Rebounding Trampolines Small, usually round, trampolines (less than one metre in diameter), often called trampettes are sometimes used as part of a physical fitness regime. They allow the user to gain many of the benefits of exercise with a low impact on knees and joints. This type of trampoline is usually kept in an indoor […]
Rebounding Trampolines
Small, usually round, trampolines (less than one metre in diameter), often called trampettes are sometimes used as part of a physical fitness regime. They allow the user to gain many of the benefits of exercise with a low impact on knees and joints. This type of trampoline is usually kept in an indoor environment. These […]
Stationery Exercise Bikes
Health and fitness articles at www.healthclub.info There are many people who like to do their exercise routines at home. For a long time, stationary exercise bikes were the most common type of exercise equipment you would find in anyone’s home. For the most part, this is still true. Though there are many more advanced types […]
more about this post…
Okay, so you’re looking to pack on some serious muscle mass, right?
You want to build a ripped, rock-solid physique that demands respect and turns heads everywhere you go, correct?
Good.
I’m going to talk to you about one single exercise that will help you to achieve that powerful body quicker than you ever thought possible.
No, it’s not a bench press or a barbell curl.
It doesn’t involve cables or chrome machines.
You won’t need a swiss ball or any other fancy gym gadgets.
All you need is a good old-fashioned barbell and a flat surface. Load the bar with as much weight as you can handle and pick it up off the ground while keeping your back straight.
Sounds simple enough, right?
I’m talking, of course, about the undisputed king of all upper body exercises: the deadlift.
If you’re looking to pile as much lean muscle mass onto your frame as humanly possibly in the shortest period of time, the deadlift is your best friend in the entire world.
That’s the good news.
The bad news is that deadlifts are without a doubt one of the most painful and discomforting exercises you will ever come across. When performed properly, the deadlift will leave you lightheaded, nauseous, gasping for air and will temporarily have you wishing that you hadn’t come to the gym in the first place. But if it’s serious results that you’re after, this is the price you must pay.
The deadlift will work you from finger to neck to toe. It is a raw, basic power movement and will literally stress every single muscle in your entire body to some degree. The main areas of stimulation are the back and thighs, but once you start doing the deadlift on a consistent basis you’ll see gains just about everywhere.
The high intensity nature of this basic lift will also force your body to secrete higher amounts of powerful anabolic substances such as testosterone and growth hormone. This causes what is known as a “spill over effect”, and will result in new, total body muscle mass and strength gains. For example, after a few weeks of doing heavy deadlifts you should notice that your other lifts, such as the bench press and barbell row, will suddenly increase.
There a few different variations of the deadlift, but in this article we’ll focus on the basic, standard bent-legged version. Let’s go over the proper technique…
Read the Bent Leg Deadlift explanation
Plug Stamp: FFGNWL
more about this post…
By Gary Mathews
Fitness Instructor for the Royal Australian Air Force and Author of Maximum Fitness
The vast majority of myths about weight gain are mostly passed down from “gym talk” and so-called experts who know nothing about the body’s workings.
Myths that lead to wasted time, frustration and if are taken blindly as truth, can really set back your progress in the gym. Don’t believe everything you hear in the gym when it comes to exercise and weight gain, do the research yourself.
Simple, basic principles apply to all weight and muscle gain such as progressive overload, variable frequency of reps and high intensity workouts. Lets take a look at some of the most common weight gain myths.
High repetitions burn fat while low repetitions build muscle.
Progressive overload is needed to make muscles bigger. Meaning that you need to perform more reps than you did for your last workout for that particular exercise. If you perform the same amount of reps at each workout nothing will change on you, also if the weight doesn’t changes on the bar nothing will change on you. You need to become stronger.
Definition has two characteristics, muscle size and a low incidence of body fat. To reduce body fat you will have to reduce your calories; the high repetition exercise will burn some calories, but wouldn’t it be better to fast walk to burn these off? Better still; use the low reps to build muscle, which will elevate your metabolism and burn more calories (less fat).
Vegetarians can’t build muscle.
Yes they can! Strength training with supplementation of soy Protein Isolate has shown to increase solid bodyweight. Studies have shown that athletic performance is not impaired by following a meat free diet, and people strength training and consuming only soy protein isolate as a protein source were able to gain lean muscle mass.
[Rob’s Note:] I agree. I was vegetarian for 12 years and vegan for two of those. I was able to put on over 40 pounds of lean muscle tissue on a plant based diet.
Strength Training will make you look masculine.
If it is not you’re intention to bulk up from strength training you won’t. Putting on muscle is a long hard slow process. Your strength-training regime coupled with quality food will determine how much you will bulk up. To bulk up you also require more food. Women don’t produce enough testosterone to allow for muscular growth as large as men.
By working out you can eat what ever you want to.
Of course you can eat whatever you want, if you don’t care how you want to look. Working out does not give you an open license to consume as many calories as you want. Although you will burn more calories if you workout than someone who doesn’t, you still need to balance your energy intake with you energy expenditure.
If you take a week off you will lose most of your gains.
Taking one or two weeks off occasionally will not harm your training. By taking this time off every eight to ten weeks in between strength training cycles it has the habit of refreshing you and to heal those small niggling injuries. By having longer layoffs you do not actually lose muscle fibres, just volume through not training, any size loss will be quickly re-gained.
By eating more protein I can build bigger muscles.
Building muscle mass involves two things, progressive overload to stimulate muscles beyond their normal levels of resistance and eating more calories than you can burn off. With all the hype about high protein diets lately and because muscle is made of protein, it’s easy to believe that protein is the best fuel for building muscle, however muscles work on calories which should predominately be derived from carbohydrates.
If I’m not sore after a workout, I didn’t work out hard enough.
Post workout soreness is not an indication of how good the exercise or strength training session was for you. The fitter you are at a certain activity, the less soreness you will experience after. As soon as you change an exercise, use a heavier weight or do a few more reps you place extra stress on that body part and this will cause soreness.
Resistance training doesn’t burn fat.
Nothing could not be further from the truth. Muscle is a metabolically active tissue and has a role in increasing the metabolism. The faster metabolism we have the quicker we can burn fat. Cardio exercise enables us to burn calories whilst exercising but does little else for fat loss afterwards.
Weight training enables us to burn calories whilst exercising but also helps us to burn calories whilst at rest. Weight training encourages muscle growth and the more lean muscle mass we possess, the more fat we burn though an increased and elevated metabolism.
No pain no gain.
This is one myth that hangs on and on. Pain is your body signalling that something is wrong. If you feel real pain during a workout, stop your workout and rest. To develop muscle and increase endurance you may need to have a slight level of discomfort, but that’s not actual pain.
Taking steroids will make me huge.
Not true, strength training and correct nutrition will grow muscle. Taking steroids without training will not make you muscular.
Most steroids allow faster muscle growth through greater recovery, while others help increase strength which allows for greater stress to be put onto a muscle. Without food to build the muscle or training to stimulate it nothing will happen. Most of the weight gain seen with the use of some steroids is due to water retention and is not actual muscle.
Strength training won’t work your heart.
Wrong!! Strength training with short rest periods will increase your heartbeat well over a hundred beats per minute. For example, performing a set of breathing squats and you can be guaranteed that your heart will be working overtime and that your entire cardiovascular system will be given a great overall body workout.
Any intensive weightlifting routine that lasts for 20 minutes or more is a great workout for your heart and the muscles involved.
I can gain muscle and lose fat at the same time.
Wrong. Only a few gifted people with superb genetics can increase muscle size while not putting on body fat. But for the average hard gainer, they have to increase their muscle mass to its maximum potential and then cut down their body fat percentage to achieve the desired shape.
Gary Matthews is a trainer from “down under” who has been coaching clients from athletes to bodybuilders for two decades. You may visit his website at Maximum Fitness.
Articles by Gary Matthews
Weight Gain Principles
Workout Without a Gym
Weight Gain Myths
Are You Overtraining In The Gym?
Read more Bodybuilding Articles
Copyright Natural Weight Loss
Plug Stamp: FFGNWL
more about this post…
