Friday, May 23, 2008

Natural Bodybuilding Tracking Quickly Builds Muscle

Natural bodybuilding precision is a technique that is sure to maximize muscle gain in the shortest possible time. Some natural bodybuilders even see the results of steroid users by paying very close attention to their training precision. If you are a natural bodybuilder, and want huge results, now is the time to start paying attention to the word precision.

In natural bodybuilding, there leaves very little room for training error. Natural training with precision is crucial for significant muscle achievement. Let's face it, a steroid induced bodybuilder is granted a greater margin of error in training, and nutrition. Steroids aid bodybuilders in recovering faster, and can support longer, more intense bodybuilding training sessions. This enables bodybuilders the liberty to train and eat with less precision, and still reap fantastic muscle development. However, natural bodybuilding athletes must pay very close attention to detail in order to benefit from great muscle building results. Witnessing excellent bodybuilding results can be the difference between performing too many training sets, and not enough intensity.

You most likely ask how you can determine if your natural bodybuilding routine is precisely what it should be in order to achieve massive, steroid-free results. Are you working out with the precise amount of training sets per body part? How about the reps, or rest days between workouts? Is your training intensity significant enough to illicit a natural bodybuilding response?

There is an easy way to find out! If you learn only one thing from this natural bodybuilding article, please let this next tip be it. To determine if your training program is the most effective natural bodybuilding routine, pay close attention to detail by recording, and tracking your bodybuilding workouts.

Being a drug free bodybuilder, and knowing what your numbers are at all times, is being an intelligent bodybuilder. Can you imagine not tracking your checking account balance? What a silly question! Not closely tracking your bodybuilding progress is considered just as silly. Besides overtraining, lack of tracking your progress is the biggest mistake fellow bodybuilders are making.

How can you train with maximum effort and efficiency to improve your musculature if you don't know really where your numbers are? Remember, developing natural muscle is much more challenging, but a sense of precision is gained when you track your progress. Without bodybuilding workout precision, it is like driving a car in a strange place blindfolded.

The results of tracking can assist your natural bodybuilding efforts by making the whole story visible. Tracking will help determine if the amount of rest days between workouts are optimal or not. If your strength is improving with each and every workout, you are getting the precise amount of rest needed for optimal growth. If it is not, your rest days are not optimal. Therefore, tracking can direct your muscle building workouts into a precise science.

As soon as your natural bodybuilding log reveals a few training sessions that show no gains or decreasing strength, you are most certainly overtraining. Training more than is necessary is the worst enemy for any natural bodybuilder. Just remember, your body won't be able to recover from the training stress as rapidly as a steroid induced bodybuilder can. Therefore, if you try to duplicate a steroid aided training program, you will be dead in the water. Your natural muscle building results will definitely suffer. Once again, focusing on a specific program for you, and you only, is a key point to remember. Consider your training log the key to all the information necessary for significant natural bodybuilding gains.

Take a closer look at your training log. If you find you have achieved 10 reps on a particular exercise for two consecutive workouts, you should focus your mind on pumping out the eleventh reps during the next training session. This specific data, if followed, will direct and focus your natural bodybuilding routine into precisely what is necessary for growth.

This valuable data can also serve as a great motivator for achieving your specific goals. I call it training smart. If you know precisely what numbers are needed to accomplish your goal during the next workout, you are more likely to achieve it, thus, overloading your system in order to develop rock hard muscle. Take, for instance, a retail store. If they don't track how much money they made yesterday, how will they stay focused on what they need to beat today?

Prior to entering the gym, successful natural bodybuilders make point of drawing up a mental image of what needs to be accomplished in order to achieve their goal. By keeping a natural bodybuilding training log, you too will have a license to quickly build muscle.

Another excellent tip to achieving natural bodybuilding results is paying attention to the timing of your nutrients. Once again, it is critical for a natural bodybuilder to pay close attention to what is happening on the nutrition side of the natural bodybuilding puzzle. Research suggests it is important to eat carbs, and protein within one hour following a hi-intensity, natural bodybuilding workout. This particular bodybuilding nutrition regimen will help stimulate the muscle building recovery process. Natural bodybuilding buffs also need to pay close attention to the amount of calories they are taking in. Just as training, I also recommend tracking your nutrition regimen.

As you now know, natural bodybuilding results are easily seen if you focus on precise training. By training smart you will reap all the benefits of bodybuilding without steroid side effects. Simply follow my recommendations stated above, and your training will be guaranteed to be the most effective, efficient natural bodybuilding system possible.

*** 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.

Copyright (c) - Wellness Word, LLC

Jim O'Connor
Exercise Physiologist / The Fitness Promoter
9461 Charleville Blvd. #312
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
1-866-935-5967
www.naturalbodybuildinginfo.com

Jim O'Connor is passionate about promoting natural bodybuilding. He feels steroids are not necessary if training in the most effective manner possible. Visit Natural Bodybuilding Info.com to learn more natural bodybuilding tricks, tips, and secrets.

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Thursday, May 22, 2008

Bodybuilding Routines

Split bodybuilding routines and workouts

Stop for a minute and think about your current bodybuilding training strategy. In order to achieve maximum results, you should be following a progressive and logical schedule. If you are new to working out you are probably performing a full-body workout. Full-body workouts are excellent for beginners because they are easy to follow and implement. However, their biggest disadvantage is that they only allow you enough time to perform one or two exercises for each muscle group. If you try doing more, you?ll never be able to train the last couple of muscles with any degree of intensity. Of course the way around this is to start doing split routines.

What exactly are split routines? They are a method of training your body to create more intensity. Instead of hitting all the muscle groups in one bodybuilding session, you divide the body into sections, training a couple of muscles each day. While there are plenty of different ways to combine muscle groups, split training has some general guidelines to consider:

Primarily do compound exercises before single-joint ones.

Try to divide the body so you are doing approximately the same amount of muscle mass each day.

Try to limit your workouts to no more than 60 minutes duration.

Modify the exercises in your routine every 4 to 6 weeks.

Change the muscle groupings every 8 to 10 weeks.

The great thing about splitting your bodybuilding program is that each muscle group can be worked with greater intensity. Unlike full body workouts where you?ll need to pace yourself to hit all the muscles, split routines allow you to put maximum effort into training only a couple of muscles. You don?t need to hold back or pace yourself. In addition, you can take more rest days to achieve greater recovery (as in the case of a two-day split workout performed four days a week). The choices are almost endless when it comes to splitting up your workouts. Although no ideal split routine exists, the right split routine for you can be chosen based on factors like your time availability, genetics, exercise experience, and goals. Therefore, how you split your routines depends on preference as much as it does science.

One factor that should never be overlooked is recovery. Rest is an essential component of bodybuilding at any level. Whatever training split you decide on, make sure it allows for rest days in between.

The main benefits of split training versus a full body program include:
? reduced time in the gym
? Less chance of overtraining
? Higher intensity levels
? Sharper concentration
? More energy
? Increased strength

Here are some examples of potential bodybuilding split routines:

Routine 1
Day 1: Legs and arms
Day 2: Chest, Back, and shoulders
Day 3: Rest
Day 4: Repeat Day 1
Day 5: Repeat Day 2
Day 6: Rest
Day 7: Rest

Routine 2
Day 1: Chest, Back, Biceps
Day 2: Legs, Shoulders, Triceps
Day 3: Rest
Day 4: Repeat Day 1
Day 5: Repeat Day 2
Day 6: Rest
Day 7: Rest

Routine 3
Day 1: Legs
Day 2: Rest
Day 3: Chest and Back
Day 4: Rest
Day 5: Shoulders and Arms
Day 6: Rest
Day 7: Rest

Routine 4
Day 1: Legs
Day 2: Rest
Day 3: Chest and Triceps
Day 4: Rest
Day 5: Back and Biceps
Day 6: Rest
Day 7: Shoulders
Day 8: Rest

Bob Howard expert on bodybuilding and steroids. Are you looking for more of his bodybuilding articles? http://www.bodybuildinginformation.com Article ? Bob Howard 5/5/2006

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Bodybuilding Exercises

Top 10 Bodybuilding exercises ? back to basics training for ultimate muscle mass

In this age of $5000 strength machines and $8000 treadmills, it may surprise readers to learn that some of the best bodybuilding exercises can be performed for as little as $100! That?s right, you don?t need chrome and glitz to transform your physique. Long before Universal, Nautilus, and Hammer Strength, came on the scene, bodybuilders had been packing on muscle mass by training with good old-fashioned barbells.

The following (in no particular order) are our choices as the top bodybuilding exercises of all time.

Squats

Most authorities consider squats to be the best leg exercise. Period. One set of all out squats will do more for your lower body than 10 sets of leg extensions. Squats are also one of the most natural and basic of all body movements (let?s face it how often do you mimic the leg extension in the run of a day!) and target virtually the entire lower body.

Barbell Bench Press

The barbell bench press can be considered squats for the upper body. No pretty machine comes close to what this basic bodybuilding exercise will do for your torso. Long before the Pec deck started taking up space in gyms, bodybuilders were putting muscle mass on their chest, triceps, and shoulders, by training with barbell presses.

Deadlifts

Although long considered a powerlifting exercise, deadlifts are one of those exercises that often get neglected by bodybuilders because they take a lot of effort to do properly. But deadlifts will build you a set of python-sized spinal erectors as well as bestow on you that ?no neck? look. They?ll also do wonders for your hamstrings and thighs.

Chin-ups

Long before lat pulldowns transformed the way people trained their backs; chin-ups were tops of back bodybuilding exercises. The great thing about chins is that you can do them just about anywhere from a play ground to a basement. Unlike lat pulldowns, chin-ups require you to lift as well as stabilize your body (i.e. keep your body from swaying). This is what makes them so effective.

Barbell rows

If chin-ups widen your back and produce that much-coveted v-taper, barbell rows will give your inner back that dense, thick, meaty look. Unlike the more often substituted T-bar row, barbell rows have none of the balancing removed. You have to lift and balance the weight. There is no pivoting on the floor or being locked in a given plan of motion that may be unnatural for your body.

Seated Barbell Press

This is another oldie but goodie. Training with seated barbell presses will give your shoulders that cannonball look. Seated barbell presses evolved from the old standing press that was so popular with Olympic lifters and bodybuilders in the 1940?s and 1950?s. They?ve stood the test of time and you should be doing them.

Barbell curls

It?s safe to say that the first exercise performed on barbells when they were invented was a barbell curl. No cable or machine curl will come close to what these babies will do for your biceps muscle mass. They?ll also build up a phenomenal set of forearms. So if you want hams hanging from your shoulder joints you must add barbell curls to your bodybuilding exercises.

Lying triceps extensions

Lying triceps extensions, also called skullcrushers, are the triceps equivalent of barbell curls. They?re simple, basic, and will bring those horseshoes out for all to admire. So you can fluff with kickbacks or cable extensions or put some serious meat on your arms with this great bodybuilding exercise!

Push-ups

Push-ups go back even further than barbell exercises. Push-ups are the best bodyweight exercise for building the chest, shoulders, and triceps. By changing the height of the legs you can target different parts of the chest. They can also be done just about anywhere, whether the gym or in a hotel room while on the road. So drop and give me 20!

Crunches

Crunches will strengthen your abdominal core. They?ll also improve your posture and help protect your lower back. Crunches evolved from sit-ups, but unlike sit-ups they place less stress on your lower back and keep the hip flexors from contributing to the exercise. As with push-ups crunches can be done just about anywhere and should be the primary exercise in your abdominal routine.

Bob Howard expert on bodybuilding and steroids. Are you looking for more of his bodybuilding articles? http://www.bodybuildinginformation.com Article ? Bob Howard 5/5/2006

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Tuesday, May 13, 2008

What is Your Bodybuilding Body Type?


Try and name a sport that you can participate in even if you are an old person. Chances are, you will have a hard time naming even one. But if you named bodybuilding, you are dead on right.

Bodybuilding is the art and science of developing the musculature of your body via certain kinds of physical exertion and diet whose end goal is to showcase the body for competitive exhibition. The most popular kind of bodybuilding exercise is weightlifting or weight training.

What makes bodybuilding so appealing is that it is a sport that everyone of any age can participate in. The only requirements are that one be in relatively good physical condition, has access to gym equipment, and can financially afford the lifestyle it demands.

What are the different types of bodybuilding workouts? Well, it depends first on whether your body type is that of an ectomorph, endomorph or mesomorph.

An ectomorph is considered the slow gainer among bodybuilding types. He needs to slow down his hyper metabolism in order to gain muscle size and strength. This means his exercise routine should be severe enough to trigger muscle growth yet short enough to avoid nervous drain.

An endomorph, on the other hand, has a sluggish metabolism. He needs some kind of stimulating exercise every session in order to rev up his metabolism. Also, an endomorph should restrict his calorie intake due to an over-efficient digestive system that makes him gain weight easily.

The luckiest among the body types (as far as bodybuilding is concerned) is the mesomorph. A true mesomorph is able to gain muscle even with little effort on his part. Mesomorphs can be said to be gifted with muscle-building abilities, the Chosen People of bodybuilding.

No one belongs solely to one body type. Most people can be said to be a mixture of the three. However, one body type usually dominates a person?s build so that it is relatively easy to categorize bodybuilders.

Despite one?s body type, there are common techniques to follow when bodybuilding. These are:

1. Keep a training diary so that you can monitor your progress and determine what you should aim for in the future.

2. Pay attention when lifting any kind of weight to avoid injury. Carelessness is probably the foremost cause of injuries in bodybuilding.

3. Choose the types of exercises that can contract as many muscle fibers as possible during one set. This will maximize the effectiveness of the core repetitions which make up most of one?s training.

4. Warm up properly prior to doing any exercise to prevent injury.

5. Don?t change the technique of doing any exercise unless you know what you are doing. Experimenting is another cause of injury.

6. Don?t do those exercises which are known to cause tendon or joint damage.

7. Good exercise style prevents injury. So keep proper form while exercising.

8. Learn to distinguish between the pain caused by lactic acid build-up within the muscle, and the pain caused by a serious injury. Mistaking one for the other could cause you to keep exercising despite being injured, thereby worsening the injury. Rest if you are injured.

9. Practice stretching before working out. This also helps you ward off injuries.

Hopefully, these tips will help you enjoy participating in the sport of bodybuilding
Check out http://www.muscle-guide.com for more great information on building muscle and getting fit.

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Saturday, May 3, 2008

Is There A Perfect Bodybuilding Routine?

Finding the right bodybuilding routine can be a real headache, especially since there are dozens of bodybuilding routines and programs out there to choose from. So how do you know which one is best for you? How do you know that the bodybuilding routines stated in the program brochure really works? And how do you choose the most effective bodybuilding routine? Below is a simple guide for you to choose the bodybuilding routine that suits you best.

The topmost standard in choosing the right bodybuilding routine for you is to see whether or not the program has been tested. Never mind what the brochure says. And never mind what the bodybuilding routine instructor is saying. The most objective way for you to see if a bodybuilding routine is effective or not is by relying on empirical data and experimental results.

A good and well thought out bodybuilding routine discusses all of the following key factors: Goals, training loads, progress monitoring, and recovery periods.

In a bodybuilding routine, the ?just do it and see? attitude will not likely drive any major results. What a bodybuilding routine needs is program that allows progressive training. Guidance on changing your workout loads and periodic progress monitoring is essential to know if the bodybuilding routine you have is working. Regular visits to the weighing scale, size measurements, and one-rep maximums are only the easiest and most direct way to measure your progress with your bodybuilding routine.

Now often, in bodybuilding routines, recovery periods are frequently overlooked. Keep in mind that it is just as important as working out and performing your bodybuilding routine exercises. Your bodybuilding routine plan should cover rest on a regular basis and across the training phases.

The third important question to ask is: Am I the right type of individual to take up this kind of bodybuilding routine? A good bodybuilding routine is one that specifies its target population, age, training level, and effective duration.

Different people have specific needs in a bodybuilding routine. The question to consider is the gender and the age. Some bodybuilding routines might be too taxing for teenagers who have smaller and less developed muscles.

The same thing applies in the training level of a bodybuilding routine. You do not want to train under a bodybuilding routine for novices when you?re a bodybuilding veteran of 10 yrs.

And last, but certainly not the last important thing to consider is the duration of the bodybuilding routine. The program should state for exactly how long you can use the bodybuilding routine before moving on to a higher level.

So if you are serious about achieving your ultimate bodybuilding potential, the guide above should give you a better idea in what to look for in bodybuilding routines.

If you want to possess a well-sculpted muscular physique everybody else would be dying to have, then visit the free info website at http://www.the-firm-body-sculpting-system.com and find out how to finally have the rock-hard, eye-catching muscular body of your dreams?

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Monday, January 28, 2008

Bodybuilding overtraining

Read the original article

When you train to much you simply won't grow from it period!

This simply means you can not resolve overtraining by increasing your sleep.

Which ultimately means you have to cut back on your workout, or even take time out fromworking out for about two weeks.

You have to realize when your not working for two weeks your body will still grow for a period up to a week.

But now your still asking yourself how is this possible.

Well think of it as this you've been working out for 8 to 12 weeks straight with maybe one or two days off of a week.

That still is not enough time for the whole body to grow.

So for that first week your body is still healing itself and catching up to the intense workout you have done, and will actually see yourself getting bigger.

Now I'm not saying to go cheat on your diet but you can also cut back on your protein and carbs because your not going to be using the excess carbs for energy.

Into your second gradually add push ups, pull ups, and body squats to your workout.

This way when you start working out again your body will be primed.

Here is a little workout for this.

Do these workout routines three time a week:

Two sets of push ups 25 reps each

Two sets of pull ups 15 reps each

Two sets of body squats 20 reps each

And do a lot of stretching which will reduce the risk of overtraining.

Bodybuilding overtraining


Read the original article

When you train to much you simply won't grow from it period!

This simply means you can not resolve overtraining by increasing your sleep.

Which ultimately means you have to cut back on your workout, or even take time out fromworking out for about two weeks.

You have to realize when your not working for two weeks your body will still grow for a period up to a week.

But now your still asking yourself how is this possible.

Well think of it as this you've been working out for 8 to 12 weeks straight with maybe one or two days off of a week.

That still is not enough time for the whole body to grow.

So for that first week your body is still healing itself and catching up to the intense workout you have done, and will actually see yourself getting bigger.

Now I'm not saying to go cheat on your diet but you can also cut back on your protein and carbs because your not going to be using the excess carbs for energy.

Into your second gradually add push ups, pull ups, and body squats to your workout.

This way when you start working out again your body will be primed.

Here is a little workout for this.

Do these workout routines three time a week:

Two sets of push ups 25 reps each

Two sets of pull ups 15 reps each

Two sets of body squats 20 reps each

And do a lot of stretching which will reduce the risk of overtraining.


Webmaster of Boeafitness.com
Boeafitness.com

 

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Thursday, January 24, 2008

Know Your Bodybuilding Supplement - BCAA's

BCAA stands for branched chain amino acids and is increasingly being recognized as an important supplement in the field of sports nutrition. In short the term refers to three essential amino acids - leucine, isoleucine and valine.

Amino acids are widely known as the building blocks of protein. When protein food is eaten it gets digested into individual amino acids and short chains of amino acids that are sufficiently small to be absorbed into the bloodstream. They are then used by the body to build and repair tissues amongst other things.

Amino acids are split between those classed as essential and those labelled non-essential. This simply means that essential amino acids cannot be made by the body, whereas non-essential amino acids can. There are nine essential amino acids and each must be obtained from the diet. The nine essential amino acids are histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan and valine.

Non-essential amino acids are just as important as the essential variety and the term simply means they can be made by the body from vitamins and other amino acids. The non-essential amino acids are alanine, arginine, asparagine, aspartic acid, cysteine, cystine, glutamic acid, glutamine, glycine, proline, serine and tyrosine.

The BCAA's are especially important to athletes because they are metabolized in the muscle rather than the liver. This means that they can be used either to build new proteins or be burned as fuel to create energy. Supplementing with BCAA's has been shown to result in measurable gains in both muscle strength and size. Taken before a workout BCAA's can improve performance and delay the onset of fatigue. They also operate as anabolic agents allowing the body to burn fat and not muscle.

As a supplement that has no reported side effects, branched chain amino acids offer many benefits to the serious bodybuilder.

Amino acids are widely known as the building blocks of protein. When protein food is eaten it gets digested into individual amino acids and short chains of amino acids that are sufficiently small to be absorbed into the bloodstream. They are then used by the body to build and repair tissues amongst other things.

Amino acids are split between those classed as essential and those labelled non-essential. This simply means that essential amino acids cannot be made by the body, whereas non-essential amino acids can. There are nine essential amino acids and each must be obtained from the diet. The nine essential amino acids are histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan and valine.

Non-essential amino acids are just as important as the essential variety and the term simply means they can be made by the body from vitamins and other amino acids. The non-essential amino acids are alanine, arginine, asparagine, aspartic acid, cysteine, cystine, glutamic acid, glutamine, glycine, proline, serine and tyrosine.

The BCAA's are especially important to athletes because they are metabolized in the muscle rather than the liver. This means that they can be used either to build new proteins or be burned as fuel to create energy. Supplementing with BCAA's has been shown to result in measurable gains in both muscle strength and size. Taken before a workout BCAA's can improve performance and delay the onset of fatigue. They also operate as anabolic agents allowing the body to burn fat and not muscle.

As a supplement that has no reported side effects, branched chain amino acids offer many benefits to the serious bodybuilder.


Rick Mitchell is the creator of the bodybuildingadvisor.com website that provides guidance and information to athletes at all levels of bodybuilding experience. Go to Bodybuilding Advice to learn more about the issues covered in this article.

 

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Sunday, December 2, 2007

Features To Look For In The Best Home Gym Equipment


For many years, if you wanted to start a strength training regimen, you only had two real choices. One is to buy free weights and dumbbells and workout at home, or you could get a monthly membership a fitness gym and get access to their weight machines. But today there are more options open to the fitness conscious consumer, and there are plenty of choices in the home gym equipment field to consider. So if you are in the market for a home gym here are some of the things that you should be looking for.

Generally, most home gym equipment falls into two major categories, the first being home gyms that use rods or bars to create resistance, and the second being strength training machines that use a weight stack or plates. The biggest difference in these two will be the price that you pay for them, and the second difference is the amount of space that each one takes up in your home.

The first kind of home gym equipment often can be folded up and takes up very little space in the room. However many experts claim that the workouts with this kind of equipment are not as thorough or complete as the more expensive weight training machines which usually take up a lot more room space. But whichever type of equipment you choose, keep these considerations in mind:

Consider the size of the room where you will be placing the equipment first. If space is a major consideration, then it may best to go with a unit that folds up and out of the way.

The assembly of any home gym equipment can be difficult at best, so if you are not used to assembling this kind of product you may want to pay extra to have someone put it together for you. Just be sure to include the assembly cost in your overall budget.

Make sure that any home gym you buy is made of solid and durable materials. The frame itself needs to be made of heavy steel, and be very strong and sturdy even when supporting the maximum weight. The cables that are used to connect to each weight stack should be especially strong and made of quality material too.

Most people will need a weight stack of around at least 200 lbs. to be able to make the most use of the equipment. If more than one person plans on working out at the same time on your equipment, you might even consider getting a second weight stack in that case.

Finally, never buy any home gym equipment without testing it personally beforehand. Regardless of whether you buy your home gym online or not, you need to go through a complete workout on it to make sure that it will fit you best. If you do, and you follow the guidelines listed above, you should be able to find the best home gym equipment for your needs.

You can find the best home gym equipment and home gym reviews by visiting our Home Fitness website.

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