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They Dont Know Squat!

There seems to be much confusion amongst trainers and trainees as to whether squats should be performed all the way down or just half way. In most gyms today, a common instruction during squats, deadlifts, and lunges (as taught by many personal training organizations) is not to allow the knees to travel beyond the toes. Doing so will ultimately cause the destruction of your knees! I do not agree. There are certain instances where partial range of motion (ROM) is indicated, but for the most part, I teach people the full squat for the following reasons:* It is the most... Read More

Clothes and Shoes and Stretching

Now that we have a trainer, our next concern is to be equipped with the proper shoes and clothes, so our training experience can be maximized. If your trying to create a great body you need to start with clothes and shoes that will make you feel good as well as look good! {The reason behind that is if you look and feel good you will tend to be in a motivated state of mind, and in this state we build consistency, this is where results come from.}What kind of clothes and shoes do I need you may ask? You... Read More

Choosing The Right Bodybuilding Supplement

Before wasting your money on a pile of bodybuilding supplements you really need to work out what you are hoping to achieve. Don't lose sight of the fact that sound nutrition forms the basis of any muscle building program and no amount of supplementation with the latest and greatest products will make up for bad eating habits. The bottom line is, bodybuilding supplements should be used IN ADDITION to regular food, not INSTEAD OF it. Now that we've got that out of the way, let's go on to think about what supplements could be of use and this is something... Read More

The Importance Of Creatine In Building Lean Muscle

Creatine monohydrate can rightly lay claim to being the most popular and arguably most effective bodybuilding supplement currently available. The beauty of creatine is that it is 100% natural and occurs in many foods so it's unlikely to be banned from any sports or competitions. Let's first establish what creatine actually is. In brief, creatine is produced naturally in our bodies to help supply energy to the muscles. It is produced in the liver, pancreas and kidneys before being transported in the blood to our muscles. It is then converted into phosphocreatine which is a powerful metabolite used to regenerate... Read More

The Role Of Whey Protein In Achieving Significant Muscle Gain

Most bodybuilders would agree that supplementing with whey protein is an important element in achieving serious muscle gains. This article will examine the facts relating to whey protein as a supplement and help you decide whether you need to follow this particular strategy. Whey protein is produced during the process that sees milk turned into cheese. It is also found naturally in dairy products, eggs, soy and vegetable proteins but none of these compares in quality to whey protein powder. It also scores highly in providing the branched chain amino acids (BCAA's) that are important in the building and retention... Read More

The Role Of L-Glutamine In Building Muscle

L-glutamine remains the supplement of choice for many bodybuilders. It is a free form amino acid that can be found naturally in beans, meat, fish, poultry and dairy products. It is also an important component of protein powders and is one of the twenty non-essential amino acids found in the body. It is widespread throughout the body and plays an important role in protein metabolism. From a bodybuilder's perspective, glutamine's strength is its ability to reduce the amount of muscle deterioration that occurs as a result of intense physical workouts. Failure to replace the high levels of glutamine consumed during... Read More

Can Growth Hormone Boosters Enhance Muscle Growth?

Many experts feel that supplementation with growth hormones offers exciting possibilities to adult bodybuilders, especially those aged over thirty. They should not be taken by anyone aged under twenty. In the past growth hormone was available only in injectable form but recent years have seen the development of HGH precursors and more advanced delivery systems. The most popular means of taking growth hormone boosters today include sub-lingual spray, homeopathic pills and capsules containing HGH secretagogues. That's all very well, but do these supplements have any place in bodybuilding? To answer this, we'll need to look first at what growth hormones... Read More

What Causes Muscle Growth?

In order for muscles to grow, three things are required: 1. Stimulus - exercise is needed to make the muscles work, use energy and cause microscopic damage to the fibers. 2. Nutrition - after intense exercise the muscles need to replenish their stores of fuel. 3. Rest - it is during the rest or recovery phase that the muscles repair the microscopic damage and grow. Muscle size increases due to hypertrophic adaptation and an increase in the cross section area of individual muscle fibers. Intensive exercise impacts more on the strength influencing fast twitch type II fibers, therefore the increase... Read More

The Role Of Repetitions In Your Muscle Building Program

Repetitions are the basic building blocks of any strength or muscle building program but it is something that many lifters take for granted. How often do you see people at the gym speed through their reps, breathe haphazardly or fail to complete each rep correctly from a technical perspective? There is much more to the simple rep than meets the eye. The first thing to note is that a repetition consists of three elements - namely lower, pause and lift. The speed at which this is achieved depends on the desired outcome, but to maximize muscle growth a slow, controlled... Read More

The Importance Of Sets In Your Muscle Building Program

In an earlier article we looked at how repetitions contribute to the muscle building process, but is the position regarding sets just as clear cut? Unfortunately, the answer to this is no as some experts feel one set to failure is sufficient, whereas others argue that multiple sets are needed to ensure maximum muscle gains. Research to date suggests that, when using six to eight repetitions to failure at 75-80% 1RM, there is little significant difference between training with single and multiple sets in terms of increasing either strength or muscle size. Any small differences that have been recorded indicate... Read More

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... Read More

Creating An Anabolic State That Supports Muscle Growth

You can only build muscle if your body is in the correct anabolic balance to allow growth to take place. Intensive exercise is clearly an important part of the muscle building process but achieving the maximum muscle mass depends on putting the building blocks in place. This is achieved through sound nutritional practices so you need to be aware of the following anabolic enhancing principles: 1. Protein is the basic raw material needed to build muscle. Protein supplies the amino acids that the body uses to repair and build muscle following intensive exercise. Aim to consume 1 to 1.5 grams... Read More

Add Intensity To Your Muscle Building Workout

One of the biggest difficulties facing bodybuilders is how can they be sure that all muscle fibers have been recruited and exhausted during a given exercise and it is only by achieving this that muscle gains can be maximised. The simple answer is, you have work beyond failure and experience a higher level of training intensity than before. This also ensures that workouts remain challenging and continue to engender progress over time thus reducing the likelihood of regression. But how do you go about intensifying your training? Fortunately there is a tried and tested path to follow as outlined below:... Read More

Increase Your Training Intensity - Training To Failure

You can only build muscle tissue if you can generate progressively stronger muscular contractions, so this calls for an emphasis on finding ways to increase exercise intensity. This should not be confused with exercise duration as maximum training intensity will actually shorten the time needed to achieve maximal muscular growth. In an earlier article I outlined the ways in which you can intensify your training. Here we'll focus on the role that training to failure has to play in intensifying the training effect. Anything less than maximum effort will reduce the effectiveness of your muscle building workout. The only way... Read More

Increase Your Training Intensity - Pre-Exhaustion

You can only build muscle tissue if you can generate progressively stronger muscular contractions, so this calls for an emphasis on finding ways to increase exercise intensity. This should not be confused with exercise duration as maximum training intensity will actually shorten the time needed to achieve maximal muscular growth. In an earlier article I outlined the ways in which you can intensify your training. Here we'll focus on the role that pre-exhaustion has to play in intensifying the training effect. When an exercise employs two or more muscles it will be impossible to achieve failure for the primary muscle... Read More

Increase Your Training Intensity - Forced Repetitions

You can only build muscle tissue if you can generate progressively stronger muscular contractions, so this calls for an emphasis on finding ways to increase exercise intensity. This should not be confused with exercise duration as maximum training intensity will actually shorten the time needed to achieve maximal muscular growth. In an earlier article I outlined the ways in which you can intensify your training. Here we'll focus on the role that forced repetitions have to play in intensifying the training effect. When you reach the point of muscular failure it is impossible to manage one more complete repetition of... Read More

Increase Your Training Intensity - Negative Repetitions

You can only build muscle tissue if you can generate progressively stronger muscular contractions, so this calls for an emphasis on finding ways to increase exercise intensity. This should not be confused with exercise duration as maximum training intensity will actually shorten the time needed to achieve maximal muscular growth. In an earlier article I outlined the ways in which you can intensify your training. Here we'll focus on the role that negative repetitions have to play in intensifying the training effect. At the most basic level, human muscles have three types of strength: 1. Positive strength - the ability... Read More

Increase Your Training Intensity - Partial Repetitions

You can only build muscle tissue if you can generate progressively stronger muscular contractions, so this calls for an emphasis on finding ways to increase exercise intensity. This should not be confused with exercise duration as maximum training intensity will actually shorten the time needed to achieve maximal muscular growth. In an earlier article I outlined the ways in which you can intensify your training. Here we'll focus on the role that partial repetitions have to play in intensifying the training effect. One of the biggest dangers confronting serious bodybuilders is the tendency to overtrain. Bodybuilders at the advanced level... Read More

The Facts About Anabolic Steroids

Anyone involved in the world of bodybuilding, and competitive sport generally, will understand the pressures that go with striving to achieve optimal performance. Sometimes athletes feel they cannot reach their peak without artificially enhancing their powers of recovery from intensive training. One way to speed up this process is through the use of anabolic steroids. In this article we'll examine what anabolic steroids actually do. In a second article we'll focus on the dangers associated with steroid use. The main active ingredient in steroids is testosterone which is well known as the major male hormone. Testosterone affects the body in... Read More

The Health Risks Associated With The Use Of Anabolic Steroids

Anabolic steroids are classed as illegal drugs and are banned by most legitimate sports organizations. There can be no disputing the fact that testosterone boosts the development of muscle mass and aids sporting performance. Equally there is no doubt that its use can adversely affect the health and wellbeing of users. The androgenic properties of testosterone can affect the body in many ways but often users see these as inconveniences that can be treated by using other drugs. The most common side effects of testosterone supplementation include the following: 1. Testicle shrinkage - the body responds to testosterone overload by... Read More