The Importance of Maintaining A Weight Training Log
October 14, 2008
Do you find gyms intimidating? Feel lost while doing your workouts? Tried different programs with no results? Not always sure of want exercises you are supposed to be doing? Or maybe you’re burnt out on the exercises your doing. A weight-training log may be exactly what you need.
Walking into a gym full of big bodybuilders or women built like models can be very intimidating. Having all these beautiful people working out around you can make you wonder if you’ll ever be able to look like that. Well let me tell you a little secret they didn’t always look that good and with a focused plan you too can look that way. Its simple, write down the exercises that you usually do with the amount of weight used and number of sets performed for a period of three weeks. Use a weight-training log. For example if you are doing a three day split that is you divide the body into three parts and train them over three days, write down three workouts for each group. Don’t worry if this takes more or less than three weeks just as long as you record three workouts for each grouping. Now review your workouts after that period and analyze your findings. Were you workouts remarkably similar? Did you use the same amount of weight for the same number of sets? Was your cardiovascular training always for the same amount of time, done the same way? To quote a famous bodybuilder and actor," If you do what you’ve always done you’ll get what you’ve always got", I’ll let you try and figure out who said that. So the next time you have to train, try to improve in small steps maybe a little more weight on the bench press, say 5 lbs. Maybe try a different type of cardio or run on the treadmill for a little longer, say 3 minutes. These small steps will ultimately help you achieve your fitness goals faster than plugging away day after day never improving. Don’t get discouraged if you can’t improve every time. Remember, little steps.
Get Rid of Cellulite, Once and For All!
October 10, 2008
Get Fit At Home With Ailsa : Get Rid of Cellulite
Had it up to here with Cellulite? Want to get rid of it forever, and make your body all lovely and sleek? Yeah, me too, so I when one of my old ‘Gym Boys’ showed me this Exercise years ago, I started doing it al the time, and changed it up a bit to make it work more effectively for me. This is a great Exercise for Women, but I know for a fact that ‘manly men’ do it, too! ha,ha! (Oh, and in case you are thinking something ‘innaccurate’ about the ‘Gym Boy’ thing, that’s just what I used to call all the guys at the gym where I used to work out a lot — it’s a term of endearment, but in no way a reference to anyone I went out with — I either call those guys “that crazy old jerk” or “one of my great old friends”…usually one or the other — sometimes both! ha,ha!)
Get rid of Cellulite once and for all with this very easy and incredibly inexpensive Exercise. It takes about 20 minutes, or so, depending on how many Reps you do (repetitions — ‘Reps’ in Weight Lifting Language…). Pop into www.buildyourownhouse.ca to see pictures of me doing these ‘Anti-Cellulite’ Exercises!
Why You Do Not have Killer Abs or that 6 Pack Abdominal Muscle
October 7, 2008
Ask any woman what is the most attractive part of a male body and most of the time, they will tell you it’s the six pack abs, meaning that your abdominal muscle showing up with beautiful definition. Your abs is considered by many as a sexy muscle and is a symbol of a fit and healthy man. Women are instinctively drawn towards a man brimming with health and fitness because it is a primitive indication that the man is strong enough to protect her and her brood. A rippling six pack abs is one such indication. So is it any wonder that in every gym, you will see men of all ages doing crunches, leg raisers and sit ups religiously in the hope of obtaining the much coveted killer abs? Unfortunately, most men will never get to see their abdominal muscle in its glorious splendor. Why? The following fitness tip will show you why.
Burning Fat
October 3, 2008
The more muscle a person has, the greater their metabolism is, which equates to the faster they burn calories. However, resistance training to build muscle is only one part of the equation. The other parts are cardiovascular conditioning and healthy eating. A lot of men that I have encountered feel that weight training is the only thing they need to do in order to get in shape, but wonder why they can never achieve the definition that comes as a result of adding cardio conditioning and healthy eating. If you are not dedicating enough time to any one of these three elements, you will most likely not achieve the results you strive for. Having said that, this edition’s column is dedicated to the importance of cardiovascular conditioning for fat burning.
Once you reach your desired weight, you only need maintain it, which usually requires you do cardio about three times per week, every other day, for 20 minutes. However, if you are training for a sport, the frequency and duration will be much different. Assuming you are not training for a sport, you will need to put more into your cardio workouts until you reach your desired weight. Since fat is not your body’s first choice of fuel (carbohydrates are), you stand a better chance of tapping into your fat stores if you perform your cardio workouts first thing in the morning before eating. The duration of your workouts should be approximately 45 minutes, four or more days per week for maximum results in order to rid your body of excess fat.
The Secret to Legs with Size, Strength, and Endurance
September 29, 2008
There are countless leg workouts in magazines and books that promise big results. Many are good workouts, but the secret to continued progress is to keep your muscles from adapting, while building on what you have already done. What I mean by this is that mixing and matching great workouts just doesn’t work very well. You do need to change your workouts frequently to keep your muscles growing, but if you don’t plan properly, you could be wasting time.
When you plan your workouts properly, each workout builds on what you accomplished the workout before, so that you keep moving forward, instead of taking steps back each time you change workouts. A good example of this is how many Powerlifters have trained for decades. They begin a training cycle by using lighter weights for higher reps. The first week or two they might do 3 sets of 8 repetitions. The next couple of weeks might be 5 sets of 5 reps. Then they add weight and drop their reps each week until they are ready to test themselves for a single maximum repetition. This is usually done in a contest, with judges and strict rules. This works well if your goal is to lift as much as possible in one lift for one repetition.
Gain Weight Fast With These Ten Powerful Tips! Part -2
September 26, 2008
By the time you finish reading this you will have the basics down to eating to gain weight fast!
If You want to gain weight fast you have to eat right to gain weight! So here we will focus on this crucial yet misunderstood element to gain weight.
Gaining weight fast takes much more than just eating though. In following Parts of this course we will cover:
Lesson 2: Training To Gain Weight Fast
Lesson 3: Rest And Recuperation To Gain Weight
Lesson 4: Planning A Routine For Gaining Weight
Lesson 5: Supplements To Gain Weight
Lesson 6: Answers To Some Commonly Asked Questions about Gaining Weight.
If you would like to receive all 6 parts of this Mini Course to gain weight by email, you can go to here and sign up.
http://www.gainmuscleandlosefat.com
Each one of these jam packed lessons needs to be applied to your gain weight routine if you truly want to gain weight as fast as you can!
Let’s now continue with the rest of my Eating Tips To Gain Weight!
Gain Weight Tip-6: Eat “Power Meals” For Added Energy and To Gain Weight.
Build More Muscle and Lose More Fat by Discovering the Power of Training Variables!
September 22, 2008
Everyone will inadvertently hit a frustrating plateau in their training at one time or another. You’re cruising along for a while, gaining strength, losing fat, looking better, and then all of the sudden it hits. Suddenly, you find yourself even weaker than before on your lifts, or you find that you’ve gained back a couple of pounds. It happens to everyone. Most of the time, these plateaus occur because people rarely change their training variables over time. Many people stick to the same types of exercises for the same basic sets and reps and rest periods with the same boring cardio routine. Well, I hope to open your mind and bring some creativity to your workouts with this article!
Muscle Soreness After Exercise
September 18, 2008
Many individuals judge the quality of their exercise session from the amount of pain they experience afterwards. These individuals are convinced by the old adage "No Pain No Gain". Research on Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) has demonstrated that here may in fact be some truth to this phrase.
Recall in a previous article presented on this website dealing with Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness, we discussed the high probability that muscular pain after exercise results from actual muscle damage. This damage is viewed by the immune system as would any other injury and as a result, an inflammatory response is initiated to start the healing process. Several substances and chemicals are released during an inflammatory response and are thought to enhance the sensation of pain by excessively stimulating the nerve endings in the damaged tissue. So since pain is associated with muscle damage, in some cases it may be a fair indicator of a "good workout" or running session. The repair and healing of damaged muscle allows for hypertrophy or enlargement of the muscle fiber by the addition of myofibrils, thus increasing the cross sectional area.
How to Lose the Most Fat and Build the Most Muscle in 30 Days
September 15, 2008
A lot can happen in 30 days.
The dream of everyone who trains is to lose maximum fat and build maximum muscle in the shortest period of time possible. While it is definitely possible to both lose fat and gain muscle at the same time, in my experience, the best results come from concentrating on one major goal at a time.
Let me put it this way: to lose fat, you need a caloric deficit. To build muscle, you need a caloric surplus. If you try to do both at the same time, you may just remain exactly where you are!
So the question before us is - how do we maximize both fat loss and muscle gain, two very much opposing goals, in only 30 days?
It’s simple, we focus on both goals in the same program but not at the exact same time!
By alternating rapidly back and forth between reduced-calorie fat loss training and higher-calorie mass-oriented training, you can not only accomplish both goals at the same time, you can actually use the two opposing goals to feed on each other and send your results through the roof!
Comeback Bench Program
September 11, 2008
For those who are not familiar with my name, I am a National Level Strongman competitor in the United States. I lift stones that weigh just under 400 pounds, flip a 900+ pound tire routinely, and lift logs overhead. I eat regular food and drink a protien powder, that’s it. My strength comes from my training, and that is why you can benefit from my programs. This program and the weights used are representative of my strength several years ago. Using this and other programs, my strength has soared to new heights, and so can yours!
This is a program that I have used in the past when I haven’t been lifting for awhile and I wanted to get back in benching shape as quickly as possible. It involves heavy singles 3 or 4 times a week for as long as it works, which is usually 3 to 5 weeks. If you haven’t lifted at all for a while, you will need to get a couple of lighter bench workouts under your belt before you undertake this program. With that being said, let me take you with me through the first time I used this program and show you what I learned about it.
