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2009 January

Building Muscles at Home in Three Easy Steps

January 18th, 2009 |
burn fat build muscle
Rob Ferrall asked:


Just as looking good and getting into better shape doesn’t always require burning off fat, building muscles doesn’t always require you to hit the gym for a high-tech workout regimen. Whether you lack the time to take part in a vigorous bodybuilding routine with professional oversight, or you simply cannot afford an expensive gym membership — building muscles at home is easier than you might think.

We are going to explore three simple ways that you can help yourself to “bulk up” in your spare time from the comfort of your home.

You are what you eat

The foods that you eat play a significant role in your body’s ability to gain muscle mass, and this relationship is oftentimes overlooked by individuals. Fatty foods and sugary foods have a purpose, so long as you do not over-indulge, but the role that fats and sugars play in your diet will not cause you to build muscle mass.

High-protein foods are the food of choice for bodybuilders, and if your goal is to build muscle, you need to maintain a high-protein diet. As a side note, lean proteins help to boost your body’s metabolism — so if your bodybuilding goals include burning off a little bit of excess fat, lean proteins offer a duality of benefits for you.

Add exercise to your daily routine

Exercising comes in many different shapes and forms; however, if you are looking to build muscles, you need to focus on exercises and training programs that work with you on your goals of “bulking up”. While cardiovascular activity, such as walking or aerobics routines, may very well help you tone your body, cardiovascular activity alone will likely have the opposite effect of what you’re looking for.

Instead of solely relying on cardiovascular exercises, try incorporating muscle building routines such as jogging, mountain biking, push-ups, pull ups, jumping jacks, or any other exercise regimen that will allow you to get your heart pumping as well as work to stretch, strengthen, and rebuild you muscles.

Be sure to rest

Working out at home, or at the gym for that matter, should be intensive enough to get your muscles working, but should also allow the proper time for your body to recover from a strenuous workout. Working out seven days a week, four or more hours per day, may be suitable for world-class bodybuilders, but for the average Joe just looking to add some meaty definition to his stomach, arms, and chest — continuous workouts without breaks is not recommended.

Especially after enduring an intense workout regimen, your body absolutely needs a day or so to recover. Just as your body needs sleep at night to a kind of recharge itself, your muscles need a break every once in awhile after a workout so that they can rebuild and get stronger.

Easily build muscle mass at home

Building muscle doesn’t have to be overly complex, and you don’t even need a gym membership in order to bulk up and increase your muscle mass. By eating right, focusing on exercises that will allow you to build muscle, and by allowing some down time between intensive workouts — you will be able to build up your muscles, and maintain a healthier lifestyle at the same time.



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Lose Belly Fat In 5 Easy Steps

January 16th, 2009 |
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Ryan Cote asked:


There are many reasons you have a bit of extra fat around your belly. You may have overindulged during the holidays or missed your regular fitness routine while working overtime. To add to these factors, your metabolism naturally slows down as you get older. In fact, starting at the age 25, our metabolism declines about five percent each decade. So how do we burn off this unwanted fat? There are several natural, easy ways to lose belly fat for good:

Eat Breakfast

As simple as it sounds, eating breakfast every morning is important because it actually “turns on” your metabolism. The earlier you eat, the quicker your metabolism with run to burn off fat.

Work Out in the Morning

If you work out at least 30 minutes right after you wake up in the morning, you can burn off up to three times more fat. Because your body burns most of the previous day’s carbohydrates during the night, working out in the morning burns fat instead of carbohydrates for energy. Remember, don’t eat breakfast first - that will give your body additional carbohydrates to burn. Work out and then eat breakfast for the perfect fat burning routine each day.

Sleep

Another simple but necessary step to burning fat is regular sleep. A study done by the University of Chicago revealed that losing sleep affects how our bodies metabolize carbohydrates, resulting in glucose intolerance, a slowed metabolism and possible increased hunger. Not getting enough sleep can also make you feel “too tired” to exercise. At least six to eight hours of sleep every night is essential to keep the body’s metabolism functioning properly and give you enough energy to function properly.

Be Active

Engage in regular exercise routines, such as a half hour power walk before breakfast. Remain active all day by taking the stairs, cleaning, gardening, standing while you talk on the telephone, sitting up rather than lounging as you watch television and periodic stretching when for extended periods of time. Staying active throughout the day in small ways is a beneficial, easy way to burn fat all day.

Protein

The building blocks for muscle are proteins and without protein you can actually lose muscle mass. A person should consume .4 -.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight. Having muscle is important because it burns up to 90 percent more calories than fat.

With a few easy lifestyle changes, you can lose belly fat and build muscle. The benefits of burning fat include improved overall health and a more attractive body.



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Tips to Build Muscles Without Weights

January 15th, 2009 |
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Peter Noopy asked:


Is it possible to build muscles without weights? What kind of training and what kind of machines are we looking at here if we wish to doff the weights and instead focus on the human muscular-skeletal frame itself and how it resists forces? And the answer is resistance training. Resistance training focuses on the human frame itself, and its reaction to progressive overloading in different environments. The environments are of course dictated by what kind of training is in place.

The usual exercises that utilize the weight of the body only is of course, push-ups, and other modified versions of the push up, and other similar exercises that involve bars and other gym equipment that put the body into a particular angle for specific training. Resistance training is usually done in order to have more density in the human bones. This is not only done because of muscular hypertrophy or just to increase power but to boost the body’s speed at the same time so that it may accomplish various tasks in specific time frames. Resistance exercises have been developed specifically also to increase the volume and girth of the muscles that support the skeletal system. Always bear in mind that resistance training is not just all about motion. The body should be given full freedom during training.

So what are the machines that would help you obtain those muscles without getting strenuous muscles and lifting weights? One machine that does not require weight lifting is the swimming machine. The typical model is popularly known as the countercurrent swimming machine. Now what can it do to help you get the muscles that you want? The utilization of this machine is brilliant. The machine utilizes the very weight and bulk of the one using it in the water so that there would be a self-contained resistance to his movement, and he would be struggling to overcome this resistance to be able to move about in the water. There are actually two ways to do this: the self-contained swimming machine or countercurrent swimming machine may just plant resistance against the swimmer, or it may increase the speed at which the water after the swimmer moves.

Another implement that may be used is the elastic resistance band that may be taken everywhere and assembled nearly everywhere. There are already so many exercises that were developed by experts all over the world that is specifically mean for a certain part of the body. These exercises are very useful especially if you are targeting for the hypertrophy less the heavy weights. Another machine type is those machines or equipment that fall under the hydraulic resistance category. These machines allow the individual who is engaged in resistance training to also increase the power and resistance of the cardiovascular system. With this technique, you don’t have to do different exercises that would target the different parts of your body. The key to this type of exercise is to increase your speed during the whole duration of the training. Under those that utilize elastic resistance, you can try Soloflex machines or Bowflex machines for your resistance training needs. Both types utilize the basic principles of weight-less training that also increase hypertrophy in the body.



Lose Weight Fast By Eating More!
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The Truth About Building Muscle Simple And Work So Insanely Fast

January 15th, 2009 |
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Karl Aage Isaksen asked:


Introduction

Muscle building articles and information for the beginner and pro. Muscle building aims some time & effort, and if you aren’t willing to dedicate your time and put in extreme amounts of effort, then you are wasting your time. Boilding Muscle is no more a enigma. Building the Muscle requires a careful balance of carbohydrates, fats, & protein as well as lot of vitamins and minerals, allof which are best absorbed through food. Muscle building is acutely no different, if you want the best results work with someone who knows what they are doing. Building Muscle is a heavy experience and also a hobby that is extremely recommended, because it is rewarding and also gives you some really great benefits; such as better look, increased strength, improve. Muscle building can be a lot of great fun and pleasure. Muscle building for numerous of people is a life style or sometimes even the profession. Building muscle is for sure absolutely possible, but the most beneficial scenario is to both build up and keep up muscle mass throughout your life.

Body

Body types are classified into ectomorph (slim and hardly gain muscles), mesomorph (well built and gain muscles easily) and endomorph (fleshy and gain weight easily). Body fatten analysis had better be done every two weeks at the start of the exercise program so changes, if necessary in nutrition, aerobic activity or training programs can be done immediately. Body stats are set down along with abruptly descriptive phrases on the athlete’s general condition.

Training

Training each muscle only 2 times every 5 days. Training with 100% intensity is critical to stimulating muscle growth and it is much easier to maintain this level of effort for shorter periods of time. Training with weights is no more than half of the equation. Lifting bigger weights will make your muscle micro-traumas which as your body heals will cause your muscle to grow and leave you with bigger, stronger muscles. But lifting only the same weightinesses over and over isn’t going to get you big. Lifting the heavy is when your body give up after 4-8 reps.

Fat

Muscle building and losing fat go hand in hand. Muscle building includes burn calories real rapidly. Building muscle is surely the fastest way to lose fat.

Fitness

Fitness is determined as a state of being very healthy, which prepares the hole body for the physical necessities of daily life.

Supplements

Supplements will absently never make up for miserable training or diet, they just help and assist the process of gaining muscle, assuming you are using only the right ones. Supplements & protein powders that hold leucine are used extensively by bodybuilders and other athletes to promote muscle recovery, although it has not produced significant changes in body composition. Supplements are only extra nutrients that are needed by our body. Supplements will only become helpful and useful when all of the actual important stuff is already being taken care of.

Diet

Diets are just as significant as the literal weightlifting, because if you aren’t eating to grow, then you will not grow. Diet is also very important for muscle building as it provides the muscles. Diet is also the key for putting on muscle. Diet & nutrition is the one most significant factor in wanting to gain weight.

Health

Drinking water for health and building muscle. Remember to eat a heavy and healthy breakfast. The fitness and wellness you will attain will be assets that will stay with you for as long as you keep training.

Calories

Calories are what our bodies use for energy, so in order to do what needs to be done, a certain number of calories are needed. You also have to feed your hole body the right amount of calories, protein, carbohydrates and fat in order for it to grow. Try eating minimum 6 times every day and make sure each meal is balanced with the optimal amount of calories, protein, carbohydrates, and fat. 80-90% of calories will come from lean protein sources such as tofu, whey shakes, chicken, fish, turkey and eggs. Very high calories are all time needed for muscle endurance and optimum performance and effective muscle repair.

Conclusion

Muscle building is expected to be effective not only for improvement in athletic ability but also for activation of basal metabolism and promotion of burning of fat. Building Muscle is a long procedure that takes months for obvious results. Muscle building is an significant destination of weight training & muscle building that has been backed by research says you get better gains by changing things up. Building muscle is the most beneficial way to boost your body’s metabolism both with exercise and at rest. Building muscle is a slow procedure and it could possibly take several months before you see noticeable results. Building muscle is not as perplexed as most people make it.



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Bodyweight Training: How To Burn Fat And Build Muscle Without A Gym

January 13th, 2009 |
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Eddie Lomax asked:


Bodyweight training is one of the best ways to burn fat and build muscle. Unfortunately, most people believe (or are led to believe) they need a room full of equipment or an expensive gym membership in order to improve their physique. They completely overlook the fat burning and muscle building potential of bodyweight exercise. I hope this article opens your eyes to the possibilities of using the gym you were born with!

Heads up: at the end of the article I’m going to share with you one exercise that simultaneously builds muscle and burns fat.

It’s happened to all of us at one point or another (even me). We look in the mirror one day and we notice we are softer and fatter. While we weren’t paying attention, our muscle tone and strength has decreased, and our waist size has increased. This is when most of say, “It’s time to hit the gym”.

But hold on a minute. I agree, it is time to do something about your physique. But joining a gym does not have to be the answer. As a matter of fact, you can start burning fat and building muscle today to improve your physique.

Let me show you how bodyweight training can improve your physique in as little 15 minutes a day…

Instead of joining a gym, that you may or may not end up going to, start by adding a bodyweight training program to your daily schedule. Come on, it is easy to find 15 minutes to exercise. And 15 minutes is all you need to do to start feeling and looking better. Obviously, I’d like to see you exercise even more, but let’s keep it simple at 15 minutes for now.

So, you wake up in the morning and do 15 minutes of bodyweight calisthenics. By the way, you’ll find this more invigorating than swilling down cups of coffee. Do this every day. Yes, every day, and you will see great results.

Now, I can hear some of you saying, “I thought you were only supposed to exercise every other day, or 3 times a week!”

This is true, if you are on a high volume bodybuilding program! Bodybuilders need that extra day to recover from the huge amount of training they perform. But you are only doing 15 minutes of bodyweight exercise. This leaves you 1,440 minutes to recover between bodyweight training sessions. This is more than enough.

Now, if you do this every day for a week, you do 1 hour and 45 minutes of exercise. Do you think 1 hour and 45 minutes will start to tighten your muscles and burn off extra fat? You bet it does!

Now, for the skeptics that think bodyweight training is too “easy”, or that you can’t get a great muscle building, fat burning workout in 15 minutes, I’m going to share an exercise with you. (Remember, I promised to do this at the beginning of the article.)

This exercise is called the Burpee-Chin Up Combo.

Here is how you do it…

Stand under a chin up bar with your feet shoulders width apart and arms at your sides. Bend your knees and squat down, placing your hands on the floor in front of you. Kick your feet back so you are in the up position of the push up. Perform a push up. Jump your feet forward under your body… then explode up and grab the bar with palms facing you. Perform a chin up. Drop down and repeat.

Do this for a few minutes and your whole body will feel it, from your muscles to your heart and lungs, and you burn a lot of fat. Try to do as many as you can for a full 15 minutes, and I guarantee you’ll have a new appreciation for bodyweight exercise.

I hope this article has opened you eyes to the fantastic possibilities of bodyweight training. If you need to strengthen and tone your muscles and burn fat, start changing your physique today with your own bodyweight. Make a consistent effort every day and you’ll soon meet your goals.



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The Top 5 Most Unconventional Things I’ve Ever Done to Lose Fat, Build Muscle or Gain Strength

January 11th, 2009 |
burn fat build muscle
The_Trainer asked:


I like to do things completely different from what most people do. If conventional wisdom says “train each bodypart once a week for best results,” I immediately start thinking “I wonder what’ll happen if I train each body part EVERY SINGLE DAY?”

And let me tell you, this mindset has allowed me to discover some pretty amazing things about how the body works…how it burns fat and how it builds muscle and strength!

But that being said, when you’re training to make rapid changes to your body, you MUST start with the basics. There’s no getting around it…not even with the stuff I’m about to show you! Without first having the basics in order (such as good nutrition and training technique), even the best “tricks” won’t help.

So the purpose of this article is to help open up your mind and EXPAND upon the basics, NOT to replace them.

One thing I’m going to tell you right up front…these techniques are sometimes based on logic, sometimes based on scientific studies I’ve read and tried to find practical applications for, and sometimes they’re just based on some wild idea I wanted to try out!

Feel free to try all of these - I’ve used them with varying degrees of success myself and I’m going to let you know how effective I thought they were.

The key here is to read these and not think “wow, that’s stupid” and close your mind, but instead to read these and think “wow, I wonder if that might actually work” and “wow, I’m going to try and think of things I can do differently in my training.”

THAT is what I want to accomplish here…

1. FAT LOSS - Cold Water Immersion

With this technique, the basic idea is this: submerge your body in cold water and let it bring your body temperature down enough to cause shivering. Shivering is almost completely fueled by fat, specifically the brown fat of the body (this is fat that is more metabolically active - the stuff that makes you look fat is known as white fat).

Also, the hormone release in response to the stress of cold water immersion may lead to an increase in metabolic rate.

I came across this cold water immersion idea in a past issue of Muscle & Fitness and the research they presented to back up the idea looked interesting so I decided to give it a try!

The exact study they quoted involved performing activity while in cold water but since I didn’t have a big cold water tank, I decided to try it out with just the shivering in a tub.

Three times a week for a month, I filled a tub up with cold water and went in and started shivering. Now when I say cold water, there wasn’t a hint of warmth in it - it wasn’t ice water but was probably about 50 degrees F.

Let me tell you, you can really find out what you’re made of when you’re faced with a tub full of cold water that you have to get into! You step in, lay down up to your neck then just stay there for 20 minutes. You’ll start shivering pretty quickly!

** Naturally, watch out for signs that you’re getting TOO cold - we don’t want hypothermia here! If you start breathing rapidly or you can’t touch your index finger to your thumb, stand up out of the tub and turn on a warm shower to heat yourself back up.



The Verdict:


I DID actually notice some results over and above what I’ve experienced with standard fat-loss programs. It wasn’t a HUGE difference but I definitely did see a difference. If you want to burn fat while lying down, this is about the only way to do it!

The cold water also has an AMAZING diuretic effect on the body - it flushes subcutaneous (under the skin) water out of your body FAST. I think (and this is just my theory) this is another survival mechanism of the body - when your body starts losing heat rapidly (as it does in cold water), it immediately tries to flush out the best conductor of that heat (which is water). I noticed a major difference in muscle definition immediately after getting out of the cold water.

This MAY be a good technique if you have some stubborn fat you’d like to get rid of AND you’re willing to sit in a cold tub 3 times a week for 20 to 30 minutes. The hormones released (specifically norepinephrine is one that has been mentioned in conjunction with cold water immersion) have the ability to unlock those stubborn fat cells.

You’ll have to weigh these factors to decide if you want to try it.

One other bonus…you’ll develop GREAT resistance to cold weather by doing this regularly. Your body will be better able to maintain core temperature because you’re training it to adapt to cold.

2. FAT LOSS - Swishing the mouth with oil before doing cardio

This particular technique is a case of taking a scientific study and running with it in terms of practical applications. The specific study showed that the mere presence of fat in the mouth (not even swallowed) resulted in the liberation of fatty acids into the blood stream from fat cells.

It sounds strange but basically, this means when you have fat in the mouth (e.g. olive oil or vegetable oil is what I used), it signals the body to release fat from the fat cells and into the bloodstream. It doesn’t have to be swallowed - the body senses the fats in the mouth and responds to it.

So here was my thought process…take a spoonful of olive oil and swish it around for about a minute or so, then spit it back out. Then immediately go do some cardio! The liberated fatty acids will be burned by the cardio. If you do this and don’t do anything to burn the liberated fat, it’ll most likely just get taken back up by the fat cells again.



The Verdict:


I was on a low-carb diet at the time I tried this technique and noticed an IMMEDIATE increase in my energy levels. At this point, I was doing cardio first thing in the morning on an empty stomach and normally, I don’t have a whole lot of energy in the morning. When I swished with the oil, I actually did feel more energetic and I believe the process was effective for increasing fatty acids in the bloodstream.

But here’s the issue…what I DON’T know is how effective a long-term strategy this is. Does this cause a significant increase in fat-burning? Enough to be a useful technique? It’s a definite maybe.

Signalling the body to begin opening up fat cells faster is a good thing as it helps you increase energy levels and access that stored bodyfat more easily.

3. FAT LOSS - Doing ALL training (my Metabolic Surge fat loss program to be precise) wearing an 85 lb weight vest

This technique resulted in one of THE toughest training programs I’ve ever done. Basically, I took an 85 lb weight vest (the X-Vest, if you’re familiar with it) and wore it for each and every workout on my Metabolic Surge program (including cardio…non-impact training like incline treadmill walking, elliptical and stair machine).

 

I’m going to be doing a detailed review of it in an upcoming newsletter as well.

The idea here was to dramatically increase caloric expenditure by increasing my bodyweight with the vest. Studies have shown the weighted vest to be a very effective way to increase metabolism and calorie-burning so this one wasn’t “out there” in terms of theory. It’s already been well-proven. What it WAS far out in was how HARD it was to do!

 

And let me tell you, it was VERY brutal.



The Verdict:


This was a VERY effective technique for increasing the rate of fat loss. The increase in bodyweight (adding 85 lbs to myself) dramatically increased my metabolism each and every workout, even beyond the high levels I normally noticed on the Metabolic Surge program.

But I would NEVER do it again (at least as I did it this time). Wearing the vest combined with this challenging of a training program was VERY tough on the body, especially while eating low-calorie. By the time I finished, I was TRASHED. In fact, I was unable to even perform the last 2 sessions of the program.

If I were to do it again, here’s what I would change: eat more while on the program to help with recovery, wear the vest every other workout instead of every workout, and reduce the number of sets done in those vest workouts. I’d keep the heavy weight on because I actually enjoyed that part of it! But even a more modest weight load in the vest would yield good results.

Overall, it’s an excellent technique and definitely worth trying out if you have access to a weight vest.

 

4. MUSCLE AND STRENGTH - Total body workouts, 6 days a week, two times a day.

You may have heard me mention this program before…when it comes to unconventional training for muscle growth, this about as good as it gets! Basically, for 3 weeks, I performed total-body workouts twice a day, 6 days a week.

But here’s the catch…I was on vacation from work at the time and was pretty much doing nothing but eating, sleeping and training. I was actually able to recover enough to make it work and make AMAZING progress. Also, I only did this type of training for 3 weeks before backing off.

I realize this goes TOTALLY contrary to what the vast majority of trainers and authorities in the field recommend, but let me tell you, your body has TREMEMDOUS adaptive potential when you give it the proper stimulus AND the proper tools for optimum recovery.



The Verdict:


I gained a tremendous amount of muscle and strength from this program that, according to conventional wisdom, should have left me smaller and weaker and totally overtrained.

The key with how I did it was in accounting for recovery. I wasn’t doing anything strenuous outside of training, I was getting plenty of sleep and quality food AND I was varying the TYPE of training I was doing for the muscles between partials, negatives and full-range, normal training.

Also, each total body workout was done with an eye on training volume - not too many sets each time. The high frequency of the workouts was what kept the momentum going.

After 3 weeks of this, I backed off somewhat on the workouts for the next 3 weeks (only working each bodypart ONCE per day). In total, after 6 weeks, I had gained about 20 lbs of bodyweight, much of it lean mass.

 

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[Note: If you're interested in seeing the exact mechanics of this program, I have it posted in detail on my membership site Powerful Training Secrets (just fyi, it IS a paid site...dirt cheap to sign up, mind you, but paid :)

Membership

In the members area, I've written out the exact program (sets, reps, techniques, etc.) that I used when I was training like this. It's not a program I recommend lightly but it was VERY effective and can work well for you IF you've got the time and the energy.

And if you like unique training info (like the things you're reading in this article!), definitely check out Powerful Training Secrets.

As I mentioned above, the membership price is just dirt cheap for what I offer when you sign up - not only a library of great, new exercises and programs (with more being added constantly) but a PILE of other bonuses (like ebooks, coupons and webinars) that add up in value to more than the price of the membership itself!]

 

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5. MUSCLE AND STRENGTH - Hybrid Training - combining cables, bands and free weights to adapt to the strength curves of exercises.

Adapting to the strength curve of an exercise is not a new concept - some do it through machines designed for the job…some do it by working on partial movements.

But literally COMBINING two different forms of resistance into one exercise? THIS is not something you see every day. And, strictly speaking, even the concept of combining two different forms of resistance itself isn’t new - band training is a TREMENDOUSLY effective way to increase bench press, squats and deadlifts. Powerflifters do this all the time.

The idea I had was to not only ADD another form of resistance but also change the DIRECTION that secondary form of resistance was coming from.

This idea first occured to me when I was doing dumbell presses. I thought to myself, “hmmm…I’m getting great tension at the bottom of the exercise…I wonder if there’s a way that I can increase the tension at the top, too?”

So I went over to the cable cross-over machine and set the two handles on the low pulleys. I set the bench in the very center then reached over and grabbed the one pulley handle, then reached over and grabbed the other. After sitting back up on the bench, I then leaned forward and picked up the dumbells.

What followed was one of THE most eye-opening sets of bench press I had EVER done…

Picture this…when you’re doing a dumbell bench press, you get maximum tension at the bottom of the exercise. But as you press up to the top, the leverage changes and you lose most of that tension. By the time you’re at the top of the exercise, you’ve lost pretty much all of it unless you’re actively squeezing the muscles.

Now picture this…when you’re doing a flat bench cable flye exercise (which is same as dumbell flyes but with cables), you get practically NO tension at the bottom, but, as you bring your hands together above, you get MAXIMUM tension at the top, with the cables pulling directly out to the sides.

Got those two exercises visualized in your head? Good. Now mash them together…

Imagine the cable handles AND dumbells in your hands AT THE SAME TIME.

This time, when you do the press, you’re going to get maximum tension from the dumbells at the bottom and almost no tension from the cables.

But, as you press up and lose tension in the dumbell press, the CABLE tension starts kicking in. By the time you’ve hit the top, the cables are at MAXIMUM tension.

The result? A dumbell bench press where your pecs get NO BREAK WHATSOEVER. The tension is just INCREDIBLE. I would say that one of these sets is worth THREE normal sets.

When I did this exercise for the very first time (and naturally, because it felt so good, I did too many sets!), I couldn’t bring my arms across my body without them starting to shake.

And, of course, I couldn’t stop there. I went ahead and came up with exercises like this for the ENTIRE body.

The Verdict:

A definite winner! This training technique has tremendous potential for increasing strength and muscle mass fast. I train with this technique regularly and, let me tell you, I KNOW there’s a difference in how these exercises affect muscle growth and strength compared to standard exercises.

If you’re interested in checking out a bicep exercise using this technique, check out this article:

Cable-Barbell Curls - “Hybrid Training” For Incredible Biceps!

Cable-Barbell Curls



And if you’re interested in learning more about the rest of these “Hybrid” exercises I mentioned, check out my book “Hybrid Training.”

Fat Loss



It has ALL the exercises I’ve come up with using this technique, covering the ENTIRE body. This is POWERFUL stuff.

CONCLUSION:

These five things I mentioned are only scratching the surface of ALL the unconventional things I’ve done in the past 17 years.

If nothing else, I hope you take away from this information a whole new appreciation for learning and experimentation! Besides the physical results you get from pushing your body to the limits, it turns loose the creativity within you and makes training fun!



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101 Weight Loss Tips 4 of 10

January 9th, 2009 |
slimmerjean asked:


For reviews of natural weight loss diet pills, visit http://weightloss-confidential.com.

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Build Muscle Lose Fat - 4 Tips

January 9th, 2009 |
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Everett Maclachlan asked:


If you are on the road to losing weight but are worried about depleting the muscle mass you have worked so hard to build, you are not alone. Many people share the same concern. There is actually no reason for you to have to risk losing desirable muscle mass just so you can shed a few pounds of fat.

Imagine the way you would look with less fat but with a stronger, sleeker overall physique. You would feel great about yourself and you would have no trouble attracting the kind of mate that you want. Achieving these kinds of results is not a matter of working hard: it is a matter of being smart about how your exercise and how you eat.

Here are 4 tips for building muscle and losing fat at the same time.

Tip #1: Realize that both goals can be reached: It is true that if you try to lose weight just by dieting alone, you will not be able to feed your growing muscles properly. However, there are proven ways to actually lose fat while achieving your goal of much greater muscle mass for a stronger, healthier looking physique.

Tip #2: Load up on protein after you leave the gym: Okay, so one of the secrets I am going to share with you is that food is definitely part of the solution to your dilemma. Try this: within 30 minutes of finishing your workout, eat or drink plenty of protein. This way, you actually rebuild your muscles while they are in that broken down state, allowing them to rebuild faster and stronger. And, protein itself is not a major contributor to your fat cells, so you will not be adding back pounds of fat, but instead just be feeding your growing muscles.

Tip #3: Eat according to your training schedule: This one seems obvious but it is easy to ignore out of force of habit. Here it is: eat more on the days you work out at the gym, but sharply reduce your total caloric intake on the days you do not. This advice can be hard to follow because it is easy to view your eating and workout routines as separate. You need to start seeing them as linked. Once you do, you will begin to eat according to what your muscles need rather than what habit dictates. This will be a natural process as you actually learn to notice your internal hunger signals respond to the amount of working out you are doing in the gym or on the field.

Tip #4: Consider creatine: Contrary to what some people believe, creatine is not a steroid. Rather, it is merely an amino acid, which is the building block of protein, and as you know, protein feeds muscle. Creatine is a naturally-occurring substance and can be even found in steak (L-Creatine, to be exact). Before trying creatine, consult with a nutritionist to be sure it is right for you.

By educating yourself and taking the right steps, you can actually increase your muscle mass while shedding fat for that bodybuilder physique. Looking sexier and healthier is more a matter of doing things right than working harder. Take the right actions in terms of exercise and diet and you will be on the road to a better-looking body in no time.



Fool Proof Guide To Fat Loss
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Burn Fat Build Muscle Today

January 7th, 2009 |
burn fat build muscle
Robert asked:


Burn fat build muscle are the twin goals that keep dedicated bodybuilders focused. The major purpose of doing strenuous gym work in the first place is to improve the condition of the body, and reducing the amount of fat you are carrying, and improving your muscle bulk and tone are important parts of this. You still need to understand the theories behind this to effectively burn fat and build muscle.

Tip 1

Don’t overlook cardio. It is a vital part of the twin goal of burn fat build muscle. When you develop a regular lifting routine, you will probably end up with an increased food intake. This is helpful in maintaining a strong and muscular body, but if your goals are to achieve health and definition as well, you need to do cardio to get rid of excess carbs and fat. You can do this by simple running or skipping.

Tip 2

One often overlooked method to help you burn fat/build muscle is to occasionally lift different amounts of weight. The fundamental principle is still to lift the largest weight possible without inducing strain, but an occasional lessening of the weight can have a different kind of benefit. If you lift lighter weights weekly you will be exercising different parts of the muscle. Doing a lot of reps with less weight will burn off a lot of fat, and give your muscles a better tone and appearance.

Tip 3

One of the most effective ways to burn fat - build muscle simultaneously is to make use of circuit training. You won’t find this at every health and fitness establishment, but take advantage of it if you do have access. If you have a running track, and weight lifting equipment in the center, you can keep switching from one to the other. Start by running, and then move in to the center and lift weights, and keep repeating the routine. You will find this extremely exhausting, but it will help you burn fat/build muscle together, and if used properly, will get you into the best condition possible.

Tip 4

It is incredible how often this last tip is overlooked even by people who are deadly serious about bodybuilding. Take care over the make up of your daily food intake, and you will see a dramatic improvement in your results. Taking in less fat will give you less to burn off, and increased protein will help muscles repair and build following work. Burn fat + Build muscle = less work, and I’m sure you would like faster progress with less strain!

Working out effectively will always produce better results than blindly lifting weights, so take on board the advice in this article and burn fat and build muscle. Check out the links below for some more great tips, and good luck!



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The Best Tool For Losing Fat And Building Muscle

January 7th, 2009 |
burn fat build muscle
Shawn Lebrun asked:


Resistance training is the best long-term tool for losing fat and building muscle.

The more lean muscle tissue you have, the more calories you burn at rest and on the move. The more muscle tissue you possess, the more energy your body will require to maintain that muscle.

It gets that needed energy from burning and utilizing calories. And again, the more calories you burn, the more likely fat loss to occur.

Muscle is a very metabolically active tissue. It takes a lot of work for your body to maintain it. Fat, on the other hand, takes no work to maintain. It just sits there, lumped together like, well, fat.

This is an important concept in weight loss because the more lean muscle tissue you can build, the more calories that will be burned off, without you having to do any extra work. Your muscle will burn off more calories 24/7 than if you didn’t have that extra lean muscle.

This makes the case for why weight training, also known as resistance training, is so important to include in any weight loss program. Simply because if you can add a couple pounds of lean muscle to your frame, you’re going to burn off more calories, even while sleeping, than if you didn’t have that extra muscle.

The more calories you burn off at rest, the more likely that the calories burned off during exercise will create a calorie deficit in your body. A calorie deficit is a must for weight loss to occur.

Remember how weight gain occurs from consuming more calories than your body burns off during the day. Since there is no deficit of calories, your body does not have to dip into stored body fat to get energy. In fact, due to the surplus, it stores the extra calories as body fat.

If you create a calorie deficit, meaning, your body has used all of the energy from calories it has received from food and it still needs more (like to support muscle tissue) it is going to go after your fat stores to get that energy.

Fat is a highly condensed form of energy. So, when your body starts taking fat from fat stores to use as energy, that is how weight loss occurs.

Weight training may benefit any weight loss program, possibly more than any other component.

Weight training can be a future investment for permanent weight loss and weight maintenance because as you continue to lose stored body fat and gain lean muscle, your muscle will continue to aid in the calorie burning process.

As there becomes less stored body fat to use as energy, the muscle tissue will start to directly utilize the calories you consume on a daily basis.

Since there is now more muscle tissue than there is fat to utilize calories, chances of storing any excess calories as body fat is greatly reduced.

Resistance training may offer the most benefit of all to women past the age of menopause. It can help prevent or reverse the effects of osteoporosis by strengthening and maintaining bone density often lost by diet alone. So how much resistance training is necessary for long-term weight loss to be successful and to increase your lean muscle and strength? Not as much as you would probably think.

In fact, any more weight/resistance training than 2 to 3 hours a week may be counterproductive.

The best results I have witnessed while in the personal training field come from 3 sessions a week with weights, less than an hour each session.

Most people like the Monday, Wednesday, Friday approach to weight training. This leaves Tuesday and Thursday for cardio, which should be done separately from weight training.

Keep your weight training routine simple. It is more productive to focus effectively on a few tasks (exercises) than it is to work out with less intensity on many different ones.

On each set, try to progressively add a little more weight each time. Keep records of your weight lifts so you can try to outdo (progress) each and every workout!

Again, for the many weight loss and weight management benefits of weight training to occur, you do not have to stay for hours in the gym.

Give yourself 2 hours a week to do some form of resistance training.

If you cannot make it to a gym, invest in a pair of weight-adjustable dumbbells purchased from a nearby department store that you can use at home.

In fact, for less than the cost of a 3 month gym membership, you could probably purchase a great home gym set up with a couple pairs of dumbbells and maybe a bench and mat.

If that is even not within budget, simply lift what you have around the house, like water jugs (full, of course) or soup cans, or rocks from the garden.

Resistance is resistance and having your body progressively lift heavier weight will force it to become stronger and adapt to this demand placed upon it.

When you force your body to adapt to this resistance, it does so by creating new muscle tissue growth to handle the weight.

With this new tissue growth comes a new need for energy to maintain this muscle tissue. That is when stored fat is used and burned off.

That’s why weight training is the best tool for losing fat and building muscle.



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