Training & Workouts

Now that you have your program planned out with what exercises you’re going to do on which days, you need to decide how you’re going to order them. The way most people go about the gym, they either have no plan and go from exercise to exercise as they feel like it, or just go ...

Abdominal Workout Tips
By Rich Gaspari


Training abs when I competed were one of the body parts I fortunately did not have to train super hard because training other body parts seemed to train my abs indirectly. I also had to be careful that using weights for abs seemed to thicken my waist and made it look blocky.

I also had to be careful in not to train the Oblique muscle. This would be doing exercises like weighted twists or side bends with weights. What worked best for me was to train abs doing crunches as well as doing hanging leg raises.

There is no such thing as spot reducing so working abs with high reps to try to burn fat is really wasting your time. What burns fat around the waist is dieting. The best way to train abs is at least every other day or every day if you can afford to take the time and do them. Also, it is best to do quality training using slow and full range movements and not to do jerking movements.

Strict form is the name of the game in doing abs.Here is an example of an abdominal workout I would do:

Lying Crunches: 4 sets of 25 reps. Slow strict form.
Hanging leg raises: 4 sets of 25 reps.
Overhead twisting Cable Crunches: 4 sets of 25

Bigger Arms
by Rich Gaspari

The body part that most people want to develop to impress others is arms.

The problem is that most guys end up doing too many sets and over train them ...

Aerobic & Anaerobic Exercise
Best For Weight Losss?

Sherali S. Bharwani

To lose weight, you have to burn calories at a higher rate than you ...

Optimizing Muscle Size Through Different Training Methods!

By: Kelly Baggett

Training is just an attack on muscle fiber. We go in the gym and "attack" our muscles in an effort to make them grow bigger and stronger. What many people don't realize is that by attacking your muscle in many different ways they will respond by growing in different manners.

Even though any type of training leads to a muscle size increase the way that size comes about is not the same. The 2 most popular forms of musclar attack can be illustrated if you compare the training of a powerlifter to that of a bodybuilder.

Powerlifters like to train with heavy loads, long rest-intervals, and ...

Get Creative With Your Cardio!

By: Kelly Baggett

We all know the benefits of cardiovascular work or High intensity cardiovascular training. It can greatly enhance our daily caloric burn and consumption and increase fat burning so we can stay leaner while eating more calories. Perhaps just as important it builds and trains our aerobic systems so that capillarization is improved and blood flow to the working muscles during ...

Understanding Muscle Fiber Types.

By: Kelly Baggett

With any discussion of athletic performance one topic that arises again and again without fail is the topic of muscle fiber type. So how important is muscle fiber type? If you are slow twitch dominant is it possible to make yourself fast twitch dominant? Or is your muscle type completely reliant on genetics?

I believe that muscle fiber typing is both over-rated and under-rated. People and coaches tend to fall into one of 2 groups. They either say that muscle type determines just about "everything" when it comes to athletic ability, or they say that muscle type makes "no difference" whatsoever. This article will deal mainly with the 2nd argument, how muscle type is over-rated and how it gets more credit then it deserves.

A second article will deal with how a small percentage of people may be able to further enhance the results of their training if they pay attention to and "zero in" on fiber type conversions. Let me say ahead ...

FITNESS TIPS: A HEALTHIER AND FITTER YOU

Gabrielle Donte

How ...

Different Strokes For Different Folks.

By: Kelly Baggett

Having a mix of different strengths and weaknesses will mean people can produce the same result by different means - or simply, Diff'rent Strokes For Diff'rent Folks. If we really narrow it down, in just about all sports related tasks your performance is going to depend on an optimum amount of strength and speed.

As I've beat into your head 1 million times and will continue to do so - for most movements the more force you can apply and the quicker you apply that force the greater your performance will be so that makes both of these qualities vitally important.

Strength x Speed = Awesome Athlete

Now realize you can achieve success with a varying ratio of strength or speed.

Let's say: Strength X Speed=Your Performance

To determine your performance we give you a ranking based on your speed and strength.

A speed score of 5 multiplied by a strength score of 3 equals 15. (5x3=15)

A strength score of 5 multiplied by a speed score of 3 still equals 15. (5x3=15)

So we just flip-flop the strength and speed score and still get the same result. ...

Gabrielle Donte

How many times have you promises yourself that ...

By: Kelly Baggett

The goal of many bodybuilders is to gain muscle/lose fat whilst doing so simultaneously. Unfortunately, for most who've been training for any amount of time, training with this goal in mind is typically just a surefire way to stand in one place spinning your wheels for months, if not years on end. It's often noted that bodybuilders tend to be extremists. Whether this is just a natural personality tendency among us, or it is a result of the habits with which it takes to induce noticeable and lasting physical changes in our physique, it does ring true for a large majority. Even when taking training out of the equation, what other group of people, or athletes, puts themselves through the dietary rigors of a bodybuilder? Eating enough to feed a small country while on a bulking phase yet turning around and barely subsisting on enough calories to feed a bird while on a cutting phase.
...

by Rich Gaspari
There is nothing more impressive as a pair of striated, carved in stone, vascularized ...

Training for Weight Gain

This article is written for ...

Training for Muscularity

When someone has the goal of becoming more muscular, they have to methodically plan out their nutrition, and of course, ...

Training for Fat Loss

Adding muscle mass by weight training raises your metabolic rate, helping you to burn more fat during training, as well as during rest. Research has shown ...

Training for Beginners

First and foremost, before beginning any new exercise program be sure to consult your physician to be certain there are no unknown factors that may prevent you from exercising or limit your success.
Anyone who is returning from a long layoff or ...

ZMA

ZMA has become a number one supplement used by strength and power athletes, bodybuilders and endurance athletes. Research shows that this blend of nutrients raises testosterone ...

Whey Protein

Whey is a natural, low lactose protein derived from cow's milk. It boasts the highest concentrations of branched chain amino acids (BCAA's) and ...

Thermogenics (Fat Burners)

Thermogenics are more commonly referred to as fat burners. These are supplements that increase the body's adipose (fat) tissue metabolism, ...

Testosterone Boosters

The main focus in the supplement industry has always been creating ...

Protein Powders

Bodybuilders have long relied upon protein powders to insure they are getting high enough levels of amino acids that are necessary ...

Nitric Oxide

Vasodilators or Nitric Oxide (NO2) producers open up (dilate) blood vessels for up to 24 hours. With your blood vessels expanded, more blood flows ...

Glutamine: Beneficial Amino Acid

L-Glutamine is the most abundant amino acid within the human body. While we do ...

Digestive enzymes help the body to break down and use the nutrients from fats, carbs, ...

Creatine is a metabolite produced in the body composed of amino acids. Approximately 95% of the concentration is found in skeletal muscle in two forms: ...

Tribulus

Tribulus Terrestris is a plant that grows in some moderate climates and tropical areas of the world. In studies, it has shown impressive ...

Probiotics: Good Bacteria

Probiotics are strains of good bacteria, which help the digestive system work more efficiently. There are ...

Among the most ...

Tips to Lose 50 Pounds in 6 Months

Once you are determined to lose weight, you need a good plan that ...

which ...

Some of the wording and facts of this article came from Joe Roark, the IFBB Men's Historian; and a variety of other sources.
The Beginning
In 1963, Joe Weider surveyed the available bodybuilding titles, and felt that none of them quite matched the vision he harbored of where the sport was headed. The Master Blaster insstrinctively realized that the current generation of bodybuilders was taking the sport to uncharted heights, and that they required a contest worthy of their talents. Joe came up with the iltimate contest, the ultimate prize for the ultimate physique, the Mr. Olympia, which materialized in 1965. Needless to say, the ...

Show me a bodybuilder who is afraid of eating a lot of protein and I will show you a bodybuilder who is afraid of success. Protein is the key ...

This article was featured in Flex Magazine, June 1995 issue. For more information on how to subscribe to Flex, please take a look at our Magazine section. The information in this article is for educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and is not intended to replace the advice or attention of healthcare professionals.

The following is a list ...

This article was featured in Flex Magazine, May 1995 issue. It was written by Bob Lefavi, and Timothy C. Fritz. Bob Lefavi, PhD, is an assistant professor in Georgia Southern University's graduate health science program, located at Armstrong State College, Savannah, Georgia. He was the 1990 IFBB North American bantamweight champ, and was runner up in the 1989 USA, and 1992 Nationals in that weight class. Timothy C. Fritz, B. Nutr. Sc., is a graduate research assistant in Georgia Southern University's exercise ...

I come from a boxing background and I like ...

Who doesn't want to have a great body? People from all walks of life across the globe have always dreamed of ...