Author: rxbodybuilders
Advancing technology is a great thing – after all, it’s seen us progress from the TV to the video and now the DVD. Advancing technology for gym goers has seen the rise of the multi gym, the smith machine and the nautilus variable cam. One of the unfortunate side effects of such progress, however, is that sometimes the old, tried and true basics get lost in the rush to try out the new and exciting. Nowhere is this more evident than when it comes to the dead lift. Once the king of mass and power movements, the dead lift is…
Q: I recently changed the way I work my calves in calf workouts, and I have gotten some really good results. I shouldn’t question it, and should just enjoy it, but I’d like to know why I’m getting good results. I’ve been focusing on the contraction on the top of the movement, rather than breaking parallel or dipping below and doing partial reps instead of full range reps. For years, I never got results and now am experiencing explosive growth. Can you tell me why and if it would work for other body parts? A: There is value in knowing…
For most men of average height (5’7” to 5’10”) who engage in weight training, hitting the 200-pound mark at under 15% body fat marks the transition between beginner and intermediate bodybuilder status. Hitting 200 pounds means you have the foundation built. It’s time to start focusing on the details. Supplementation Begin adding things you haven’t tried before to erase deficits which should now be becoming more apparent. The more food you consume, the more important essential fatty acids will become. Glutamine will assist you in dealing with the new joint aches and pain that will come with weighing more as…
Q: Okay, I’m confused about cardio workouts and how to use them to achieve fat loss, but to not do them to excess so that I lose a ton of muscle. So should I do cardio before or after workouts? And should I do them only a certain amount of time or a certain number of sessions per week? What’s right? A: Easy there on the questions…. One at a time, a lot of how you do cardio, what you do and how often, have to do with your body type. Since you didn’t mention what your body type is, I’ll just…
Q: I seem to have hit a strength plateau on my bench press? Any suggestions on how I can break through it? A: The first thing you need to do is to take a week off from training chest. This will allow you to be fully primed for an 8 week program that will not only get you past your sticking point but that is specifically designed to up your bench by a whopping 10% in that couple of months. The program you’re going to utilize is sometimes called Wave Training. Developed by the Canadian weightlifting team, it is based…
Q: What is the Arnold press and why should I use it to build my shoulders? A: This is an adaptation of the standard military press with dumbbells, devised by you know who, to hit the medial and anterior delts, with secondary emphasis on the traps. To perform this movement, get in position on a bench with a back support as if you were about to perform a standard set of dumbbell presses. Your elbows should be slightly in front of your body at neck height. Now turn your palms to face your body. This is the start position. Inhale…
Q: What is an appropriate age for kids to start lifting weights? A: For decades we were fed the line that kids under 15 were not yet ready for weight training – apparently their bones were too brittle. Meanwhile, the western world has stumbled into an obesity epidemic that is threatening to devour our children. Fortunately, most informed specialists now realize that properly supervised weight training is not an unsafe activity for children. According to Dr. Avery Faigenbaum of the University of Massachusetts in Boston, “the risk of injury while strength training is actually lower than many other children’s sports…
Q: I’ve noticed some guys at the gym doing their bench presses on the Smith Machine. My partner says that this is a waste of time and will never yield the same results as the barbell bench. What do you think about the Smith Machine bench press? A: The Smith Machine (named after 1970’s fitness legend Randy Smith) is one of those exercise innovations that you either love or hate. Hardcore old timers rubbish it as a wimpish cop-out for those who are afraid to get under the real iron. Yet Smith Machine advocates claim that it is the single…
Q: I know I’m not the first person to ever ask about rep ranges. It may sound like a boring question, but I am curious to know where my own personal workouts should head? I was a sprinter in high school and have good, somewhat dense limb muscle, but I am also lean and don’t really have a problem with body fat. It’s like I’m two people in one. I find that sometimes my workouts produce results, but there seems to be no rhyme or reason why. Then again, I am also not keeping logs. Can you recommend the sort…
Q: Is there any advantage to using the EZ curl bar? A: The short answer is no. The longer answer is still no, but if you’ve got wrist problems it will probably make for a more comfortable workout. The EZ curl bar is a shortened bar with ‘z’ shaped angles where you hold it. It allows the palms to be angled in slightly so that they face each other. Many trainers report that this significantly reduces the stress on the wrists that they experience when performing curls with a straight bar. The EZ curl bar also allows for more synergistic…