‘weight training’ Tagged Posts

Why You Should Train To Muscle Failure

The gym is a place where we can revert to our cave man days and grunt and yell with no fuss from anyone. This usually happens when your muscles are...

 

The gym is a place where we can revert to our cave man days and grunt and yell with no fuss from anyone. This usually happens when your muscles are crying failure.

This article will show you why training to failure is important and how to do it properly.

Pushing your muscles to the limit is the biggest reason we go to the gym.

I was on the incline bench yesterday lifting a lot heavier weight than usual. On my third set, as I was coming down, my muscles reached their limit. If I didn’t have a spotter, 85 lbs dumb bells would’ve come crashing onto my face.

I knew I was done with chest for the day, and unlike so many other trainees, I moved on to another exercise after that.

Training to muscle failure means you’ve recruited just about all of your muscle fibers and they’ve all failed. Muscles produce lactic acid when they oxidize (move). Eventually they reach a limit of saturation and can’t move anymore.

Micro-tears to most of your muscle allows for maximum growth.

By damaging 60% of the muscle, only 60% will repair itself. But damaging 97% of the muscle will cause 97% to repair itself. The more muscle that repairs itself, the faster you’ll see significant growth. Greater repair means greater growth. The repair may take a little longer, but not significantly longer and you’ll see more muscle.

Keep your tempo steady throughout the lift while keeping your technique as good as possible. Make sure it’s your muscles failing and not your joints. Keep a positive attitude and push through the pain until you can’t perform the movement anymore.

This is a great strategy for maximum muscle growth but it is a little dangerous without a spotter. Always get someone to spot you on that last set or two when you know you’re going to give out.

Your spotter needs to be vigilant as to when you’re about to fail and you need to communicate your failure point with your spotter.

I would end with the cliche, No Pain, No Gain, but that’s not exactly true, lol. So I’ll just say, Train Hard and Train Smart.

Learn more about how to build muscle. Stop by Mitch Graves’s site where you can find out all about muscle building .

How To Get Really Ripped Abs, 3 Big Mistakes You Should Avoid

 

People always come to me and ask: “how will I truly build abs fast?” Oftentimes,these people confess to me they find it hard to get the most excellent outcome in such a short period. But guess what? Knowing the right tool for your abdominal routine will make it easier.

If you ask me, building a no nonsense six pack abs requires a lot of hard effort. Yet, it won’t be enough. All your efforts will be put to waste if you don’t use the most excellent exercise plan. Observing the people who approached me, I realized the similar mistakes they made in the process.

You can avoid these mistakes because I am giving you the 3 big ones right here:

1. Do not limit yourself only one or two meals a day. You need 5 to 6 meals a day for the best fat loss. You cannot get ripped abs quickly by just eating once or twice each day.

You must have good nutrition to get ripped abs. You need to refuel after your workouts, just like you feel the need to get an energy boost after a stressful day. Your muscles are like that, too. They need refueled so they can recover from a stressful workout. Without doing this you are setting yourself up for muscle loss and strain. You are also slowing your metabolism.

Your strategy for getting ripped abs should be to eat healthy and eat at the right time. You want a good high protein meal after a hard workout. You also want to avoid hose bad foods like fats, sugars and starchy carbs.

2. Relying on cardio to work your muscles. Cardio is necessary and is a good choice, but it won’t be enough. You want to build abs fast and for that you need good exercises. A variety of exercises are needed. You will need resistance and weight training to give you a complete workout to really build muscles.

Doing a routine of building muscle and cardio while targeting your abs will get you ripped fast. Remember, though, that you need to be consistent and do your workouts at least 4 times a week. The cardio should be done on the days you are not doing the ab workouts.

3. Overdoing it. Some people cannot overdo it because they just cannot handle it. There are some people, though, that think more is better and will get them the fast results they want. That is not true at all.

Training too hard too often won’t get you near six pack abs. Why? Because you will risk the chance of injuries along the way, physically and mentally. This will exhaust your muscles, and if worse comes to worst, it can damage them entirely.

You want to focus on efficiency. You want a program that does not wear you out to the point where you cannot do the exercises properly. You want to do each repetition with effective and efficient movement. Overdoing it will not let you do this.

The best thing you can do is start slow and build up. Try 5 reps in each set and build from there. This gives your muscles the chance to recover and adapt for increased intensity in the future.

Avoid these mistakes. You want to focus on a good exercise routine that is varied and that allows you to do efficient exercises. You want to reach your fitness goal by eating right and by working your body in the best way possible to get those ripped abs fast. You now know what to do and soon will get the results that you want.

Don’t waste your time, effort and cash on B.S. “Miracle Programs” that don’t deliver results! Learn the honest truth revealed by a real Body Building expert and finally start noticing the gains you deserve. Visit us if you want to read more Fitness Articles

categories: muscle gain,muscle building,work out,gym routines,weight training,fitness,health,bodybuilding,exercise,sports,men’s issues,women’s issues,self improvement,weight loss

How To Gain Muscle & Some Muscle Building Myths

 

Watch out for these fatal errors that can literally wipe out all the progress you have made in building up your muscles. I will tell you about four obvious muscle-building myths so you can stay on the right path to the extreme muscle and strength gains you ought to have.

1. In order to build muscle, you must achieve a “pump” during your workout. The greater the pump you achieve, the more muscle you will build. For you beginners, a “pump” is the rush you feel as blood gets trapped in the muscle tissue as you lift weights. A pump feels great, but it doesn’t properly stimulate the muscles to promote growth.

It’s just the increased flow of blood to the muscles, but it is not the characteristic of a good workout. A successful workout should only be gauged by the concept of progression. If you can pick up more weight or do it more times than last week, then you are progressing.

2. Building muscle will cause you to become slower and less flexible. Contrary to what you may think, building a significant amount of lean muscle mass will actually speed you up rather than slow you down. Muscles are responsible for every movement that your body makes, from running to jumping to throwing. The bottom line is that the stronger a muscle is, the more force it can apply.

3. Using proper form is essential to all exercises. While using good form in the gym is always important, obsessing over perfect form is an entirely different matter. Trying to use absolutely perfect form for every exercise can actually be counterproductive: It increases your chance of injury while at the same time decreasing your total muscle stimulation.

Moving naturally is very important when you exercise. This might also mean swaying a little bit while you curl your bicep, or using your body’s own momentum while you’re doing rows on the barbells.

4. Your muscles are growing if you feel them “burn”. This is another error that is common in gyms. The “burning” sensation that results from intense weight training is simply the result of lactic acid (a metabolic waste product) that is secreted inside the muscle tissue as you exercise. Lactic acid may slow your muscle growth gain rather than speed it up.

Sick and tired of being weak and flimsy? Let us take you by the hand with the best muscle building workouts to gain on pound after pound of ripped, firm muscle weight in the shortest period of time possible. Visit us if you want to read more Bodybuilding Articles

Why Hire A Personal Trainer?

 

In this generation of deskbound jobs and all-work-no-play lifestyles, physical activity has lost its popularity, which doesn’t augur well for our health. Pollution has accentuated a number of other problems like hectic schedules and cut-throat competition to create a health menace around the globe.

On top of this, with competition levels rising at a fever pitch, fitness and health have gained paramount importance. Thus, fitness training has become the need of the hour for people, irrespective of their age groups or socio-economic status.

But fitness routines are highly specialized and starting one without an expert’s guidance and supervision might be counter-productive. Hence it is always advisable to hire a personal trainer who through his qualifications and experience can offer the right help and guidance.

Personal trainers will make a fitness assessment involving your health, medical, and fitness record. They will demand infos regarding disease record of your family and your personal medical record like surgical procedures, injuries, or any medication. They will also want to recognize your lifestyle information including your experiences with workout, your latest workout program, and how many hours per day you sleep and sit as well as any concerns you have.

Personal training can motivate and even compel a person to scrupulously follow a fitness plan without any breaks. Going to the gym is quite often avoided by people after a tiresome day at office. A personal trainer can be of immense help in such situations. In addition, he will know exactly what health schedule would fit you best, keeping your fitness requirements and targets in mind.

Personal trainers are taught to conduct tests and evaluate the exact needs of every client. Hence they can provide you with the appropriate guidance and focus on the specific parts you have to improve upon. As each one of us has an exclusive body with different needs, hence using personal training becomes important to tailor the fitness regimen accordingly. In reckless efforts to try out complex fitness regimens, an average person might end up tiring or even causing harm to himself. A step-wise progress is necessary for a healthy physique, and a personal trainer can assist you identify these steps.

Another benefit of having a personal trainer, particularly if you are a working individual who has a tight schedule to maintain, is that you can even do away with having to go to the gym. Many personal trainers plan meetings with their customers as per their routine and comfort, and if you have the right equipment at your home then the trainer will be more than happy to pay you a visit.

A certified trainer possessing the right mindset and ready to guide you with focus, politeness and dedication can drastically change both your private and public life. One might even go so far as to say that the correct personal trainer holds the key to healthy living in this modern age of tension and physical inactiveness.

Learn a gym where you can change your wellness and physical fitness.h

categories: fitness,gym,business,self-improvement,health,exercise,personal trainer,weight loss,weight training

Why Get A Personal Trainer?

 

The modern trend to be in a prefect shape has led health enthusiasts to either refrain from certain foods or limit their intake. Such drastic methods may result in in shedding some fat, but they always have grave repercussions on your health in the future. Thus, it is much more advisable to spend a part of your day engaged in some form of exercise, and hiring a personal trainer is even better.

However, a high percentage of people are sceptical about the benefits of working with a personal trainer, and express doubts as to how useful such a program would be. Appointing a personal trainer in fact never fails to reap good benefits.

Naturally people can get fit by themselves, but they are much more likely to get there more slowly, take a greater chance of stopping, and may still get injured. Others who exercise with a personal trainer see faster and more amazing results. Personal trainers not only make a safe and impressive program, they also provide motivation, support with certain lifestyle modifications, and they maintain each workout entertaining, advancing, and fun. Nevertheless, many people don’t acknowledge the benefits of having a personal trainer. In fact, hiring a personal trainer has a lot of benefits for an individual.

Firstly, the personal trainer, with his carefully developed exercise program, devised especially for you, will help you to remain motivated to achieve your aims. This will propel you to make the optimum use of your capacity in maintaining your health and physique.

Secondly, a personal trainer, being an expert, supervises you on the correct exercises and methods to use while working out, and will provide an exercise regimen and nutritional plan suited to your body and its specific requirements. Therefore you will be able to progress from an irregular workout and dieting plan to a more systematic and efficient one.

Thirdly, a personal trainer is more sincere to you than you tend to be with yourself, and can give you a correct picture of your fitness and health levels. He will also help you create plans to fight illnesses and other health related issues, and therefore help you have a longer and more fruitful life.

How to avoid an injury and how to rapidly recover if you have had one, can also be taught by a personal trainer, and he can eventually make you able enough to carry out the exercises on your own.

Lastly, a personal trainer generates in you an obligation towards the upkeep of your good health and makes you more conscious and committed about your schedules and deadlines.

A personal training arrangement makes it simple to ensure that the trainer is concentrating on only you and your needs. Optimizing your benefits from personal training is simply a matter of being sure about your needs and aims right at the beginning. Besides, checking the trainer’s certificates and references will give you confidence that you are appointing the correct guy, and you should build a good rapport with him once your sessions begin. If these factors are taken care of, personal training can work miracles for you.

Find a gym where you can change your health and fitness.

categories: self-improvement,health,personal trainer,sports,personal training,weight loss,weight training,gym

How To Do A Bench Press

 

The bench press is the curl of the pectoralis, or pecs, muscle group. Curls are pretty much the core lift for your biceps. The bench press is the core lift for the chest or pecs. In this article I will explain exactly how to perform a safe bench press.

Preparation:

I’m assuming that your equipment is functioning properly and in safe condition. Approaching the bench from the front, lay down with your head at the end with the bar. Make sure that your back and butt are flat against the bench. Be sure the position yourself far enough down the bench that when you lower the bar to your chest it doesn’t hit the supports.

Grab the bar firmly shoulder width apart. If you grip the bar wider you will place more emphasis on your pecs, but it will also put more pressure on your shoulder joints. If your grip is more narrow you will involve your triceps. You just need to do the lift a few times without weight, to see the right place on the bar for you. Before you add any weight to the bar, practice your grip and form a few times. Slowly and controlled, lower the bar until it barely touches your chest. Next, raise the bar to the nearly fully extended position. I just want you to do this a few times to feel the motion of the exercise.

Execution:

Load some weight on the bar, and make sure to keep it even. If you put a 10lb plate on one side, put the same amount on the other side. Just as practiced, grab the bar above you with a grip that is most natural to you. This grip will be at least 12inches apart, but no more than 6 inches greater than shoulder width apart. Now with the help of your spotter, slowly lift the bar to the starting position. Make sure to have the weight steady and still before lowering. Now slowly lower the bar to your chest, taking about four seconds to lower the weight. Let the bar slightly touch your chest. Once it does, press the bar back up to the starting position, taking about 2 seconds to lift the bar. Repeat this lift for the desired amount of reps.

The bench press is a fundamental exercise that all bodybuilders and weight trainees should be familiar with. Keep up the great work and great form, and with practice, you will notice your weight increasing month after month.

If you want a whole year of muscle building workouts, then visit Klint Newton’s site on how to gain muscle fast.

categories: bench press,weight lifting,weight training,build muscle,muscle,fitness,health

The Essential Muscles for Gym Workouts

 

Many people who begin working out at the gym simply don’t know what they’re supposed to do. I’ve seen so many people jumping from machine to machine, without any real inclination as to which muscles are being worked out in the process. A solid plan will make a world of a difference though.

While my tips will definitely set you off in the right direction, this in and of itself won’t be enough to make a difference. The real results will come from your consistent dedication when it comes to working these muscles.

However, following a steady workout plan can go a very long way toward building your body proportionally in a way that brings great results. Let’s look at the muscle groups that you’ll need to work out.

Anyone serious about putting on muscle mass will need to regularly work out their chest muscles. Whether you’re benching some barbells or doing more focused exercises like inclined press, dips, or one of many others, any and every one of these will make a big difference.

Many people enjoy building their chest muscles, and they already see the value in doing so. The back muscles are neglected more often though, and they shouldn’t be. These are just as important as the chest muscles.

The shoulders must be tended to as well. Strong and broad shoulders look great, and a shoulder workout is a regular part of any muscle building rotation.

Did you know that there are two major muscle groups in your upper arms? There are the biceps on the front of your arm, and the triceps in the back. Don’t forget about either one of these.

Whether it be for appearance purposes, extra energy, or overall strength building, there are many reasons you’ll want to work out your legs. Do some exercises like squats, dead lifts, calf raises, and more to achieve this.

Other possibilities are abdominal workouts, lower back muscle building techniques, forearm training, and more. Mix these muscle groups in with some running and you’ll be well on your way to some great results.

Read more articles by this author about topics like Hunter Wellington boots and toddler rain boots.

Pros and Cons of Forced Reps

 

So after six reps of 150lbs on the bench press you decided to call it quits. You were pretty tired even though you know you could have knocked out eight if you had a spotter. You didn’t though and didn’t want to risk hurting yourself.

Enter the Forced Rep

This situation is the same. You are hurting on your sixth rep, but powered through. Your friend and spotter pushes you to do a seventh. You lower your weight and push six or seven inches off your chest and are powerless. If you didn’t have your spotter you would be up a creek, but you do and he lifts about 15lbs of the weight and you blow through.

Then your spotter wants you to get an eighth rep. You slowly lower the weight, but its not going back up. You just can’t lift the weight, by yourself. Your partner barely lifts the bar with you. He only lifts about 10-30lbs of the weight while you strain and give it everything you possibly have. After what seems to be an eternity, you finally get the bar up and the rep and set is over. That is a forced rep.

The definition is: an extension of a particular set of repetitions in which your strength level at the beginning of the set has been reduced to a point of positive failure. This positive failure is when you absolutely can not lift that weight by yourself. Your partner barely helps your, just bridging the gap between what you are capable of and what is on the bar. Your energy is so wasted that you feel like you’ve done nothing and he did all the work. I promise, you are the one that lifted that weight.

The Good

When performing a forced rep you use up every drop of intensity your working muscles have to offer. When approaching a forced rep a physiological reaction occurs. It’s scary when you are in the middle of a rep and can’t get the bar up. You don’t have many options. You can drop the bar on yourself, try to get the weight off the bar, or let your partner help. This is what your brain is thinking, your body is thinking “this is do or die!” Your body then releases a surge of adrenaline making you stronger and actually able to lift the weight. When all is said and done, if you use one or two forced reps know that you have used maximum intensity.

The Bad

When used in the right circumstanced forced reps are a good thing. It is very easy to get carried away. I use only one or two forced reps per exercise, not per set. Forced reps can lead to over training, and with every size gaining program you want to employ maximum intensity. When your body is performing a forced rep it is using it’s maximum strength capacity, and when the intensity increases, duration must decrease. Pretty much if something is heavier and harder, you shouldn’t be able to do more. Forced reps aren’t bad, too many are.

Using forced reps is a wonderful way to get the most out of a set. It’s a good way to know for sure that you reached maximum intensity, but only when used properly. That’s why I recommend only two at the end of your last set. If you do them for more sets, or reps, this can lead to muscular fatigue quicker and smaller actual muscles.

Learn more about forced reps. Stop by Klint Newton’s site where you can find out all about muscle building and what it can do for you.

categories: forced reps,reps,weight training,weight lifting,building muscle,fitness,health

Bodybuilding Nutrition Tips, The Best Metabolism Boosters Foods

 

Six foods that act like a thermogenic or even a cardio session to the body are blueberries, almonds, whey protein, salmon, spinach, and water. Not only will these wonderful foods speed up your metabolism, and burn fat, they will also help you to maintain a healthier, longer life.

Most people will blame their genetic make up to be the cause for their slow running metabolism. How many people complain that their partner seems to be able to lose weight easily, and even though they work harder their weight won’t budge? If you have these foods in the right quantity during specific times of the day you will help your body lose weight, and gain muscle.

1. Blueberries: ‘Antioxidant’ seems to be the new buzzword of this decade. Everyone needs more antioxidants. Everyone wants more antioxidants. Everyone buys foods with antioxidants; but do we know what they are?

A chemical process called oxidation is when your body goes through a chemical reaction taking off a substance. Your body typically goes through oxidative stress when you have disease, after a workout, or when you are sick. The product from that oxidation is called a “free radical”. It’s a good thing we can eat antioxidants to counteract that. Blueberries are a great antioxidant for that.

When free radicals start to build up in your body because they’re not cleared, they start to damage cells which can lead to inhibited muscle growth, fat loss or even cause disease. Good thing we have antioxidants like blueberries! Antioxidants help prevent this oxidation from taking place, and thus prevents the build up of free radicals.

2. Almonds: Almonds are truly one of nature’s miracle foods. They provide the most healthy calories and nutrition for the smallest serving size. You get the most nutrition possible out of the calories you eat. One serving of almonds, or about a handful, is an excellent source of vitamin E and a good source of fiber (which helps keep you full) and offer heart-healthy monounsaturated fat.

3. Whey Protein: Whey protein (the highest quality and best form of protein) is incredible stuff. It provides the body with the necessary building blocks to produce amino acids that are used for building muscle tissue. Whey protein also plays a role as an antioxidant and helps support a healthy immune system. Most importantly, consistent whey protein intake coupled with exercise will result in consistent muscle building and potential fat loss.

4. Salmon: Although it’s higher in calories than most whitefish, salmon is low in saturated fat, yet high in protein, and a unique type of health-promoting fat, the omega-3 essential fatty acid. The omega-3 fats found in salmon have a broad array of beneficial cardiovascular effects. Omega-3s help prevent erratic heart rhythms, make blood less likely to clot inside arteries, improve the ratio of good cholesterol to bad cholesterol, and can help prevent the clogging of arteries.

5. Spinach: Leafy green vegetables like spinach with its delicate texture and jade green color provide more nutrients than any other food. By eating spinach, you’ll be protecting yourself against osteoporosis, heart disease, colon cancer, arthritis, and other diseases at the same time. And if the physical benefits aren’t enough, you also get mental improvements.

6. Water: Water makes up nearly 2/3rds of our body’s weight. Did you know that 83% percent of your blood is made up of water? Muscles consist of 75% water, bones are 22% water, and the brain is 74% water. Knowing how big of a percentage of your body is made up of water can help you to understand how important it is to stay hydrated. The human body cannot function without it. Without water we are depriving our bodies with the most essential nutrient.

Eating all of these foods in your daily eating plan will help you to feel more energized and keep you living longer. There aren’t many foods that we can eat that will keep you as fit and healthy as these six foods.

Obtain the number one natural bodybuilding program, the Muscle Gain Truth No-Fail System and achieve the best results in some weeks. Visit us to read more Muscle Building Articles

categories: muscle gain,muscle building,work out,gym routines,weight training,fitness,health,bodybuilding,exercise,sports,men’s issues,women’s issues,self improvement,weight loss

Bodybuilding Shopping Tips, Discount Bodybuilding Supplement On The Internet

 

Several bodybuilding supplements cost a lot without a discount. You will more likely have to buy your bodybuilding supplements on the internet if you are looking for the best deal. Privately owned health food and drug stores give good prices on supplements however, these stores are not common.

BodyBuilding.com. Considered by many to me one of the finest supplement sites on the internet, they’ll give you big discounts on your favorite discount bodybuilding supplement you want.

This website has superb offers at a great price reduction. There are 50 of the most popular supplements that are provided for you to purchase. It is important to look at the top products because they are at the top of the list for a reason.

World Class Nutrition. WCN is a wonderful place for when you are looking for good prices for discount bodybuilding supplements. Available to buy are diet ECA, antioxidants, appetite suppressors, anti aging products and much more. This is a good store as they provide almost everything you want to get the body you desire at a good price.

All their products and bodybuilding supplements are highly sought after and they carry popular name brands. ProCore Advance by Kemistry, Powerdrol by BCI, Testatrol Testosterone Booster, Ester-Bol Orals by Fizogen, No Xplode and many other supplements are on offer.

Building Bodies. The Building Bodies club is known all over the globe for its large selection of low-cost bodybuilding supplements. There you can get discounts and find hundreds of products on sale, which is great for your wallet.

Do not forget to include shipping costs when looking for the best deals to make sure you get good value. Keep in mind that several products come in many sizes and quantities, so keep an eye on the product details.

Some products may cost less on other websites because you are looking at two products that are the same, however one may be much larger than the other. It is good to first purchase smaller quantities of supplements until you know it is the right product for you.

Follow directions as written on the labels to prevent yourself from overloading your body with supplements as that can be dangerous, and often counterproductive, and will be wasting your efforts and money too. Too much protein or creatine will take a toll on your kidneys and liver. You body will only process so much protein at one time; therefore spacing out your consumption is a good idea.

Don’t waste your time, effort and money on B.S. “Miracle Programs” that don’t deliver results! Learn the honest truth revealed by a genuine Body Building expert and finally start noticing the gains you want. Visit us if you want to read more Bodybuilding Articles