Women Bodybuilding: Then & Now

Everyone has either heard of or is familiar with the sport of competitive bodybuilding. The female component, which is known as women bodybuilding, began in the late 1970s as women began to participate in competitions. Now, more than three decades later, women bodybuilding is a large part of the sport and has begun to garner the respect that it has strived for since it?s inception.

Although physique contests for women can actually be documented in the 1960s, they were little more than bikini contests. The first true women bodybuilding competition is regarded as the one held in Canton, Ohio in 1978. Promoted by Henry McGhee, the first United States Women?s National Physique Championship was the first competition where the entrants were judged solely on their muscularity as opposed to how well they looked in swimsuits.

By 1979, more women bodybuilding competitions were being held. The sport, however, did not possess a sanctioning body until 1980. Known as the National Physique Committee, this organization hosted the first women?s nationals and became the top amateur level competition for women bodybuilding in the United States. Additionally, 1980 marked the first Ms. Olympia competition, which is the most honored competition for women bodybuilding professionals.

As the sport continued to grow and increase in overall popularity, competitors found themselves needing to train harder and improve their overall muscular physique. By the 1980s, women bodybuilding was no longer a bikini contest or seeing who could pose in the highest heels. Now, it was becoming a popular sport with championship titles and increasing fan attendance.

With films that have been produced in honor of women bodybuilding competitions, coverage on major television networks and despite some controversies along the way, women bodybuilding has more than proven it?s ability to remain in the ranks of this popular sport. As further proof, the IFBB established a Hall of Fame in 1999, which would honor bodybuilding?s top athletes. To date, 14 women bodybuilding competitors have been inducted. Among them, Carla Dunlap, Cory Everson and Rachel McLish, Bev Francis, Lisa Lyon and Abbye Stockton, Kay Baxter, Diana Dennis, Kike Elomaa, Laura Combes, Lynn Conkwright, Ellen Van Maris, Stacy Bentley and Claudia Wilbourn.

In late 2004, the IFBB introduced a new rule that required women bodybuilding participants decrease their amount of muscularity by 20%, which is now referred to simply as the ?20% rule.? The rule applies to those whose physique requires the decrease. In 2005, another rule was introduced that would abolish the weight class system beginning with the 2005 Ms. Olympia.

In addition to women bodybuilding, there are two additional categories that are closely related and often held as part of the same event. The fitness competition includes a swimsuit round, along with a round that has the entrants judged on their performance in aerobics, dance or gymnastics. The second category is a figure competition, which is a newer format, and has the participants being judged exclusively on their symmetry and muscle tone. This category focuses less on muscle size than does women bodybuilding.

Although women bodybuilding has continued to grow in popularity, the prize money remains significantly less than is awarded to male bodybuilders.

Find more about the different types of aerobic exercise and nutritional supplements and vitamins or read everything about women bodybuilding on http://www.womenbodybuilding.org

Natural Bodybuilding The Key To Endless Growth Part II

In the first part of this installment we examined how to build a road map to get to your destination. We talked about training the nervous system, innervation of specific body parts for symmetry, and advanced stage training.

In Part II we are going to examine the most common challenge bodybuilders face which is nutrition. Unfortunately there is so much confusion about what to eat, when to eat , how much to eat and on and on that it is almost impossible to sort out what to do. Also eating to grow is very different the eating to get shredded so the key point to remember is that your diet needs to evolve with your physique.

Consistency and self discipline on your eating is two biggest keys to long term success on whatever eating program that you are following. Bodybuilders who are successful always plan ahead and have meals prepared well in advance. If you don't plan out your meals and have them with you at all times you will invariably fail in giving yourself the best possible gains. Hoping that restaurants, or friends or relatives will be serving "bodybuilding food" is unrealistic and leads to frustration as well as no progress.

Almost every person I have every met that could not gain weight or lose weight was simply because they did not prepare there food in advance. It sounds simple, and it is simple but few overlook this critical point. Don't be one of those people who doesn't prepare there meals in advance. In the Freaky Big Naturally training course there is a whole section on food prep to keep you on your eating program. I learned these food preparation and food avoidance skills over years of trial and error. Many people think that it is a matter of will power or won't power but in reality it is simple preparation beforehand.

Here is a few simple rules to remember"

1. Always carry 1-2 meals with you more than you think you will need. This way any delays in your schedule will not throw your eating off.

2. Always eat before you go shopping, to the movies, or to other social occasions where non nutritious food will be served this way you will reduce any cravings for junk.

3. Prepare food in bulk and use Tupperware containers so that you can grab quick meals at any time. Also you will find it takes very little extra time to prepare 10 meals as it does one meal. This savings in time will actually make your life way more efficient and your eating plan easy to stick too.

4. Get off all artificial sweeteners. Artificial sweeteners cause cravings for sugar, mess up your metabolism and brain function, and may have negative effects on your overall health. Cut them out of your diet immediately and switch to Stevia, or Raw Honey for sweetening. NO Diet Sodas.

5. Drink plenty of water each day. Most often dehydration is misinterpreted as hunger. Slug back a liter of water 30 minutes before eating or when you feel hungry and you will see how it curbs appetite significantly.

6. Place nutritious snacks in you car, your office desk at your house basically everywhere that you spend a considerable amount of time. You will quickly develop the habit of eating healthy and junk foods will quickly lose there appeal.

7. Schedule a regular junk food meal once per week. This is a powerful lesson that starts building the will to understand delayed gratification. Every time you have a craving for junk food simply right it down and schedule to eat it on a set day. By the end of the week you can review the list and go eat those foods guilt free. Often times by the junk food day you won't want the food or it won't taste as good as you anticipated. Over time you will develop more control over your cravings and reduce negative guilt associations with food.

This list isn't the be all and end all of eating but it gives you a start to work with.

Keep in mind that your eating program should evolve over time. Your body will naturally adjust from desiring different types of foods depending on a variety of factors such as season, nutrient levels, PH balance of the body, training demands, and conditioning levels to name a few.

Recording how food affects you as biofeedback is critical in understanding the powerful effects of food on your mood and your performance. Review your eating journal regularly so that you become aware of your patterns of eating as well developing awareness of how each food effects your body. Clients are always surprised at how much they can learn about food just by charting there eating patterns for a few months.

One final note is too remember you must master eating and training first before supplements can be effective. So many people try the other way around and wind up frustrated. No supplement can make up for a poor diet or poor training so vow to master these two facets first before wasting money on supplements. Once you master your diet than the right supplement at the right time can do wonders to improve performance but seldom does the supplement deliver when the diet is poor.

In the third part of this installment we will look at having a big reason why. The key to realizing your full physical potential.

Wade McNutt http://www.freakybignatural.com is a Natural National Bodybuilding Champion and an IFBB Mr. Universe World Champion. He combined the secrets of Eastern Yoga Masters with, scientific, muscle building to produce a revolutionary new system called Freaky Big Naturally. Learn More at: http://www.freakybignatural.com

Natural Bodybuilding the Key to Endless Growth

In my 18 years plus in the iron game I am often asked what is the biggest secret to building a championship physique or at least a great body. The answer of course has a multitude of components but it boils down to a few basic truisms.

1. You need a systemized training program that evolves as your body evolves.

2. You need to follow a high quality nutrient dense diet

3. You need heart, discipline and a compelling REASON WHY.

In the first part to this series we will examine the first component the need to follow a systemized training program.

If you want to travel from New York to Los Angeles there are several ways to achieve this and several modes of transportation you can take. First and foremost you need to select the mode of transport such as walking, car, boat, train or airplane. Each mode of transport provides advantages and disadvantages as well as differences in cost as well as time taken to get to the destination.

If you have never made the trip and have no knowledge of the transport systems the best way to get to your destination would be to consult with individuals who have made the journey and select which modality meets your criteria of cost and time invested. Much time on the journey can be saved with planning your trip in advance as well as selecting the most cost effective method of transport. If your goal is to build a strong, well developed physique a little planning before hand can save you a lot of expense and headaches as well as ensuring you get to your destination.

Having the route planned out and the modality of transport is best left to a travel agent someone experienced in getting people to their destination. Likewise in building a great physique consulting with an expert coach will save you a great expense of time and money as well as providing you peace of mind. A great coach will provide you with a systemize scientifically proven training program for without a good program you have almost no chance of building a great physique.

Imagine trying to get from New York to LA without a road map, any mode of transport, or any knowledge of how to get there. As insane as this sounds many individuals that embark on this journey to build a great physique, with this type of mindset which pretty much guarantees failure. Of course there are a few rare individuals who have made the journey by following many trial and error methods to build there physique but in reality no wants to waste years and years following useless routines and getting discouraged. Every great athlete requires a coach to reach there ultimate potential as fast as possible.

The lack of planning and coaching has put bodybuilders at the mercy of slick marketing, pie in the sky supplements, and magazine mysticism that leaves bodybuilders desperate and frustrated. For some reason bodybuilders are so hooked on the "genetics is everything" that they consistently fall prey to giving less then there best effort leading to disillusionment and discouragement. Often times the individual takes steroids and other bodybuilding drugs to compensate for a poor routine found in a magazine or randomly selected exercises performed with terrible form. These individuals also tend to build belief systems that support the use of drugs to build the physique. This mentality is pervasive even at the pro-level and is a cancer to the science of building muscle. Basically once you take the drugs away most people have a terrible physique and an even worse state of physical and mental health.

For the Natural Bodybuilder Endless Growth is not only possible it is a certainty once the individual diligently follows a step-by-step sound training program. The best programs will be geared so the athlete trains the nervous system to handle increasingly challenging demands so that new neural pathways can be developed to build muscle. The body becomes it's function is a great truism so you need to first develop strong neural drives to each muscle group to maximize it's development.

The training routine also needs to take in account the development of muscle in strategic places which is first accomplished in the foundation phase. In the second phase of training particular attention is directed to smaller muscle groups to improve the shape, function and aesthetics of the physique. Usually accompanying this stage is a dietary regimen that strips away body fat to reveal the underlying musculature. This is a critical aspect to fully realize where one's physical development is and where improvements need to be made.

The length of time of each phase depends on the maturity of the nervous system, goals of the individual, and body fat percentages. For most trainees these two stages should compromise approximately 1-3 years depending on how fast the individual responds to training and the continuity of the effort exerted. In reality most people take 3-5 years to get there nervous system to the high levels of training capacity in a given discipline.

Cycling back and forth between Foundation training for the structure and Innervation training for the aesthetics compromises the bulk of these stages until the individual get's down to single digit body fat levels with a significant level of muscle mass. At this point a more complex routine is required as the body's ability to adapt to training has significantly improved (See stages of training Freaky Big Naturally). Stricter attention to nutrition as well as advanced supplementation and serious psychological training is then required to overcome perceived limits in performance. This is where most trainees falter and there physical development halts. Intense effort is required to break past this barrier, and this takes incredible self discipline, and desire (Big Reason Why).

In this third and ongoing stage both foundation and innervation training are performed throughout workout regimens and training reflects constant change to maximize growth and overcome underdeveloped areas. Each month specialization on weak aspects is a must while maintaining or improving strong points. Arnold refers to this stage in Pumping Iron when he discusses how he overcame his weak points and now in order to increase one muscle in size he must change every part of his physique in order to accommodate this change. Of course few people will ever reach Arnold's development but the implications are the same for every trainee when it comes to advanced workout design.

This long term healthy scientific approach to bodybuilding is far superior to training using drugs because without drugs the individual needs to first follow sound training science and sound nutritional advice. By building a solid base to your training and nutrition long term improvement is guaranteed and bodybuilding becomes a long term and continually improving pursuit.

Conversely, bodybuilders who use drugs to build their bodies quickly lose there gains once the drugs stop because of poor training and poor nutrition. Also the psychological dependence on drugs cause many top level Bodybuilders to become so depressed after they stop a cycle that their training and physique quickly degenerate thereafter. This loss of identity and false euphoria that drugs create can often lead to other more serious psychological/sociological problems. Natural bodybuilding is a far superior way to build every aspect of your physique as well as your mind and emotional state. Natural bodybuilding is a compliment to a productive and happy level not a detriment.

Many natural trainees continue to improve late into there life. I have personally witnessed people making gains in their 50's, 60's and even 70's with consistent and applied scientific effort in Natural Bodybuilding. More importantly the long term benefits of Natural Bodybuilding far out weigh any short term illusionary gains that drug use provides...

In the next part of this article we will discuss the second part and most overlooked aspect of training; following a nutrient dense diet. Until then train hard, train smart and most of all train natural.

Wade McNutt http://www.freakybignatural.com is a Natural National Bodybuilding Champion and an IFBB Mr. Universe World Champion. He combined the secrets of Eastern Yoga Masters with, scientific, muscle building to produce a revolutionary new system called Freaky Big Naturally. Learn More at: http://www.freakybignatural.com

 

How To Organize Your Grocery Shopping Experience To Yield Your Optimal Bodybuilding Nutrition, Healthy Snacks, Low Fat Cooking, And A Brand New You

Been to a grocery store lately?

Does your mouth start to water when you pass aisle after aisle of?.

-Potato chips
-Pop tarts
-Ice cream
-Cookies
-Fresh baked pastries
-Cakes
-Carbonated beverages
-Syrups with high fructose corn syrup

Mmmmm?I can almost taste it right here from my computer.

How does that fit into your fitness plan, or your weight loss diet plan?

Gooey chocolate chip cookies, devil?s food cakes, ultra high sugar cereals?all washed down with your favorite carbonated beverage.

Uh oh, there goes your weight loss diet plan.

Ok, I?m getting off track here?.and so is your fitness plan.

Whatever.

Let?s focus and regroup.

Here?s a challenge for you (pay attention, this is a good start to a weight loss diet plan)?

Next time you go to the grocery store, put 10 healthy things that will help achieve your overall fitness plan and your weight loss diet plan in your cart before you put 1 unhealthy thing.

Yep, you heard right.

It?s not only a challenge, but this should be the way (now and always) you grocery shop for you and your family.

For every 10 things for your fitness plan?.you are allowed 1 ?treat?.

So, for example?you could put things in your cart like:

-Oatmeal
-Assorted fruits and vegetables
-Lean meats (chicken, beef, some kinds of fish, etc.)
-Whole grains
-Low fat yogurt (no sugar added)

Then?..after 10 of these items that help you achieve your weight loss diet plan?.you can go ahead and ?treat? yourself to one of those high calorie, ?fat in the box? cookies??.if you so desire.

But here?s a little secret?

A shocking, little-known, secret that will keep you on your fitness plan like glue?

You think you can handle it?

Ok, here goes?

After you start CONSISTENTLY buying and eating healthier foods?you will no longer be interested in those ?treats??which will eventually do nothing but make you feel bad?but you WILL BE HAPPY about your newly found self-esteem, and your body will be very thankful?it may sound hard to believe right now?but it?s true?.very true.

Why?

Because you are CONSISTENTLY conditioning yourself to eat healthier foods and following your fitness plan and staying on top of your weight loss diet plan?and your body is responding to it?

Better yet, your body is EXPECTING it.

I remember when I was back in college and when I was eating very healthy and working out like a champ, I was following my fitness plan to a ?T??

I was doing this very consistently for a good while?then, one night I went out to dinner with some friends.

Didn?t really think about how I had been eating lately (very healthy) and ordered myself a nice juicy, fatty hamburger and fries.

Well, about a ? hour later, after my stomach kept asking me ?What in the world is this in here???I became very familiar with the bathroom for a little while.

Onward.

Ok, I didn?t tell you that story to make you scared of eating hamburgers, or say that you can never, ever, ever eat anything you want or crave?

But be smart.

Use your common sense.

Follow your fitness plan.

Stay on your weight loss diet plan.

Eating Twinkies will never help you lose the fat off your body.

Neither will the candy bars.

Or the?.

Well, you get the picture.

So?realize that it all STARTS at your local grocer.

And if you follow my advice, you can make sure it doesn?t END on your waistline.

I?ll talk to you soon.

Chris C.

P.S. You think this is the end-all, be-all of fitness and nutritional tips? Well, it?s not even close?just go on over to www.fitnesswithchris.com and look at all of the information I have for you for you to follow and improve your fitness plan.

Chris Callegari, founder of http://www.fitnesswithchris.com is unleashing his real-world exercise, fitness, nutrition, and healthy eating tips to the world, to help support lifestyle changes for any and everyone.

Six Unforgivable Bodybuilding Sins Part 1

If you are a hardgainer or natural bodybuilder, you already know how difficult it is to get sleeve-busting muscles. Learn how to avoid these common unforgivable bodybuilding sins that not even the Pope will excuse!

Unforgivable Bodybuilding Sin #1: Training through the motions instead of training for results

How many times have you gone to the gym and casually lift the same weights; same exercises; same workout order; and same lack of progress? This is called insanity; doing the same thing but expecting a different result. It is also known as training through the motions. Your body is present but your mind is absent. Training through the motions is fine if you are simply interested in stress release and improving your energy levels, but if you are trying to build a body you can be proud of, this won't cut it.

Only results matter, if you expect to see progress.

Consider the analogy of starting your own business. Starting your own business may earn you praise for being a hard worker, disciplined, skillfulness and many other nice compliments but if your business does not make money, the latter perks don't really matter. Whether you agree or not, money is a measurement of whether your hard work, discipline and skillfulness are paying off or not. Lifting more weight, squeezing out more reps in a workout, and completing more work in less time are all signs of measurement.

How to make this sin forgivable?

Stop training through the motions and you will no longer have the illusion that you are improving. Focus on measuring your results and out doing yourself from workout to workout and there will be no doubt that you are moving forward.

Unforgivable Bodybuilding Sin #2: Not keeping a training journal

Not keeping a training journal piggy backs on the last sin. Imagine trying to run your brand new business without keeping records. You have no idea what's coming in or what's going out. You have no idea why you had a bad month. You have no idea why you had a good month. Training is no different.

History has a tendency to repeat itself

If something worked in the past, why would it not work for the future? If something did not work in the past, than most likely it won't work in the future! If you are not tracking what works and what fails, than your training progress is doomed.

Instead of just recording what you did at each workout, start recording the details. If you had a great workout, let's determine why?

Is it from the amount of sleep you got the night before?

Was it a new workout drink you used?

Was it a different time of the day?

Did you warm up or stretch longer?

Did you take an extra day off?

Were you in a better mood?

How to make this sin forgivable?

The more you know, the more control you have of experiencing the same feeling the next workout. On the flip side, if you had a terrible workout, consider all the same factors to prevent it from happening in the future.

Human nature always want to out do itself.

Your natural instincts will strive for improvement. If you know what the numbers were last workout, you will want to out do yourself. You will want to complete your workout in 47 minutes instead of 50 minutes. You will complete all ten reps instead of eight. You will increase your weights 2.5 lbs instead of stay the same.

The numbers don't lie.

A training journal will keep your progress honest and not deceive you. You might feel incredible after a workout and consider that a sign of improvement but than be disappointed when you realize that you were actually weaker meaning no sign of improvement. Treat your training like a business and it will catapult your muscle progress forward.

Unforgivable Bodybuilding Sin #3: Broken focus

Here is how I see many people live life. First you want to open up a restaurant. Next week you want to become a police officer. The week after that you want to go to Vegas to become a professional poker player! You will most likely fail at everything you do because of your broken focus and lack of discipline to finish what you start.

How to make this sin forgivable?

A lack of focus equals a lack of results. Start treating your training the same way you would treat your career. If you change your career, every few weeks, you will inevitably become a jack of all trades, master of none. It will not become a question of if, but a question of when. Your training, to build a jaw dropping physique, is no different.

Pick one training program and stick with it

There are a lot of options and it can be difficult to choose just one. However, look at this has a positive, and make your life simple by choosing just one and stick to it for it's entire program length. Don't start a 12 week strength program and than go back to a bodybuilding style program after three weeks because it wasn't working.

You must trust the author of the program and take responsibility for your decision. Do not consult others about a program someone else has written, they are not the author of the program and will only confuse you. Go straight to the source and consult the author of the program if you require clarification, otherwise execute every single detail as prescribed. Stay completely focused and committed to the program you have chosen and squeezing out every ounce of muscle that it promises.

How to pick the right program

Don't start a high-volume training program if you are not prepared to get extra sleep, spend some extra money on supplements and find extra time in the day to eat more food. Don't start a fat loss program if you don't have the time to do double day workouts as sometimes necessary. Don't pick a bulking program if summer is coming up and you want to be ripped for summer. Bottom line, make sure you know exactly what your program entails and that you will be prepared to invest whatever is involved with the desired outcome.

Vince DelMonte is the author of No Nonsense Muscle Building: Skinny Guy Secrets To Insane Muscle Gain found at http://www.VinceDelMonteFitness.com/

He specializes in teaching skinny guys how to build muscle and gain weight quickly without drugs, supplements and training

Discover The Benefits Of Bodybuilding

Many people tend to disregard their body conditions. In fact, thousands in the populace in the whole world are obese or malnourish in terms of the standard weight and height set by the health department. In recent studies conducted by the department of health, most food intake of average American contains voluminous fats. Fats are important in giving person energy to work however excess fats are dangerous to health and may cause possible health breakdown.

Exercise and body building is one way of burning fats. When muscles are being worked out and a certain amount of stress at a given time, it reacts in a way that it forms itself in a certain shape. Every form or type of exercise correspond to what part of the body you want to develop. For example, when you want to develop the muscles of your chest, there are several routines that must be done. You may lift dumbbells while lying. There are so many muscles that can be developed in the human body. There are unique ways and routines that are used to develop every muscle in the body.

Simple exercises can build your body. Only that it must be properly executed so the result will be awesome. There are exercises, especially those made for female bodies that does not require too much lifting but focused more on the movements of the body. These exercises are very tiring but are a hundred percent effective fat burners.

There are several benefits that one can get from body building. The very first benefit that you will gain out of body building is the physical development. The development of the physiological aspect of humans can be regarded as a natural occurrence and does not need any further effort to achieve such development. However, due to distorted lifestyles and destroyed environment, the natural development is stagnated or better yet staggered which in some way need a little effort on the side of humans to achieve the physiological development. Here are some of the physiological benefits that human may get from body building:

1. Body building can increase the muscular strength of a person. The strength of a person is very important in everyday living like lifting objects and transferring it to other places.

2. Body building does not only increase muscular strength but as well as the bone and ligament strength.

3. Though exposed to great stresses and strains, body building can add flexibility to the body.

4. Fitness can be improved since discipline is always to be observed. Right food and at the same time right routines of exercise can help improve physical and health fitness.

5. Body building can decrease cholesterol levels. When doing routines or exercising, voluminous fats are burned. There includes bad fats that are not needed by the body.

6. Body building can make the heart healthier. When a person exerts more effort or consumes energy, heart is exercised through the heart beats. When done constantly, the hearts muscles are strengthened.

There are still several benefits that you can get from body building. Holistically, body building cannot just build the muscles but also the rest of the body. Body improvements must not just be focused on one part but also on the whole.

The very benefit that body building can give to humans is far beyond what is seen by the naked eye. A body builder can never be fully built if he has not learned the very basic of body building. The basic is simple; discipline.

Now there is a gallery of powerful information yours for the taking. Decide now to improve your appearance and improve the quality of your life. Click here: Bodybuilding Nutrition Program

The Truth About Bodybuilding Myths

You might disagree, but hear me out on this; the vast majority of myths about weight gain are mostly passed down from "gym talk" and so-called experts who know nothing about the body's workings. Myths that lead to wasted time, frustration and if are taken blindly as truth, can really set back your progress in the gym. Don't believe everything you hear when it comes to exercise and weight gain, do the research yourself.

Lets take a look at some of the most common weight gain myths:

High repetitions burn fat while low repetitions build muscle.

Progressive overload is needed to make muscles bigger. Meaning that you need to perform more reps than you did for your last workout for that particular exercise.

"If you perform the same amount of reps at each workout nothing will change on you" also "if the weight doesn't changes on the bar nothing will change on you, you need to become stronger" Definition has two characteristics, muscle size and a low incidence of body fat. To reduce body fat you will have to reduce your calories; the high repetition exercise will burn some calories, but wouldn't it be better to fast walk to burn these off?

Better still; use the low reps to build muscle, which will elevate your metabolism and burn more calories (less fat).

Vegetarians can't build muscle.

Yes they can! Strength training with supplementation of soy Protein Isolate has shown to increase solid bodyweight. Studies have shown that athletic performance is not impaired by following a meat free diet, and people strength training and consuming only soy protein isolate as a protein source were able to gain lean muscle mass.

Strength Training will make you look masculine.

If it is not you're intention to bulk up from strength training you won't. Putting on muscle is a long hard slow process. Your strength-training regime coupled with quality food will determine how much you will bulk up.

To bulk up you also require more food. Women don't produce enough testosterone to allow for muscular growth as large as men.

By working out you can eat what ever you want to.

Of course you can eat whatever you want, if you don't care how you want to look. Working out does not give you an open license to consume as many calories as you want.

Although you will burn more calories if you workout than someone who doesn't, you still need to balance your energy intake with you energy expenditure.

If you take a week off you will lose most of your gains.

Taking one or two weeks off occasionally will not harm your training. By taking this time off every eight to ten weeks in between strength training cycles it has the habit of refreshing you and to heal those small niggling injuries.

By having longer layoffs you do not actually lose muscle fibres, just volume through not training; any size loss will be quickly re-gained.

By eating more protein I can build bigger muscles.

Building muscle mass involves two things, progressive overload to stimulate muscles beyond their normal levels of resistance and eating more calories than you can burn off.

With all the hype about high protein diets lately and because muscle is made largely of protein, it's easy to believe that protein is the best fuel for building muscle. However muscles work on calories that should predominately be derived from carbohydrates.

If I'm not sore after a workout, I didn't work out hard enough.

Post workout soreness is not an indication of how good the exercise or strength-training session was for you. The fitter you are at a certain activity, the less soreness you will experience after.

As soon as you change an exercise, use a heavier weight or do a few more reps you place extra stress on that body part and this will cause soreness.

Resistance training doesn't burn fat.

Nothing could not be further from the truth. Muscle is a metabolically active tissue and has a role in increasing the metabolism. The faster metabolism we have the quicker we can burn fat. Cardio exercise enables us to burn calories whilst exercising but does little else for fat loss afterwards.

Weight training enables us to burn calories whilst exercising but also helps us to burn calories whilst at rest. Weight training encourages muscle growth and the more lean muscle mass we possess, the more fat we burn though an increased and elevated metabolism.

No pain no gain.

This is one myth that hangs on and on. Pain is your body signalling that something is wrong. If you feel real pain during a workout, stop your workout and rest. To develop muscle and increase endurance you may need to have a slight level of discomfort, but that's not actual pain.

Taking steroids will make me huge.

Not true, strength training and correct nutrition will grow muscle. Taking steroids without training will not make you muscular. Most steroids allow faster muscle growth through greater recovery, while others help increase strength which allows for greater stress to be put onto a muscle.

Without food to build the muscle or training to stimulate it nothing will happen. Most of the weight gain seen with the use of some steroids is due to water retention and is not actual muscle.

Strength training won't work your heart.

Wrong! Strength training with short rest periods will increase your heartbeat well over a hundred beats per minute.

For example, performing a set of breathing squats and you can be guaranteed that your heart will be working overtime and that your entire cardiovascular system will be given a great overall body workout.

Any intensive weightlifting routine that lasts for 20 minutes or more is a great workout for your heart and the muscles involved.

I can gain muscle and lose fat at the same time.

Wrong. Only a few gifted people with superb genetics and on steroids can increase muscle size while not putting on body fat. But for the average hard gainer, they have to increase their muscle mass to its maximum potential and then cut down their body fat percentage to achieve the desired shape.

In conclusion, simple basic principles that apply to all weight and muscle gain such as progressive overload, variable frequency of reps and high intensity workouts are the way to go.

Gary Matthews is the author of the popular fitness eBooks Maximum Weight Loss and Maximum Weight Gain. Please visit http://www.maximumfitness.com right now for your 'free' muscle building e-course.

Gary Matthews is the author of the popular fitness eBooks Maximum Weight Loss and Maximum Weight Gain. Please visit http://www.maximumfitness.com right now for your 'free' muscle building e-course.

Gym Equipment

Gyms provide you with various exercise equipment to suit your myriad needs. There are two types of exercise recommended for the human body: strength training and cardio. Along with stretching, these two are fundamental to a successful fitness program. Gym exercise equipment falls in either of these two categories.

Cardio, or cardiovascular exercise, is important for a healthy heart, and burns fat by raising the heart rate. The equipment for these kinds of exercises includes treadmills, stationary bikes, elliptical trainers, stair climbers and more. This exercise equipment is often accompanied by a display screen that tracks the heart rate, along with other information like the number of miles run or calories burned.

Equipment for strength training exercise is more varied. Weight machines, free weights and resistance equipment are used for this purpose. Weight training builds the strength of the muscles and aids in sustaining the benefits that comes form cardio workouts.

Free weights are available in varied sizes and weights. Generally, people have a preference for free weights to weight machines, because the entire body goes through the workout while using the former. Conversely, weight machines are easier to use and a lot safer, and allow the user to work with greater weights.

Weight machines have weights connected to a pulley that the user can use by pushing or pulling other parts of the exercise machine. These machines are highly user-friendly, with each machine carrying an illustration on its correct use.

Also, there is resistance exercise equipment that includes the chin-up bar that works the triceps and the biceps, and the abdomen-working crunch machines.

Balance and resistance equipment can be used independently or with free weights. Doing crunches or lunges on inflatable balls or pads, respectively, is a great way of using the entire body effectively while maintaining balance in the process.

Though gyms nowadays provide innumerable options for the user, it is best to first know how the machines work before trying them out.



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