Top Bodybuilders / Bodybuilding Workouts

1. Getting pleasure from your discomfort and pain
One of the main ways that bodybuilders thrive is the ability that they have to revel in their pains simply because they have been able to get past a certain weight level and thus assured themselves that they are stronger and more ready to get onto the next weight barrier. This is one of the most satisfactory feelings that you can have as a bodybuilder. Though the road to the top is painful and the fact that you will be grimacing a lot you should take comfort in the fact that the pain will yield results that will turn heads.


2. Mastering your fear
The bodybuilder should get over his fear in the gym. This pain is mostly related to the strain and stress that the workouts will impact on your body. This should not hinder you from pumping more and more iron because you know that the means will justify the ends. Alongside this point there is a need to have a clear distinction between going all out wisely and going all out unwittingly. The later will surely land you in trouble mostly from injury. It may even draw the curtains on a career that could have really shone. Be cautious even as you master your pains. Learn to listen to the signs and signals that the body will be relaying to the brain. Know how to differentiate between muscle injuries and muscle burn. Once you learn to do all these rightly you will undoubtedly enjoy success both physically and emotionally; I forgot a third, you will be able to get mental satisfaction as well.

3. Memories are important but they should not stop you
As a bodybuilder you will encounter instances of pain and discomfort that will not be erased from your memory as fast as you would want them to. These memories may be so traumatic but as long as you are focused you will make all the attempts possible to learn from your mistakes and then use this knowledge to increase your intensity in a more informed way. There is no reason for you to cow in fears of pain etched in your memory; shake them off and make progress.

4. The jungle rule applies here perfectly
In the jungle, it is the strongest that survive. This is also the case in the gym. You will often start out as a large group but as time progresses the weaklings will back off leaving only the best to continue. Motivate yourself as being one of the best. This will drive up your perseverance and motivation. No great gains have been made with timid efforts.

5. The winner takes all in bodybuilding
Bodybuilding is not about the team it is about the person. It is your effort and intensity that will earn you the top prize. Do not be restrained by your fears, conquer them because this is the only way to get top notch results.

There are many teenagers nowadays who want to succeed in bodybuilding. Bodybuilding is a very good way to transform your body physique and develop a positive self image. If you are an athlete bodybuilding will help you improve your performance by increasing your endurance and body strength. There are however a few mistakes that teenagers make which hinder them from succeeding in bodybuilding. They include;


1. Partying Too Much
If there is a stage in life when I used to be a party animal then it has to be my teenage years. It would take a miracle for me to stay at home during a particular weekend. The common routine was drinking all night and getting two hour sleep the next morning and then it was back to drinking again so as to kill the hangover. It was very hard to make solid progress since my protein shakes were replaced by alcohol and rarely did I get a chance to have a descent meal apart from snacks and fast foods. It took me a long time before I was able to achieve bodybuilding progress but as soon as I changed my lifestyle, I managed to realize bodybuilding progress.

2. Improper Training
As a teenager if you do not use proper techniques in your training you will not be able to transform your body and succeed in bodybuilding. The use of proper techniques during training is what separates the failures and the winners in bodybuilding. The proper techniques to use include the use of compound movements and the use of progressive resistance training. Squatting exercises are a very good example of compound movement exercises. As a bodybuilder you need to focus more on compound movements because they train more than one muscle group at the same time as compared to isolation movements.

3. Overtraining
Overtraining leads to injuries because they reduce the overall strength of your body. You cannot increase your body mass if you consistently over train. This is because overtraining slows down the recuperation of the nervous system as well as the muscles.

4. A Lot of Distractions In The Gym
As a teenager your hormones are at there highest level and that is why you are likely to be destructed by the beautiful ladies in the gym. It is very hard to focus as a guy and there is a hot looking babe next to you. There are plenty of other distractions such as your phone and other electronic gadgets. If you do not focus while you are in the gym you could end up seriously injuring yourself.

5. Failure To Eat Proper Nutrition
If you do not have a proper nutritional plan then there is no way you are going to succeed as a bodybuilder. Nutrition plays a major role when it comes to muscle building. There are certain foods which are a must for bodybuilders. They include carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins and healthy fat.

6. Failure To Rest
Many teenagers think they can be able to conquer the world in one night; however you need to remember that Rome was not built in one day. Rest is really important when it comes to stimulating muscle growth.

Your weight training routine will either reward you with excellent results, or totally break your heart. That is why it is important to be on the best strength training program possible that takes into account your personal goals.


Every weight lifting participant has an individual reason for wanting to be on a resistance training routine. Some want an increase in strength, power, and muscle size.

Others focus on muscle endurance, improving athleticism, or even improving their quality of life. As you can see, the reason people are on a weight training routine varies drastically. However, one aspect each of these participants have in common is a goal to improve.

Now for the unfortunate news. Most weight lifting workout routines are drastically flawed which leads to lack of weight training results. Why? Because of the strength training program fiction that riddles the fitness industry. It is very likely that some of the weight training routine principles you carry are severely flawed, and not backed by sound scientific studies. The result is poor workout program results.

Can you ultimately improve your strength workout routine to deliver better results? Of course you can! To get started, first be certain you are following the six basic weight training workout tips. If not, make sure you incorporate them into your training plan immediately.



6 Basic Weight Training Routine Tips

1. Set very specific goals.
It is important to define very specific, time dependent goals. I always recommend writing them down on paper so they become real. What do you really want from your resistance training program? Why are you doing it? Think deeply, and then write your answers down on paper.

2. Come up with a complete weight training program prior to entering the gym.
That means have a focused plan of attack in accordance with your goals, and medical history. You want to understand what, why, and how you are going to do a particular exercise. Also, make sure your current exercise program coincides with the current strength training research available today?

3. Incorporate progressive resistance, and overload.
Progressive overload must occur in your weight training routine prior to seeing results. The fact is without overloading the muscles from workout to workout, you will not trigger an adaptive response to get any stronger, faster, or bigger. Results are ultimately dependant upon strength training intensity, and overload.

4. Make sure to get appropriate rest between workouts.
In weight training, the fact is more is not necessarily better. Training too much will short circuit your overall results. Rest is of significant importance!
It is necessary to realize muscle adapts between workouts, during rest, and not at the same time as the training session. Your weight lifting program triggers the stimulus to change. Protein synthesis occurs during rest, and recovery.
It is extremely important to your progress to make sure you are resting adequately between strength training workouts.

5. Track progress, and modify your program if necessary.
One of the biggest mistakes weight training routine participants make is not tracking workout progress. If you want to improve, then you will need to track your workouts. That which is not tracked will not improve. You need to know which part of the exercise plan is working, and which is not.

Tracking means recording your weight, reps, and exercises for every single workout. If your strength training program numbers are not increasing, then you will need more rest between workout sessions. Weight lifting program changes are necessary when progress has halted.
The bottom line is it’s important to track, and tweak for ultimate results.

6. Keep a close eye on nutrition.
As you progress on your weight training routine it is important to support your efforts with effective nutrition. Start by eating a balanced diet of protein, carbohydrates, and fats. After your eating is sound, for an extra performance boost, you can look into some of the most effective bodybuilding supplements available such as Creatine, and Beta-Alanine.

If witnessing excellent weight training routine results is your objective, then follow the six tips above. They will surely guide you in the right direction towards getting the best strength training results you can possibly obtain.

Discover powerful tips on how to quickly, and easily melt away 15 pounds of fat, in less than 60 days, all while only working out 1 hour a week at this resourceful weight training routine website.

 Intensity is the key to muscle growth, right? If you can’t find ways to push your body to new limits it has never seen before, then you’re probably not going to be able to grow new muscle. It’s important to enter the gym, and leave the place knowing that you did everything you could to stimulate some growth during that training session. Unfortunately, that can lead to situations where you train too hard – and end up making less progress than you would be seeing by training a bit with a bit less intensity. Here are some warning signs that you may be going too hard on yourself in the gym.


You can’t add any more weight on the scale
If you can’t get bigger – no matter how much food you are eating – there’s a pretty good sign you’re not recovering well enough. Recovery doesn’t just involve individual muscle groups. You also have to allow your body time for your central nervous system (CNS) to rest. It is only when your CNS is recovered that your brain tells the rest of the body it is okay to begin the growth process.

You aren’t getting any stronger
Even if it is only by small increments of 2 to 5 pounds, you should be able to see some improvements on how much weight you are moving, as the weeks and months pass. If it’s been several months and you have been unable to add any weight to the bar on movements such as bench press, deadlifts, or squats, you may need to scale back the total number of sets.

You get tired faster
Both inside and outside the gym, you’re wearing out way sooner than you used to. This is a classic sign of your body telling you that the demands you are placing upon it are just too much at the moment. Cut back any unnecessary extracurricular activities and shave 4 to 5 sets off of your typical visit to the gym. Your other sets will mean much more, and your lungs just might return!

Your sleep is disrupted
If you’re tossing and turning at night, or falling asleep at red lights in traffic only to lie awake at night, then you’re in a situation where your system if over-taxed. Use zinc/magnesium/calcium supplement before bed, drink more water, and reduce your training by one day weekly to see if this helps to corret the sleeping situation.

You become sick more often
The final sign you are training too much is that you will be the less-than-proud owner of a depressed immune system. Cut back the weight and the sets, and kiss the flu goodbye!

Your appetite is slipping
A strong, healthy appetite is a sign of a man that hits a lot of iron and needs nutrients to recover! If you are eating less at each meal, you need to be doing less in the gym each day.

The bottom line is that you should never take it easy on yourself fin the gym. Instead, you should find ways to minimize the actual amount of time that you are at that peak performance level. If you’re using 8 or 10 failure sets every workout, you are placing too much stress upon your body. It might feel good today, but are you going to be able to maintain that level of intensity for the next twenty years? Probably not. Develop a long-term training strategy that will allow you to train hard within reason, and muscle and strength gains will continue to arrive for years to come!

Bodybuilding has been around for quite a long period of time. Over the years many people have developed various strength training regimens that are supposedly the best for developing this muscle or that other one but the truth of the matter is that such claims cannot be backed up scientifically. As persons have adhered to these styles of training they have met continuous disappointment and this is really disheartening to those who are really intent on making it big. This article will try to detail six training methods and strategies that are guaranteed to give you value for your time in the gym.


Try keeping the workout as short as possible. The body has a limited amount of energy that can be spent productively as you work out. For this reason, training should not be a prolonged affair. It should be precise and to the point. The body takes around 30 minutes tops before it depletes its blood sugar level. Your workout should lie within this bracket for any meaningful gain to your muscle mass. A short workout is required to stimulate the muscles optimally and this is what’s required for muscle growth.

Maintain a progressive overload. This point means that the load capacity that you are used to in training your muscles should not be a static quantity. You have to improve the overload with time in a progressive manner.



The body increases the muscle mass by responding in kind to the strain that you put on it. The more strain or load that is applied, the greater the gain in terms of muscle mass. Of course this has to be done carefully to prevent the risks of injury. The body needs to be stimulated into growing more. This can be only achieved through more weight load. If you do not give the body this much, it will adapt to the current weight load and will not feel obliged to grow further. This is referred to as a plateau phase.

Regulate the frequency of your training. Most people have been conditioned to think that the longer thy train or the more frequently they exercise in the gym the greater the results they will achieve in terms of growing bigger. This is all unsubstantiated and untrue. Longer workouts are counterproductive for the most part. What is actually important as has been noted above is to try and keep the workout as short and explosive as possible. As the body will grow in the resting period, it will be indeed dumb if you insist on working for say half a day.

Over-compensation. This point is much of a follow up to the previous point. The body needs to be given much time to recuperate. People have traditionally seen no importance in allowing for adequate rest. This is not laziness, it is intelligence. Talk about brains and brawn!

Insist on selective intensity. You will gain more if you can make your training regimen to be more wholesome through adopting compound exercises as opposed to individual body part exercises. Compound exercises will play within your training time and you will see the progress much sooner since the whole body will be trained explosively.

Visualize. Everything has to be visualized before it’s conceptualized. Set yourself a target and go towards this goal. Don’t train blindly; know what it is that you require and go for it.

Several expert or top novice bodybuilders – with years of training encounter and anabolic assistance – nonetheless find on their own with a weak or lagging physique component they cannot appear to provide as much as speed. They train with incredible intensity, they consume much more than enough protein, and they use steroids to aid with recovery and also to use more of the protein they eat.

However as a result of genetics, or one of a lot of other elements, they nonetheless suffer from that 1 weak physique part, hurting them with judging and restricting them type advancing towards the next degree in bodybuilding.


It’s vital for most bodybuilders to make use of the common approach of “each physique component once per week” due to the fact that larger body components need so several sets that recovery quickly gets to be an issue. However, sophisticated bodybuilders – with their expertise, chemical assistance, and superior genetics – frequently possess the capability to train One body component twice per week. This naturally excludes forearms, abs, and calves, that are modest, high-endurance body parts or groups which recovery speedily sufficient to be skilled several instances a week by most bodybuilders.

High quantity split-set routines could be employed to interrupt sticking points, or include mass to a physique component which recovers quickly, but doesn’t appear to develop in spite of powerful routines as soon as per week. The rationale behind this can be the central nervous program does possess some unused sources that may be used for occasional “doubles”. Using this technique on Each physique component would swiftly lead to overtraining and an overall loss of gained muscle mass. Here is an example of how weak shoulders might be educated twice per week, while permitting for adequate recovery and no conflicts with other body elements.

• Monday: Chest, Shoulders
• Tuesday: Legs
• Wednesday: Back
• Thursday: Shoulders
• Friday: Rest
• Saturday: Triceps & Biceps
• Sunday: Rest

As you can see, the shoulders receive a full day of rest following the Friday workout, and a full day of upper-body rest as the Monday workout is followed by the Tuesday leg day.

You can mix up this arrangement, and try it with any tiny physique part. Chest is “iffy” – some bodybuilders can get away with hitting it twice per week having a reduced workload of general set volume. Legs and back can only be educated once per week – but they could be split, for both back (upper back and lower back) and legs (hamstrings and calves). Remember to keep higher volume twice-weekly split set routines to a minimum, as they can lead to overtraining when utilized consistently for a long period of time.

If you polled most bodybuilders in your gym, you would discover that many of them use a routine which allows them to hit each body part once per week on its own training day. This system has become wildly popular in recent years, but it wasn’t always this way. Decades ago, when men the likes of Pearl, Zane, and Schwarzenegger walked and ruled the bodybuilding landscape, hitting each body part twice per week was the norm. Let’s hop in our protein-fueled time machine and look back to this time, and design our own training manual for push/pull training, which allows us to hit each body part twice per week. You will be designing your own individual training routine based upon the exercises you enjoy, and the equipment that is available to you in your home or commercial gym. You can always rearrange this routine as needed, if you find Monday and Tuesday are better rest days, for example. Let’s jump in!


Monday
This will be your first “push” day of the week. You will be focusing upon compound movement for the chest, quads, calves, shoulders, and triceps. Divide a total of 16 to 20 sets between these body parts. Keep the rep range somewhere between 6 and 10 for most movements.

Tuesday
This is your first “pull” day of the week. Today you will be using light to moderate weight for compound movements, with the emphasis being upon nailing down a nice pump without going too heavy. The muscle groups trained will be hamstrings, back, and biceps. Forearms can be added if needed. A rep range of 10 to 20 is perfect for Tuesday.

Wednesday
This is a rest day. Spend your time stretching today, and consuming a great deal of carbohydrates. You’re only halfway to Saturday, your next rest day.

Thursday
Repeat the muscle groups targeted on Monday. This time, use the same number of total sets, divided among higher-repetition isolation movements. You hit the major muscle fiber chunks on Monday. Now it’s time to focus upon targeting isolated areas of the muscle group. Rep range can be heavier, in the 10 to 20 range.

Friday
Let’s end the week with one serious workout. Back, hamstrings, biceps and forearms will be targeted today, using a nice set of compound movements. At the conclusion of this mess of deadlifts, rows, curls and leg curls, you should be ready for a two day break! Keep the reps low, in the neighborhood of 6 to 12 per set.

Saturday
This will be a rest day, and you should certainly treat it like one. You’ve just torched your body for 80% of the week, and your muscles need a chance to recover, as does your central nervous system. Some evening cardio at a moderate pace would be nice, as you won’t be permitted any cardiovascular or weight training activity tomorrow.

Sunday
Today you should focus upon completing a great deal of stretching, and carbing up for week of weight training that lies ahead.

1. PLAY NICE – Staying loose is super important in training quads. That means elongating the muscles first by stretching. You don’t often see a lot of huge guys stretching, but pros like Mike Matarazzo and Flex Wheeler made stretching a part of the beginning of each leg routine. Not only does it elongate, it engorges muscles with blood. The more you stretch, the more blood goes in. Start with quads and then move to hamstrings.


2. NO MORE MR. NICE GUY – Play nice by preparing muscles and then get in there hard and heavy. Heavy strict sets are the way to add to quad girth. Whether you’re going for more size or you’re going for sweep and overall muscle density, full range of motion hack squats hit the outer sweep of the quad. Always incorporate hacks into workouts

3. PUSH IT TO THE LIMIT – Eight reps is essential for growth. Always go heavy enough that you can try to exceed eight reps (but no more than 15 reps total) and don’t go so heavy that you can’t achieve eight reps. People who say they are done in three reps are just cheating themselves, and those that pound past 15 will never grow. So whether super slow, HIIT or otherwise, you can’t grow outside of the acceptable range of 8 to 15.

4. SET IT UP RIGHT – Don’t think that you can go into the gym and train legs for 25 minutes, and 4 to 5 sets total and gain mass. Legs require an almost overtraining mentality. The first few sets should be warm up strictly, so they don’t count. Do at least four movements for the legs and do four to five sets per exercise. Precontest, do at least five or six sets per exercise and add an exercise as well as a superset.

5. KEEP THE HEAT ON – That means intensity! Try allowing yourself shorter and shorter rest times, utilizing the same weight. The legs should not recover in between sets in order to spur growth. They’ll have lots of time to recover and rest in between leg training sessions (and that should be between 3 to 5 days. Use rest times to just shake the blood out of the muscle. If you’re a beginner, don’t rest more than 90 seconds. If you are a seasoned pro in the gym, you should take around 30 seconds, because you’re likely going for density and additional shape and sweep.

6. SEPARATION AGREEMENT – To maximize muscle separation in quads, the most important thing is to always use a full range of motion. You can certainly do this with squats and hack squats, but leg press and leg extensions really count too. And when trying to achieve more separation, use a slower pace and try to squeeze and hold the weight as long as you can. In extensions, try to lift the weight in the lower portion of the exercise with your hip flexors – it pulls out separation like crazy!

7. KEEP IT SIMPLE – Effective leg workouts are more about technique than they are about the exercises themselves. Sure, you have to choose exercises that address the quad from its most basic anatomy, but apart from that, using sound training principles is key. That means keeping it simple. Jury-rigging equipment just isn’t necessary. Squats, leg press, hack squats, front squats and leg extensions are what to focus on. Following workouts, if your legs are rubbery, sore or weak, walk it off for 10 or 15 minutes. Your recovery will be much shorter when you do this.

If you’re looking for the most muscle weight gain and you’re already achieving some results in the gym, then here are a few tips to help you get even more from your training.

1. Focus on trying to get all of your muscle fibers involved in the lifting. Muscles work on the all or nothing principle, so you’ll never get 100% of your fibers to fire all at once, but if you’re thinking that way, at least you’ll be recruiting more fibers than if you were just focusing on trying to get the weight to the top of the phase.

2. Adjust your workout according to your stage of progress. Every workout should have the goal of having 20% of your reserve fibers for every muscle enlisted in the effort. You do this by a 4 step calculation. Sorry, there’s math involved. (1.) Put on the most weight you can possibly do for any exercise. (2.) Rest for 5 minutes and then do as many repetitions of that exercise as you can with 80% of the weight you did in step one. (3.) Multiply that number by 0.15. (4.) Now to get the number of repetitions you would need to do before you can expect to increase the poundage by 5, simply add the answer you got in step 3 to the number of repetitions you got in step 2. On the other hand, to get the number of repetitions you would need to do to get 20% of your muscle reserves involved, simply subtract the answer you calculated in step 3 from the number of repetitions you did in step 2.

3. Eat for the purpose of living and putting on muscle, not for the purpose of pleasure or boredom. It’s not that easy, of course. However, to make it as easy as possible, stay away from the middle of the supermarket aisles. There is nothing good in there for your muscle building progress. And don’t keep anything in your cupboards that will tempt you.

4. When you’re eating with the goal of getting the most muscle weight gain, you don’t really need that much protein. Only 1 gram of protein for every 2 pounds of body weight is all that is required to build solid muscle. Anything more is either excreted or worse – turned into fat.

5. Give your muscles time to recover. Weight lifting demolishes your muscles if you’re doing it correctly, and they need time to clean up afterward and reconstruct. You need at least 48 hours to rest according to physiologists.

6. Focus on weight bearing exercises almost exclusively. This is the kind of exercise that stimulates the fast twitch fibers in your muscles to grow as opposed to the slow twitch fibers. Fast twitch fibers are the ones that give you the muscle weight gain. Do light cardiopulmonary exercise on your days away from the weights.

7. Have a good routine that you can always rely on to keep you motivated and returning to the gym. There are plenty of books and websites that include recommended workouts. Just make sure to include the 3 amigos of barbell squats which involve the greatest number of lower body muscles, the bench press which likewise involves the greatest number of muscles – of the upper body, and the straight leg dead lift – or if you like, the full standing overhead press; the three best exercises for achieving overall muscle weight gain.

Keep these 7 quick tips in mind if you want the best results for your muscle weight gain efforts.

So you’re going to be entering the military? Congratulations on your decision to serve your country and put your future on a very bright course. However, there remains work to be done. Before you are handed your uniform, tank keys, and orders, you will have to hone your body from a soft, sedentary blob into a lean, mean, fighting machine. Boot camp will be six weeks of torture – running, pull-ups, obstacle courses and drills – and you are not quite sure your body is ready for it.

Okay, let’s be honest – you are NOT ready for it. Nobody is ready for it when they enter boot camp. It’s not possible to prepare your body for the wide variety of training stimulus you will encounter in boot camp. Training beforehand is a good idea, however. But what kind of training will be the most effective?

Your initial reaction might be to hit the weight room, right? You may decide to build up some muscle fast so you’ll have some strength and endurance out there. Over the years, many a bodybuilder has entered boot camp and been in for quite a surprise! Those extra pounds of muscle do nothing but hold you back when running for miles each day. Sure, you are a bit stronger, but you’re also slower and heavier. If you’re already muscular, then dropping weight is also an option. Many regular lifters will move from their thick and muscular bodybuilder physique down to a smaller package, keeping strength and lines, but losing the mass.

The ideal path to physical preparation for boot camp is to develop a training package which is a combination of running and plyometric exercise. The running part is simple – hit the fields every day and run until you cannot run any more. Walk, then jog, then run. But the resistance comes first!
When it comes to the training, you will want to use body weight exercises as your chief resistance operatives. Weights are fine and dandy for making you stronger in the main lifts, but you won’t be squatting and bench pressing in boot camp nor in the battlefield. You will, however, be required to pull your body weight, carry a heavy sack, and trudge through nature for miles. You achieve this with a great deal of pushups, pull-ups, chins, sissy squats, and other movements.

Running will be essential in your boot camp experience. You’ll be moving miles per day, with and without a heavy sack. Many boot camp newbies will wash out of the military due to knee or foot injuries inflicted because their bodies are just not used to running so much. Don’t begin your running regimen with all out sprints. You should begin by walking several miles each day on a soft surface, such as grass. Then, move to brief periods of jogging. Walk, run, walk, run until you are comfortable. Then, bump up to more and more running as your body will allow. You’ll soon notice your lung capacity increasing just as your leg muscles strengthen. Combine running with bodyweight exercises of plyometric movements for 6 to 8 weeks and you’ll find boot camp to be a breeze!

Before we begin it is important to start with a brief introduction to the leg muscle anatomy. This is vital because without the details of the specific muscles you want to exercise on, you may easily get discouraged if you do not get the results you hoped for.


This will help you training to target the appropriate muscle groups and hence lead to positive results. The success of any body builder is governed by how well he knows where the various muscles in his body are located. This is a requirement if you want to develop good muscle tone.

We have various muscles in the legs. One of them is called the quadriceps also known as the quads in short. They are located in the front part of your leg. Also located in the leg are the hamstring muscles which are located in the back part of the upper leg. Further down the leg we encounter the calf muscles which are found in the back part of the leg.

It is a common practice for many bodybuilders to concentrate on the upper body and neglect the leg muscles. This is because when you train the upper body the results are easily noticed by others e.g. when you acquire big biceps and a protruding chest. On the other hand the results of working the legs cannot be easily noticed especially if you spend most of your time in trousers.



There are three tips which you should follow religiously in order to train your leg muscles effectively:

1. Develop a proper mindset.
Many people detest leg workouts because they find them to be to difficult. In any case the legs are usually covered most of the time so why bother. Nevertheless if you set aside at leas one day in a week to workout those leg muscles, you will begin to notice gains in the upper body which will eventually lead to a healthier overall appearance. Lets face it does not make sense to have a swelled upper body which are supported by very wick legs, it looks ridiculous and you are only cruising for a bruising. The greatest decision you can make today is starting to work on the leg muscles.

2. Vary your work out regime.
One of the most recommended exercises for your lower body is the squats. This is highly recommended because you can do them even if you do not have weights. If you do have weights such as the barbell you can use them. Remember when you are doing the squatting exercises initiate the motion with the butt and no the knees. If you are not very experienced with this sort of work out then it is advisable that you seek help from a person who is experienced. Apart from the squat you can perform other leg exercises such as the leg extensions and standing leg curls.

3. Rest
Rest is very important for your muscles to recover. You should try to get a minimum of eight hour of sleep.

In many aspects of life, there is always a magic number. Two’s company, three’s a crowd. A dozen of anything seems to feel a family with no problem. In bodybuilding, 75 is the magic number when it comes to the amount of minutes you should be spending in the gym in order to deliver a maximum effort workout. Not 70. not 80. Your goal is to train seventy-five minutes, every time. Nothing more, nothing less. Less than that can result in your muscles not receiving adequate stimulation, and more than that can lead to overtraining. Let’s look at how that works out in real life.


The first 45 minutes of every workout should be for the major body part being trained that day. Divide this up into about four movements or 12 sets. The first two movements should be compound movements, using very heavy weights and low repetitions ranges, in the 7 to 10 range. After that, move on to a moderate movement using 10 to 12 repetitions, then a final pumping movement that lets you flirt with 12 to 20 repetitions per set. Start heavy, and move your way to light as the reps increase. Use the clock, and when you’ve given 45 minutes to that body part, call it a day and move onto the second portion of your workout.



The second half of the workout, or 30 minutes, should be devoted to scorching a second body part. This will be a smaller body part. Divide this up into about three movements, and 12 sets. You’ll notice you have to squeeze the same 12 sets into a lot less minutes. Since you’re doing a smaller body part, however, your body should recover fast enough to handle this. Just one minute of rest between sets is fine for a smaller body part such as triceps or biceps.

For the smaller body part, you should start with a compound free weight movement, and then move on to another compound heavy movement of the free weight or the machine variety. Your final exercise can be a pumping movement of the isolation variety, using cables and very high repetitions. On the final set, just stop counting and train until the muscle group fails!

Your traditional body part splits will apply in the usual manner. Chest and triceps are usually paired together. Back and biceps are usually linked up. Quadriceps and hamstrings work well together. Shoulders and traps usually find their way together. Calves, forearms, and abs – they usually just fall into place in one spot or another.

It’s perfectly acceptable to use nontraditional mixes for your body parts. Back and triceps work well together, especially two days after a chest and triceps day. Shoulders can be grouped with either biceps or triceps, and just about anything can be added to abs and forearms. The important thing isn’t to follow what some other bodybuilder does in the gym. The important thing is to find the workout mix that will allow you to train for 75 straight minutes and stick with it. Good luck, and keep on aiming for 75 minutes… or bust!

Before I ever started training or doing cardio, I told myself, “the harder you work, the better the result.” Makes sense, right?


Well, then someone told me, “No, actually, when it comes to aerobic work, you’ll want to do longer duration, less intense exercise for the greatest fat burning.” It took awhile to buy that, but then I did – for years. So there I was, doing low intensity, hour long workouts on a treadmill, thinking I was burning adequate fat.

Truth was, I was dieting hard enough that the fallibility of that theory didn’t show itself.

But the other reason the theory about low intensity cardio came into being is that studies showed it burned a greater percentage of calories from fat, not carbs.

So years later, when someone else told me that high-intensity aerobic work would burn more fat than low intensity aerobic work, I had a hard time buying it.

“No, just try it,” he said.

So I did. And without dieting, without other efforts, I lost more body fat than I had ever imagined possible – and all from HIIT Cardio.

High Intensity Interval Training for Cardio is just that – a series of high intensity moves that work within intervals. That is to say, moderate cardio interspersed with high intensity work that works the heart rate between moderate and intense ranges.

The great thing about HIIT is its versatility – whether in the gym or out. I like running stairs or doing track sprints, but sometimes it’s just nice to get it all done in the confines of my gym. Driving to a track, with these gas prices, might be unnecessary. After all, you can sprint anywhere.

To gain maximum benefit from a HIIT program, you’ll need to perform HIIT exercises – two different types of cardio within two pace ranges that differ – at least four times a week. Off days are perfect for HIIT cardio days and I try my hardest to get most of them in on days I’m not training.
Studies show that HIIT burns up to 50 percent more fat. It also has been shown to burn more calories, by and large, than traditional cardio. But the greatest thing about it is that most of those calories and metabolic boost will occur after you’ve finished!

That’s because your body has gone into EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption). In English, that means, you have consumed a lot more oxygen recovering from the exercise session than you might have if you had just done a workout utilizing a steady pace.

The easiest way to work into HIIT, (and you will have to work into doing it), is by choosing one piece of stationary equipment in the gym – such as a stepper or elliptical trainer or cycle – and varying pace and resistance for short durations, back and forth.



So, in a first week, you’ll want to do 2 minutes of cardio at your normal pace, then bump it up for 1 to 2 minutes to a sprint, then back to normal and so on. You’ll want to do this for at least 15 to 20 minutes and just do what you can.

Seeing where you are is important, because it dictates how to proceed. If you suck wind at 1 minute of sprints, then stay there for a week or two and increase as you can – but try to push yourself.
Another good way is to jog for a minute or two and then sprint for a minute or two – going back and forth. With jogging though, you’ll want to do 30 second intervals of jog and sprint. And at the 10 minute mark, do a brisk walk instead of a jog or sprint, and resume, or quit, depending upon your fitness level. If it’s poor, 10 minutes of jog and sprint outside is about the equivalent of 20 minutes of the same on a stationary cycle. Fact is, it’s just harder outside moving your own full weight.
Some people recommend doing just 4 or 5 minutes total on your first day. Don’t kill yourself, but 4 or 5 minutes isn’t going to anoint you into the ways of HIIT. Every other workout, you’ll add a minute to your workout.

Here’s how a variety of HIIT workouts might look:

10 to 15 Minutes:
30 seconds jogging
30 seconds stair run
2 minutes moderate elliptical trainer pace
1 minute sprint pace on elliptical trainer
1 minute cycling
1 minute sprints

Some people like sticking with 30 second intervals throughout, and just increase the span of time within which they are working. So, for example, in their first week, they’ll do 10 to 15 minutes of 30 second intervals, but after the sixth week, they’ll be working within a 22 to 25 minute total range.
Whichever is most comfortable to you, but the point is you don’t want to exceed 2 minutes of high intensity work, since it is anaerobic. You want to get in and get out. I recommend doing 1 to 2 minutes of sprint or high intensity work on stationary equipment mainly because you aren’t fighting the gravity of your own body, so you must work harder.

Upright rows are a movement which are embraced by some, and condemned by others. Some trainers and bodybuilders believe the movement is just plain awkward and causes injury. Others, most notably Bob Paris, owner of some serious cannonball deltoids in the mid-80s, believe they are essential for complete development. They hit the muscles of the shoulder like no other exercise, and are essential, they feel. A third group believes they are useful in a limited capacity in pre-contest training, when the shoulders cannot handle their normal training workload. Let’s take a look at each argument, and discuss the validity of each.


Never use upright rows
The upright row involves starting with a barbell at waist level, and hands about six inches apart. Bring the weight up almost to the chin, and then lower it back down. This exercise does put the shoulders in a position that many trainers do consider awkward, especially at the top of the movement. Rotator cuff injuries are extremely easy to acquire, and often require surgery and months of rehab in order to recover from. Be smart and just avoid this exercise. There are plenty of other movements which deliver success without such risk. Upright rows belong in a box with barbell presses behind neck and lat pulldowns behind head, with a big label that read ‘Do not open!”



Use upright rows all year long
Upright rows train the deltoids, the trapezius, and the upper back. Secondary muscles worked include the biceps, forearm, and grip. As long as you warm up properly, which all intelligent bodybuilders do, you’ll be perfectly fine completing this movement. No movement as succinctly brings together the muscles of the shoulders, neck, and traps. There are muscle fibers stimulated by this exercise which aren’t touched by another other movement in your gym arsenal. This movement is used by the greats of the sport, as well as gym rats around the world. Use it!

Only use upright rows in the pre-contest phase
It’s at this time that the shoulders are at their weakest due to caloric deprivation and extreme cardiovascular training. The repetitions are high, and the energy low. You’re training for a pump to bring out the detailed etchings of each muscle group, and shoulders are no exceptions. With low body fat, there is some serious danger in placing a heavy barbell in the barbell press position. Therefore, barbell upright rows should be used as a replacement.

Conclusion
The conclusion, of course, is that upright rows have a different role for all bodybuilders. Just as rookie phenom Ben White was able to build some of the best legs in the sport without squatting, or Masters Pro champion Bob Cicherillo was able to develop a world class chest while never using the bench press, it’s entirely possible to build an impressive set of shoulders without the use of upright rows. However, the use of this movement will just help move you to possessing better shoulders that much faster, if you’re willing to face a little bit of risk using the movement. The choice is yours!

Q: What do you think about combining chest and back in a superset? I hear that it should be a large body part like back and biceps, or within one body part, such as legs. What are the upsides and downsides of doing it either way?
 

A: There are no upsides and downsides, per se, because training has no right or wrong answers beyond flat out “overtraining” and “training with poor form”. I personally feel that combining large body parts means that something has to give. But it depends on what you want out of it, how often you do it and how carefully you choose exercises and combine them. Single exercises combined into a superset, such as what Arnold used to do: Incline presses combined with pull downs – is a great way to keep the intensity up in both body parts and using the time in alternating body part sets to rest one body part optimally. But then why wouldn’t you just train that body part normally? The idea if you do combine that is to choose just one exercise per body part and stick with it for a series of supersets – somewhat like the GVT question, but a little different. I prefer to do supersets within one body part alternating exercises that recruit slightly different muscle within the group. But as with anything, try it for yourself. Some people really only like to train using supersets, and this is just one way to try it.

Q: I am starting college football in the fall at University of Oregon and I know that I will have access to the best strength and training coaches. But I want to go in a little stronger than I might otherwise just coming off summer vacation. I want to be a superstar in the first weeks and really get noticed. Any suggestions?
 

A: Well, first off, I don’t think that you should have the superstar mentality going in – it’s a sure way to get hurt. I do think you can do things like boost your cardio a bit, train regularly in the gym and keep your diet tight so that you are “in shape” coming out of summer. But apart from that, you can’t really design a good training program that they can’t do for you. Then again, I do have a link to a great pdf file online that will help give you some direction and really explains things well. Try this link to see what you’ll probably be doing in the fall:

Remember, football workouts depend upon your position, despite most pre-season workouts being uniform on the field. But having said that, I can give you a short version if the link is too complicated. Here is a great way to train for the month or two preceding the first practice:

Monday
Power Cleans 5×5
Squats 4×8
Bench Press 5×3, 2×8
DB Incline 2×20

Wednesday
Incline Press 5×5, 1×8
Squats 5×5 (light day. top set should be 50lbs lighter than Mondays top set)
Good Mornings 4×10
Calf Raise 3×30
Biceps 2×20
Triceps 2×20

Friday
Squats 5×3, 1×8
Shrugs 5×5
Bench Press 3×8, 1×2
Close Grip Press 3×8
Biceps 2×20
Triceps 2×20

(Note: When it says 4×8 that means 4 sets building up to a top set of 8 (135, 225, 315, 405×8) and not 4 sets of 8 with 405. Sets listed after commas are done to failure. Follow all workouts with a weight gain shake. This is for power, so don’t do cardio with it. But if you want to be able to withstand the field exercises, go lighter and do a little cardio).