Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Exercises That Make Chest Growth Better - I
Organic Food Is More Nutritious
Medical News Today - Oct 29, 2007
Early results of a 12 million pound, 4-year EU study on the benefits of organic food suggest that some of them, such as fruit, vegetables and milk, are more nutritious than non-organically produced food and may contain higher concentrations of cancer ...
The results were released to the press but there is no mention of a of a journal publication as yet. The research team said its findings will be published in full within the next 12 months.
The findings were announced by Professor Carlo Leifert of the Tesco Centre for Organic Agriculture based at Newcastle University, UK, who with his team are working on the EU funded project called the Quality Low Input Food (QLIF) project, the biggest ever to research the pros and cons of organic farming and food.
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Thursday, October 25, 2007
Should You Grunt During Bodybuilding Workouts?
Friday, October 19, 2007
Three Powerful Hormones That Make Your Muscle Building Program A Success Or Failure
1) Cortisol
This hormone has following two important functions 1) Increasing abdominal fat storage 2) Stimulates the breakdown of muscle tissue. This hormone is released if you are workout time is extended beyond the one hour mark or if you are not taking proper rest. This hormone results in breaking up of muscle tissues. So, don't extend your workouts beyond the one hour mark. It will not bring any benefit.2) Testosterone
This is the hormone found in most steroids under different variants. Increased quantity of this hormone results in more muscle growth. If you are following a bodybuilding program than make sure that all the while you have higher testosterone. Higher levels of testesterone will result in more muscle development. Again, improper rest or incomplete sleep decreases the testosterone levels in your body.3) Growth Hormones
The name itself indicates the functions of growth hormones. They regenerate the body and play a vital role in muscle development. The body increases the production of growth hormones during rest and sleep. One important conclusion from the above is the need of proper rest. All the above hormones are controlled or produced by your body while you sleep. So while depriving yourself of sleep may result in more production of cortisol that will increase the muscle breakage, taking proper sleep will result in more production of testosterone and growth hormones that bring in the necessary muscle gain. These ideas are the basics of any bodybuilding program and are critical to your success or failure. The two most recommended muscle building programs are muscle gain truth and the musclehead. If you want more information on muscle building programs you can read this review of muscle building programs.Thursday, October 18, 2007
How to Get Hard Abs in a Month
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Dean_Tressador]Dean Tressador
Everyone wants to know how to get hard abs! In this hectic world, exercising in our lives is often a low priority. Often people assume that for exercise to benefit it must be done for hours a day and to see results will take years. This is far from the truth. Exercise is beneficial as soon as you do it and results can be had in just one month. To learn how to get hard abs in under a month keep reading! Let's examine the role of the abdominals.
The stomach muscles help us maintain good back health, but when not exercised, they begin to atrophy and we begin to rely on other more awkward muscles to perform movements, like the lower back. Eventually the lower back is left to maintain our posture. The lower back was never meant to support the body in this way, hence the aches and pains that follow. You also begin to communicate weak and awkward body language which has social ramifications, when your abdominals are atrophied. The stomach muscles are huge and strong if healthy and can keep the rest of the body strong. Exercise can transform the stomach muscles in just days and become easily hard in less than a month. So let's look at how to get hard abs in a month. First, remember that you must want to be healthy and want to strengthen your form with exercise.
This is the key to success with any exercise routine or technique. Often people self sabotage themselves with negative thoughts, so getting your mind right about training your abs is crucial. Lets go over a typical leg raise. Lie down on the floor on your back and bend your legs slightly at the knees with your feet pointing outwards. You may put a pillow under your feet, not for support but to give you a stopping place for your leg raises. When we exercise we tend to forget about our form. The pillow will be a reminder to keep the legs in motion and not letting them rest to the floor after each rep. Then lift your legs smoothly, steadily and slowly, until you feel a pull. Breathe in and out and then release. Repeat this exercise 12 times, then rest. Do 3 sets. As you do this exercise the stomach muscles will begin to respond to the pedestrian strain you are applying to them.
Always pull the stomach in toward the back as you do these exercises. Do these exercises every day for a month and watch how amazingly hard your abs will be. Also drink plenty of water during the day and with exercise. Once you have reached the desired effect usually less than a month, maintain this exercise 3 times a week. If you would like to get a six pack in 23 days or less, buy The "Abs In 23 Days" training program. You can learn more about this award winning, abdominal pumping, fat stripping product by clicking
[http://www.absin23days.com]HERE. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dean_Tressador http://EzineArticles.com/?How-to-Get-Hard-Abs-in-a-Month&id=786325
Monday, October 15, 2007
Instantly Increase Your Strength On Every Back Exercise- Sean Nalewanyj
A pair of lifting straps!
This is such a basic and highly effective piece of equipment yet so many people neglect to use them. For those of you who are unaware, these are basically a set of thick straps made of extremely strong material that are placed around your wrists and then wrapped around the barbell, dumbbell or cable attachment. The purpose of lifting straps is to “eliminate” your grip from the equation by forming a secure connection between your wrist and the weight. If you use these straps properly you can basically hold onto the bar and perform your exercises while expending almost no energy from your forearms. Why is this so valuable? Picture this scenario…You’re performing a set of deadlifts (arguably the most powerful muscle-building exercise known to man) with the goal of performing 8 reps. You psych yourself up, grip the weight and clear the bar from the ground. The set is going well, but by the time you reach rep number 5, the strain on your grip is so great that you can no longer hold onto the bar. You’re forced to stop the set because your forearms reached muscular failure. What exactly happened here? Well, you gave yourself an amazing forearm workout! Congratulations! Unfortunately you severely limited the amount of muscle stimulation you could achieve on your back, shoulders, legs, and just about every other muscle in your body that the deadlift targets in the process. This is not a good thing! Lifting straps completely eliminate this problem by making sure that you reach muscular failure in the major muscle groups that you are intending to target rather than on your forearms and grip. They can be used effectively for almost every back exercise or any other lift where the grip is of concern. The main argument against lifting straps is the idea that they are a “crutch” and will negatively affect the development of grip strength and forearm size. Let’s get real here. What would you prefer, greater muscle mass and strength in your lats and upper back (and just about every other muscle group on your body) or greater ability to crack open a jar of pickles? Take your pick. The positive effect that lifting straps will have on your overall muscle mass and strength gains will far outweigh any negative effect that they have on your forearms and grip. Besides, you can easily incorporate specific forearm movements into your routine to develop your grip strength and forearm size. If you aren’t using lifting straps already, get on it! You can find them at almost any store that sells sports or fitness equipment or you can order them online. They sell for about 10 or 15 bucks and are well worth the price! Sean Nalewanyj is a bodybuilding expert, fitness author and writer of top-selling Internet Bodybuilding E-Book: The Truth About Building Muscle. You can learn more by visiting his website: http://www.MuscleGainTruth.com/ Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sean_Nalewanyj http://EzineArticles.com/?Instantly-Increase-Your-Strength-On-Every-Back-Exercise&id=209446Saturday, October 13, 2007
The One Exercise You Must Do For Massive Muscle Gains
Also See: vince del monte
bodybuilding musclehead
Online Weight Training Program is the Practical Choice
You may be surprised to find that things like free online weight training program webpages are in existence. Why would anyone want to offer this sort of information for free? A lot of people want to lose weight. There are some people who want to gain weight, but they, too, would gladly pay for a good personal trainer who could help them get to their weight objectives. A good weight training program in book, audio CD or DVD format would sell quickly!
On the other hand, there's more to gaining weight than simply eating more. Some people have overactive metabolisms, or even physical ailments, which ensure that they do not gain weight despite their best efforts. They may be unhappy with their bodies and wish to look fuller, healthier. In such cases, weight training for bulking up certain muscles would be called for.
There are a few things that you can do to try to gain more muscle and I believe that if you have a plan even the toughest of hardgainers can still gain a few pounds in a couple of months. As you know most bodybuilders not on roids can only gain about two pounds a month but if you make radical changes then you can gain weight rather quickly for a short amount of time.
1. The key to gaining muscle is to conserve your energy in an almost slothlike style. When as a hardgainer you are doing your workout try to get the most muscle fibers working in the least number of sets and reps.
2. Skip the cardio. Even though you know that you are trying to get yourself in better shape you still want to keep the cardio out of your workout. As you do cardio workouts your hard earned muscle is going to disappear as you lose your fat…but you do not have any fat to speak of do you?
The Nerve of those Muscle Cells
Perhaps the most likely explanation of muscle memory involves the neurons (nerve cells) that stimulate your muscles. These neurons tell all the muscle fibers (muscle cells) they innervate to contract. But, depending on the amount of weight being lifted, only a small percentage of neurons innervating a particular muscle may be recruited to stimulate their fibers. More weight on the bar – more neurons involved and more fibers stimulated. Simple enough, right?
Here’s something really interesting. Even during maximal voluntary contraction (attempting your max on any lift), you’re still not recruiting all the muscle fibers in your working muscles. In fact, it is this discrepancy between the percentage of fibers we normally recruit and what we theoretically can recruit (100%) that may account for those rare, but documented feats of superhuman strength.
What has that got to do with muscle memory? Well, one way your muscles may adapt to the stresses of consistent training is to increase over the long run the total percentage of fibers recruited during maximal and near-maximal lifts. Here’s the possible scenario:
Another possible explanation of muscle memory concerns certain changes in your muscles that regular training may produce. Your muscles may adapt in two ways that could translate into faster gains during retraining. First, you may be able to increase the capillary bed surrounding muscle cells, creating a greater blood supply to the working muscle. If this happens, and many scientists believe it does, you would then be able to enhance the nutrient (glucose, branch-chain amino acids, etc.) availability to the muscle cell. Also, you might remove the waste products of repeated muscular work and energy production (lactic acid, heat hydrogen ions, etc.) at a faster rate. Since these waste products can limit performance, with the increased capillary bed, you would be in a position to train harder and longer.
So which workout is best for size? Close-Grip Bench Press, Dips, and Lying Tricep Extensions. They all let you move heavy weights. My #1 pick is the close-grip bench press because I can feel it the most on my triceps. The Close-Grip is also excellent in building strength. For close-grip bench press, put your hands 6-7 inches apart on the barbell so it focuses on your triceps. For lying tricep extension, use an EZ bar, and hold the bar using the closer grip. Pick 2 out of the 3 workouts to do for bulking up your triceps. Doing all 3 will most likely lead to overtraining, which is very bad for muscle development.
Friday, October 12, 2007
Mass And Muscle Definition Combo
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Kai_Lo]Kai Lo
I know a lot of you want to bulk up, and at the same time you don't want to be a huge, shapeless figure. Without any muscle definition, you will look like a giant powerlifter. What you can do is split your workouts to one heavy day and one light day. For instance, you can do your 5 sets of 5 reps flat benching on Monday for mass and strength, and then do 10+ reps per set of dumbbell flyes and cable flyes on Thursday for definition.
Here is a good routine for getting mass and muscle definition at the same time:
Monday
Superset
Flat Bench - 5 sets of 5 reps / 90 seconds rest
Bent-over Barbell Row - 5 sets of 6-8 reps / 90 seconds rest
Superset
Lying Triceps Extension - 3 sets of 8-10 reps / 60 seconds rest
Barbell Bicep Curls - 3 sets of 8-10 reps / 60 seconds rest
Twisting Crunches - 3 sets of 20 reps / 45 seconds rest
Tuesday
Barbell Squat - 5 sets of 5 reps / 120 seconds rest
Dumbbell Step-ups - 3 sets of 10 reps (2 steps = 1 rep) / 60 seconds rest
Superset
Reverse Barbell Wrist Curls - 3 sets of 20 reps / 30 seconds rest
Sitting Calve Raises - 3 sets of 20 reps / 30 seconds rest
Wednesday
Military Shoulder Press - 4 sets of 6-8 reps / 60 seconds rest
Barbell Upright Rows - 3 sets of 8-10 reps / 60 seconds rest
Superset
Barbell Shrugs - 3 sets of 8-10 reps / 30 seconds rest
Hanging Knee Raises - 3 sets till failure / 30 seconds rest
Thursday
Deadlift - 4 sets of 5 reps / 150 seconds rest
Superset
Pullups - 3 sets of 8-10 reps / 45 seconds rest
Dumbbell Flyes - 3 sets of 12-15 reps / 45 seconds rest
Superset
Seated Wide-Grip Rows - 3 sets of 10-12 reps / no rest
Incline Push-ups - 3 sets of 20 reps / no rest
Friday
Superset
Lunges - 3 sets of 10-12 reps (alternate legs) / 30 seconds rest
Bent-over Lateral Raises - 3 sets of 10-12 reps / 30 seconds rest
Superset
Cable Tricep Extension - 3 sets of 12-15 reps / 30 seconds rest
Supinating Dumbbell Curls - 3 sets of 12-15 reps / 30 seconds rest
Superset
Barbell Wrist Curls - 3 sets of 20 reps / 30 seconds rest
Seated Calve Raises - 3 sets of 20 reps / 30 seconds rest
Twisting Crunches - 3 sets of 20 reps / 45 seconds rest
You can put a rest day in between any of those. I recommend resting Thursday and do Thursday and Friday's workouts on Friday and Saturday. Stick cardio into your rest days.
Kai L.
For tips on bulking up / cardio / diet / workouts / and motivation go to my fitness blog - http://chinesemuscles.blogspot.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kai_Lo http://EzineArticles.com/?Mass-And-Muscle-Definition-Combo&id=770050
Why Speeding Up Your Metabolism Is So Important For Bodybuilders
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Terry_Edwards]Terry Edwards
There is no doubt that your metabolism affects your weight as well as your efforts in bodybuilding. Being able to speed up your metabolism is important in losing weight and strengthening your body. One of the best ways of speeding up your metabolic rate is through increasing your levels of protein. Numerous studies have proven this out. Here are some facts and tips in understanding how eating more protein can be so beneficial to increased muscles.
While most all of the numerous studies that have been done all have varying opinions on how protein affects muscle mass and how much protein it takes to gain more mass, one thing researchers can agree on is the fact that more protein helps decrease appetite. In turn, this leads to helping regulate body weight.
In fact, one study done in 2003 showed that protein gives your body a much more fuller feeling after eating than it does with eating a lot of carbs and fats. This is not only in the short term, but long term as well.
At the same time, eating foods that contain protein will also help in burning off fat and most importantly, keeping it off. This is due in part to what is termed dietary thermogenesis.
Yes, lowering your intake of calories is important in losing fat, but it is not the only thing. Researchers have proven out what most bodybuilders already know; protein levels have a major role in shaping your body. Protein will help you lose fat and also prevent it from returning.
If you have seen the bodybuilding and nutrition program called Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle, then you know how important of a role protein plays in bodybuilding and building increased muscle mass. It's an excellent source that lays it all out in an easy to understand system.
How much protein will give you better results? The studies that were done on increasing protein showed that increasing your levels of protein by only 30 grams a day helped to produce such positive results. Compare that to the protein levels of what many bodybuilders consume, which can be up to 40%-50% of their total calories.
What's the bottom line here? By taking out some of your carbohydrates from your daily diet and replacing them with more protein, even as little as 30-40 grams, then you will notice a big change in reducing fat and building more muscle mass. And isn't that the goal anyway?
By the way, you can find out more about [http://www.bodybuildinga-z.com/Speeding_Up_Your_Metabolism.html]Speeding Up Your Metabolism For Bodybuilding as well as much more information on everything to do with bodybuilding at http://www.BodyBuildingA-Z.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Terry_Edwards http://EzineArticles.com/?Why-Speeding-Up-Your-Metabolism-Is-So-Important-For-Bodybuilders&id=771722
Gain Weight And Muscle Mass - Quick Tips
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Jack_A_Black]Jack A Black
So you're visiting the gym, struggling to stack on those healthy pounds. Good job! This is probably the best ways to gain weight. You're slowly building muscle mass and body strength. There aren't any downsides to this new regimen. But, it's not stopping there. At this point you're probably over-slim for a few possible reasons. One is genetics. It could run in your gene pool. Then it could be your metabolism. If your's is high, then it's a bit hard to keep up with. Finally, you just may not be eating enough or the right foods.
Here's the truth; to gain mass, you have to consume more calories than your body can burn. Along with lifting weights, this is one of the best ways to gain weight in a healthy way. Now all you need is a healthy diet and great supplements. I recommend you to have three low saturated fat, high protein meals each day. You need protein and carbs for energy and muscle repair. On top of this, you should add three supplements per day. Try whey protein powder. This is a great way to get the protein you need for building lean mass. You can mix it with skim milk, juice or water to make a quick shake.
Oh, and don't forget to take daily those multivitamins. Your body will crave all the nutrients it can get for recuperation from weight training. This puts you at six meals per day. Therefore you shouldn't be paying attention to the standard daily nutrition recommendations. It doesn't apply to you when you're tackling ways to gain weight.
To eat anything and everything is NOT a good plan. This may have been one of the best ways to gain weight in the past, but now we know better. Look for organic foods and healthy supplements. Try to avoid high levels of fat, sugar and sodium. You'll be packing on the muscle in no time.
If you want to find out more tips on getting from Skinny to Bulk visit me on my web page - http://howtogainweightandbuildmescle.blogspot.com/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jack_A_Black http://EzineArticles.com/?Gain-Weight-And-Muscle-Mass---Quick-Tips&id=770593
Effective Bodybuilding Neck Exercises
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Edwin_A]Edwin A
New bodybuilders very often overlook bodybuilding neck exercises. Others however, include neck exercises only at the end of a workout session and consider it to be of lower priority. They concentrated on building the abdominals, chest, biceps and shoulders to get the nice v-shaped sculptured look. However, their overall appearance does not look balanced, as the neck is "pencil-thin". The neck is the most neglected muscle.
In clothing, a bodybuilder with a thin neck cannot be differentiated from a non-bodybuilder. A thick neck proudly announces that you have rippling muscles beneath the clothing. When you work on your neck muscles, other muscles such as the traps and back muscles are affected, which help contribute towards a more symmetric look from the back and front.
Isometric and head-harness exercises can build and strengthen the neck muscles. In a standing position, with your right hand on your head, contract your neck muscles and push your head to the right, and hold and resist for 15 seconds. Repeat a few times and then with the left hand. Next, with body hands behind your head, try to move your head back, hold and resist for 15 seconds.
Attach a suitable weight to the head harness. With your hands on your leg and when seated, raise your head in a semi-circular motion, as far as you can.
Another exercise is to lie down on edge of the bench, hold a flat barbell weight at your forehead with your hand, and raise your head in a semi-circle motion, as far as you can. Next, return to the original position and repeat a few times. Repeat, with your stomach on the bench and with the weight held at the back of your head.
The shrug is also another effective neck exercise to build the trapezius region and back of the neck. With a dumbbell in each hand, perform the shrug by moving your shoulder upwards.
Bodybuilding neck exercises should be included into your workouts. It is best to allocate a separate day to work on the neck muscles.
For FREE e-book on bodybuilding and bodybuilding info, please visit the blog at: http://bodybuildingworkout.nichinfo.com and at [http://bodybuildingworkout.nichinfo.com/muscle.php ]6-Pack Abs
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Edwin_A http://EzineArticles.com/?Effective-Bodybuilding-Neck-Exercises&id=769819