The men's fitness blog

A fitness program should be customized to your body type in order to get positive results. You have to remember that your body is different from other people. You have a different metabolic rate to the next guy and you also have a different body structure that will require an altered body building program. If your friend is using a muscle building routine that is working for him, the same program may not necessarily work for you.


One mistake that most people make when it comes to muscle gain or fitness programs, is that they stick to a program that clearly doesn't work for them. Remember, if you see that your body building program is not working, why should you keep on doing it? Bit of a waste of time and energy (and money if you go to a gym).


Give any new training program 2 or 3 weeks. You will be able to see if there are any improvements or not; a great program will show clear improvements in your body within this short time. Don't continue with an exercise program for months if you don’t see any positive results after the initial three weeks.


Here are some tips that will be able to maximize efficiency when you work out and also maximize your body building exercises.


Initially, you need to remember that half reps will not cut it. Do only full reps even if it is strenuous. However, you have to avoid over-training at the same time. Always remember that in muscle building, recuperation is the key. Try to rest for at least a day between times. This way, you will be able to give your muscles the rest they need in order to grow.


Also note that muscle training is actually damaging your muscles. You are injuring your muscles in order to make them grow. Your body adjusts to your actions and grows stronger and bigger muscle tissue. This is what actually happens when you gain muscle mass.

If you are overweight, then you have to remember that the best way to reduce fat is by incorporating cardiovascular exercise into your muscle building program. Cardiovascular exercises are known as aerobic exercises, since they burn fat. They are able to do this since they take place over a relatively long period of time and force your body to use fat as fuel. In contrast, weight lifting is anaerobic exercise, as it involves short bursts of hard exertion, and therefore only burns sugar (glycogen).

Correct execution of the individual exercises is also very important in promoting muscle growth. One common mistake is to perform exercises too fast. Another is to allow the weight to drop once it has reached its highest point. Going slow on each repetition is better. Imagine you are doing barbell curls - lift the barbell up until you fully tighten your biceps and slowly lower it down to the starting point. The smooth lowering action is highly efficient at boosting muscle growth, it is just as important as the upwards movement.

These are just a few tips on how to increase your rate of muscle weight gain. Always remember that with the proper diet, good form while doing your workout, and plenty of rest, you will be able to get the results you want faster.
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Muscle weight gain tips

Labels: building muscle, muscle weight gain

Drinking significant amounts of alcohol is one of he principal factors behind many men's loss of muscle tone and definition. Unfortunately, despite what nutritionists say, many people still drink excessively and wonder why they can't build muscle the way they would like. If muscle gain is not what you want, then this is ok; but if you are looking to build muscle then this article will give you the lowdown on the relationship between alcohol and muscle weight gain.

We've already established the need to be careful about your alcohol consumption if you want to get a six-pack (pardon the pun), but why exactly is this - what does alcohol do to your body and muscle mass?

1. Alcohol raises estrogen and decreases testosterone

Labels: alcohol, building muscle, mass build, muscle weight gain

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FitnessForRealMen - muscle and body building routines; fitness and nutrition tips

Labels: building muscle, mass build, muscle strength training, muscle weight gain

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FitnessForRealMen - muscle and body building routines; fitness and nutrition tips

Labels: building muscle, mass build, muscle strength training, muscle weight gain, nutrition

40 year old Hugh Jackman needed to bulk up and get super-ripped to play the role of superhero mutant Wolverine. Find out what he did and learn how you can do the same.

Jackman surely owes a lot to his personal trainer, Mike Ryan, who has been helping him train since they met at a small gym in Jackman’s native Australia. ‘I call him my masterpiece,’ says Ryan. ‘He just keeps getting better and better over the years. We’ve got a bet to see if we can both get to 50 and still have a six-pack.’

To work around his filming schedule, he and Ryan are usually in the gym at the crack of dawn. ‘Research suggests that people who train in the afternoons consistently do workouts of far less intensity than those who do train in the morning. When Hugh has a 6am filming start, that means we’ll be in the gym by 4am’, says Ryan.

Jackman usually starts his workouts with a cardio warmup, which varies between running and swimming. This helps warm up and stretch his muscles to prevent injury. He also finishes with another 15 minutes of cardio work.

The main workout is 60 to 90 minutes, and is based around big compound weight-lifts and traditional resistance exercises, like bench-presses, squats and deadlifts. These work to increase overall muscle bulk. To emphasize particular muscles, each day’s session is split between muscle groups, with isolation exercise sets like flyes paired with compound sets, like squats. The compound exercise of the pair keeps every muscle working, while the isolation exercise squeezes a particular muscle to failure. ‘I believe in controlled overload,’ Ryan says. ‘To push the muscles to failure by the last set, we’ll superset compound moves with isolation ones – for example, go from a dumb-bell bench press straight into a flye. By the last set you need a spotter to help you squeeze out those last couple of reps., says Ryan.

While the fundamental training principles are based on the core body-building moves, the same workout can be done ten different ways by making small changes, like changing the angle of the bench; the weight, the tempo; or the rest time.

One look at Jackman’s physique proves that these training methods work, so give his plan a try. We can’t guarantee making you the next x-man, but it will get you ripped and ready for action.

Summary:
- Warm up first with 15 minutes of cardio.
- Do pairs of the exercises as supersets, performing one set of the first exercise, then moving immediately on to a set of the second exercise.
- Take enough time to rest between supersets.
- Choose a weight that you can manage with perfect technique for the whole set, but which leads to muscular failure by the end of the final set.
- Take one second to lift the weight, pause for another second, then take two to three seconds to lower it down.
- Train in the morning where possible.
- Work on “progressive overload” – always keep increasing the weight.
- Keep a training diary to record your progress.
- Focus on muscle activation rather than simply aiming to finish the set.
- Work with a trainer to help your motivation.
- Get plenty of sleep – 7 to 7.5 hours a night.

Labels: building muscle, mass build, muscle strength training, muscle weight gain

Most people know that they need to lift weights to build muscles. But many guys want to have muscle tone and an attractive body, without looking huge, so they just lift light weights with high repetitions.

Unfortunately, this is not going to work. Getting a ripped body is a two-step process. First, build up your muscles with intense training. Second, cut fat from your body to shrink-wrap your muscles, giving that striated, ripped look. That's really all muscle tone is - you are able to see the shape of the muscles throught the skin.

To get nice muscle tone and build an attractive muscular body, you need to commit to a regular training routine, with good nutrition before and after the fat-burning phases. Here are some muscle building tips that you can incorporate into your workouts. (Before you commence weight training, remember to warm up and as well as doing some stretching exercises.)

Train Muscle With Free Weights

Machines have their uses, but for a start, concentrate on free weights. That means working almost exclusively with barbells and dumb bells. Free weights force your body to use many stabilizing muscles for balance and coordination. That means you will work a larger overall area than the "big" muscle groups. This is essential to giving you a balanced, symettrical, sexy look. In other words, it will give rise to little bumps, striations and definitions all over your body instead of one big lump of muscle on your intended muscle. Because of the extra nutrients created, your muscles will grow faster too. (Why else do you think all professional body builders almost exclusively use free weights?)

Train With Compound Exercises

Incorporate as many compound exercises as possible to your exercise schedule. Compound exercises are exercises that involve 2 or more joint movements. They utilize more joints, which means greater muscle mass is involved. Using more muscles means you can lift heavier weights. This in turn encourages greater muscle growth - enhancing your muscle tone even further.

Some excellent compound exercises are Squats, Lunges, Deadlifts, Dips, Pull ups, Bench press, Barbell Press, Bent-Over Barbell Row. I'm thinking of writing about each one of these exercises in future posts - let me know if that's what you'd like to see.

High Intensity Training

Intense, hard training is key to muscle growth. Try to do more reps than your previous session, or lift more weight.

Every time you train hard, you give your body time to recover and rebuild itself bigger and stronger. Your muscles grow when you rest, particularly during sleep (not in the gym). So get enough sleep. Do not train every day or work the same muscle group more than once or twice a week. For vigorous, intense exercise, do no more than one hour per session.

Try not to do cardio work on the same day as your weight lifting work, as aerobic exercises are not conducive to muscle growth. You can increase your cardio work at the fat-burning phase, cutting this fat is key to getting ripped.

Technique And Form

Poor technique not only compromises your muscle growth; it will also make you prone to injury.

This usually happens when people try to lift weights that are too heavy, whether out of vanity or ignorance. As a guide, always lift with strict focus on the muscle you intend to work on for that exercise. Feel it contract and relax. Lift the weights smoothly and slowly without jerking. Never swing your weights up especially when doing bicep curls or the military press.

To Build Muscles Fast You Must Perform Lower Body Exercises

Your lower body makes up 60% of your muscle mass. If you don't train these muscles, not only will you look chicken-legged, your entire body will not grow as quickly and as large. Don't think that you can hide those skinny limbs in pants! Most people do not train their legs because squats, dead lifts and lunges are grueling exercises. But it is precisely because of such intensity that you will produce more growth hormones when you sleep and overall muscular development is stimulated. Your body shape will also be more balanced and therefore more attractive.

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kr
website: FitnessForRealMen - proven muscle and strength training techniques; fitness and nutrition tips

Labels: building muscle, mass build, muscle weight gain, ripped

Writing is one of my favorite things in the world. I love to impart knowledge to people who are truly looking to sort through the maze of misinformation out there on health and fitness and learn how to achieve optimal health and enjoy a much higher quality of life. Trust me people. You will enjoy everything in your life better when you are healthy. Give yourself the gift of good health!


In this article I am going to tell you exactly what I do for my back. I do four exercises on my back day.

1) Machine Shoulder Shrugs
I get a tight grip on the handles and keep my arms straight and imagine they are bars. Standing straight up and holding the grips with my arms straight down at my sides, I shrug with my traps to lift the bars up as far as I can. I do not try to pull it up with my arms. All of my focus is my traps doing the work. Then slowly lower bars and relax your traps and repeat.

2) Machine Close Grip Row
The machine makes you assume the proper position. Sitting down and bracing your chest against the pad, reach forward and grab the handles. Keeping your back straight use your back muscles to pull the bars toward your midsection. Once again do not use your arms to the handles. Bring to your body then slowly let bars return to starting position and repeat.

3) Lower Back Machine
Sit in machine with knees bent and feet on platform, back resting against pad. Smoothly and slowly push back the back pad with your rigid back to the full range of motion of the machine. Slowly let the back pad return to original position and repeat.

4) Cable Machine Wide Grip Pulldown
Sit on the bench and reach up and grab bars with a wide grip. Use your back to pull the bar down in front of you to your chin level. Once again think of your arms as bars. Slowly let bar raise up until your arms are extended fully again and repeat.

I use an advanced pyramid routine, 3 sets pyramiding upward in weight for each exercise, with the corresponding number of repetitions decreasing. I also switch the order of the four exercises each week to keep my muscles shocked into growing.

Example: 1st set 3 plates a side for 12 reps
2nd set 4 plates a side for 10 reps
3rd set 5 plates a side for 8 reps

To maintain progress and strength in any weight training program, each muscle group should be worked out at least once a week. It is important to work out all of your muscles each week, not just certain ones. When you start a weight training program, there will be a trial-and-error period where you will learn what poundage to use for each exercise. No matter what your goals, your resistance should be such that the last repetition of each set is all you can do. As a general rule of thumb, you should exhaust the muscle after performing ten to twelve repetitions of one exercise. If you do not, then you should increase the weight. Learn the correct weight for you.

The gym is not a contest to see who can throw around the most weight and impress people. It is about using the right amount of weight per exercise to make your body grow and to build lean muscle and burn fat. Learn the science of weight training and really make your time in the gym as productive as it can possibly be!

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/muscle-building-articles/how-to-grow-an-awesome-back-300362.html

About the Author:
Rico Connor is a 53 year old self-taught health and fitness expert, author, bodybuilder, and business entrepreneur. His web site is http://www.totalhealth4life.net features his eBook: Total Health For Life, Mind & Body, What the Diet and Fitness Gurus Forgot to Tell You

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kr
website: FitnessForRealMen - proven muscle and strength training techniques; fitness and nutrition tips

Labels: back, back machine, building back muscles, building muscle, shoulder shrugs

This comes from Zen to fitness



1) Lactic acid is the Spartan’s friend. The Spartan knows the value of anaerobic failure, and actively seeks it out. If he falls on his face, he waits only as long as necessary to move again before he continues.

2) The Spartan takes no breaks between exercises, unless it’s to shove a non-Spartan out of the way.

3) The Spartan runs. He does not use Stairmasters, or stationary bikes, or ellipticals. He runs.

4) When the Spartan cannot run, he walks. When he cannot walk, he crawls. When he cannot crawl, he has failed.

5) The Spartan hits big muscles, like the back, the pectorals, the quadriceps and the glutes. He knows this means he is building functional muscle that will assist in the destruction of his enemies and in the production of testosterone (of which the Spartan has more than the average man).

6) By contrast, the Spartan does not waste much time on small muscles. They will grow as the result of functional exercise that hits the big muscles (see above). For example, the bicep is only useful in that it assists with chin-ups, and scaling enemy fortifications. Anything else is vanity.

7) The Spartan abhors cables and machines. This is for two reasons. First, to activate stabilizer muscles, the Spartan must depend on himself to balance the weight, not a machine. Second - look up the adjective “spartan” in the dictionary: “strict and austere.” You should be able to do a Spartan workout in a FOB.

8 ) The Spartan fears only one thing: his workout. The enemy pales in comparison to his workout. If he doesn’t fear his workout, it isn’t hard enough.

9) Puking is acceptable. Quitting is not. If he gives up here, he gives up in battle. This is unacceptable.

10) So nature abhors a vacuum, so the Spartan loathes missing a workout. A Spartan can complete a workout in his grandma’s basement, a hotel room, or in a city park.

11) If the Spartan is not in pain during his workout, he is wrong.

12) The Spartan never cheats. He maintains proper technique throughout his training, because he knows that smooth is fast, and that he will be mocked mercilessly for, “girly pull-ups”.

13) The Spartan knows the value of the basics: the push-up, the pull-up, the chin-up, the sit-up, the squat, and the dead-lift. He also knows the importance of variety, and seeks out different techniques of the above.

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kr
website: FitnessForRealMen - proven muscle and strength training techniques; fitness and nutrition tips

Labels: building muscle, mass build, muscle strength training