Best Bodybuilding Program - Become a Pro

The best bodybuilding program is such a misused word nowadays because everybody claims to be in possession of it. But what is the best bodybuilding program and what makes it so? You see, there are a lot of programs that have some value, but most of them lack the complete package.

The program that you want should be one that basically has everything you will ever need to reach your dream physique, but finding that kind of program can be challenging. You need to be on the lookout for several things.

What to Look Out For

A good way to know if the program is the best bodybuilding program is to look at how professional the processes related to the program are. This entails the sales page, the info you can find about it and info about the author.

If all of this info is available in a professional manner, then it is a good hint that it can be the best bodybuilding program you are looking for because they believe in their product and have invested time and money into making it professional.

And does the program have different workout programs that are suited for you. This is absolutely important because you want your best bodybuilding program to have a program that can make you reach your goal. That could be a specific full body program to gain muscle or a program to build muscle while you lose fat etc.

If the following is not in the best bodybuilding program you have found, then you should probably look elsewhere. What we are talking about is called nutrition. If you don't know it yet, then you should know that you can't build muscle if you don't have the right nutrition. And you can't reach your dream physique if you do not have the right nutrition. This is very important in the best muscle building program.

If you want to have effective workouts, then the program should also have a demonstration of the different workouts. By having a demonstration of the workouts in the best bodybuilding program, you will not only avoid injuries that can keep you away from your dream physique, but you will also work out the right way to achieve that physique.

Also look for results that people have gotten using the program. Is the success rate high and if it is, then you know that you can experience the results yourself with the program.

Trust Your Instinct

If most of the requirements are met when you find the best bodybuilding program, then the only way you will know for sure if it is the right one is by trusting your instinct. What does your gut feeling tell you, do you feel that the program is the right one for you.

You see, no matter what best bodybuilding program you find, you should be prepared for a long sales talk, but only you know deep inside if the program is the right one for you.

Are you tired of not being able to wear the clothes you want, not feeling comfortable in your body, not liking what you see in the mirror and not being able to go to the beach? Then visit http://musclebuildingprogramreviewed.com/ to make your Dream Physique become a Reality...

Don't waste anymore time, let me teach you how you can totally Transform your body. Visit us Now for the best Muscle Building Programs on the market today.

Original article

Start Getting Your Chiseled Abs Today!

Start getting the chiseled abs you want today. It's not easy, or everybody would have them, but it can be simple.

You might have been putting it off, but start now. Starting is half the battle - the other half is continuing to the end.

But, here's how to get your ripped 6 pack...

Lose More Fat

Your muscles might be big right now. But if you have extra fat, nobody will see them.

The key to getting chiseled abs is losing fat. Once you've lost a lot of body fat, your ripped 6 pack will show.

Of course, if you don't have much muscle you'll look think and scrawny when you're ripped. But you can drop the fat and then add muscle.

Just keep a low body fat percentage. I don't care what other tricks you use, that's how to do it.

Eat More Veggies and Protein

Vegetables and protein are great for losing fat. And not just because they are 'healthy', or have omega-3s, or because they have lots of vitamins, or whatever.

First, protein is necessary for maintaining (and growing) muscle mass. And when you're dieting down, it's especially necessary for maintaining your muscle mass - which you want to keep at all costs!

Second, protein is very satiating. It'll keep hunger at bay for a long time, which is nice. Rather than something sugary like marzipan or a chocolate bar, which is sugary and will probably leave you feeling hungry again very soon.

Third, protein has a very high thermic load. Your body spends a lot of energy to process it, so it's really more like 3.2 calories per gram, rather than the official 4 calories per gram. This isn't a big difference, but it comes in handy for accelerating fat loss.

Vegetables are great because they are so calories diffuse. You can eat a heaping pile of vegetables and only be eating 100 or 200 calories - they'll really fill you up!

Sleep More

Seriously, sleep will help you get chiseled abs. Or perform better in athletics, or do anything better, really.

First, sleep is when you do a lot of regenerating. If you're athletic at all, get your sleep - you'll need it to build up more muscle.

Also, testosterone and growth hormone are both released when you sleep. These help you lose fat and gain muscle, whether you're a guy or a girl.

And sleep deprivation mucks with your hormone ghrelin, causing you to get hungry. Staying up late and getting hungry is combo that favors late night sugary munchies, and not weight loss.

Get your sleep. And other people will like you with more sleep, since you won't be as cranky!

Now, Start!

You've spent enough time reading about how to get chiseled abs. More important than anything else is simply deciding to start, and doing it!

Commit to doing it, and take at least one concrete action towards your goal, whether that's buying an e-book or finally getting all the crap food out of your house - today! Action is superior to perfection.

If you need more ideas or methods to make your weight loss easier, check out the links below. But seriously, start today.

If you want to get more info about how to get ripped, check out the How To Get Abs E-Book. Or read more info at my site, Complete Strength Training. I'm an American College of Sports Medicine certified Personal Trainer and I've been lifting heavy things, trying different diets, and practicing Japanese martial arts for quite a while. There's a lot of info about all different kinds of strength and weight training, and how to get ripped. Check it out!

- Copyright: You may freely republish this article, provided the text, author credit, active links, and this copyright notice remain intact.

Original article

Women's Bodybuilding: Controversial Fad or Life Changing Sport

One of the biggest changes in the world of bodybuilding has been the growing proportion of women in the sport. Increasingly more and more women are choosing bodybuilding as a method to improve their health, fitness and strength, which is hardly surprising given how successful this sport can be in achieving these goals.

One of the pioneers of female bodybuilding was Lisa Lyon, who developed many of the dance-like muscle poses that are still popular today. She also sought out a variety of photographers that took the photos that introduced the sculpted female body to the world. The stunning Rachel McLish, who won the very first female Ms. Olympia title then set the standards that many female bodybuilders still try to achieve today. She managed to combine her sexy looks with muscularity and body tone and in doing so created a benchmark that many people still aspire to.

The world of women's bodybuilding however had to travel a relatively rocky road to reach the point of relative acceptance that it enjoys today. Women had never built their muscles for aesthetic purposes before, although they have always used other forms of exercise to keep fit and attractive. In any case, bodybuilding for women was not widely approved of at first and was criticized by both men and women. These days however, women's bodybuilding, while not nearly as popular as men's bodybuilding is a much more accepted form of fitness. Whether this is simply the sport itself maturing, changing personal beliefs or the growing equality between the sexes, female bodybuilding is enjoying a much higher profile these days.

The most of obvious benefit of female bodybuilding is its effect on health and fitness. As has been written before, bodybuilding provides a very effective way to manage weight, health and body shape that many other general exercises and sports simply can't offer. This statement holds true whether the participant is male or female. Many women suffer from strength deficits, body weight issues and a loss of physical capacity, especially after childbirth, and bodybuilding is a great way to manage these issues. Unfortunately many women concentrate exclusively on aerobic exercise and never perform any form of resistance training as they have been told they will look like a man if they lift weights, which is of course a myth.

It is very common for women to try a variety of dieting programs, some of which are extremely unhealthy and misleading. These kinds of diets can cause a loss of general health, bone mass, and lean muscle mass. Bodybuilding can help avoid all of these issues as participants learn to integrate exercise and nutrition using well-developed and well-understood scientific principles into their daily lives and routines, which has obvious health benefits.

Many of these bodybuilding workouts that can be easily found online are as relevant for women as they are for men. Although the goal might be to develop muscle tone as opposed to developing muscle size this is easily accommodated by varying the sets, repetitions, and weights that are used when performing the exercises. Women who want to undertake bodybuilding should therefore learn the common exercises that are performed in the gym the same way as a man would, and incorporate them into a training program that uses higher repetition and lower weights in order to achieve the goal of increased body tone.

Alexi has studied and worked in the health and fitness industry for over 10 years and specializes in health, lifestyle and fitness topics. Alexi has a number of websites that provide valuable information on equipment that helps you get the most out of your training sessions. You can read all about workout gloves for women at his website about Harbinger Gloves.

Original article

Bodybuilding: Myths and Facts

If you've spent any time reading or talking to people about bodybuilding, it is almost inevitable that you've come across one of these bodybuilding myths. There are several bodybuilding myths that are floating around, and not a week goes by where I don't hear a new one spring up with next to no scientific merit behind it. Read on to find out the three most common bodybuilding myths that have done and continue to do the rounds.

Bodybuilding Makes Women Look Like Men

This is probably the number one reason that many women don't take up bodybuilding, however it actually has very little truth to it. In order for men to develop the muscular physique that they have (even before bodybuilding) they need testosterone. While it is true that women do produce small levels of testosterone, it is nowhere near the same amount as men, and they actually produce higher levels of oestrogen, the hormone associated with femininity. Because of the levels of these two hormones present, it is incredibly difficult for women to develop the muscle mass and quality that men produce without taking an extra supplement or male hormones.

Bodybuilding Can Stunt Your Growth

This myth came about because there are a somewhat disproportionate amount of competitive bodybuilders that are quite short in stature. In actuality, this disproportion is more likely due taller bodybuilders being selected for other sports where stature and size are important, leaving shorter bodybuilders to compete. In the same context, shorted bodybuilders might also do better in competition because their shorter limbs make their muscle bulk look better proportioned which is ideal for competitive bodybuilding.

Your Muscles Turn To Fat Once You Stop Working Out

I want to make one thing perfectly clear here, it is physically impossible for muscle to turn into fat. They are two separate types of tissue completely, and would be like saying that skin can turn into bone. The root of this myth comes from the fact that so many bodybuilders become relatively fat after they stop training. What happens in truth is that the muscles shrink once they are no longer trained, which takes a year or more to happen. During this time, the former bodybuilder makes the mistake of continuing to eat large quantities of nutrient dense foods as they did when they were training intensely and using up all their energy. This large intake of energy, coupled with the reduced energy expenditure means that the excess is stored as, amongst other things, fat. If you reduce your energy intake when you stop training, this myth can be avoided.

Those are probably the most common bodybuilding myths that I still hear on an almost daily basis. You can see how many of them come about, however you don't have to scratch far below the surface to see that they are also incorrect. Exercise in general, almost any exercise will have benefits for the person performing it. Sometimes the myths are simply excuses that others use to make themselves feel better about not doing something themselves.

Alexi has studied and worked in the health and fitness industry for over 10 years and specializes in health, lifestyle and fitness topics. Alexi has a number of websites that provide valuable information on equipment that helps you get the most out of your training sessions. You can read all about weight lifting gloves for men at his website on Harbinger Gloves.

Original article

Increasing Training Intensity: Intermediate Principles

In an early post I spoke about the two most basic ways to increase your training intensity in the gym; increasing your resistance, and increasing the number of repetitions in your sets. Throughout your training you will encounter a number of training plateaus, which are essentially barriers to achieving your goals. In order to keep achieving results and progress in your training you need to know how to break through these plateaus, which incidentally get longer and longer the more advanced your training state. One of the most effective ways to break through these plateaus is by increasing training intensity, which can be done a number of ways.

You should by now be quite experienced with the concepts of altering your training resistance and reps, and so I won't address them directly within this article. Instead I want to talk about varying the duration of your rest between sets. The first change you can make to your workout in order to increase the intensity is to shorten your rest period by around 15%. It is quite common that training programs prescribe a 60 second break between sets. As a start, try cutting that back to just 45 seconds. You should find that the workout on the whole is considerably more intense, and more difficult to sustain the same performance levels. This is of course a natural physiological response, and your body will again adapt over time to accommodate the increased workload. It does this by increasing the muscle strength, commonly by increasing muscle size.

Once you find that your body has adapted to the shorter rest period, you can do a couple of different things. You can of course alter the resistance, the number of reps in a set, the number of sets or progress to supersets. A superset is the term given to performing to sets back to back without a rest period between them. Supersets can target the same muscle group, opposing muscle groups, or different muscle groups altogether!

Probably the most common type of superset is the one that targets the same muscle group. For example, you perform a set of barbell bicep curls followed directly by dumbbell concentration curls without a rest period. This increases the intensity twofold: firstly because of the absence of a rest period, and secondly because the bicep is already in a fatigued state from the first exercise before performing the second exercise. One of the reasons this is so popular is because it has a dramatic effect on increasing muscle size. It has been show that when a muscle has to perform work while in a fatigued state the muscle increases its size more rapidly than without this stimulus.

The next most popular is the opposing muscle group superset. For example, you perform a set of dumbbell bicep curls followed directly by a set of dumbbell triceps extensions. The intensity is increased due to the absence of a rest period, however the emphasis with this kind of superset is to promote symmetry between the muscle groups. This is exceptionally important in order to prevent chronic injuries later on. It is simply not healthy to work the 'beach muscles' such as the biceps and chest while ignoring the triceps and back muscles as you might create an asymmetry and cause a hunch back for example.

The above techniques are based on the principle of altering the rest period between your sets, and in some cases eliminating it altogether. You wouldn't superset every exercise, in the same way that you don't need to reduce the rest period between every set. The aim is to increase the intensity, which you might only need to do in the first half of your workout in order to cause increased intensity through fatigue in the later half.

Alexi has studied and worked in the health and fitness industry for over 10 years and specializes in health, lifestyle and fitness topics. Alexi has a number of websites that provide valuable information on equipment that helps you get the most out of your training sessions. One such site is Harbinger Gloves HQ. Harbinger make a great range of weight lifting gloves and you can get the low down on a variety of Harbinger gloves for men and women before you buy some.

Original article

Zero Minute Abs?

OK, you've heard of 10 minute abs and 8 minute abs. How about zero minute abs?

Yes, you read that right. Zero minute abs. Don't spend any time working on your abs, and still look ripped and muscular.

How? Just two simple steps...

1. Lift Big

Real, big, multi-joint lifts. Deadlift, squat, pull up, chin up, clean and press - all those big, muscle and strength building lifts that aren't 'bodybuilding' lifts.

These lifts will do several things for you. First, they'll give you the most bang for your buck in the gym - you won't be there for 2 hours working your biceps from every angle (as if that even helps...).

Get in there, lift your heavy weights, and then about 45 minutes or an hour later get out. This will also give you the maximum testosterone and growth hormone release, with the least amount of cortisol (stress hormone) release. And because testosterone and growth hormone help build muscle, and cortisol destroys muscle, this is a great time frame to lift in!

Also, big lifts will work your abs without you needing to specifically work them. If you do lifts that put stress on your core for stabilization, like the overhead barbell press and the weighted chin up, your abs will naturally get stronger.

Without a ton of crunches!

Oh, and big lifts will also get you strong. No amount of special exercises or balancing on rubber balls with weird weights will get you that strong.

Strength is the ability to handle more weight, and only by constantly challenging yourself and lifting more weight can you really get strong. Leave the silly, small exercises for other people.

2. Eat Right

OK, this is THE most important part of getting your zero minute abs. Why? Seeing your abs is 100% related to your body fat percentage - and, therefore, what you eat.

If you're a guy and you diet down to six or eight percent body fat (or 12 to 17 percent for women), you will see your abdominal muscles. If you can't get your body fat percentage down that far, you won't.

What about crunches? And ab-blasters, and all those other marketing gimmicks?

Simply B.S. gimmicks.

First, while exercise is good for building muscle and losing weight, you cannot out exercise your appetite. Nope, not gonna happen.

As anyone who has ever dieted to drop fat will tell you, exercise isn't enough. Jogging for an hour is the equivalent of a few chocolate chip cookies - nobody can do that!

So, eating right is what it's all about. Eating so that you diet down and lose fat, and then build up your muscles and eat just a bit more so that you put on muscle without a lot of fat gain.

Yea, it's really that simple. Not easy of course - holding yourself at a consistent body fat percentage while you add muscle is difficult. But it's simple and doable, and that's what's important.

Of course, there are more specific tricks about how to drop fat fast. And how to stay at a low body fat percentage in a sustainable manner. Check out the links below to find out how to do that.

If you want to get more info about how to get ripped, check out the How To Get Abs E-Book. Or read more info at my site, Complete Strength Training. I'm an American College of Sports Medicine certified Personal Trainer and I've been lifting heavy things, trying different diets, and practicing Japanese martial arts for quite a while. There's a lot of info about all different kinds of strength and weight training, and how to get ripped. Check it out! - Copyright: You may freely republish this article, provided the text, author credit, active links, and this copyright notice remain intact.

Original article

Want To Get Ripped Abs? Don't Exercise!

You want to get ripped abs. So don't exercise?! What craziness is this!?

The truth is, exercise is not the silver bullet for getting ripped abs. It can be effective, but most of the time it just has people running in circles.

So, here's exactly why exercise won't get you ripped six pack abs. And how to actually get them.

Correct Exercise Builds Muscle

Exercise sends the signal to your body that you're using it, so it should build itself up more. Weight lifting is the exemplar of this - by stressing your muscles to their limit, you build muscle tissue.

Whether you're running or lifting weights or boxing, these exercises will cause your body to grow and develop in certain ways. It will also make you hungrier, because that extra growth your body is doing needs fuel. And you also need more fuel for your workouts.

So this is great for getting your body bigger, but not always for fat loss. If you don't watch what you eat, you probably won't lose weight - you'll just eat more, and you might even put on some fat along with that muscle.

The key to get ripped abs is actually losing fat. this will make your muscles stand out more.

You Need To Lose Fat!

This is really what ripped six pack abs are all about. If you lose enough fat, you'll reveal your abs.

So, to lose weight you must eat less. I don't' care how you do it, whether it's a paleo diet or an Ornish diet or an Atkins diet - eat less to lose weight. Specifically, to lose fat.

When you get your body fat percentage down around eight to ten percent, you'll be able to see your abs if you're a guy. If you're a lady, you'll just need to get your body fat percentage down around 12-15%.

Your Diet Is All Important!

I cannot stress how important diet is for getting ripped abs. Exercise is important later on for building up your muscle, specifically your abs. But if you have too much fat, you won't get ripped abs.

Once you are 'ripped', then think about adding more muscle to your body. if you are careful, you can add more muscle than fat when you workout to add muscle, thus keeping yourself ripped. It's difficult, and a bit of a pain in the ass, but it's certainly doable.

Once you understand how important diet is, you'll become much more serious about it. Exercise can help you, but you must control what you eat. That's all there is to it.

OK, What's The Easiest Way To Drop Fat And Get Ripped Abs?

Ah, now that's the real clincher. There are plenty of tips and techniques out there, but here's 3 that will help you the most...

First, eat your vegetables. You can eat a ton of vegetables without eating a ton of calories, making veggies a great thing to put in to your diet if you want to lose weight. And you mother of course knew best when she said you should eat your vegetables.

Second, just don't eat crap. Candy bars and doughnuts have a lot of calories, and they really won't satiate you. Veggies, lean meats, and fruits are what you should be eating to lose weight - though you still need to count calories.

Third, track your progress. If at all possible, measure your body fat percentage and tack it as it drops. This will show you that you are in fact making progress, and how far you still have to go.

If you still need more info to get ripped abs, check out the links below. They'll give you great tips for how to lose fat and gain muscle in the fastest and most enjoyable manner possible.

If you want to get more info about how to get ripped, check out the How To Get Abs E-Book. Or read more info at my site, Complete Strength Training. I'm an American College of Sports Medicine certified Personal Trainer and I've been lifting heavy things, trying different diets, and practicing Japanese martial arts for quite a while. There's a lot of info about all different kinds of strength and weight training, and how to get ripped. Check it out!

- Copyright: You may freely republish this article, provided the text, author credit, active links, and this copyright notice remain intact.

Original article

Deer Velvet for Body Building

Researchers have been conducting scientific studies on the properties of deer velvet since the 1980s. These studies demonstrate that it is useful in treating various health problems including arthritis and anemia. It is effective in treating anemia because it increases the number of red blood cells while at the same time improving the health of bone marrow where red blood cells originate.

In Russia, herbalists use deer velvet as a treatment for menstrual difficulties in women, including pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS). They also use it to treat male impotence. This product is known to promote healing and to improve endurance. These properties can be useful to assist body builders in their quest for physical prowess and muscle mass.

Deer velvet can have many benefits for body builders. Since it is a source of valuable minerals like calcium, magnesium and zinc, it provides support for healthy bones needed to support the bulky frame of a body builder. The same increase in red blood cells from deer velvet that helps a person who has anemia can provide body builders with extra oxygen because red blood cells carry oxygen throughout the body. Extra oxygen increases stamina during the strenuous exercise that they engage in.

Studies have shown that deer velvet helps to promote healing from a variety of injuries. Body builders follow a regimen of vigorous exercise which frequently causes strained muscles and pain. In Russia, athletes use deer velvet for healing and as a pain reliever.

Scientists have analyzed the chemical components of deer velvet and catalogued the beneficial compounds. It contains natural compounds including collagen, glucosamine and chondroitin. A combination of glucosamine and chondroitin is a standard treatment for joint pain and stiffness which body builders may experience, again from strenuous exercise.

This velvet is also a source of hormones that can be used by the human body. Human growth hormone (HGH) causes children to grow and develop but as humans age, the production of HGH decreases dramatically. Insulin-like human growth factor (IGF-1), which is produced in the liver from HGH, promotes muscle mass. It is a natural external source of IGF-1 and may help body builders to increase muscle mass.

Deer velvet is a natural product that may be of benefit to body builders. Whilst many seek artificial stimulation through synthetic products, some body builders prefer products from natural ingredients. Commercially available deer velvet comes from live deer that are raised from quality breeding stock on deer farms.

Alan B. Stables is a freelance writer on alternative agriculture, has organized alternative agriculture events and has also been a guest speaker in Brazil, China, Egypt, Italy, Latvia and Spain, on how to market agricultural produce for maximum returns.

In addition to writing on deer farming, Alan also writes articles on alpaca farming and other alternative farming projects.

Original article

Bodybuilding 101 - Beware the Disappearing Ads

I was flipping through and old copy of my favorite muscle magazine when I noticed something.

Disappearing ads.

No I am not talking about something out of a science fiction movie where aliens take over muscle magazines.

What I am talking about is how many ads for various supplements were no longer appearing in the magazines.

I know the odds of new companies succeeding are low, but for all you brand new or almost new bodybuilders-learn a lesson from this.

If a supplement sounds too good to be true-it usually is.

And.

Your fellow bodybuilders will give the product a try-but when the results simply do not come-they will get dropped.

And then they will slowly disappear from the magazines.

DETECTIVE WORK

The next time you see an ad for some wonder supplement, take a step back and before purchasing do a little detective work.

Take a look at the products website, does it look professional or does it look like something that was done fast-to take advantage of a new trend in supplements.

Next, see if you can find out what year the company was started-to be fair, not all new companies are bad, but if a company as been around for a few decades chances are it is doing something good.

Another good step to take is to look at some of the popular bodybuilding sites.

Check to see if anybody has posted a comment about the particular supplement you are interested in, and if nobody has, do not be afraid to post yourself and ask about it.

Of course, if all you find is negative comments or results you probably will want to stay away from said supplement.

But.

If all the comments are over-the-top positive-well that sends up and red flag as well.

Lastly, use your common sense; deep down you know that putting on pounds of rock hard muscle takes time-sadly lots and lots of time.

But these are the facts.

So, if this wonder supplement is promising you massive gains-in weeks-chances are it is not worth the money.

CONCLUSION

Sadly, most of the supplements you see in popular bodybuilding magazines really are not worth the money.

The basics, like hard training, and plenty of protein, clean carbs, and healthy fats, has worked for years and will continue to work.

So the next time you think about spending good money on a new wonder bodybuilding supplement-think twice.

Your wallet will thank you.

WORK HARD

Who else wants to learn how to build a big chest using two almost completely forgotten exercises? Click here to grab your FREE report. You will also receive weekly tips, advice and product reviews that will help you make greater gains in the gym than ever before. Visit http://www.howtobuildupmuscle.net/

Original article

Abs For Men - How To Get Them Ripped!

Abs for men are perfectly doable. Though not with the 'conventional' methods - ab crunches and workouts.

For toning abs into something worthy of a Greek god, you need something more. Something simple, but also difficult - you need to control your eating and lose fat. In short, a well organized diet.

Here are some guidelines for a perfect diet that will give you abs for men. If you lose fat and maintain your muscles, you'll look more ripped. And if you lose your muscles as you diet down, you'll just diminish. Use the techniques here to become strong and beautiful.

Eat Meat and Protein

You need to eat protein to put on muscle. You also need to eat a lot of protein to retain muscle, particularly when you're dieting down and losing fat.

When you're dieting, your body needs even more protein than normal to maintain its structure. And it wants to break down your skeletal muscles too (biceps, glutes, etc.) to support your more essential muscles (heart, diaphragm, stomach, etc.).

When you eat the right amount of protein you maintain all your muscles, and your body isn't tempted to break them down to support your heart and internal organs. In a nutshell, eat your protein.

Eat Real Food

Sugary diet drinks and bars are convenient, and can help you lose weight. But if you have the time, eat real food - it's so much better for you.

Eating foods like butternut squash and turkey and vegetables will fill you up with food volume. And it might not be deliciously sugary, but real savory food will actually make you feel more satiated than high-fructose corn syrup crap.

You can easily bake a large batch of squash and other vegetables on, say, Sunday, and then microwave them the rest of the week. You can do the same for chicken. Or buy a slow cooker - used or new, they take very little time to set up and are great for prepping meals in advance.

6 Small Meals A Day? Only If It Works For You

6 Small meals a day is the mantra of most people in the diet and fitness industry. And the plain truth of the matter is just that it doesn't really matter.

If you eat less, you'll lose weight. And as long as you eat your protein it doesn't matter whether you eat less in a bunch of tiny meals, or one or two or three larger meals.

No matter how you cut it., calories count. So count your calories, eat less, and you'll lose fat and not muscle.

Oh, And Have At Least 1 Fun Meal Each Week!

Dieting isn't fun for anybody. If somebody tells you otherwise, they're lying to you.

But it's important to have at least one fun meal each week. Go out with your friends or a lover to a restaurant and get a good meal without worrying about calories.

This is important for your sanity as much as for any other reason. Seriously, it helps.

If you follow these guidelines for abs for men, you'll get ripped pretty quickly. And you'll keep your muscle, so that you're just losing fat - not hard grown muscle.

If you want more tips and tricks for losing fat fast, check out the information below. It will make your fat loss even faster and less painful. Though getting completely ripped will always take dedication.

If you want to get more info about how to get ripped, check out the How To Get Abs E-Book or read more info at my site, Complete Strength Training. I'm an American College of Sports Medicine certified Personal Trainer and I've been lifting heavy things, trying different diets, and practicing Japanese martial arts for quite a while. There's a lot of info about all different kinds of strength and weight training, and how to get ripped. Check it out! - Copyright: You may freely republish this article, provided the text, author credit, active links, and this copyright notice remain intact.

Original article

Basic Bodybuilding Nutrition

Many bodybuilders believe the right nutrition is ultimately responsible for as much as 80% of a bodybuilder's success. It is true that what you eat is a large contributor to body composition and how quickly you are able to achieve your bodybuilding goals. Below are five basic guidelines for bodybuilders to use when planning your diet.

1. Get Enough High Quality Protein

All of the muscles in your body are formed from protein, and so it is important that you get enough extra protein in your diet to accommodate the muscle growth you are trying to achieve. Animal protein, is significantly more usable that the protein you can get from plant or vegetable sources. The protein present in egg white is one of the best sources of protein, as around 90% of it is absorbed easily by the body. The protein in milk is also readily absorbed, followed by white meats such as chicken and fish, and then by red meats.

2. Avoid REFINED Carbohydrates

I want to make it clear that carbohydrates are a vital part of any diet and should not be omitted unless you have some medical reason for doing so. However you should be trying to get your carbohydrates from unrefined and fresh sources like fruit and vegetables, and whole grains. The beauty of these types of carbohydrates is that they are Low GI foods, which provide lower peak but more long-lived sources of energy. Refined carbohydrates such as white flour and white sugar are High GI foods and provide large yet brief bursts of energy in the form of glucose. Because you can't use all of this energy at once, you have a short-term surplus which often gets stored as fat. It also leaves you flat and hungry once the short-term effects have worn off.

3. Minimize Animal Fats

All types of fats contain substantially more calories than either protein or carbohydrate. Animal fats however can be more harmful to the circulatory system, in particular the heart, than vegetable fats. This is relatively easy to do by avoiding egg yolks (which are quite fatty), eating fish and skinned poultry and avoiding high fat meats like pork.

4. Drink Lots Of Water

I don't think I need to go into this much, but dehydration has been shown to reduce performance levels. While you might want to reduce your fluid consumption immediately before consumption to make yourself looked more ripped, it is important that you keep you fluid levels up in your training to ensure that you are operating at your peak. Keep in mind that you will sweat quite a lot in the gym so you need to add extra water on top of the average 8 glasses a day that is a general recommendation.

5. Eat Four To Five Smaller Meals A Day

We are usually taught to eat three big meals a day, however if you are serious into your bodybuilding you might want to consider eating 4 or 5 smaller meals each day. By eating smaller meals more frequently you provide more consistent nutrient and energy levels for your body throughout the day, instead of large peaks and troughs. This also makes digesting meals a bit easier for your body as it doesn't have large volumes to content with.

These are just five of the many dietary recommendations for bodybuilders. They are some of the more fundamental recommendations however, and if you follow these guidelines you are well on the way to correct nutrition for bodybuilding. The next think you might want to consider is how much protein and energy you need to consume each day I order to meet your energy needs.

Alexi has studied and worked in the health and fitness industry for over 10 years and specializes in health, lifestyle and fitness topics. Alexi has a number of websites that provide valuable information on equipment that helps you get the most out of your training sessions. You can read all about weight lifting gloves for women at his website on Harbinger Gloves.

Original article

How To Get Ripped Abs - Simply, The Truth

How to get washboard abs? It's simple. Ludicrously simple, especially considering all the different products out there being sold to get you ripped.

Just (1) drop your body fat to an absurdly low percentage, and (2) build your muscles up. There - just do that.

Of course, actually doing that takes some effort and technique. So, here are some tips to get you started - but YOU have to supply the dedication!

First, Correct What You Eat

Eating is 95% to 100% of how to get ripped abs. I am not shitting you.

I don't care how big your abdominal muscles are, if you're eating too much nobody will be able to see them. Period.

You must find a way of eating to diet off those extra pounds of fat. There are some specifics for dropping the pounds fast, and some tricks for retaining muscle, and some more tricks for doing it all without losing your mind.

But the bottom line is that you need to find a diet that works for you. Only by committing to controlling your eating while dieting down, and then while you're building muscle afterward, can you create, maintain, and increase your six pack.

Controlling your eating is essential. No matter what anybody tells you, it is vital.

Second, Track Your Progress

It can be discouraging when you don't appear to be making progress. This is true with anything in life, from how to get ripped abs to building a business to getting through school.

The first thing to do is measure your body fat percentage. And not with one of those flimsy, inaccurate and inexact body fat calipers. Or let your scale do it simply by running a light electric current through your body (bio-electric impedance).

Get weighed in water (hydrostatic testing), or go to a bod-pod. Or use another high quality measurement method - they might cost a little money, $20 or $50, but it's well worth it.

If you track your progress, you'll get feedback and know how well your workout and diet plan is working. Otherwise, well, you can just noodle around getting nowhere for a very long time.

Third, Try and Track and Repeat

Diet well, get a good workout plan, track yourself - and keep doing it until you are successful! It sounds too bloody simple to work. But it is because it is so simple that it will work.

If you eat less to lose weight (using any method) and do some exercise, you'll make progress. No doubt about that. But by tracking you can find out what are the best ways to lose fat and what ways to lose fat work best for you.

You don't need a completely personalized plan - you're not that much of a special, individual snowflake no matter what you think. All you need are flexible tools for how to get ripped abs that you can adapt to your own lifestyle.

If you want to get those tools for how to get ripped abs, check out the information below. Getting ripped isn't easy, but it can at least be simple. And it's doable for anybody - seriously.

If you want to get more info about how to get ripped, check out the How To Get Abs E-Book. Or read more info at my site, Complete Strength Training. I'm an American College of Sports Medicine certified Personal Trainer and I've been lifting heavy things, trying different diets, and practicing Japanese martial arts for quite a while. There's a lot of info about all different kinds of strength and weight training, and how to get ripped. Check it out! - Copyright: You may freely republish this article, provided the text, author credit, active links, and this copyright notice remain intact.

Original article

10 Minutes Abs - Are They Real?

"10 minute abs??" Can you really ripped abs with only 10 minutes of effort a day? Or less?

Yes.

It's actually true. If you do it intelligently, and with determination, there's no reason it should take more than 10 minutes a day to get six pack abs.

So, here's what to do during those 10 minutes...

A Simple Diet

This is the meat of the diet. No pun intended.

To lose fat, you have to eat less. There are 10,000 different ways to eat less, but that's the crux of it.

I really like calorie counting with a low carbohydrate diet to lose fat. By counting calories you know you are eating less, and the low carb aspect gives you a nice little hormonal advantage to losing fat.

With the right diet, you won't need an elaborate workout to expose your abdominal muscles. All you need is to drop the fat, and those abs will shine through - without a ton of ab work!

I know, this sounds too simple. Just eat less to reveal your abs? Yes, that's it. No magic, no big secret - that's the most impart part of 10 minute abs.

With 10 minutes a day (70 minutes a week), you can do your workout and plan the diet that you'll adhere to. Then all you have to do - is do it!

A Few Workouts A Week

Working out just one or two days a week is more than enough. Oh sure, you can do more than that, but it's really not necessary.

And not a ton of ab work. Just do big compound exercises and, when you get to a low enough body fat percentage, your abs will start showing.

Big lifts like squats and deadlifts and bench presses build a lot of muscle, and burn a lot of calories. For the hour or two you spend at the gym each week you'll make great progress toward getting more ripped, along with burning fat.

You don't need to be working out every day. You can, but if you're doing a good diet then murdering yourself at the gym every day isn't necessary.

Track Your Body Composition

This is one of the most important parts of your 10 minute abs. Track what your body fat percentage is so that you know how much closer you're getting to your ripped abs.

If you have too much body fat, you won't be able to see your abs. That's the long and the short of it. By tracking your body fat percentage as it goes down until you're ripped, you know exactly how much progress you've made.

You might not find this very important, but I do. Why? Well, if I'm going for a goal I want to know how close I am. If you don't track yourself, you don't know if you're making any progress.

Of course, while all of these aspects might be simple, they are never easy. If you want to find ways to make each of these aspects easier, check out the links below.

If you want to get more info about how to get ripped, check out the How To Get Abs E-Book. Or read more info at my site, Complete Strength Training. I'm an American College of Sports Medicine certified Personal Trainer and I've been lifting heavy things, trying different diets, and practicing Japanese martial arts for quite a while. There's a lot of info about all different kinds of strength and weight training, and how to get ripped. Check it out! - Copyright: You may freely republish this article, provided the text, author credit, active links, and this copyright notice remain intact.

Original article

Eat Steak to Get 6 Pack Abs!

Eating steak will help you get 6 pack abs. Fun? Yes! Real? Yes!

Here's how eating steak, and other 'forbidden' food, will help you get a ripped 6 pack. Getting ripped abs is never easy, but it can be easier.

Low Carbohydrate Works

OK, why eat steak? It's tasty, satiating, and eating a low carbohydrate diet will accelerate your fat loss.

A low carbohydrate diet doesn't work for everybody. But if your metabolism is messed up it can be very helpful re-setting it back to a normal level.

The reason low carbohydrate diets will help you get 6 pack abs faster is because they minimize your body's release of the hormone insulin. Insulin is primarily released in response to dietary carbohydrates, and (if you're eating too much) insulin can really pack on fat, since one of its primary purposes is to stimulate tissue growth.

By eating less carbohydrates, you manipulate your body's hormones so that you draw on fat (either in your diet, or your body fat) primarily for fuel, rather than dietary carbohydrates. This helps many people lose weight, especially the really obese.

Also, I love eating meat! A steak is a great source of appetite satiating protein, which also helps you build muscle.

Choose A Diet You Like

Now, no matter what diet you choose you must eat less to lose weight. That's just how it works.

As long as you eat less, though, you don't need any special meal timing methods. No six small meals a day, no magic, no timing of your eating is absolutely essential.

Calories count. As long as you remember that, no matter what diet or eating scheme you choose, you'll lose weight. So choose one you like!

I usually eat a lot of vegetables and protein when I'm dieting to lose weight. The protein satiates my hunger, and vegetables fill me because I can eat a lot of them. I eat two or three orthodox, big meals and lose weight just fine.

It's not a particularly low carbohydrate diet, but the carbohydrates I am eating are healthy ones, vegetables, with lots of vitamins and not a lot of calories. And the steak tastes good, especially with a little wedge of butter on top!

If eating a sugary diet works for you, do it. But I really enjoy a good steak, and eating so that I can have a steak every day and still lose weight is very fun.

Other Than Diet, Here's What You Need To Do To Get 6 Pack Abs...

Really, diet is the most essential part of getting a ripped 6 pack. Even if your muscles are big, if you have too much fat you won't look 'ripped'.

Weight training helps a lot. It maintains your muscle mass when you diet to lose weight, and will help you put on muscle mass later. And it also burns calories, helping to accelerate your fat loss.

Running (or dancing or rock climbing or martial arts) also helps. These activities burn calories, and get you out of the house and having fun.

But if you don't control your eating, you won't get 6 pack abs. It's not possible with too much body fat. I know - I've tried all the stupid and ineffective tricks out there, so you don't have to.

What To Do Now? Start!

Don't just sit there. Start!

If you need more advice and guidance to get 6 pack abs, click on the links below. I've outlined exactly what I do to get ripped, and stay that way.

If you want to get more info about how to get ripped, check out the How To Get Abs E-Book. Or read more info at my site, Complete Strength Training. I'm an American College of Sports Medicine certified Personal Trainer and I've been lifting heavy things, trying different diets, and practicing Japanese martial arts for quite a while. There's a lot of info about all different kinds of strength and weight training, and how to get ripped. Check it out!

- Copyright: You may freely republish this article, provided the text, author credit, active links, and this copyright notice remain intact.

Original article

Bodybuilding Calories: The Numbers You Should Know

In order for you to maintain the weight that you currently have, you must know how many calories you need on a daily basis, especially if you are undergoing intense bodybuilding exercises. Through this, you are able to carry out your daily physical routine without the possibility of gaining unwelcome pounds or losing unnecessary weight. One way to properly determine your required daily calories is through the use of a calorie counter. Here are some calorie figures you can start with in order for you to have a firm grasp with regards to the requisite numbers in weight maintenance relative to your bodybuilding goal.

If you are a male that tips the scale at one hundred pounds and needs to supply for daily activities including jogging, basketball, tennis, carpentry, soccer, swimming, running and digging alongside your everyday routine, you need approximately three thousand four hundred nine calories on a daily basis in order for you to maintain your weight. A female who weighs the same and undergoes the exact daily routine, needed calories serving is three thousand. This calories requirement will of course be leveled up once extensive bodybuilding is something you also require. Females who weigh one hundred eighty pounds and do the same aforementioned activities will need three thousand calories to maintain their weight. But if weight loss is required, of course they can easily cut down on their daily calories serving so as to achieve such purpose. Males who weigh one hundred and eighty pounds on the other hand are required at least four thousand ninety-one calories serving to maintain such weight - that is under the abovementioned physical activities.

Males undergoing moderate physical activities and are at one hundred and fifty pounds need at least two thousand seven hundred ninety five calories serving on a daily basis. Moderate physical activities may include brisk walking, bicycling, double tennis, lawn mowing, yoga, skating, and dancing alongside regular daily routine. Females under the same weight and physical activities on the other hand, will need two thousand five hundred and twenty three daily servings of calories in order to maintain their weight. Males who go through the same aforementioned physical activities but are at one hundred eighty pounds need at least three thousand three hundred and fifty five daily calories whereas females need at least three thousand and twenty seven.

Suppose you wish to lose some pounds and tip the scale at 120 pounds, still under the abovementioned physical activities, you will be needing at least two thousand two hundred and thirty six calories daily if you are a male, and two thousand and eighteen if you are a female.

Relying on a calorie counter is something that can truly aid you in terms of gaining the weight that you desire. Even if you do massive bodybuilding exercise, if you do not know how much calories you require, you are not going to get your needed results. That said it is important that you maintain consciousness when it comes to calories count.

Maximizing your physical activities will truly depend on your awareness of necessary calories for bodybuilding.

By the way, do you want to learn how to firm and flatten your abs? If so, download my free ebook: "Firm and Flatten Your Abs,"

David Grisaffi is a Sports Conditioning Coach and is the author of the popular selling e book, "Firm and Flatten Your Abs,"

Original article

Shoulder Injuries and Exercises to Avoid

During my years of working in the gym industry I have noticed as well as learnt that some exercises aggravate the rotator cuff muscles within the shoulder joint and occasionally damage them. In this article I am going to give examples of some exercises that I do not recommend performing if you are a weight trainer just starting out or have suffered from a shoulder injury in the past.

Rotator cuff muscles

The Rotator Cuff muscles are not the Deltoid muscles, they are the supporting muscles surrounding the shoulder capsule. These muscles are called the Supraspinatus, Subscapularis, Teres minor and the Infraspinatus.

If you injure, strain or slightly tear any of rotator cuff muscles I recommend seeing a qualified physiotherapist for exercises to assist in strengthening the injury. To avoid injuring your shoulder joint it is important to perform an adequate warm up before beginning exercises. To save the hassles of injuring yourself avoid the following exercises in your gym program.

Behind the Neck Barbell Shoulder Press:

This is one of the most popular shoulder strengthening exercises performed by trainers of all ability levels. The main problem with this exercise is the fact that many trainers do not have enough flexibility within the shoulder capsule itself to perform the exercise safely. When trainers with poor flexibility do the exercise the small rotator cuff muscles are placed under a significant load resulting in a potential injury. You may have done this exercise in the past or it may be part of your current gym program if it is I advise you to adjust this exercise by bringing the bar in front of your head opposed to behind the head. This will relieve the pressure on your shoulder capsule and still work the shoulder muscles.

Behind the neck lat pull down:

This is one of the most popular exercises to do especially with the older generations of trainers. Many people watch Arnold Schwarzenegger's Pumping Iron and see him doing behind the neck lat pull down and think this is the way to perform the exercise correctly. A few years ago a new law has passed in Australia stating that no one is allowed to teach a behind the neck lat pull down. This is because in the rare occurrence that the cable snaps the trainer may suddenly smash the bar bell into the base of their neck and could cause a potential injury. Similar to the behind the neck shoulder press a behind the neck lat pull down also puts your shoulder capsule in a weak position. To avoid injury perform a lat pull down by pulling the bar in front of your head not behind.

Pec dec:

Pec Dec is an exercise that is very common among trainers wanting to stimulate the chest muscles. To perform a Pec dec most machines ask the trainer to rest their forearms on the pads before pulling the arm rests together. Trainers need to be aware that whenever your elbow joint is at a ninety degree angle and at chest height you are likely to injure the rotator cuff muscles. Try to use the pec dec machine that asks for you to have your arms straight not at a ninety degree angle. If you do not have access to one of these machines then replace the Pec dec with a Dumbbell fly instead.

Overhead triceps extension

This exercise is performed by sitting down and placing a heavy dumbbell behind your head, from here you extend your elbows stimulating the triceps. This exercise is a great exercise to build strong triceps due to the big amount of weight you can lift. It is very rare but if, when you are doing this exercise, you feel a 'pinch' feeling within the shoulder joint, stop immediately and replace the exercise. This pinch feeling may lead to injury if one day you lift too much weight or you lower the weight a bit too low and your shoulder can't handle it.

Upright row:

Upright row is another exercise that many trainers complain of a dull ache or slight pinch in the shoulder the day after doing this exercise. This is due to how trainers perform this exercise. Many trainers each that the top of the movement "the elbows must be higher than the shoulders," this is incorrect. At the top of the movement the elbows must be level with the wrists, and your forearms horizontal to the floor. If you raise your elbows above the shoulders you are putting extra stress on the shoulder joint but keeping the elbows horizontal to the floor will keep the shoulder in a strong position throughout the entire movement.

With all of the above exercises you may have been doing them for years and never once injured your shoulder. I am not saying that if you perform these exercises you will get injured I am just simply stating that due to the fact that you are lifting in an biomechanically bad position means that these exercises may put you at a higher risk of injury, compared to others. Many Olympic weightlifters perform behind the neck presses all the time but these athletes spend a lot of time stretching their upper-body because they need excellent shoulder flexibility for the lifts their sport.

Author: Matt D'Aquino
http://www.workoutsforjudo.com/

Matt D'Aquino is the founder of Beyond Grappling fitness and conditioning. He is a 2008 Beijing Judo Olympian as well as nationally ranked freestyle wrestler and National Champion in Brazilian Jujitsu. Matt has a passion for teaching all forms of grappling and is on the journey to qualify for his 2nd Olympic Games.

To learn more about Matt and his fitness and conditioning training visit http://www.workoutsforjudo.com/

Original article

Why You Can't Get A Ripped 6 Pack

Here's exactly how to get ripped 6 pack abs, based on my personal experience. And many of the ways you can unknowingly sabotage your efforts.

Find out what you're doing wrong and correct it. And find out what you're doing right to get chiseled abs, and do more of it. And, here's what to do...

Is Working Out Working Out For You?

I know just working out never worked for me. I wanted ripped 6 pack abs, and I read that diet was important, but come on - it didn't seem like it was that important!

So I did kettlebell swings and push ups and ab crunches. And I wasn't able to get ripped - it was pretty infuriating.

It wasn't until I decided to commit, read everything out there about getting ripped, and meticulously plan my diet that I began to see results. My first tries weren't always sustainable, but they showed me how important what I ate was. And how dieting down was of singular importance.

I want to save you a lot of that time and frustration that I spent. So that you can get ripped easier, faster, and with less effort than I was able to. And do it in such a way that you can keep your ripped looks for as long as you want.

Body Fat Percentage Is Number One

If you want a ripped 6 pack, you need a low body fat percentage. And nothing else- I've known scrawny, un-muscular guys with ripped abs simply because they don't have a lot of body fat.

Of course, if you want a muscular ripped 6 pack you will need to do some abdominal exercises. But without that low body fat percentage, nobody will see them.

And how do you get a low body fat percentage to get chiseled abs? You diet.

So, Diet Is More Important Than Exercise!

Diet is more important than exercise. What you eat, how many calories you eat, and devising a diet that you can live with is of primary importance.

See, you can use any diet to lose fat. Eating 6 small meals a day, eating a high fat diet, or a high carbohydrate diet, or a high protein diet, or a south beach, or a whatever-diet-is-popular-this-month diet to get your ripped 6 pack can work.

I like to count calories, which gives me the most flexibility. This means that I can eat whatever I want, as long as it's in my calorie budget, and satisfy my cravings.

For example, for a few days I'll eat a lot of sliced turkey (mostly protein) and baked butternut squash (vegetable carbohydrates), which means I can eat a lot of that stuff (lots of food, but not a lot of calories). But after a few days I'll get a fat craving, so I can eat full fat greek yogurt, bacon, and dark chocolate - though not very much.

Getting a ripped 6 pack means you have to have a very tight control of how much you're eating. So I think counting calories, not matter what other diet scheme you use, is the best method - based on my personal experience.

Now What?

Getting chiseled abs will never be really easy. Otherwise, everybody would be ripped! But it's certainly doable, if you do it right.

If you want to find out more ideas, tricks, and specialized eating and exercise methods to get your ripped 6 pack, check out the links below. They really work!

If you want to get more info about how to get ripped, check out the How To Get Abs E-Book. Or read more info at my site, Complete Strength Training. I'm an American College of Sports Medicine certified Personal Trainer and I've been lifting heavy things, trying different diets, and practicing Japanese martial arts for quite a while. There's a lot of info about all different kinds of strength and weight training, and how to get ripped. Check it out!

- Copyright: You may freely republish this article, provided the text, author credit, active links, and this copyright notice remain intact.

Original article

Get A Ripped Stomach The Easy Way

Getting a ripped stomach can be hard. A sweaty, time consuming death march. Or really easy.

It all comes down to how you do it. And, lucky for you, I've done it most of the wrong ways. So I can show you the keys to doing it correctly!

Put All Your Effort Into Diet

Don't agonize about working out, or doing ab crunches, or finding the next 'secret' ab workout technique. Put all of your energy into managing your diet.

See, all you need is a good ripped abs diet. That's it - if you drop enough body fat, your ripped abdominals will show. You'll get your ripped stomach.

Now, to lose weight you can sweat and workout and agonize about not losing pounds. Or you can focus all of your efforts on losing weight with a sustainable, doable diet that you enjoy. This is a lot harder than it sounds, but it is really worth the effort.

If you focus on diet, then exercise won't be as big of a deal. And your ripped stomach will come naturally.

Do (Active) Fun Stuff

OK, I just said that diet is more important than exercise. And that is really true.

But exercise will burn calories, so that you either lose weight faster or can eat more. Both are fun.

And if it's a fun activity, you won't think of it as a solemn duty. I do dancing and martial arts, both of which are very fun - and allow me to eat more.

Dancing and marital arts also allow me to show off my ripped muscles when I do get them! It's fun, burns calories, get me more friends, and it keeps me away from sitting at home waiting to get ripped.

When You're In The Home Stretch, Go Slow

For guys, you'll start seeing that ripped stomach at around nine or ten percent body fat. Which means you're probably about five to seven pounds of fat away from looking ripped.

When you're this close to your goal, you must go slow. In fact, slow is the only way to get ripped and not feel like shit.

Why? Well, essentially you're starving your body. And when you get down to the last few pounds of fat, your body defends those aggressively - since that's all that stands between you alive and dying of starvation.

When you only have a few pounds to go, if you try to lose weight faster then you'll probably just lose muscle. And your muscle is precious - don't do anything stupid that might cause you to lose it!

Also, when you're at the last few pounds of body fat you've probably been dieting for a while. In this case, you're under a lot of mental strain. Consider taking a week off and just eating enough to maintain your weight, then try dropping 1 more pound of fat. Otherwise you might look ripped, but you'll be crazy hungry.

Use Refeeds

A refeed is a day (or meal) when you eat a lot. You take a day off, don't try to lose weight, and eat a normal amount - and probably something you like!

Refeeds help your body to adjust to your lower body weight. And they also give you a break and a chance to indulge in a little more food than you have been eating, which are both very fun!

Now, Start!

That's a lot of what you need to get your ripped stomach easily. If you want a complete plan, with all different diet, eating, and exercise tricks to get ripped, check out the links below.

If you want to get more info about how to get ripped, check out the How To Get Abs E-Book. Or read more info at my site, Complete Strength Training. I'm an American College of Sports Medicine certified Personal Trainer and I've been lifting heavy things, trying different diets, and practicing Japanese martial arts for quite a while. There's a lot of info about all different kinds of strength and weight training, and how to get ripped. Check it out!

- Copyright: You may freely republish this article, provided the text, author credit, active links, and this copyright notice remain intact.

Original article

4 Tips to Get Ripped Quick

If you want to get ripped quick, you've found exactly the resource you need. Follow the tips below and you'll get a ripped six pack and body in no time.

All of these tips revolve around ways to lose fat fast. Since if you are carrying too much fat, no matter how much muscle you have, you'll still look chubby. Lowering your body fat percentage to something obscenely low is the key.

And here's exactly how to lower your body fat...

1. Eat Less

Yes, this is the cornerstone of all weight loss strategies. Eat less!

I don't care how you do it. You can eat 6 small meals a day, eat a vegetarian diet, eat only during an 8 hour chunk of the day - whatever!

There's a lot of misinformation out there about diets. But the bottom line is that calories count - anybody telling you anything different is trying to sell you something.

So, somehow, by hook or by crook, eat less. That will help you lose fat and reveal your muscles.

2. Be Cool...

Not necessarily 'cool' like the cool kid at school. But literally cold.

You see, your body uses a lot of energy for thermogenesis (to create heat). Not layering up in the winter, drinking cold water, lowering your thermostat, and taking cold showers are all great ways to burn more calories.

It's hard to quantify exactly how many calories you'll burn getting cold. This depends on how cold you get, how much energy your body naturally burns to stay warm, and a host of other factors.

But if you seriously want to get ripped quick, try this out. Getting cold will burn more calories, and (if you get cold regularly) you will notice the results.

3. Exercise More

This is a time tested way of losing fat - exercise! Exercise takes effort, and that burns calories, and burning more calories than you take in means that you'll lose fat.

Also, if you're dieting down and losing fat, weight training specifically will signal your body that you're using your muscles intensely. This means that you'll maintain more of your muscle as you diet down, which will get you ripped quick.

Too extreme of a diet, especially without exercise, will cause your muscles to break down. Which you defiantly don't want! So, add exercise to burn calories and keep your muscles in fighting shape.

4. Get Patient, D*MN IT!

When you're just a few pounds of fat away from begin ripped, that's when things get complicated. If you lose weight too fast you'll lose too much muscle. But this means more time dieting, which most people can't stand.

The key, for that final little bit, is to go gradually and eat a diet that you are happy eating regularly. That way you'll be able to seamlessly merge your dieting into maintenance and putting one muscle (without fat) at the end of your diet.

This takes control and patience. But some things are best done gradually - otherwise you'll reach your goal but be ravenously hungry. You'll relapse, eat a ton of crummy food, and be right back where you started.

If you want more information about how to get ripped quick, and how to keep your fat low while adding muscle, check out the links below. The methods are top-notch, and I've tested all of them myself.

If you want to get more info about how to get ripped, check out the How To Get Abs E-Book. Or read more info at my site, Complete Strength Training. I'm an American College of Sports Medicine certified Personal Trainer and I've been lifting heavy things, trying different diets, and practicing Japanese martial arts for quite a while. There's a lot of info about all different kinds of strength and weight training, and how to get ripped. Check it out!

- Copyright: You may freely republish this article, provided the text, author credit, active links, and this copyright notice remain intact.

Original article

Ripped Six Pack Abs, Without The BS

If you really want to get ripped six pack abs, you're seen the 17 kinds of crap that exist online promising to deliver them to you. unfortunately, most of these gloss over the fact that even with a great plan, it's hard.

Otherwise, everybody would get ripped abs!

Here's how to do it. Simply, effectively, and with a few six pack tips. Though it will still take effort on your part - anything worth getting always does.

Drop Fat For Ripped Six Pack Abs

The most important part of how to get ripped abs is being able to control your body fat. If you have too much fat, you'll never see your abs.

Once you get your body fat percentage down low enough, you'll see your abs. It will happen naturally, even without a ton of ab crunches or exercises.

For guys, you'll be aiming for lower than 10% body fat. Between 5% and 8% body fat is when your abs really start showing.

And for you ladies, you want to get below around 15% body fat. And 12% is where you start looking really ripped.

Dropping fat is one half. But building up your muscles is the other half of the equation.

Building Muscles

If you just lose your fat, your muscles will show through. But to really get muscular you need to build muscle as well.

To build muscles, you need to go to the gym and do weight lifting. That's the best way to trigger muscle growth, especially muscle hypertrophy, meaning causing your muscles to get larger (in addition to getting stronger).

The other half of it is eating right. You need to eat more to put on weight - whether that weight is fat or muscle.

And it doesn't need to be much. An extra 200 or 300 calories a day is plenty enough to put on a half pound of muscle a week. (And a half pound of muscle a week is pretty good, despite the lies you might see on infomercials).

How Much Do You Want Ripped Six Pack Abs?

Most bodybuilders don't get ripped abs all year round. They have a 'bulking' time, usually in the winter, when they try to put on muscle and not' worry too much about fat gain. And a 'cutting' time, usually in the summer (for swimsuit season), when they diet down to reveal their ripped six pack abs.

It is possible to keep a ripped six pack. But it takes disciplined calories counting, which is very difficult to do for most people. Not just physically, but psychologically always having to record what you're eating can get to be a chore - I speak from experience.

Consider how much you want to get ripped abs, and how much you're willing to commit to keeping them. More exercise will help, but if you have an inclination to eat too much you'll still need to count calories so that the fat you just dieted off doesn't come right back.

Now, Get Your Ripped Six Pack!

I know, the paragraphs above might seem like a downer. After all, nobody wants to be told that it takes a lot of work to get anything. But that's just life.

If you want more info and specifics about how to lose fat quickly and without too much discomfort, check out the links below. I detail the exact methods I use when I want to get ripped six pack abs and show them off.

If you want to get more info about how to get ripped, check out the How To Get Abs E-Book. Or read more info at my site, Complete Strength Training. I'm an American College of Sports Medicine certified Personal Trainer and I've been lifting heavy things, trying different diets, and practicing Japanese martial arts for quite a while. There's a lot of info about all different kinds of strength and weight training, and how to get ripped. Check it out!

- Copyright: You may freely republish this article, provided the text, author credit, active links, and this copyright notice remain intact.

Original article

Extreme Shoulder Workout

I am sure that most of you fellow bodybuilders have often witnessed people in the gym, who train hard and spent hours in the gym. I am also sure you noticed that the majority of these people wonder in the gym without any purpose or any specific goal.

Even the ones that are following a workout routine, they often sink in the routine itself and gradually lose their interest.
In this article, I will share with you a hard and almost "shocking" shoulder workout that will boost your delts and give you the interest in training you might have lost over the last period.

Before we get into the workout plan, I must mention that shoulders are quite difficult to develop and you will need all the effort and concentration you can give.

Free weights are always better than machines as long as you keep your "cheating" limited and you are not a beginner. I would recommend starting to train with free weights after six months in the gym.

1) Dumbbell Presses 3 sets x 10, 8, 6 reps and a fourth one without resting until exhaustion. This exercise works for the whole shoulder muscle and gives volume.

2) Single Arm Laterals 3 sets x 12,10,8.
While performing this exercise, keep your body steady by holding yourself with your free hand. Focus on the arm, which is doing the movement and try to hold your arm for a couple of seconds at your eye level. Extremely good for shaping and rounding your shoulders.

3) Upright Barbell Row 3 sets x 12,10,8 reps and a fourth one without resting until exhaustion.
Like the previous exercise hold the barbell for a couple of seconds at the top position in order to maximize intensity. A very important exercise, which is developing perfect trapezious muscle.

4) Reverse Dumbbell Flyes 3 sets x 12,10,8 reps.
With this exercise you will sculpture the rear part of your shoulders.

This is a shoulder workout that will help you develop great symmetrical shoulders. However, you must remember that following this or any other workout routine like a robot will not help you grow dream-shoulders. Always try to add more intensity to your workout program either by increasing the weights or by performing the movements with higher precision. Having well-trained shoulders will also draw more attention to your chest and your arms.

So, just combine the above workout plan, with proper supplementation and protein-rich nutrition and you can be sure that you will achieve your goals.

Keep those muscles pumping!

Chris G Pap
Since 1993 involved in bodybuilding and fitness area.Visit the following link for more info about bodybuilding, supplementation, workout routines and nutrition.
http://www.strengthtrainingmuscle.com/

Original article

Common Mistakes Made By Hardgainers

Individuals who have a hard time adding mass are known as hardgainers. They have high metabolisms and often try for years to gain weight without success. Although most put forth a lot of effort to gain weight many hardgainers make at least one mistake that stops then from being able to add mass. Here are some of the more common mistakes:

Over training

Many guys still believe that the more they work out the more gains they will get. Unfortunately unless you are using steroids this is not the case. Our bodies don't benefit from any more than an hour in the gym three to five times per week. More than this and you will actually hurt your gains by over training.

Not consuming enough food

This one may seem like a no brainer and if it is good. The reality is however that most hardgainers don't eat enough everyday to gain weight. Some guys think they do but they're not consistent about doing it every single day.

Doing too much cardiovascular exercise

Although cardio is great for you it can also stop you from gaining mass simply because it burns a lot of calories. You will need to replace these calories by eating that much more. This can be very difficult when you are already eating large amounts of food.

Not eating the right kinds of foods

Although you may have heard you should eat anything and everything when trying to gain weight, this really isn't true. Eating foods that have no nutritional value such as junk foods will prevent you from eating enough good foods that you need to build muscle. Each meal should have a lot of good calories with protein, good carbs and good fats.

Not consuming enough protein each day

Protein is necessary to build muscle. You need around 1-1.5 grams per pound of bodyweight each and every day. This needs to be spread out throughout the day. Try getting around 30 grams every 2-3 hours.

Not keeping a log of calories and protein

This takes a lot of work no doubt, but it really is one of the more important things to do. Think about it. If you're not tracking protein and calories how do you really know if you reach the numbers that you need? You don't, and that means you're just going to guess and chances are you will be wrong. This is where a lot of guys fail. Just start tracking your calories and protein and make it a habit.

For more great information on how to gain weight visit GainWeightQuick.com. It's a great resource for anyone trying to bulk up. Whether you're new to bodybuilding or simply looking for some new strategies to get you back on track you will find the site very helpful.

Original article

Five Tips About High Intensity Training

I often see people in the gym working out hard, sweating and reaching the limits of their body endurance. Is this wrong? The answer isn't that simple. High Intensity Training known as HIT or any other variation of training where you aim muscle failure can make the difference in muscle development.

Many great bodybuilders adopted such training methods and achieved to become champions. However, what many of us fail to understand is that there isn't any training method that will bring results if you keep doing it forever. The key to understand the way to build the body of your dreams is to acknowledge two important things about muscles: Firstly, that they adapt to every workout routine and secondly, they need resting or low intensity periods to recover.

High intensity training actually shocks your muscles to trigger muscle growth. If you keep training in that pace for more than eight weeks the development not only ceases, but you might end up with an injury. Here, I give you five tips so that you will get the maximum out of HIT:

1) No More than Eight Weeks
As mentioned above after about eight weeks of working out in full intensity, alter your training routine to something where you consume about 70% of your energy so that you don't leave the gym like a total rack.

2) Take a Vacation
Once or twice a year take a vacation from the gym for two weeks and clear your mind and your body from anything that involves weights, training, bodybuilding, supplements and proper nutrition. I know that many of you will be wondering what in earth, I'm talking about. You won't believe how beneficial this is for your body and your spirit. Everything in life that is being done without a break, no matter how much we love it, can become boring. You shouldn't worry that you will lose muscles. As long as you are back in the gym in two weeks, there is no harm done. Personally, I prefer to take a break from the gym for a week in the summer and one week around Christmas.

3) Single Muscle Groups
It is not always possible for many of you due to lack of time, to work out five times a week, but it has been proven that HIT works best if performed on one muscle group a day. Whenever you reach muscle failure, massive amounts of blood are concentrating around the muscle you are working on triggering its growth and giving this special pump feeling, which sometimes lasts for many hours after your training. If you divide your training in two different muscle groups, it's easy to understand that those effects described above will be reduced.

4) HIT Only when Feeling Fit
Training intensively in a certain day where you are not feeling OK will only have the opposite results than the ones you aim for. It is preferable to do a lighter workout or even stay home.

5) HIT Requires Muscle Recovery Supplements
High Intensity Training puts a lot of pressure in your muscle, the skeletal and endurance system way more than in an average person. Your body needs certain assistance in order to develop muscle.

Muscle recovery supplements like Protein Powders, BCAAs, Glutamine and Creatine are necessary.

Follow these five simple rules and you will witness yourself how effective High Intensity training can be.

Keep those muscles pumping!

Chris G Pap
Since 1993 involved in bodybuilding and fitness area.Visit the following link for more info about bodybuilding, supplementation, workout routines and nutrition.
http://www.strengthtrainingmuscle.com/

Original article

Weight Lifting Women Over 40, Get Your Sexy On - Workout Wear

Women weight lifters over 40 are a phenomenal group of people. Many of you have come into yourselves as the saying goes. You know where you want to go, but may not be quite sure how to get there as far as strength training is concerned. You may be over forty, you want to lift weights, and guess what - looking good while you're doing it is not only possible but is a priority! In addition to looking good, you have got the common sense to expect comfort while you are lifting and during your work outs. You'll read about support as you continue your weight training journey. So, let's start with the first item of support that is imperative for any women weight lifter over 40 - the brassiere. Whether you go heavy or go light, work out at home or at the gym, you want the breast area to be comfortable yet uplifted and supported as you move through your workout. Gravity may be our enemy, but a good bra is our best friend. Thankfully there are a plethora of good bras that meet our challenge.

I like the Fiona bra because it allows moisture to evaporate while working out and it offers excellent support while being lightweight. Check out the feature on the straps-no hardware to fuss with. They come in a variety of sizes and pretty colors. Oh and you know that bounce factor that many bras do not address? Not a problem with my Fiona bra. Last but not least I have to address the back of this bra. It is regular style vs. racerback which makes it a versatile choice for a sports bra.

The real deal with getting your sexy on when it comes to workout wear, or any wear for that matter, is attitude, attitude, attitude. I could suggest to you the most alluring workout wear in the world, but if your demeanor says low self-esteem it won't matter. I want you ladies to remember something, "Whether you say you can or whether you say you can not... you are right." I was told this several years ago and I will never forget it.

One of the things weight training will do for you is give a boost in your confidence. I am talking early on too. The big woman you may now see in the mirror won't be there for long if you stick with your program. So, I am going to suggest some cute and comfortable workout wear that I use and are must-haves. Then, it is up to YOU to work it..

Capri Pants should be a staple in your workout wear wardrobe. Their comfort is unsurpassed and their versatility bar none. If you're like me, on more than one occasion you will wind up having them on when you must run an errand before or after your workout. Who says you can't look cute while doing so? The capri comes in a variety of styles including a slightly wider leg with a small bell shape. Cotton wins hands down when it comes to workout wear because it breathes and allows sweat to evaporate unlike nylon. There is something to be said for showing a smidgen of leg. It's what I call comfy sexy. These babies may also be paired with a cute top and worn casually. Remember, you are not limited to gym gray as far as variety because they come in a plethora of colors and designs.

The tank top wins as the next necessary piece in your workout wardrobe. Now wait, some of you may be thinking that your upper arms are unattractive. Remember, sexy is a state of mind and your tricep area skin won't always be flapping in the wind. In the meantime, wearing a tank top while working out allows you to see your muscles as they flex and relax allowing you to visualize what you know they ultimately will look like. We'll discuss more on visualization and laws of attraction at another time. Like I said, too, tanks do double duty as casual wear. There are a variety of tank top styles including racer back and y-shaped to suit the fancy of the woman weight lifter over 40.

Original article

5 Hot Muscle Building Tips for Extreme Muscle Building

Most people think that building muscles is very easy, this is a big lie. You will have to choose the right exercise and work with them extensively. Also you have to know that not all exercises will give you a good result, so you have to meet experts to help you choose your Muscle Building exercises. If you really want to build muscles, then you must add the following exercises to your Muscle Building routine, not withstanding your body composition, whether you are lean, average or fat, you need to do the following.

1. Weight Lifting: If you have been trying to build muscles without weight lifting, you have not started. This will help you exert pressure on your muscles and this is the only way you will see muscle growth quickly. Also when doing weight lifting, work with heavy weights. Some of the most effective weight lifting exercises include Weighted Pull Ups and Dead Lifts.

2. Squats: This exercise is very necessary for anyone who wants to be successful with Muscle Building, mostly it helps you grow your leg muscles. It is also good to carry heavy weights when doing squats, this way it affects most parts of your body.

3. Work Hard and Short: This technique is overlooked by so many people. If you want to get the best out of your routine, you will have to work really hard till you are unable to continue and also do your routine within an hour. It is not advisable to remain at the gym throughout the whole day.

4. Train Infrequently and Rest: You must allow time between your routines and also rest. It is advisable to set a time interval between each Muscle Building routine of 24 to 48 hours, this will allow your muscles to heal and grow. Also you should sleep for at least 7 hours a day because most of your Muscle Building growth process will take place during sleep.

5. Eat the Right Food: This is as important as choosing the right Muscle Building exercises. If you are lean, your meal should consist of 50 percent of protein food, 40 percent of carbohydrates food and 10 percent of healthy fats, but if you are fat or average, you can consume 70 percent of protein food, 20 percent of carbohydrates food and 10 percent of fatty food. Eat foods like eggs, lean meat, chicken breast, turkey, green vegetables, olive oil, coconut oil and avocado. Also drink lots of water.

For more information and free tips on how to build extreme muscles easily, subscribe to my Daily newsletter on http://www.hotmusclebuildingtips.com/

Original article