Monthly Archives: June 2010

Do resistance bands help you increase strength?


 

A reader would like to know…

Do they tone up the body?

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How to get ripped and buff with just resistance bands?


 

A reader would like to know…

I am going on vacation for a month or so and will not be able to bring any dumbbells or other free weights with me. I am only going to be able to bring resistance bands. I have a variety of them with varieties of weights. The place i am going will also have a treadmill. What stuff can i do to get ripped and buff in that time?
P.S. I am 5’11″ and about 140 lbs and 16 years old.
Thanks:)
I dont wanna lose weight:)

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BodyBuilding: How Do Muscles Grow?

How do Muscles Grow?

If you don’t have any knowledge of carpentry, can you build a house?

Of course, you can’t.

More powerful than any weapon you will have is simple knowledge, and to accomplish anything satisfactorily, you need to have at least some rudimentary know-how of the task in question.

At the gym, adopt a new mantra: “Work smart, not hard.”.

Unfortunately, this mantra is completely overlooked by thousands of wannabe bodybuilders who throng gyms all over the country everyday, attempting to build muscle and lose fat.

Ask any of these gym rats “How do muscles grow?” You won’t get a satisfactory answer, just a blank stare. “They will look back at you with a blank stare.

Bodybuilding isn’t an art, it’s a science.

Now, don’t get worried; you don’t need a doctorate in biology to build big guns, but knowing the basics of how muscles grow will help you to efficiently meet your muscle building goals.

You must be asking by now “How do muscles grow?”.

Well, the process of muscle growth is complex and involves a large number of biological steps.

All you need as a bodybuilder is an understanding of the basic concepts of muscle growth.

So, how do muscles grow? Let’s take a look at the science behind the art. Let us find out.

As you train, you should understand that every single action and process within your body has a single purpose: to keep you alive and healthy.

When it comes to Mother Nature, in fact, we humans have just one purpose: to pass on our DNA and procreate.

Yep, that’s all there is to it.

So exactly how do muscles grow?

We are the result of millions of years of evolution, and the human body has evolved to create natural alarm systems that sound in response to stress, to be able to ensure our survival.

For instance, you feel hungry if you don’t eat, thirsty if you don’t drink, feel pain when something hurts you, and you tan when you’re exposed to the sun.

Muscle building should be viewed similarly.

In scientific terms, the muscle building process is called “hypertrophy.”.

At the gym, you stress your muscles by lifting weights when you work out.

With every repetition you perform, your muscle comes closer to failure, which is the point when your muscles will “give out,” and you won’t be able to do any more repetitions, however hard you try.

As your muscles reach the point of failure, these reps create what are known as “micro-tears,” which are deeper and deeper inroads into the muscle fiber.

In simple terms, what you’re doing is actually breaking down muscle fibers by causing damage to the muscle.

When the body is damaged, the survival system will kick in, and the body will react by repairing the muscles.

The repair process starts when the stress ceases, or when you stop working out.

Since the body’s ultimate aim is to keep you alive and healthy, it will rebuild itself bigger and stronger to be able to protect itself against the same threat in the future.

Resistance training causes micro-tears, and the body’s natural evolutionary response is to repair the damaged tissue, which leads to increased size and strength.

Understanding this concept may seem simple, but it’s very important for muscle building success.

When you overuse the skin on your hands of feet, your body forms calluses on the skin; the entire muscle building process is very similar.

Muscle tissue is the equivalent of a callus for the body, and it keeps growing with constant use.

How do muscles grow then?

When your work out in the gym, your body will initiate a process of adaptation designed to help it cope with the stress, but this will ONLY happen when your body perceives the work in the gym as a threat to survival.

Let me stress this one more time: Your workout must be perceived as a threat to the body’s ability to survive and cope.

So now you see why a nonchalant attitude will not do you any good in the gym.

The body will only perceive a threat when your workout is high in intensity.

How do muscles grow?

Now that you know the basics, it’s time to use your knowledge to fuel your muscles for massive growth; visit the following website to find out how.

By Don Demarco. Don is a fitness enthusiast and writer. Enroll for a FREE muscle building course visit Ultimate Men’s Workout For rock hard six pack abs visit Men’s Workout Six Pack Abs

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Awesome Back Workouts

The back is part of the core of the body. It has many important functions including helping the body bend, twist, stand and carry items. Regular back workouts can assist in strengthening the core of the body, helping individuals reduce back pain, improve posture and even prevent back injuries from occurring.

Of course, back workouts also help you sculpt a strong back, improving the way you look from behind and giving you the confidence to bare your back at the beach. The back muscles are also one of the largest muscle groups in the body, by training the back muscles you can burn more calories! Great back workouts are designed to help you safely engage the three major muscle groups of the back: the upper, middle and lower back.

Rows are one of the most effective back workouts because they can be performed in a variety of ways and using different resistance levels. Barbells can be used for bent over rows. Load up a barbell with the desired amount of weight and place hands on the barbell at shoulder width apart. Legs should also be shoulder width apart. The body needs to be tilted forward to a 45 degree angle with the back straight and the knees bent. While keeping the head up, contract your back and pull the weight up to the torso level and then lower as far as your comfortable.

Rows can also be done with free weights to really work the small muscles of the lower back. To perform hold a free weight in each hand and bend the body over in the same position as before or until the torso is parallel with the floor for a greater challenge. Keep the knees slightly bent and contract the abs. Have arms extended fully with dumbbells hanging down. Then start rowing by bending the knees and pulling the dumbbells up into the torso area.

Back extensions are a great move for working the lower back. To perform, lay face down on a mat and place hands behind the neck, keep your abs contracted, raise the upper body a few inches from the floor, then lower the body back into the starting position. This move can also be done at a back extension machine at the gym.

Another good alternative to a regular extension is a hyperextension. This move works the lower back but is low impact. The move needs to be done near a wall so that your feet can use the wall for leverage. Placing the chest over a stability ball, extend your legs until they touch the wall. Cross your hands over your chest then lift your chest up forcing the lower back to flex, then lower the chest back down.

Back exercises can be performed up to three a week in nonconsecutive days. Repetitions of 16 should be done in sets of 4. Beginners should start out with 8 reps of 2 sets then gradually increase. Those lifting heavier weights should allow the body two days to rest before starting up again.

Because the back muscles work to rotate and pull the shoulders down, back workouts are often combined with bicep training on the same day. Great back workouts are about variety. Add in chin ups, reverse flies, upper body raises, dead lifts and more. Switch up your routine every 6 weeks to avoid plateaus. When working out be sure to use a variety of back exercises that work to target the back from different directions and target different muscle groups of the back.

Ever wanted to lose that extra weight, or just get into great shape? Well look no further than Cliff the amazing Houston Personal Trainer who will get you results with your own custom routine and diet to best fit your fitness goals. So check out Cliff’s site and see why Cliff is THE elite personal trainer! Personal Trainer Houston

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Body Building: Warming Up Doubles Effectiveness

How many times have you ever gone to the gym and started lifting weights immediately without warming up? I know I have, as a bad a practice as it is. After one or two injuries related to not warming up properly, I’ve now made it a habit to always warm up.

Warming up makes your workouts more effective thereby maximizing muscle growth. Chief among the benefits of warming up are:

i) You will be able to lift much more weight. If you recall from an earlier post, the key to building muscle is progressively lifting more weights so this is pretty important.

b) It significantly reduces your chances of getting injured when you lift the heavier weights.

Personally I favor doing a light cardio-vascular exercise to begin the warm up. This helps ‘grease’ the muscle for the heavy workout that is to follow without taking up much energy. It is super important to conserve you energy so that you can work out with as much intensity as you can muster. Running at a low speed on the treadmill or using a cycle machine should do the job.

Doing light cardio exercise causes synovial to be secreted. Synovial is a fluid which lubricates the joints and reduces friction whenever there is movement. A good amount of this makes your workout ‘frictionless’ if I may use that term!

The second mini-part of your exercise is stretching. Doing a whole body stretch not only makes you more flexible but it also eases any tension in your muscles and helps avoid muscle cramps. Some body building experts like the legendary Frank Zane (3 Time Mr Universe) estimate that stretching properly doubles the effectiveness of your workout.

The last part of the warm up phase is light exercise on the muscles that you will be working out that day. If it is a leg day, for example, do squats and dead lifts with a really light weight. Once this is done, the heavy lifting can commence.

In summary stretch the whole body and lightly exercise the muscle group of the day using compound exercises with low weights. Also try and keep focus on what you are doing the whole time. Avoid chit chatting and other distractions that lengthen you time in the gym. The mission is to always spend fifteen minutes warming up and an hour on the workout. Any more than that is counter productive.

Cardio is relatively less mind intensive than any of the other things you will ever do in the gym so use this time to do ‘theater of the mind’ exercises and imagine yourself already in possession of the body you want. This isn’t mumbo jumbo voodoo science by the way. Visualization is a proven powerful technique for attaining success of any kind.

To recap what I just said in one sentence: You ABSOLUTELY MUST warm up before working out if you want to maximize muscle gain and avoid injuries.

Don is a fitness enthusiast and writer. Get the Real Results Men’s Workout Also Learn how to get Men’s Workout Abs

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What is the name of the song that is played during the Terrell Owens show in the 1st episode while he is worki?

 

A reader would like to know…

ng out. All I can tell that the song says “hustle hustle”. This is the link for the show http://vodpod.com/watch/1933938-vh1-presents-the-t-o-show-episode-1-watch You can hear it it while he working out in the pool.

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Good Tricep Workouts

Your triceps form 70% of the total mass of muscle of your upper arm. The primary function of these muscles that extend all the way to the elbow is the straightening of the arm. The tricep muscles are composed of three parts (hence the use of the ‘tri’ prefix): a long head, the humerus and the lateral head. If you want to have a well toned pair of triceps, you need to engage in the appropriate and targeted tricep workouts that can help you reach your goal.

Some of the best triceps workouts are extensions and kickbacks, tricep presses and triceps dips or push ups. These exercises are usually referred to as pushing exercises, pretty much triceps exercises can be done with any type of surface or object that provides the necessary resistance.

The resistance during tricep training can be from dumbbells, barbells, cable and pulley exercise machines and as well as springs. As made apparent from the list, you don’t need highly specialized equipment to engage in good tricep workouts. If done right, these exercises lead to faster muscle growth.

Kickbacks and extensions help build up the long head of the triceps and at the same time serve to provide your triceps with a greater stretch. You can engage in different variations to the classic extensions and kickbacks exercise. For example, you can occasionally do tricep extensions and kickbacks on one leg.

Tricep presses are another good tricep workout. The tricep press is done while lying down so as to leverage on gravitational force during the exercise. Specific examples of tricep presses exercises include barbell triceps presses, dumbbell triceps presses and the close grip bench press.

There are also the triceps push ups and dips such as the one arm triceps dips. These exercises are slightly different from the others and have a more compound effect since they involve other muscles as well as the triceps. That said, correctly executed dips are geared towards keeping your body straight during the exercise and this means you can apply more pressure on the triceps instead of the chest.

To get the full benefits of triceps workouts, you have to be consistent in your workout sessions. Ideally, you should perform these exercises on 3 non-consecutive days if you are to achieve the best results. It is important that you have sufficient rest after each exercise so that your triceps can get accustomed to the exercises.

You should also push the limits in your workouts by moving to a marginally higher weight after time. The goal is to not get comfortable at a certain level. Also make sure that the exercises are balanced on both your arms, this way you can avoid pain and injury,

If you are looking to get in the best shape of your life, look no further than Cliff the elite Houston Personal Trainer who will get you the results you want! Cliff will make both a custom routine and diet that will both fit your goals, and will also keep you motivated throughout. So follow the link to Cliff’s site and to that body you have always wanted! Certified Personal Trainer Houston

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Where can I buy heavy duty resistance bands?


 

A reader would like to know…

I need some with resistance between 25-30 lbs most i see online are too light.

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Exercise Bands from Bodylastics

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5 Things For A Flatter Stomach

 

By Andrew A Foster

It is so important to look and feel good. If you look good you know it for sure that you are fit and fine to do any kind of work. So here in this article we have discussed 5 exercises to flatten your stomach. Flat abs is quite a craze now. People now understand the essence of feeling good with a fit body. If you have not started off with your fitness regime then get going with it right now and be a part of the good looking league.

Walk or jog

This is an age old method which works wonders for people belonging to different age groups. Go for a thirty minutes walk for at least thrice a week and see the results. It is absolutely amazing. This is perfect for burning that extra flab in your body as it turns the metabolism of the body on, in an accelerated way.

Eat almonds

Take almonds for breakfast. At least 6 almonds for breakfast can be really good for your health. Almonds have a protein which is a nutritious substitute for any other food that you have for your breakfast. The protein is actually good at burning calories or the fats present in your stomach. Go for almonds and see the results for yourself.

Perform proper crunches

Crunch exercises are just perfect for belly fat reduction. Avoid sit ups for reduction of stomach fats. Sit ups does nothing to make the muscles of your abs grow taut and smooth. No support is provided by sit ups to give a toned look to your tummy, they are good for hip area toning. So go for crunches for at least 3 times a week to get the benefits of a flat stomach.

Drink skim milk

If you have the habit of drinking milk and do not wish to part with it then no problem. But make sure that you are going for skimmed milk instead of ordinary milk. The ordinary milk causes gas and the fats present in ordinary milk are much more than skimmed milk. Skimmed milk is much easier to digest as well thus ensuring proper utilization of the calorie intake.

Drink plenty of water

You can drink plenty of water to ensure proper digestion and utilization of the calories that you take in as food. 6 to 8 glasses of water is the minimum quantity that you should drink to clean up your system and it also keeps you filled for which you do not feel the urge to eat much.

So here are some useful tips provided to you in order to reduce your stomach and get rid of that extra flab and look great.

There are many trainers with their proven technique but if you want to know more exercises to flatten stomach and how to get it, then you can use the method I use to lose 5 pounds in 2 weeks. It may not feel a lot but it is definitely a step in the right direction. Learn the truth about six pack abs here http://www.sixpackabsdiary.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Andrew_A_Foster
http://EzineArticles.com/?5-Exercises-to-Flatten-Your-Stomach&id=4376248

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5 Home Abs Workouts For Men

 
By Andrew A Foster

When it comes to your abs do not pay heed to any silly talk that promises you a “fast reduction” in the flabby regions of your abs. This is just not possible. No gel or soap as promised by many can burn that extra bit of fat for you. You need to do proper exercises and maintain a healthy diet to lose that fat from your abs effectively. Here in this article some of the simplest home abs workouts are discussed. You do not need to visit a gym in order to get flat abs. there are some perfect abs workout for men which can be easily done by you at your home daily.

Go for stability ball rollouts

If you had been opting for crunches all this while, then now discard this method away and go for stability ball rollouts in its place. The stretch you will feel in this case is far more powerful than a crunch which is why they are quite effective in reducing those extra fats from your abs. This also involves lower risk because it avoids a spinal flexion.

Go for plank with arms on the ball

Get the crunches on balls replaced with the above. This method is better. Most men’s health magazines states that researches conducted on its effectiveness proves that they are 30% more effective than crunches on balls.

Go for x body mountain climbers

If you had been doing bicycle crunches all this while then get it replaced with X body mountain climbers now. You can work on the oblique of your abs without going for crunches repeatedly by doing this. Your lower back will stay very fit and healthy at the same time if you go for this regime as it builds endurance for stress in the abs.

Stability ball jackknives

To work with the lower area of your abdomen you can go for stability ball jackknives instead of reverse crunches. Back protecting endurance capabilities will also result along with the oblique in this case. Thus we find this technique more appropriate than reverse crunches.

Hanging knee ups

Your sit ups should be replaced with hanging knee ups to get better results. Along with this you can also go for a pull up or a chin up to find more effective results. Sit ups actually does not make the portion of abs grow taut. Your abs should look toned. The hanging knee ups is probably the best workout for the abs. The stress on stomach is good enough to bring out the results in this case.

So here are a set of exercises perfect to reduce and work on your abs even while you are at home.

There are many trainers with their proven technique but if you want to know more home ab workouts for men and start losing weight as well, then you can use the method I use to lose 5 pounds in 2 weeks. It may not feel a lot but it is definitely a step in the right direction. Learn the truth about six pack abs here http://www.sixpackabsdiary.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Andrew_A_Foster
http://EzineArticles.com/?5-Home-Abs-Workouts-For-Men&id=4376272

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