Friday, April 11, 2008

Bodybuilding Supplements - The Science Behind A Better Body

These days, it is very common to use bodybuilding supplements to improve your appearance. With all the scientific research into nutrition, the benefits of supplements for building muscles are becoming more accepted. Maybe you are looking to add supplements to your bodybuilding regime. If so, some knowledge is necessary to prevent you from wasting money as there are numerous bodybuilding supplements and it can be difficult to know exactly where to get started.

Firstly, you need to understand that no amount of bodybuilding supplements will automatically build muscles. No, you're not going to wake up one morning with rippling muscles due to supplements! However, they will work with your current dietary intake to create a process that is more favorable in building muscle. So, with no magic about to happen, you need three things: a nutritious, well-balanced diet, regular workouts, and body-building supplements.

These supplements are often found in different forms like bars, tablets, powders, and shakes. How they get into your system isn't the most important consideration; it's what the bodybuilding supplements consist of that really matters. If you really want to ensure a good regimen, go for all types as each one is most suited to a particular type of supplement.

Understandably, men are the main group marketed for bodybuilding supplements. However, women can also benefit from them, except for possibly the ones that have high amounts of complex carbohydrates. These are often the weight gain bars and shakes and people with a body fat percentage above 10% shouldn't use these.

A healthy woman has about 20% body fat and most men starting body building rarely have body fat below 10%. So, only a highly skilled female bodybuilder should consider the use of these weight gain supplements. Male bodybuilders should use these sparingly to start with also. The reason being is that these weight gain supplements don't work well with beginners because their metabolic rate doesn't have the capacity to utilize the extra carbohydrates and the body ends up storing them as fat.

It's all about lean muscle mass. Bodybuilders should use bodybuilding supplements that are protein based so that more lean muscle mass can be achieved. Protein supplements have no steroidal effect at all as they allow you to gain muscles faster without the need to take six balanced meals per day to get the best nutritional balance.

If you're planning to buy bodybuilding supplements buy in bulk to save yourself some cash and make sure you follow usage directions.

Summary:

Bodybuilding supplements won't magically build you rippling muscles! You need to use them as a supplement to a well-balanced diet and regular exercise. If you're a beginner, stay away from ones with complex carbohydrates unless you need the weight gain.

Brooke Hayles
Check Out More Helpful Information About Bodybuilding Supplements For FREE!
Visit { http://www.bodybuildingsupplementsvault.com/resources/bodybuilding-supplements-increasing-your-potential-for-bulging-muscles.html} Bodybuilding Supplements Vault now!

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Monday, March 17, 2008

Best Bodybuilding Tip

If there is one surefire bodybuilding tip that I can share with you, which will skyrocket your muscle building efforts, it is rest.

Now you say rest. Yes, I am saying rest, don't workout. This may be way against the grain of your logical thinking, but according to sound physiology, it is right on. If you want to get bigger, stronger, and more cut; then I am recommending not to workout. Resting is the most powerful muscle building technique you can implement.

First off, your body develops muscle while you are resting, not during your bodybuilding workout sessions. Muscle fibers hypertrophy, or get bigger, and stronger than before, thus, get you ready to lift more weight during the next bout of exercise.

The entire muscle building process begins when you lift your first weight to a level of overload, or momentary muscle failure. You will be unable to move the weight for another repetition. This momentary muscle failure places stress on the muscle and calls upon it to adapt by becoming stronger to overcome similar resistance in the future. Thus, the growth process has been stimulated. Strength training to absolute muscle failure stimulates muscle growth, but doesn't produce muscle by itself.

Now you go home from the gym, and fuel your body to allow for an energy compensation to occur, which gets your body back to the energy level it was prior to your hi intensity training session. When this short step has completed, overcompensation begins. This is where muscle fibers thicken and begin to grow stronger.

The next question you might ask is how long do I rest? You rest long enough to complete this overcompensation process. Not resting long enough is the biggest mistake ninety nine percent of bodybuilding participants make. If you take the more is better approach by coming back before your muscles are fully recuperated, you will short circuit the whole muscle building process and decrease your bodybuilding workout results. Don't make this deadly mistake! Let your body completely finish growing before you stimulate it again with another bout of resistance overload.

There are a lot of variables that come into play when recommending the exact number of rest days. How hard did you workout? How many sets? How intense was the workout? The higher the intensity, and volume, the more rest days you will require between workouts. The average rest days vary between 3-15 days between workouts.

The best bodybuilding tip I can offer you for figuring out the exact amount of rest you need is by testing it. When I say "testing," I am referring to keeping a training log to determine if your strength increases, decreases, or stays the same. If your strength increases, your rest is optimal. If it decreases, you need to take 1-2 or more days off to allow the growth process to complete. If strength stays the same, take another day off before your next bodybuilding workout session.

Your goal should be to become stronger with each subsequent workout. Get into the gym, stimulate growth, and then get the hell out of the gym to go home and grow.

Therefore, rest is the most neglected principle in the bodybuilding universe. Think more is not better. Higher intensity plus optimal rest equals muscle growth.

Please don't make this critical mistake, rest is by far the most important bodybuilding tip I can share with you. Follow it to obtain maximum muscle growth quickly.

***** Attention: Ezine Editors / Website Owners ***** Feel free to reprint this article in its entirety in your eZine, Blog, Autoresponder, or on your website as long as the links, text, and resource box are not altered in any way.

Jim O'Connor- Exercise Physiologist / The Fitness Promoter

Wellness WORD, LLC 9461 Charleville Blvd. #312 Beverly Hills, CA 90212 1-866-935-5967

Exercise Physiologist Jim O'Connor creates and markets empowering health and fitness products across the world. Visit his Bodybuilding Done Right Blog and receive, for free, his report on The 5 Most Deadly Muscle Building Mistakes You Must Avoid. Building Mistakes You Must Avoid

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Monday, March 10, 2008

Avoid Common Bodybuilding|Weightlifting Injuries-Common Mistakes In Gym

Bodybuilding by weightlifting if done wrongly is a sure recipe for injuries. Sometimes even painful and permanent injuries that will derail your bodybuilding program. This article will address the common injury prone mistakes bodybuilders make in their quest to build a fit and muscular body and how to avoid those weightlifting injuries.

Many people who workout in gyms complain about backaches and they blamed it on their desk bound jobs sitting in front of the computer at long stretches of time. Perhaps they are right. Then why is it that more bodybuilders have backaches when compared to their non gym going colleagues?

Aren?t those people who lift weights are supposed to have stronger back muscles to support their musculature and should be less prone to backaches? I think you are getting the drift. Many bodybuilders suffer from common weightlifting injuries that they don?t even know it.

Many people actually think that if they do not suffer any pain when they are lifting weights, they are not injured. I want to debunk this bodybuilding myth right now. You see, many weight lifting injuries are very often sustained over a period of time.

It is because of the wrong weightlifting form being repeated over and over through many training sessions that cause the wear and tear of joints, tendons, cartilages and muscles. Many injuries do not just occur immediately or overnight like the weights dropping on your toes or painful muscle tear during your lifts.

Therefore executing your weightlifting movements in the correct form and techniques not only help your muscles to grow big and fast, it is also crucial to prevent bodybuilding injuries.

Common causes of injuries can also be attributed to lifting weights that are too heavy or that the bodybuilder who may be sick, and yet headed for the gym when his condition is not optimum for handling the weight he usually lift as he is in a physically weakened state.

So when the weights are too heavy or you are too weak to lift the weights you usually do, you are forced to cheat by swinging the weights up using momentum and lowering the weights by using gravity.

These movements not only waste your time in the gym as they are definitely not helpful in helping you build muscles. They will cause injuries.

An example of a common exercise done in the wrong form and a recipe for injuries is the common bar bell curl.

? Barbell Biceps Curl ? This exercise is perhaps the most commonly executed in the wrong form and causing injuries that people don?t even know why they are injured. In every gym, you will see people swinging their barbells with their body rocking thru and fro in the movements.

The rocking movement places tremendous stress on the shoulder joint which is the most unstable joint in the human body and the lower back. Over time, the shoulder joints and lower back will pay a heavy price for the wrong form and technique used during the lift.

Other common bodybuilding exercises which are often wrongly executed are the lat pull down, bench press, leg extension, military press and list goes on.

So the next time when you have backache or joint pain, don?t blame it on other causes if you are a bodybuilder and that you lift weights often. Just reflect on the weightlifting exercises you are doing and examined them as to whether they are the cause of your injuries.

Better yet, hire a personal trainer or a bodybuilding book with picture illustration and description to learn how to lift weights in the correct form and technique to prevent common and serious weight lifting injuries.

Chris Chew is a fitness personal trainer of actors, pageant winners, fashion models and other celebrities. More articles on his websites Lose body fat build lean muscles fast and Choose your fitness trainer

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Positioning Of The Spine During Bodybuilding Workout

Although the entire body needs to be properly positioned during bodybuilding workout, the axial skeleton and its immediate attachments are of greatest concern and require particular attention. Correctly positioning and stabilizing the spine, neck and pelvis during resistance-training exercises are especially important. To see better how these areas should be positioned during exercise, you should first be aware of how they are positioned when held or stabilized aat ret. Not everyone has the same degree of spinal curvature, and some may have spinal abnormalities. If you or someone you are training has any of these abnormalities or any type of back problems, be sure a doctor is consulted before beginning any exercises program.

Different schools of thought exist regarding the spine and exercise. Some people advocate flattening the back during most any exercise in which a bench, pad, or some sort of outside support is present. The theory behind this concept is to reduce the stress on the spine, intervertebral disks, and lower-back area by bracing them against a support. Flattening the back actually requires most people to tilt the pelvis posteriorly. The spine is in its strongest position and the disks are under the least amount of compression when the spine, neck and pelvis are all in a neutral position with the normal arches and curvatures intact. With this in mind, we prefer to do most every exercise while keeping the lumbar spine and the cervical spine in a neutral position. The only change is a slight degree of extension or straightening through the thoracic religion. To do this, we simply pull the shoulder blades together and lift the chest slightly up and out while maintaining the ntural arch in the lumbar and cervical regions of the spine. An example of this would be soldiers standing at attention with their shoulders back and their chest out. This spinal positioning is called a ready position.

Positioning the spine in this manner supports weight more efficiently and still allows for the least amount of intervertebral disk compression in the cervical and lumbar regions. Instead of bracing the lower back by flattening it, you should maintain the natural arch in the lumbar spine. Maintaining this position will require stabilization from the muscles throughout the back, particularly those of the lower region. This is an added benefit. These muscles will be working to stabilize what is a natural and desirable spinal position while the targeted muscles are working against the resistance. Muscles of the trunk and lower back are typically weak links in most individuals. Using this positioning will help to strengthen and stabilize these weak links rather than pacifying them. Isn't strengthening weak muscles one of the reasons we do resistance training in the first place ?

For more resources : http://www.101bodybuilding.com http://www.101cookingrecipes.com http://www.desserts-recipes.com

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Friday, March 7, 2008

Pick A Bodybuilding Workout that Will Work

It is important that you choose your body building workout with care. The workout you pick is going to have a major impact on all aspects of your life and you need to choose the one that will keep you healthy and in good shape inside and outside. Your body building workout should suit your own personal goals. Not every workout is for every goal so make sure that you understand your goal before you choose one.

Your body will adjust to the body building workout program that you choose slowly; in time you will see marked changes to your physique. This does not always happen overnight but it will certainly happen if you follow your body building workout plan to the letter.

A good body building workout program will make it clear to you from day one that everything is going to happen for you in stages. It should also clearly define each of these stages for you so that you always know what to expect from your bodybuilding workout. You do not want to go into any plan without a clear sense of each stage.

You will also want to choose a very in depth body building workout program, one that can be customized for your own use. This means that you will be able to choose when and how to increase your load. This will need to be done throughout your bodybuilding workout program and knowing when is important.

You'll also want to know when your body needs to take a break from your bodybuilding workout program. Your body must have periods of recovery if you want to continue to build good solid muscle. Unfortunately some body building programs do not take this into consideration and people suffer for it in the long run. If you have a body building workout that has no time for muscle recovery then you may do serious if not permanent damage to your body.

Visit www.Burnupexcess.com, where you can read about budget workout ideas and abdominal exercise equipment

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Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Professional Bodybuilding: Under Construction

Professional bodybuilding is one of the less popular sports in the world. Almost everyone knows players like Lebron James and Barry Bonds, but if you asked someone who Ronnie Coleman is, chances are good that they are not going to have any idea. What has happened to the sport of bodybuilding since the days of Arnold, Columbo, and Haney? The media has pulled the plug on these great athletes, which makes you wonder why this horrific downfall has happened to our sport.

The present age of bodybuilding has a few kinks that need worked on. Some will argue that the voting system is rigged because there has been the same Mr. O the past eight years. There is also the issue of steroids in pro bodybuilding, and the media giving steroids a bad reputation doesn`t make things easier In 2005, the IFBB finally decided to raise the winner of the Olympia`s prize money to a staggering $661,000, but I don`t think this upgrade in prize money will put an end to the problems of bodybuilding.

In the past, you could turn to channels like ESPN and the Fox Sports Network to catch a glimpse of what professional bodybuilding was all about, but now you`ll be lucky to catch a live show on pay-per-view. Almost everyone in America knew who Arnold, Columbo, and Haney was. Everyone seemed to want to become the next Arnold and it looked as if bodybuilding would become the next big sport in the United States. In the year 1977, Arnold admitted the use of performance enhancing drugs to help him maintain muscle while preparing for a contest. This set the stage for the use of anabolic steroids in professional bodybuilding and before you knew it, ninety percent of bodybuilders were juicing.

Everyone knew Arnold and his popularity was as asset to the sport. The top bodybuilders of today`s industry are not well known athletes or celebrities which is one of the leading downfalls to the game. Look at how the World Wrestling Entertainment became so popular over the years. Hulk Hogan, The Rock, and Macho Man Randy Savage were all icons that everyone adored. Even outside of pro wrestling, these guys transformed the entertainment industry and brought more fans to the sport. Ben Weider needs to smarten up and use some of the marketing techniques Vince McMahon used to transform his company into what it is today.

Bodybuilding is slowly starting to get where it needs to be. The new bodybuilding web video and radio show being broadcasted on bodybuilding.com is a step in the right direction, but there is more work that needs to be done. They should consider getting a small television contract . They also need to somehow change the structure of the event to make it more entertaining. The fans should be able to vote at contests on who they beleive won. In bodybuilding, there is really no champion except for the Mr. Olympia contest held that determines the best bodybuilder in the world. There should be a point system like in Nascar or the BCS for college football to determine who the leaders are for the season and use the Mr. Olympia as a means of gaining more points to the bodybuilders`s yearly total. This will make smaller shows more interesting and make the bigger guys like Ronnie Coleman and Jay Cutler have to compete more. I really believe this would be a huge step in the right direction for the sport and should be considered by the promoters of the IFBB.

MY SITES: http://www.clubbodybuilding.com and http://www.geocities.com/bashore69/bodybuildingarticles.html

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Monday, March 3, 2008

Bodybuilding Replaces Bad Behavior

How many of your know people who only seem to be good at one thing in life? That thing trouble. Why do so many people act like they have no conscience whatsoever and always seem to be living on the wrong side of everything? There are plenty of reasons why people act the way they do but the only answer is to put an end to their troubled lives before the trouble puts an end to that person`s life.

We all look for certain cures for our problems. In today`s world it seems there is a bottle or pill for every problem that a person faces in life. What about people that cause trouble? Don`t they have any discipline at all? They need to realize that there is more to life than trying to put an end to yourself day after day. That is why bodybuilding is the perfect drug for these sort of people. When a person starts noticing an improvement in their physical appearance, their self-esteem raises which gives them the mindset that anything is possible. This could be a step in the right direction to improving a person`s behavior.

When I was younger. I had a negative self esteem because I was overweight and never felt good about myself. This led to many things i shouldnt`ve been doing like lying, cheating, skipping school, and getting involved with the wrong people. This didn`t cure any of my problems but actually made them worse. I finally realized that there was a big need for change and when I started bodybuilding, everything slowly started to get better and I was determined to continue living a better lifestyle.

I also didn`t feel the need to hang around negative people as much because they were becoming a cancer to my bodybuilding goals. Instead of going to a party and drinking a case of beer I would just go to the party and drink one or two beers and then DRIVE home and get my 8-10 hours of sleep I need daily. When my friends started noticing I wasn`t as much of the partying type that I used to be, I noticed they weren`t doing it as much either which is good because you may have the power to put a stop to their negative behavior as well.

Now that you have decided to change your behavior, you need to write down some sort of negative hobby you have and replace it with something positive you can do for yourself. You can do many different things fitness related like weight lift, write an article, hang out on the forums, go supplement shopping, train at a new gym. It may seem difficult at first and feel that your friends might not support you but if they don`t then just get rid of them. They weren`t good friends anyways. Until next article, stay out of trouble.

MY SITES: http://www.clubbodybuilding.com and http://www.geocities.com/bashore69/bodybuildingarticles.html

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Sunday, March 2, 2008

Bodybuilding, Work, And Life...finding Balance

Life can be rough and sometimes you need to be able to organize your thoughts to make everything better. You can become focused on one thing and forget about the other priorities in your life. I am going to explain the importance of keeping a balance between bodybuilding, work, and life. You`re also going to learn a few natural techniques than can be used to keep your life in balance.

Being fit is crucial to being able to handle all the obstacles you come across on a daily basis. It gives you the the ability to perform better at your job and also gives you the confidence to have a good social life. The best way to improve your health is by bodybuilding, but participating in a recreational sport such as basketball, is a step to improving your health as well. This will put you in a social setting that you feel comfortable in and also gives you the ability to make a couple of new friends that share the same interests.

Having a positive social life is one of the most important factors in a person`s life. It makes everything you do worthwhile and makes you realize that others are going through the same problems as you are. You may also find the love of your life when your out with your friends. Nobody wants to be with a hermit so you have to fit some sort of social fun into your busy life or you`re going to live a long, lonely life. What you can do to become more social will depend on your values and who you feel most comfortable around. You only know what type of person you are and what makes you comfortable. A bodybuilder wouldn`t feel right at a golf course. A car mechanic wouldn`t feel comfortable being around a bunch of computer wizzes. Learning who you feel good around takes time and a lot of maturity on your part to realize you can`t be friends with everybody. Its the same way at a job, you can`t just fill out an application somewhere because your desperate for a job. You need to know what the job does, the type of people you`ll be working with, and how well you will fit in with the rest of the crew.

Work can become your worst enemy if you let it. If you hate your job and the people you work with, of course you`re going to have a negative attitude towards your job. Sure making money is nice, but when you start questioning yourself, "what am i doing here," you have a problem. There are also other problems a job can bring. If you have a bad boss, work around negative people, work long hours, and can`t handle the stress involved with the job, then you need to take a step back and develop a list of ways you can start to feel better. Are you getting enough sleep, are you exercising, are you spending enough or to much time with friends and family, eating right? You can also try yoga or some kind of other meditation practice, which are all good alternatives to seeing a therapist or some doctor who just wants to take your money.

You don`t want to do to much or to little of anything. Everything has a happy medium and you need to incorporate the practice of balancing into your everyday life.Again, you need to write down things you do on a daily basis and decide what things your doing in excess and develop ways to cut back on what is customary. To much of a good thing is just as bad as a repetitive bad habit and is important for you to realize. Life isn`t easy and it takes a lot of time to improve on it but taking small, gradual steps to improvement is the only way to achieving anything. Until Next Time, cya!

MY SITES: http://www.clubbodybuilding.com and http://www.geocities.com/bashore69/bodybuildingarticles.html

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Bodybuilding Training for the Female Body

Female bodybuilding might seem like the same thing as bodybuilding for men, but there are actually many differences. The differences are mainly due to the fact that a woman will gain and burn fat differently as well as gain and burn muscle differently than a man. If you are a female body builder, special training is needed for your efforts to pay off.

To succeed and stay healthy while body building, females will have to have a training regime that is specific to their body type, body weight and body goals. You will also have to have a good female specific body building diet. Nutrition is important to body building success and your nutrition is going to make or break your bodybuilding.

You may also want to look into getting some female specialized supplements to help you get the most out of your workouts every single time. Female body building supplements can now be purchased at your local health food store or online. The internet is a good place to shop for any kind of body building products because there is such a wide selection that you may not find in local stores.

When it comes to your diet for body building you have almost too many to choose from. Different diets work best for each woman so you may want to do a little experimentation. Just make sure that the diet that you finally settle on is a healthy one. There is no point in getting big and strong with bodybuilding only to fall ill from lack of nutrition. If you are getting the proper nutrition for your body and your muscles you will do far better in your female bodybuilding than if you are not eating right.

Some of the common female body building diets are low carbohydrate, ketogenic, and high protein diets. Or you could simply eat healthy, using common sense and get a balanced meal plan that you can live with to succeed. Most people do much better eating a balanced diet rather than one that has eliminated an entire food group such as carbohydrates. Before you choose a drastic diet try eating a balanced diet of healthy and whole foods. This should help you meet and even surpass all of your bodybuilding goals.

Lyne Doxley writes for www.Burnupexcess.com, where you can read more about budget workout ideas and abdominal exercise equipment

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Thursday, February 28, 2008

Bodybuilding Magic In The Last Rep

Bodybuilding enthusiasts, as well as strength training participants, all want quick, visible muscle defining results. Their main goal is to add different degrees of lean tissue or fat burning muscle to their bodies all according to personal objectives. Bodybuilders want to add as much muscle mass as possible, while fitness enthusiast want to either maintain muscle mass, or slightly increase strength and size. It all depends upon the specific goals and objectives of each participant.

Bodybuilding magic occurs not during the first rep, but the last. Do you know the last, most difficult, repetition triggers 90% of muscle building results?

The main principle in increasing muscle strength and size is overload. If you place a greater stress on your muscles than you had during the previous workout, that specific muscle will be stimulated, and overloaded enough causing an adaptive responsive. This event results in greater strength and muscle tissue development. The adaptive response is dependent upon the intensity of that last magic, muscle producing rep.

Bodybuilding and strength training participants should really focus on conquering that last, near impossible muscle building repetition. A valiant effort of trying to move that last rep will trigger the muscle group to adapt, and grow stronger.

Don't give up too easily when you feel the weight is challenging. Battle that rep for at least 4 seconds. Even if you are unable to complete the full rep, you have succeeded, and the muscle building growth process will follow. That is, only if you have had sufficient rest between workouts. It is not during the bodybuilding workout when muscle building results occur, but rather after consecutive rest days to allow for muscle building compensation followed by overcompensation.

The last rep is the stimulus that triggers this whole process which bodybuilding and strength gains are based upon. Please note, this whole process can be short circuited by not allowing enough rest time between workouts for overcompensation to occur. If you allow your body sufficient rest, your muscle strength will continue to increase with each subsequent bodybuilding workout. If not, you need more days off to recover from the previous workout. You only have a limited number of resource recovery abilities available, so don't short circuit your results by not allowing the recovery process to finish.

Instead of focusing on which bodybuilding supplement brings good bodybuilding fortune, focus on what really matters - the last, muscle building rep. Then allow your body to do the rest.

Your primary goal should be to reach that repetition you can't complete after struggling four or more seconds. If you follow this last rep, maximum stress,followed by sufficient rest principle, then you will see magic in your bodybuilding results.

For even more detailed bodybuilding information, tips, and resources visit Bodybuilding Hub right now!

________________________________________________________

*** Attention: Ezine Editors / Website Owners *** Feel free to reprint this article in its entirety in your ezine, Blog, Autoresponder, or on your website as long as the links, and resource box are not altered in any way.

Jim O'Connor - Exercise Physiologist / The Fitness Promoter

Wellness Word, LLC 9461 Charleville Blvd. #312 Beverly Hills, CA 90212 1-866-935-5967 __________________________________________________________

Jim O'Connor, a celebrity fitness consultant in Beverly Hills, california, has been passionately involved in bodybuilding for most of his adult life. He is the creator of Bodybuilding Hub.com. Get the latest informaton on the best bodybuilding supplements today.

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Monday, February 25, 2008

7 Simple Steps To Beginning Bodybuilding (Part 1 of 2)

When I was 16, I asked myself this very same question that I received from a frustrated 16 year old. It went something like this...

"A Little Help Please! I am 16 and I am VERY skinny! I don't have much fat on me so... you could almost see my bones if I am not wearing anything baggy. I only weight 105 lbs and I know I am tooth pick mainly because I don't eat too much." - Frustrated and Skinny

You have NO IDEA of how close that cry for help sounds like me. When I was 16, I took a picture of myself in front of the family Christmas tree. Somehow I convinced my sister to take the picture and I flexed with all my might.

For those who are curious to see what I really did look like, the picture is at:

http://www.beginning-bodybuilding.com

Scroll down. You'll see it. It's 100% un-edited. I didn't even remove the glow in the dark plastic eagle necklace I found somewhere.

Anyway, your question was the same thing I wondered myself. I was 16 and tired of being skinny. I thought I did everything I could to gain weight but I was wrong. And I'm going to give you 7 simple steps you can do today to get on the right track to healthy weight gain and make that cry for help, a shout for joy!

If I could get into a time machine I would go back and hand myself a small brochure called:

7 Simple Steps To Beginning Bodybuilding

This would be written by me for me. But I'm positive the next few steps will apply to you as well and any other 16 year olds out there who are frustrated but are in a position to waste a lot of time if they start down the wrong path.

Please don't be confused... these simple steps are for anybody, no matter what age, male or female, who might be looking to start off on the right foot and not waste a lot of time.

Okay, so what can you do? Let's go step by step and figure this out.

Pre-Requisite - Body building isn't just about getting massive. It's not just for men. The word should actually be two words all the time so there's no confusion. You are building your body. That can mean anything to anybody. So the first step is...

1. Pick A Goal

No matter what, if you don't have a short term and long term goal in mind, you'll just wander around, like a zombie with your arms out, going to anything in sight. And 5 years later, you'll wonder what the heck happened!

Having a clear goal is the ONLY way to start. If you want to gain, maintain or lose, that is a goal. Know what you want before you start.

You'd be floored to find out just how many people are frustrated with their results but when asked exactly what they are trying to do, they have no idea.

2. Figure Out How Many Calories A Day You Need

In your case, you say you are skinny and tooth-pick like. But in the next sentence you state you know you don't eat.

[Snap Rubber Band On Wrist Here For Behavior Modification]

When I was 16, I didn't eat either, I skipped many meals (especially on weekends) and I tried all kinds of protein powders and supplements when I was clearly failing at nutrition.

My mom would cook big meals and I'd barely finish my plate before running off to do something. All the while wishing I was bigger and not so skinny.

There's so many simple ways to calculate your calories. That should be your very next step. Once you know what you want to do, you need to know your nutritional intakes in order to obtain that goal. It's not going to be hard at all but if you don't know, you cannot possibly get anywhere.

In other words, if you don't know how many calories a day you need for a certain goal, then don't expect anything different.

3. Figure Out How Much Protein You Need A Day

It's the building blocks of muscle and it's also the only way you are going to build more muscle or keep the muscle you already have today.

Even for burning fat, it's proven that getting enough protein will actually make you leaner.

Again, there's very simple formulas for this that do not require a degree from MIT to perform. And once you know how much protein you need every day, it's really easy in Step 4 to find out if you are getting what you need.

These steps will be continued in part 2

Marc David is giving away free memberships to his Teach Me Bodybuilding 'private list'. To get your own subscription, visit http://www.beginning-bodybuilding.com while charter subscriptions last

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Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Tips for Choosing Gym Quality Fitness Equipment for Your Home Use

If you've been to health clubs and gyms before, you must have admired a few fitness equipment that have worked so well with your fitness routine. Now that you're ready to invest in some serious exercise routine from your home, you're probably wondering where to find gym-quality home fitness equipment.

If you're a little bit confused, you're not alone. With so many home fitness equipment that claim to be the best alternative to gym quality fitness machines, it's easy to get lost in the choices. But with a little patience and some research, you'll find the perfect home fitness equipment that is the best for your fitness needs. Here's how:

Know your fitness goals
One of the biggest mistakes you could ever make is to buy the biggest, meanest gym quality fitness equipment monster there is simply because it's the best looking one in the store. The truth is, picking a home fitness equipment is like picking a partner to marry. What could be perfect for one could be disastrous for another.

Keep your fitness goals in mind when shopping for a home fitness equipment. Take note of the physical activities you enjoy doing. For example, if you're only trying to shed a few pounds and like hiking, a treadmill is the obvious choice. If you want to burn calories and target your lower body for toning, a stationary bike will fit your needs perfectly. Don't buy more fitness equipment than you need or they'll just end up gathering dust in a corner of your house.

Quality comes with a price
Gym quality home fitness equipment is not cheap and there's a reason why they come with a high price tag. They are built to last and withstand the constant wear-and-tear they will be put under with regular use. For gym equipment to survive this much punishment, it has to be made with the toughest materials and pass stringent manufacturing specifications.

If you're serious about getting fit using home gym equipment, then you probably have set aside a budget for it. Depending on your need, you will have a choice of gym quality home fitness equipment that starts at a reasonable $500 or you can go for the high-end home equipment that is priced at over $3000.

If your budget is at the range of a few hundred dollars, there is still a way to keep fit. Invest in several weights, a step trainer and a few workout videos. These will help you get started on a home fitness routine without the big machines.

However, while this alternative is cheaper, it does not offer the same fitness challenge that gym quality fitness equipment can. Once you get used to the exercise routine, you either have to up the challenge by purchasing new videos or just give up and get yourself a brand new fitness machine.

Go with the rave reviews
If there's a gym equipment that you like, you can try to find a duplicate for home use at many fitness stores. Many health club fitness equipment manufacturers develop machines for home use that are gym quality as well. So if a particular brand suits you fine, you might try to get its home edition equipment not only for its familiarity but also for the assurance of quality it offers.

Ask your gym instructor for recommendations or your friends for gym equipment reviews. Do your research over the internet or in fitness magazines and find the best home fitness equipment that will suit your taste and budget. Don't purchase fitness equipment sight-unseen, even if it claims to be gym quality. Many complaints about the performance of the machine do not appear until after you've test-run it for at least 20 minutes.

Try out the fitness equipment to see how you will perform. If it has a high learning curve, you probably will lose the motivation to use it. What looks effortless on TV may be very difficult to execute during actual use. Don't be carried away with hard selling or clever marketing ploys. If a manufacturer claims that their home fitness product is gym quality, you should be the best judge of that, no one else.

Getting gym quality home fitness equipment is a true assignment for any health buff or health buff-to-be. Arm yourself with the right kind of information and shop around for the features that you know you will be making use of. Furthermore, once you buy a home fitness equipment, make sure to put it to good use. If it's a gym-quality machine, it deserves to be treated as such.

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Friday, December 21, 2007

Advantages of Owning Home Gym Equipment

Now is a good season for beginning weight lifters to check out the latest gym exercise equipment. One advantage in using the gym exercise equipment at a local gym is the selection of sophisticated models that will help you get in shape. Commercial gym exercise equipment are sometimes more complicated to use, however, the outcome after using the machine tends to show fantastic results after a few weeks. At a local gym you also have access to personal trainers. They are available to help you put together a program to achieve that trim body you always wanted.

Home exercise equipment is a little more easy to use and small enough that you can store it in your closet after a good work out. The major factor with home exercise equipment is convenience. This is if you are especially shy and do not want to work out with others watching your every move. Home exercise equipment can be as attractive as the local gym's, but have a heavy price tag.

First time exercise enthusiasts can purchase home exercise equipment without many problems. Down the road when they have gained more knowledge and a greater body, they can upgrade to more sophisticated machined. It will take a chunk of change out of their pockets, but it will be worth every last penny.

People who choose to buy their own exercise equipment must remember to set up a program and maintain small goals. Over time these goals will be achieved and they will be one step closer to their desired physique.

Donald Mckenzie Jr offers important daily health news and information.Click here to visit the health blog.

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