now

Before we can achieve more we must constantly be raising our own standards.

Train Your Chest Less Frequently

I know, the thought of training less worries many people that they will not only stop progresssing but will lose what they have. This just isn't so.

Use it as a powerful motivating tool. The thought of training your chest less frequently creates a feeling of uneasiness, or what I call a sense of urgency. It dramatically increases the magnitude of every workout.

The benefits have a far greater effect than just bolstering my mindset.

Training less gives you adequate time to recover from your intense workouts.

Use Fewer Sets

Knowing that you're going to do only a few sets in your chest workout creates this same sense of urgency, allowing you to bring a lot more focus into each rep and set that you do.

Although I always change things up from time to time, a typical chest workout for me is as follows:

After warming up sufficiently and doing two heavy sets of bench presses, I complete my chest workout by doing one set each of three different chest exercises. Many lifters give themselves two, three or even four sets of a particular exercise to get it right. If you give yourself four chances at anything, you'll have less of a sense of urgency to get it right the first time. You will pace yourself and hold back for those other sets. It's only human nature.

Anything less than 100 percent effort is a wasted set in my opinion. Have you ever noticed that when you get yourself in the right mind-set, you can pump out more reps on the last set of an exercise than you did on the first one?

It should be just the opposite. If you were really giving your all during the first couple of sets, you wouldn't have nearly as much energy left to meet or exceed that rep range on the last one.

If you truly train with the proper mindset, then you'll need less training to build your chest. If your training is less than animal-like, you'll need more sets. Be honest with yourself. Only you can determine what's best for you.

Spend Less Time in the Gym on Chest Training

The ability to focus and put forth your best effort in chest workout after chest workout, month after month is what will bring you results.

The less time you spend in the gym, the easier it becomes to focus, and because you're training chest less frequently, using fewer sets and fewer reps, your time in the gym will be much shorter. It will surely make it a lot easier to focus on building an awesome chest. Now, all you have to do is shut up and train!

Proper Recovery Is Critical

Recuperation is probably the most important yet most-often-neglected component of building muscle efficiently. Recuperation means to recover fully from your intense workouts. Only when your muscles have fully recuperated are they ready to grow larger and stronger. If you train again before this process is complete, you will short circuit the growth/recover mechanism and your gains will come to a screeching halt and that's exactly what you want to avoid.

Develop your new chest routine with these steps in mind and see if you don't ignite new growth and more strength in your chest.

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Biceps Growth Cycle Workout

Ultimate Muscle Mass- Bicep CurlsIf you’re biceps just won’t respond and you’re tired of spinning your wheels, then give this basic but effective biceps training cycle a spin . . . you’ll be impressed with the results.
For this program you want to train your biceps only once per week using the following cycle.


WEEK 1: HEAVY
 
Go all out in your biceps training during this week. You want to perform no more than 5-6 working sets (not including warm-ups) using 3-4 exercises. For optimum mass building results, stick to reps in the 6-8 range.
Train to failure on each set. Up your intensity with Drop Sets, Negatives, and Forced Reps on a couple of these exercises. Use your favorite mass building movements for the biceps. Here’s a few possibilities:

Standing Barbell Curl 

 Incline Dumbbell Curls 

Preacher Curls

Hammer Curls 

Straight Bar Cable Curls 

WEEK 2: LIGHT

The idea for this week is to simply pump some blood into your biceps with a fairly light training session.

Don’t use any of the high intensity techniques you used during Week 1.

Try using a wide-variety of movements here doing a total of 6-8 sets (go with only one or two sets per exercise). You’ll be using more moderate weights, so you’ll want to work in the 12-16 reps per set range. This week is an excellent opportunity to try out a lot of exercises. Here’s some to consider:

EZ Bar Curls 

One Arm Cable Curls  

 Reverse Curls 

Concentration Curls

Don’t overdo it this week. Get to the gym, get a bit of a pump, and finish up.

There’ll be plenty of chances to go wild again next week . . . and you should. The cycle can be continually repeated with solid results.

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How To Build Big Calves ?

Many people find it difficult to develop the calve muscles. This is primarily because daily walking has toughened these muscles to the point where it takes exceptionally intense training to force them to grow.

Calve Muscle Anatomy

There are two primary muscle groups on the back of the lower legs - the gastrocnemius and the soleus muscles. The soleus is a wide, flat muscle that lies beneath the heart shaped gastrocnemius. Both muscles contract to extend the feet and toes, but the soleus can only fully contract when your leg is bent to at least a 30-degree angle.

There are several other smaller muscles in your lower legs, all of which will be developed by focusing on working the calves. The only exception is the tibialis anterior muscle, which runs up the front of your shin and contracts to pull your foot and toes upward.

 If you have trouble developing your calves you can work these muscles more frequently then other muscle groups. They are tough, dense muscles and they can handle a bigger workload.

Calve Exercises

It is essential that when you do any exercise that you perform the movements correctly, if you don't you will receive less then optimum benefit from the exercise. It is very difficult to unlearn bad exercise habits, so it is best to learn the right exercise technique from the very start.

For each calve workout do 4 sets for each exercise listed below. One workout do high reps (i.e. 15+ per set) the next workout do low reps (i.e. 5-10 per set). This is one of the best ways to get stubborn calve muscles to grow.

Standing Calve Raise

This is a basic calve movement that works the gastrocnemius muscles. 

Step up on the foot block of the machine and place your head between the shoulder pads. Position yourself so that your shoulders are comfortably under the pads. Place the balls of your feet on the foot block, with your feet about shoulder width apart, toes pointing forward.

Straighten your legs and support the weight on your shoulders. Keep your knees straight during the entire movement. Slowly lower your heels until your calve muscles stretch down as far as possible. Hold the stretched position for a second and then rise up as high as you can on your tippy toes. Hold this position for a second to enhance the peak contraction in the calves. Repeat.

Tip - for a variation you can do this exercise with one leg at a time. If you do not have access to a standing calve raise you can perform the exercise with a barbell across your shoulders instead.

Seated Calve Raise

This exercise targets the soleus muscles because it is performed with your legs bent at a 90-degree angle. This exercise also works the gastrocnemius muscles are as secondary muscles. 

Adjust the knee pads of the machine so that you can sit with your knees snug to the pads. Place the balls of your feet on the foot block, with your feet about shoulder width apart, toes pointing forward.

Rise up as high as you can on your tippy toes. Hold this position for a second to enhance the peak contraction in the calves. Slowly lower your heels until your calve muscles stretch down as far as possible. Hold the stretched position for a second. Repeat.

Tip - if you do not have access to a seated calve raise machine you can do this exercise seated on the end of a bench with a barbell wrapped in a thick towel placed on top you're your knees.

Donkey Calve Raises

This different looking exercise is excellent for working the gastrocnemius muscles. Secondary stress is applied to the soleus muscles. 

Stand with the balls of your feet on a block, with your feet about shoulder width apart, toes pointing forward. Bend over and rest your hands on an exercise bench so that your upper body is parallel to the floor while keeping your legs straight.

Have a training partner sit up on your hips and balance in place as if they were riding a horse. Slowly lower your heels until your calve muscles stretch down as far as possible. Hold the stretched position for a second. Rise up as high as you can on your tippy toes. Hold this position for a second to enhance the peak contraction in the calves. Repeat.

1 Leg Calve Raise

This exercise works the gastrocnemius muscles.

Stand on one leg with the ball of your foot on a calve block and your heels hanging off the edge of the block. You should hold onto something, such as a squat rack, to help you keep your balance.

Keep your knee straight during the entire movement. Slowly lower your heel until your calve muscle stretches down as far as possible. Hold the stretched position for a second and then rise up as high as you can on your tippy toes. Hold this position for a second to enhance the peak contraction in the calve muscle. Repeat for the desired number of reps. Repeat with the other leg.

Tip - you can hold a dumbbell or do this exercise in a standing calve raise machine to add more resistance.

This is a good exercise to do as a warm up or as a finishing exercise for your calve workout.

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4 Simple Keys To Developing A Wide Muscular Back

It never ceases to amaze me how incredibly misguided the vast majority of the population is in the gym. Everyone is desperate for that wide, powerful and muscular physique, yet very few understand how to properly channel their efforts to get there.

For most aspiring lifters, it's all about building a huge chest and arms. Week after week they slave away on endless sets of bench presses and barbell curls in search of the rippling muscle gains they want so badly.

Not surprisingly, those gains never appear in any significant form.

While a well developed chest and arms is clearly an important part of any complete physique, the truth is that these muscles only play a small role when compared to a much larger, much more intricate muscle group that most people severely neglect in their training programs.

I am, of course, talking about the major muscles of the back: the lats, traps, spinal erectors, rhomboids and lower back.

It's obvious why most lifters neglect these all-too-important muscles...

1) The back is not a “showy” muscle and you can't see it in the mirror.
2) Back training is far more stressful and taxing to the body than chest or arm training.
3) Most lifters are simply unaware of how important the development of these muscles really is.

Allow me to let you in on a little secret...

If you want to appear as wide, thick and powerful as you possibly can, nothing will allow you to achieve this goal faster than a well developed back.

In fact, 70% of your upper body muscle mass resides in this area!

Nothing can replace the upper body thickening effect of big, bulging lats and a set of wide, tall trapezius muscles.

Please, get up off that bench press and put down that EZ-curl bar for just a moment and let me share a simple, step-by-step workout that you can use to build the muscular back you so desperately need.

There are 4 major movements that you must perform to properly develop your back...

1) Deadlifts – I cannot possibly stress the importance of this lift enough. There is not a single exercise out there that can even come close to matching the effectiveness of a basic, bent-legged barbell deadlift.

The deadlift will work you from finger to neck to toe and is irreplaceable in developing strong, thick back muscles. The deadlift will stimulate growth throughout the entire back complex and should be the cornerstone of your routine.

2) A vertical pulling movement – These exercises mainly target the lat muscles and will help you to attain that wide, v-tapered look from behind. Examples of vertical pulling movements are chin-ups (overhand or underhand), lat pulldowns and v-bar pulldowns.

To get the most bang for your buck I recommend a basic overhand chin-up. This is the bread and butter of vertical pulling movements and will stimulate growth in the lats like no other exercise.

3) A horizontal pulling movement – Otherwise referred to as “rows”, horizontal pulling movements place their emphasis on the upper/middle portion of the back and also stimulate the lats. There are a ton of different rowing movements to choose from: bent over barbell rows, dumbbell rows, seated machine rows and cable rows just to name a few.

For maximum results, stick to a basic freeweight rowing movement. I usually recommend bent over barbell rows, but bent over dumbbell rows are an acceptable choice as well.

4) A shrugging movement – While not quite as important as the above mentioned lifts, a shrugging movement should still be performed at the end of the workout to target the upper traps and develop that mountainous, diamond-shaped look from behind. A basic barbell or dumbbell shrug will do the trick.

Okay, let's put it all together...


Deadlifts – 2 sets of 5 to 7 reps

Overhand Chin-Ups – 2 sets of 5 to 7 reps

Bent Over Barbell Rows – 2 sets of 5 to 7 reps 


Barbell Shrugs – 2 Sets of 10 to 12 reps



Make sure to keep a written record of every workout that you perform, and focus each week on increasing either the weight that you lift or the number of reps that you perform within the given rep range.

Perform this workout once per week with full effort and I guarantee that your upper body will appear thicker, wider and more muscular than ever before

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Barbell Exercises That Suit Beginners !

Barbell Exercises That Suit BeginneThe aim for beginners to weight training must be to lay the foundations for the intensive workouts that their bodies will eventually be subjected to. Obviously successful bodybuilding involves bringing together disparate elements such as nutrition and rest but choosing the right exercises is crucial. In this article we'll outline the barbell exercises that will enable new bodybuilders to develop the general strength and body conditioning needed.

Initially beginners should aim to complete two sets of ten to twelve reps but after a few weeks, when you have developed sufficient control and basic strength, experiment with one set of six to eight reps to failure. This will maximize your muscle growth and give you the impetus to move on to the next stage of development. Before long you'll find the use of this single piece of equipment restricting, so later in this series of articles we'll pull together a muscle boosting program that utilizes other equipment to take you to the intermediate level. In the meantime, get to work with these exercises in order to get used to working your muscles.

Start off training four days per week and work body parts on the following basis not forgetting to incorporate rest days:

Day 1 - Biceps, Back, Abs

Day 2- Hamstrings, Shoulders, Abs

Day 3 - Quads, Forearms, Calves

Day 4 - Triceps, Chest, Abs
 
Day 5 -  Off

The exercises recommended for beginners are as follows:


CHEST              : Bench press

SHOULDERS    : Upright row, military press, front shrug

TRICEPS           : Lying triceps extension, lying triceps extension with EZ curl bar

BICEPS             : Standing curl, EZ standing curl 

LOWER BODY : Squat, reverse lunge, calf raise

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& Little-Known & Muscle Building Tips

1. Bodyweight Exercises

This was once a popular muscle building technique but is very commonly ignored. Why? Perhaps because most bodyweight exercises are simply hard and can put a dent in your precious ego! As far as I am concerned, if you can not work with your own bodyweight than you have no freaken business using external loading such as barbells and dumbbells.

It’s incredible how many attempt to use heavy weights with a microscopic range of motion but can’t do a set of pushups, a squat to the floor or even one chin up. Don’t get me wrong, there is definitely a place for external loading with heavy weights but not until you have the ability to master the following bench marks:

Males should aim for:
- 1 set of 80 pushups
- 1 set of 20 chin ups
- 1 set of 20 1-leg squats
- 1 set of 40 dips
- 1 set of 20 pull ups

Females should aim for:
- 1 set of 40 push ups
- 1 set of 10 chin ups
- 1 set of 10 1-leg squats
- 1 set of 15 dips
- 1 set of 5 pull ups

These standards will ensure a solid foundation of general fitness and muscular endurance and lead to building muscle mass more easily in the following stages of your weight training program.


2. Flip Your Program Upside Down Every 3 Weeks

This is an extremely powerful tip to building muscle mass, not to mention one of the easiest tricks to ensure your body side-steps plateaus forever. Consider that you have been training your chest shoulders and triceps every Monday. In you next phase, three weeks later, you should do the complete opposite. You will train your triceps, shoulders than chest on Friday. This will prevent plateaus because each muscle group will have an opportunity to train completely fresh. Let's say you are training your back, biceps, forearms and abs on Friday. Than you will train your abs, forearms, biceps, and back on Monday (in the opposite sequence). You will literally switch everything upside down. Again, this will ensure that these muscles receive an opportunity to train first in the week when your body is the most fresh.

You will curse my name when you blow the heck out of the smaller muscles first and than train the larger muscle groups last. Yes, I know this months issue of Bodybuilders Digest said to never train the smaller muscle groups before your larger muscle groups. I have heard it before so stop analyzing, trust me and give it a try. You be the judge and don't be surprised if you see new levels of muscle mass and strength after this one technique.


3. Spend More Time At The Grocery Store

If you are serious about building muscle, accept the fact that you will need to spend more time than you do right now in the grocery store. Have you ever opened the fridge for something to eat and all you found was Aunt Wilma's Thanksgiving turkey leftovers with mold on it? Ever gone into the cupboards and discover only a few leftover bags of potato chips from last weeks Super Bowl party?

To ensure a optimal environment for building muscle and fat loss you must ensure your cupboards and fridge are constantly stocked. This will mean more frequent trips to the grocery store. Chuck the crap that is in your kitchen right now and replace it with good stuff and keep on replacing it. Don't ever let that supply of good food run low.

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The Skinny Guy's Guide To Nutrition

 If you have ever had the opportunity to go out with a bodybuilder for dinner, you would be familiar with that kind of order delivered to the distressed waitress. These high-carbohydrate, high-protein, and high-fat diet meals were the popular method for packing on muscle and climbing the scale. “I'll pack on all the weight I can now, then melt off the fat later,” was the common motto.

Many bodybuilders put a lot of focus into the details of their nutritional strategy. A small food scale, calculator, note pad and pencil are common items found in their kitchen. Some competitive bodybuilders go to the extreme of weighing and measuring everything wherever they go and scribbling numbers into their notepad after every meal.

Obviously, not every skinny guy has the same aspirations, desire and determination to live the life of a bodybuilder. Skinny guys will be more successful today if they have a quick and convenient plan to follow that involves minimal measuring and minimal number crunching.


The See Food Diet Is NOT The Answer

The reality is that many skinny guys’ nutritional level does not exceed the See Food Diet, that is, 'see food' and eat it. Not a bad option if you can avoid getting a potbelly in the process. If this is you, then consider yourself blessed with a Lamborghini-style metabolism. Go right ahead and eat whatever and whenever you want until you’re ready to audition for Rambo IV.

For the most part, the See Food Diet is typically not the most healthy meal plan since it puts zero restrictions on any food categories and is more a concept to shift a skinny guy’s mind-set than anything else. These days, the majority of readers should know the fallacy of a See Food Diet. Sure, you can eat a super high calorie diet, like the See Food Diet, and add some muscle, but you'll add even more fat. And from personal experience, and I'm sure many of you can personally testify, putting the fat on is much easier than taking it off! Conveniently, bodybuilders now have an “off-season shape” card to flash year-round to excuse themselves of looking like a pregnant powerlifter.


Muscle-Building Nutrition Principles

Mastering the principles of nutrition should be like mastering the principles of training – simple. Master the basics and execute them consistently. Think about the 80/20 rule. 80% of your results will come from 20% of your knowledge. Taking what you already know and putting it into action consistently is the magic formula. Let's go over the most important nutrition principles you'll need to practice to get your body growing.


Principle #1: Eat Often – Every 2.5 to 3 Hours

Don't expect to pack on quality mass – muscle without body fat – on three square meals a day. This would lead to massive quantities of both protein and carbs at each meal. Your body can only store so many calories per meal, so guess what this results in? Bloating, poor digestion and unwanted body fat.

Your first meal should be consumed within 15-30 minutes of waking up and consumed every 2.5 to 3 hours. Set your stopwatch to beep until you get something in your body. Don't view these meals as burdensome but as opportunities to fuel and grow your muscles. Look at them as growth surges. Think of the next meal as a fuller chest, broader shoulders, bigger arms and rock-hard abs!

And if you miss a meal, visualize a sea of piranhas eating up your muscle tissue like it’s an all-you-can-eat buffet. And those deadly piranhas are eating up your CURRENT muscle that you are not even satisfied with. They are actually making your muscles smaller. No, you will not lose an inch on your arms if you miss one meal, but once you start averaging 3-4 instead of 6-8 meals a day, don’t be upset when people look surprised when you tell them you work out with weights regularly!

So how many meals should you be eating? That’s easy - just divide the time you’re awake by 2 or 3. I would suggest mastering eating every 3 hours before you consider every 2 hours. So if you’re awake 18 hours a day, eat 6 meals.

What if one of those meals falls right before bedtime? Then eat up! Take the opportunity to eat. If we went to the extreme we would eat every 3 hours throughout the night as well. No matter what you have heard on this (never eat after 7 P.M. garbage) ignore it. Trust me!

Also, don’t view these feeding opportunities as ‘snacks.’ This is a wimpy word mentality that should not be in your vocabulary if you are trying to build muscle. Do you think Ronnie Coleman says, ‘Hey, I think I’m going to go eat a snack?’ Every 3 hours you should be eating decent size meals that will make your body better.


Principle #2: Eat A Variety Of Foods

It is easy to get into a robotic state of nutrition where we eat the exact same foods every day, ingesting the same breakfast, lunch and dinner and the only time we eat differently is when we go out for dinner or someone else cooks for us. It is easier to choose convenience over variety.

Just like our training that we rotate around to prevent boredom, you should rotate your food selection. Normally, you will eat whatever is in your house, so the best strategy to eating a healthy variety is to shop for different foods each week. This will help balance out your diet and help you measure the response a variety of foods. Don’t go for the boring and easy route.


Principle #3: Eat Enough Calories

Building muscle is an eating game because your muscles grow on calories. Not eating enough calories is like an attempt to buy a $50,000 car with only $25,000 in the bank. It's not going to happen. If you are not gaining at least 1-2 pounds per week, then add some extra carbohydrates and proteins to your breakfast, pre-workout meal or post-workout meal.

THERE IS NO WAY AROUND THIS STEP. Even if you have the perfect training routine, you will never grow unless you provide your body with the proper amount of nutrients. It’s like saying you want to build a house but you do not have enough bricks, cement and wood. It will be impossible to build that house. It’s like saying you want to race a car as fast as possible but you don’t have any gasoline or oil. It’s downright impossible.

If you wish to ensure that your muscles have enough fuel to support your workouts, lift heavy weights for high reps, recover from workout to workout and, let’s not forget, GROW NEW MUSCLE, then you have to keep track of what you are eating every day. There is no way around it. This is the number one reason why skinny guys never gain weight or why anybody for that matter will not make quality gains that they so desperately strive for.

Keeping track of what you eat is a lot easier than it sounds – it’s probably why most people avoid it, because they perceive it to be difficult.

Sure, you’re going to have to take some extra time to read containers and labels, but if this method will promise another 20 pounds in a few months from now, is it not worth it? And the good news is that your brain will create a new file to store all your new nutrient calculations, and since you are eating from the majority of the same foods, your ‘memory food bank’ will expand quickly.


Principle #4: Eat 40-60 Grams Of Protein Per Meal

Building muscle is not on your body’s 'to do' list – simple survival is. Not getting enough protein for your internal organs results in your body robbing it from your muscle tissue. Your body cannibalizes itself for the amino acids it needs! This is the polar opposite of what skinny guys want.

Proteins should make up at least 35% of your overall caloric intake. This translates to 40-60 grams of protein per meal for males less then 200 lbs and will be enough to maintain your appetite, increase your muscle mass, accelerate recovery and keep body fat levels low. Hit this level and you’re doing well.

It is better to get your protein from whole, complete, and lean protein. Remember that protein is a costly food and burns twice as much energy as carbs and three times as much energy as fat. You need protein to maximally turbo-charge your metabolism, improve your muscle mass and accelerate recovery.

Aim for lean meats such as ground beef, chicken, turkey, etc. Aim for fish such as salmon, tuna, orange roughy, etc. Aim for Omega 3 eggs and pasteurized egg whites. Aim for dairy from cottage cheese, yogurt and partly skimmed cheeses. And if you have to resort to supplement shakes, go for whey, casein or milk protein blends.


Principle #5: Eat 60-80 Grams Of Carbohydrate per Meal

Not getting enough carbohydrates will make you feel like you’re carrying a bear on your back throughout your workouts. Your body’s gas tank is comprised of carbohydrates. No carbs and don't expect to get that car too far.

A lack of carbs in your diet can slow the muscle-building process because your muscle tissue can be used as energy if your body’s preferred source of energy, carbs, are not available.

It is best to get your carbohydrates from a variety of high-fiber, complex and low-glycemic carbohydrates as opposed to simple carbs (sugars) found in fast food, fried food, processed food and junk food. Complex carbs release a slower and longer lasting energy that is critical for your intense training workouts. Complex carbs will rarely get converted to fat unless you are clearly eating too many of them. If you are gaining more fat around your midsection as opposed to muscle, then you know you should cut back on your complex carbs or add a few cardio workouts.

Aim for high-complex, muscle-building carbs such as bran, barley, buckwheat, beans, brown rice, cornmeal, oatmeal, pasta, potatoes and whole grains.


Principle #6: Eat 20-30 Grams Of Fat Per Meal

About 30% of your diet should consist of fat - this number should remain pretty consistent for everyone. And as a skinny guy or anybody who wants to maximize muscle growth, then eating 30% of your intake from fat is critical for boosting testosterone levels. However, the key is to balance out your intake between saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat. If you achieve 1/3 in each of these, then you will optimize your health and muscle gains. This is not as complicated as it looks.

Since North Americans are harshly deficient in mono (olive oil) and poly fats (from fish oils) and get enough of saturated fats as it is, your job is to simply include more olive oil and fish oil into your diet. This is something that can be recommended for every man and women and has no potential side effects. Again, don’t worry; the meal plans included have got you covered.

The only fats you MUST avoid at all costs - for so many reasons - are trans fats.

Trans fatty acids, also known as trans fat, is an artery-clogging fat that is formed when vegetable oils are hardened into margarine or shortening. It is found in many other foods besides margarine and shortening, including fried foods like French fries and fried chicken, doughnuts, cookies, pastries and crackers. In the United States, typical French fries have about 40 percent trans fatty acids and many popular cookies and crackers range from 30 percent to 50 percent trans fatty acids. Doughnuts have about 35 percent to 40 percent trans fatty acids.

To determine the amount of trans fat in a food you must know what to look for on the food labels. Whenever you see shortening, hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oil higher up on the list of the ingredients, the more trans fat.


Principle #7: Eat Vegetables With Every Meal

How are vegetables supposed to promote muscle gain? Your mom was right when she told you to eat up all your vegetables if you wanted to grow big and strong. Finally, the ‘muscle-nerds’ are catching up. Not only are vegetables loaded with vitamins and minerals but they also contain important plant chemicals called phytochemicals that are essential for optimal physiological functioning.

The most neglected benefit of eating vegetables is their role in recovery. Sure, you need calories to grow, but you also need these veggies for their high antioxidant profile that will help reduce the amount of free radicals from heavy training, and they will accelerate recovery by healing damaged muscle cells.

Most people are unaware that proteins and grains create high levels of acid loads to the blood, and if this is not balanced out with alkaline rich vegetables and fruits, then too much acid can result in a loss of bone strength and muscle mass. So it is important to keep these acid levels balanced by ingesting vegetables (and fruits) for their alkalinity to the blood.

The best way to get your vegetables is to cut them all up at the start of the week. This will make life easier and make them more accessible. Aim for at least 2 servings, which is the equivalent of 1-2 cups per meal. Yes, every 2-3 hours you must be eating veggies.


Principle #8: Eat Your Biggest Meal At Breakfast, Pre-Workout and Post-Workout

No matter what anyone says, I believe this is the safest and most effective way to maximize your muscle:fat gain ratio when bulking. In this article we will not discuss the topic of nutrient timing.

Shortly we will discuss the benefits of packing the bulk of your calories around the most catabolic and anabolic times of the day so you will have sufficient energy to train hard and heavy without any risk of muscle breakdown, not to mention enough calories to support muscle growth. How much food you eat at a particular time of the day should be based on the needs of your body at that current moment .


Principle #9: Plan Ahead

This principle could easily be number one because oftentimes it is not a shortage of information that creates a roadblock but our lack of CONSISTENCY and CREATIVITY. I bet if you did not change anything about what you are currently eating but ensured food was there when it was time to eat, you would experience a growth surge.

I strongly agree with the famous cliché that states, ‘Failing to plan is planning to fail.’ It is so true. You must have a plan that will ensure you have the food prepared and cooked in the right selection and amounts every time you eat. This might require you to spend a few hours on Sunday evening cooking and storing all your food in Tupperware containers. This might mean waking up half an hour early so that you can cook all your meals for the day. This might require you to carry a lunch bag wherever you go. This might mean packing a few shaker bottles if you know you will be on the road most of the day. Bottom line - be prepared.


Principle #10: Eat Whole Foods 60% Of The Time and Liquid Meals 40% Of The Time

I often have my clients use as few supplements as possible for the first few months of training. You will be amazed at the results achieved by simply putting all your efforts into following your meal plan, proper training and sleep. It’s a very eye-opening experience when they see almost immediate changes in body composition, health and energy levels.

Your food intake should come from high quality food at least 60 % of the time, which means at least 4 of the 6 meals you are eating.

This will ensure more vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fiber that supplements and pills lack. Whole food is loaded with digestive enzymes as well that help the absorption of food instead of eating too much ‘ground up’ food in the form of powder. Power shakes will make your life much easier and will remove some of the inconveniences of having to cook and prepare food all day. Aim to use these at least 2 out of your 4 real meals a day and never more than three power shakes unless your life is extremely hectic and unmanageable.


Conclusion

Dedicate the next 12 weeks to putting these muscle building nutrition principles into action. Building muscle is really quite simple and exciting because you get to indulge in large quantities of food, try new recipes and become a master chef since you'll be spending more time in the kitchen. Taking these principles and applying them consistently over time and making them a part of your lifestyle is the secret.

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Six Minute Abs

Six minutes out of your day. All you need is a level floor.

Start this torture session just as the end credits begin to roll. A few Sprint, Bell Atlantic, and Burger King commercials later, Jerry should be starting in with the monologue that kicks off the ensuing episode. And by then, your midsection should be burning like charcoal.

Contrary to what many believe, Abdominal workouts do not need to be done in the gym. Your abs don't need to be tormented through the hi-tech apparatuses or by the squeaky cable machines. In fact, the best abdominal workouts you can possibly get are right in your own home.

However, the key to making your self-crafted ab workout turn your jelly belly into a blazing six-pack is the big 'V'. Variation.

Blending a number of different motions and exercises with all sorts of variations in motion, speed, and resistance can shock your midsection into the Ripped Abs you desire.

First, wear light clothing that will make you more agile, allowing your movements to be steady and flowing.

Plop down on the floor and take a deep breath. Prepare yourself mentally. This ab workout will consist of one long, continuous set with no breaks in between various movements. Maintaining constant strain on your abs is the key here.

Start with basic crunches. You can either place your hands behind your head or leave them by your sides. However, do not pull your head up with your hands. Bend your knees so that your feet remain flat on the floor. Slowly allow your shoulders to raise off the floor without using your back whatsoever. Begin with 50 slow, strict repetitions before adding in a twist.

A Russian twist, that is. Raising your shoulders off the ground, slowly twist your torso from side to side. You want your right elbow turning toward your left knee and your left elbow twisting toward your right knee. These will seriously burn so try 20 of these with a strict form.

Jump right into leg raises. Extend your legs in front of you, making sure that your feet do not touch the floor. You want to start with them together, about six inches off the floor, before raising them so that your legs form a 45-degree angle. Feel your rectus abdominis tear throughout the 25 repetitions that you crank out.

Whip right back into a set of crunches. Except this time, try them with your legs straight, extended flat out across the floor. While you're doing these crunches, pretend that an imaginary string is pulling your upper torso off the floor. Make the 50 repetitions flow while the abs grind.

Without hesitation, fling your legs into the air and take on a set of pikes. Your arms are out straight, pointing toward the floor, as you raise your shoulders in an attempt to touch your toes. All the while, your buttocks are lifting slightly off the floor. As you lower your shoulders to the floor, your legs come down again, into a bend position on the floor. No sooner do they touch that you're beginning the next repetition and the motion flows through 25 agonizing reps.

On the last rep, leave your legs straight up in the air so your toes are pointing toward the ceiling. Crank out 30 crunches to intensify the burn. If you face difficulty in maintaining that 90-degree angle at your hips, slightly lower your legs to the floor.

Then, cut through those abs with some scissors. Lower your legs so that they're 12 inches off the floor and lock your arms behind your head. Lifting your right shoulder off the floor, twist your torso just as your opposite leg - or left knee - bend into your right elbow. Immediately lower your knee and shoulder and then twist your left elbow toward your right knee. Try doing 25 of these before lowering your shoulders to the mat for the final exercise of the workout.

This will be another set of 50 basic crunches, just like the set that you began the workout with. Exercise slow, strict reps as the burn spreads like wild fire.

The final rep will leave you feeling like you narrowly escape a blazing building in once piece.

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Monster Triceps

They make up the biggest trio in bodybuilding.

No, not Arnold, Franco, and Lou.

These three components combine to make up a vital element of your upper-body development. They're known as the brachialis, the brachii, and the pronator teres, but in more simple, direct terms, we know them as your triceps.

For men, they seem to be one of the more difficult to develop muscles in your upper torso. To women, they're lost somewhere underneath that drooping bag that sags under your arms.

Nonetheless, these three muscles are a part of your anatomy. It just takes the proper training and dedication to lure them out.

Here are a few triceps exercises that will help you in your quest:

CLOSE-GRIP BENCH PRESSES: These are just like they sound. They are bench presses except with a much narrower grip than what you're used to with standard bench presses. The closer your hands are together during this exercise, the more of the emphasis is placed on the triceps.

Grip the bar so your index fingers are about six inches apart from one another. After lifting the barbell off the rack, slowly lower the weight to the mid-chest section. Just before the bar touches your pectorals, reverse the motion and begin to push the weight upward. As you approach the starting position, you should feel the tension in your triceps muscles as opposed to in your chest. Do not lock your elbows out, but be sure to squeeze your triceps during the contraction.

Try doing three sets of between 10 and 12 repetitions.

PARALLEL BAR DIPS: Like the close-grip bench presses, dips will place some stress on your pectoral muscles and your deltoids. However, the main target with be the triceps, especially if you maintain an erect posture during the exercise.

Come off of your feet as your grab onto the bars and cross your ankles underneath you. Slowly bend your arms as you lower your torso toward the floor. When your elbows are completely bent and you cannot go any lower, raise your body back to the starting position, where you'll squeeze for a moment.

Depending on how advanced you are, you can hang weights from belt around your waist for extra resistance. For now, try 3 sets of 10-15 reps of your own body weight.

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6 Best Shoulder Workouts for Mass

I bet you’ve tried too. You’ve poured who knows many hours of time and gallons of sweat into your delts only to be disappointed. I know how that goes.

The reality is anyone that says building impressive shoulders is easy is lying. I takes a lot of work–the right work–and patience. It can be done though. And this article is going to show you how.

 Shoulders are often under-trained when it comes to training the upper body. However, bringing out the striations and the shape of the shoulder muscles is a big part of the upper body training. Nevertheless, you first need to ensure that you have sufficient muscle mass. Most men spend most of their time in the gym training their shoulders, but they do not see any progress. Therefore, this article will exclusively explain and demonstrate what are the five best shoulder workouts for mass that men can use to bring out the shape and striations of their shoulder muscles. Note that many other exercises exist although this selection seems to be a good one for the whole shoulder muscles.

Notably, having strong shoulders will help you to improve the form of other exercises such as deadlifts and bench presses that involve the arms. To get the shoulders strong enough to support efficiently other exercises it is recommended to follow the following workouts.

 Top Shoulder Exercise #1 – Hang Clean and Press

Possibly the best shoulder exercise ever invented. The hang clean is often compared to the high pull, or upright row, and if you can flow through with the momentum, you can press much more weight than you can from a dead stop. To set up, stand with your feet just outside of shoulder width apart and put both hands on your bar at just about the same place as your feet are on the ground. While holding your back flat and your chin up, deadlift the weight into the standing position with the weight against your thighs for the starting position.

From the starting position, you should lower the weight down to just above your knees, bending at both the knees and the waist. To perform the hang clean, you must extend your ankles, flex your knees and traps, and perform a ¾ upright row to bring the bar up in a straight line in front of your body until it reaches your shoulders. From here, rotate your elbows and arms under the weight, catching it in front of your shoulders with upward facing palms. Bending slightly at the knees can assist with the catch. Then lower the bar back down to your shoulders and then down the thighs to complete the rep.

 Top Shoulder Exercise #2 – Military Press

This training exercise is one of the best in adding great size and definition of the shoulders. In this workout, you are required to start with the weight resting on the upper chest, and then pressing the bar directly upwards in front of the face to the point just before the elbows lock. The weight should be brought back down to the chest while control is maintained.

 Top Shoulder Exercise #3 – Dumbbell Shoulder Press

This exercise can make your shoulder muscles practically explode under the skin, and should be a part of any serious lifter’s regimen. There are many variations on the principle movement, standing or seated, for instance, but the main focus of the workout is the same, more strength and bigger shoulder muscles. It is very important to remember not to over exert yourself or try to lift more than you can safely.

A typical dumbbell shoulder press begins with a dumbbell in each hand, cleaned to rest on the shoulder. Starting with the left side first, lift the dumbbell to full extension and return the weight back down under control, as the left weight is coming down, the right weight should be going up in an alternating motion.

 Top Shoulder Exercise #4 – Upright barbell rows

The upright barbell row has a good impact on the medial head of the deltoid, and you should grip the bar roughly an inch inside the shoulder width. You want your hands to be six to eight inch from each other. Stand up straight, shoulders down and chest out. Your feet should be the shoulder's width or a little bit wider.You need to keep your elbows up the bar as you pull up right below your chin. Then pull down to its original position to finish the repetition.

 Top Shoulder Exercise #5 – Overhead Squat

This exercise can be awkward at first, but with some practice it can become second nature. Despite the name, this squat does very little for the legs. The weight used is often far less than what would be chosen for standard squat exercises. The main goal is to increase stability in the shoulder muscles and the surrounding tissues, creating better control and definition.

To accomplish this, begin by snatching your barbell into an overhead position. How you get it there is a matter of personal preference, but once there it is important to maintain the snatch position with your shoulder blades pinching together and the weight directly above your head and ankles. While holding the bar steady, do a squat. The bar may end up behind your head as you reach the bottom of the squat, but as long as you hold position utilizing outward force of the hands against the bar, you should be in good shape to stand back up and finish the rep.

What you have to watch out for when specifically targeting the shoulders, is that the area isn’t receiving too much attention. It is all too easy to overdevelop the front deltoid in the shoulder, which can create posture problems. A good guideline is to hit your back muscles as hard as you hit the arms and chest combined; this method can help prevent disproportionate muscle growth, while also working to minimize the chance of injury.

Top Shoulder Exercise #6 – Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press

How do you do it?Sit on a chair at home or an upright bench at the gym. Lift 2 dumbbells and pull them to your shoulders. Keep your feet shoulder width apart. With your elbows directly beneath the dumbbells, raise them upwards until straight above your head, then lower the dumbbells to the starting position.

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