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The best way to lose weight is to do cardio, right? Wrong! Bullz-Eye.com’s Mike Furci debunks common fitness myths, including whether or not eating a diet high in protein is unhealthy for your liver and kidneys. Click here to check out Mike’s Fitness Myth Busters column. Filed under: General fitness and Weight training and General training and Bodybuilding and Power lifting and Abs and Nutrition and Diets and Supplements and Sports Health and Fitness and Protein Comments: None |
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Unstable Surface Training (UST) has moved from being used almost exclusively in rehabilitation to becoming common place among personal trainers and strength coaches. One can’t go to a gym and not see somebody training on a Bosu ball, stability ball, wobble board or foam pad. It’s so popular entire books have been written on this type of training. But do not be fooled by its popularity. UST is not popular because it works, but because of a tremendous media campaign. The fitness industry is always looking for something new. They know here’s huge money in marketing a piece of equipment and/or workout program. Performing exercises on unstable equipment can be challenging no doubt, but research has not shown that the type of balance, and core stability developed through UST will transfer to any sports skill. Performing exercises on unstable equipment will make an individual proficient at performing resistance exercises on unstable surfaces but will not improve sports performance. Is UST training even necessary? Researchers from Appalachian State University compared trunk muscle activity during stability ball and free weight exercises. The stability ball exercises utilized were the quadruped, pelvic thrust and ball back extensions. The free weight exercises were the squat (SQ) and deadlift (DL). During all exercises muscle activity was collected using electromyography (EMG). During the study trunk muscle activity during SQ and DL’s was equal to or greater than which was produced during stability ball exercises. This was true even when 50% of the 1 rep max was used during SQ and DL. The role of UST is again shown to be in question. Filed under: Weight training and General training and Bodybuilding and Power lifting and Abs Comments: None |
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…make sure you have a competent one, too. Here’s a video clip to help encourage your ass to have a partner or spotter who knows what the hell they’re doing. (Thanks to one of our readers, Build Muscle Fast, for sharing the clip). The kid who breaks the fish tank and yells out, “Mom! Mom!” is hilarious. Filed under: Exercise and General fitness and Weight training and General training and Bodybuilding and Power lifting and Motivation and Xternal Fitness and Xternal Furci Comments: None |
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I am not a huge fan of using partial reps, but will use them sparingly with experienced lifters to “through a wrench into their workout”.? When I prescribe them they are performed after the client has already reached momentary concentric failure during a set.? But, because partial reps place such high demands on the recovery ability of the muscles being worked, I caution against using them more than once every 4 workouts per body part.? In reference to this belief, I recieved an email from an intermediate lifter claiming a study (J Strength Cond Res, 2004, 18(3), 518-521) proved partial reps should be incorporated in his workout instead of full range reps.? I did a little research, as always, and found the study the gentelman was referencing. ?This study was conducted over a 10-week period using the bench press as the criterion measurement. Subjects were divided into three groups. Group one trained with full range of motion sets. Group two trained with partial range of motion sets. A partial range of motion was defined as two to five inches from full extension of the elbows. Group three trained with a combination of both partial and full range reps. All groups were pre- and post-tested with a full range of motion one rep maximum. No differences were found between the groups. So should we or shouldn?t we use partial reps? There are several problems I find with this study that are common to many training studies. First, inexperienced, recreational subjects were used. Inexperienced subjects can achieve gains in the first few months on just about any program. Second, the length of time the study was conducted was entirely too short. six, eight or, like this study, 10 weeks is just not enough time to show the efficacy of a particular training protocol. And third, the intensity of the exercises or perceived exertion is not mentioned or monitored. Are the subjects going to failure on their sets? Are some subjects pushing themselves harder than others? Are the subjects training in the same manner on their other exercises other than the bench press?? This study like most training studies shows nothing.? |
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One of my closest friends – and amateur bodybuilder – often stresses that it doesn’t get any more complicated than just lifting heavy. He always says, “ Like Dave Draper always says, “Train hard, eat clean, and be happy”. You can sugar coat it any way you like, but at the end of the day if you’re not challenging yourself in the gym, you can’t expect to reap the benefits. Not only that, if you’re still hitting the same 3×8 with the 30lbs on dumbbell curls you were last year, don’t look in the mirror and wonder why you’re struggling to fill out the sleeves of that Hollister t-shirt your girlfriend bought you last Christmas. The only way to expect muscular gains is by challenging your muscles to handle greater and greater loads. The only way to do that is by fighting each and every session to increase the weights you’re using. Anyone who thinks that light weights and high reps are the keys to getting ripped is kidding himself. You want to get huge? Lift heavy weights. You want to get ripped? Lift heavy weights. What’s the main difference? Nutrition. Feel free to cycle your training and throw in some moderate to light work to give the central nervous system a break, but the meat and potatoes needs to be heavy and demanding. So join the battle on the rubber mats the next time you’re training and blast it. Start leaving the gym with the knowledge that you defeated the iron – it did not defeat you. As the days fall away and those small victories start to add up, the time will come when you’ll reach the mountaintop only to set new goals and dreams far beyond anything you ever thought you could accomplish. Now that’s hard work and there isn’t anything finer. Filed under: Exercise and General fitness and Men's Health and Wellness and Weight training and General training and Bodybuilding and Power lifting and Motivation and Xternal Fitness and Xternal Furci Comments: 1 Comment |
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How often can, or more importantly, should I train per week? Optimum recovery time between training sessions is essential if one is going to continue to make progress. Training frequency, which is determined by ones recovery ability, is often a forgotten part of most training protocols. It never ceases to amaze me how many people train for months and years experiencing little or no success, and never consider the fact they may be doing too much. Don’t be so concerned with how many training sessions you can handle per week. Be more concerned about the optimal amount. More is not always better. In fact, when somebody comes to me for advice because they’ve stopped making progress, usually I either reduce the workout volume or add days off. There is no reason in going to the gym if you’re not going to make progress. In every workout, if you have fully recovered, and you come ready to work, you should make progress, which is gauged by your strength. How can anyone get stronger every workout? One can only bench press so much. Eventually, you have to hit a plateau. This is true. If one stays with the same exercises, the same number of reps and the same number of sets, progress may eventually stop. If the proper changes aren’t made at the right time, eventually the body adapts to the stimulus. And this is where the “art” of program design comes to play. It’s easy to follow a workout. The real challenge is assuring the stimulus is sufficient and more importantly, you recovery from workout to workout so that progress continues over a long period of time. Sometimes this entails having the discipline to deviate from something that is not working. If you’re not making progrss, and you’re training with all out intensity, try taking an extra day off. |
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The question, “What’s best workout for building strength and muscle?” has been the subject of heated debates for years. My answer is always the same. There is no one workout that is the best. There is no one workout that works for all. However, there are training principles that do apply to everybody. Anatomically and physiologically we are identical. A bicep is a bicep and has the exact same function from person to person. An aorta is an aorta. Our anatomical structures may have different shapes and sizes, but they all function the same. This holds true for all tissues in our bodies from blood to hormones. If this weren’t true medicine could not exist. How could an anesthesiologist do his job if everybody were different? Therefore, in order to get bigger, stronger muscles the same stimulus is needed. That stimulus is short, intense training sessions. Why short? Because we have known for centuries the body can either train long or train hard. A perfect example is to compare distance runners to sprinters. Because of the types of training, one is emaciated looking and one is muscular. Remember you can not sprint a mile. Is it difficult to run a mile, yes? But it is essentially impossible to run a mile with 100% intensity. The other factor one needs to take into consideration for building bigger, stronger muscles is recovery. How much or how often can you train? Or better yet, how much “should” you train? Here is where the differences in genetics lie. Our muscles need the exact same stimulus in order to cause a chain of events that forces them to adapt by making bigger stronger muscles. However, the rate at which we are able to recover from these intense bouts is as different as the shapes and sizes of our bodies. So what are you to do? If you’re training using the typical muscle building routine, which is 3 or more working sets per exercise and 4 or more sessions a week, and not getting anywhere, change it. First, reduce your sets per exercise by half and only train each body part once a week. If you still don’t make gains or you plateau after a short, while reduce your sets again. If you’re not making gains, you’re not recovering. More is only better when it comes to sex and money. Filed under: Workout programs and Weight training and General training and Bodybuilding and Power lifting Comments: None |
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We all recover from exercise at different rates. Many people who recover quickly have reached a high level of success performing a high number of sets. Many who recover slowly have also been very successful performing low numbers of sets. Because everybody is unique in their ability to adapt and recover from different programs, the number of sets needs to be individualized. A very important component of a training program that should be given consideration is training frequency. How often can, or more importantly, should I train per week? Optimum recovery time between training sessions is essential if one is going to continue to make progress. Training frequency, which is determined by ones recovery ability, is often a forgotten part of most training protocols. Don’t be so concerned with how many training sessions you can handle per week. Be more concerned about the optimal amount. More is not always better. In fact, when somebody comes to me for advice because they’ve stopped making progress, usually I either reduce the workout volume or add days off. There is no reason to go to the gym if you’re not going to make progress. Does it make sense to keep doing the same routine if gains are not being made? Isn’t the definition of “crazy”, doing the same thing over and over expecting different results. If your current program is not working, change it. The number one complaint people have is they’re not making progress or their progress has come to a halt. In both cases, the answer is more recovery time. Understanding the fact our bodies have a finite amount of recovery ability should help explain this concept. The following is Mike Mentzer’s explanation of overtraining and recovery. I’m sure you’ll find it interesting.
Filed under: Exercise and General fitness and Workout programs and Weight training and General training and Bodybuilding and Power lifting and Xternal Fitness and Xternal Furci Comments: 2 Comments |
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Like the squat, the deadlift involves the largest muscle groups in the body: the gluteus maximus, hamstrings, quadriceps and erector spinea. And like the squat, it is a very hard, taxing exercise to perform. Consequently, for this reason alone many people don’t use the deadlift in their routines. The gluteus maximus is utilized most in the beginning of the movement when there is a large degree of hip flexion. The glutes work in unison with the hamstring to extend the hips. The hamstrings, located on the back of the upper thigh, become more involved as you begin to decrease the degree of hip flexion as you raise the weight. The erector spinea, which run the length of your spine on both sides, are statically contracted throughout most of the movement keeping the normal curvature of the spine. A static contraction of the rhomboids and the trapezius muscles help maintain the shoulders. The quadriceps muscles are involved with knee extension. Extension of the body occurs when the upper body, torso and pelvis rotate up and back. In a properly performed deadlift, this will happen simultaneously with the hips moving forward and the knees extending. Two of the biggest mistakes I see when this movement is performed are locking the knees out before the upper body is extended or allowing the back to “round” and magnifying the kyphotic (upper back) curvature while de-emphasizing the lordotic (lower back) curvature. I need to add that a slight curve of the upper back will present no danger and will happen to most while using heavy weight, but if you look like the hunch back of Notre Dame while performing the exercise that’s a different story. The main reason your lower back would round, which could cause devastating trauma to the lumbar area, is weak erector muscles. There are various exercises you can use to strengthen your lower back like good mornings, arched back good mornings, arched back stiff legged deadlifts, and reverse hyperextensions, but good mornings and its variation in my opinion are probably the best exercise for this purpose. Filed under: Weight training and Bodybuilding and Power lifting and Back and Legs Comments: 5 Comments |
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A highly overlooked, but very useful tool for progressive resistence training is - Tempo. I will even go one step further and call tempo an essential tool for attaining optimum results from weight training. Yes, it’s true one can attain results performing reps just like every other hack in the gym, but I’m talking about optimum results. If you’re going to spend the time in the gym, why not get the most out of it. The biggest reason most people who weght train don’t use tools like tempo is shear laziness. Like any endeavour, doing your best takes hard work and dedication. So what is tempo? Tempo goes hand in hand with “time under tension” or TOT. TOT is simply the amount of time a muscle in under tension. To develope the optimum amount of muscle in the shortest amount of time, a set should last between 20 and 60 seconds.
If tempo is used properly, the target muscle group is truly performing the exercise. Tempo forces one to lift in a very controlled manner, which can virtually eliminate momentum or bouncing. As a strength coach/trainer a very positive aspect of tempo is that it forces trainees to pay close attention to perfroming the exercises correctly.
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