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In his latest Q&A session, Bullz-Eye.com Fitness Editor Mike Furci discusses high protein diets, weight training vs. cardio, and chest workouts. Q: Mike, 1. “Screw cardio!” Are you serious? I think it’s a known AND proven fact that a good mix of cardio and weight training will provide a better fat loss program than just weight or cardio training alone. ESPECIALLY if we consider HIT cardio training. A: It is true, HIT cardio (I assume you’re referring to interval training) is the best way to go if you’re going to put the time in. However, sorry to inform you, it is not a “proven fact” that a mix of cardio and weight training is the best way to go. Show me the evidence of long term success. There is NONE. Visit any gym and you’ll see what I mean. The majority of people who perform cardio regularly don’t make permanent gains. Cardio is vastly overrated as a means of losing body fat. In fact, if a person who is overweight embarks on a cardio program and doesn’t change their eating habits, they are doomed to failure. Adding muscle is the key, combined with a diet lower in refined foods, especially carbs. Filed under: Exercise and General fitness and Running and Weight training and General training and Bodybuilding and Chest and Nutrition and Diets and Sports Health and Fitness and Protein Comments: None |
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If you’re having a hard time getting your abs to come in, make sure you’re not passing by the squat rack on your way to the exercise mat to do countless crunches. Squats and deadlifts essentially work your abs just as well (if not more) than standard crunches. If you’re looking for a solid ab routine to supplement into your workout, try this one from Men’s Fitness.com. It’s basic and you can do it on your off days. Filed under: Workout programs and Specific workouts and Abs and Xternal Fitness and Xternal Furci Comments: None |
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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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It’s no secret that when most guys decide to start lifting weights, they do it to try and improve on one of these three muscle groups: their chest, arms and/or abs. Well, Bullz-Eye.com fitness editor Mike Furci has you covered on one of those three muscle groups in his two-part guide: Nine weeks to bigger arms. In part one, Mike discusses how to train your biceps, with a focus on four fundamental principles: variety, concentration, form (not poundage) and work the muscles from all angles. Mike also details the exercises, tempo and sets you should use to help develop your biceps. In part two, Mike writes about triceps and once again gives you the exercises, tempo and sets you need to complete your goal of bigger arms. Now all you need to do is get to work. Filed under: Workout programs and Weight training and General training and Bodybuilding and Specific workouts and Arms Comments: None |
Although I would recommend a lower volume, higher intensity approach, the above article has some great info on getting the job done with quality instead of quantity. I’m glad to see articles in mainstream magazines debunking the myth that more is better. Filed under: General fitness and Workout programs and Weight training and General training and Bodybuilding and Specific workouts Comments: 1 Comment |
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Tons of people waste their money on expensive abdominal equipment every year, not knowing that some of the most effective AB exercises can be done without the aid of any fancy, high-priced machines. According to several online sources, the bicycle maneuver is the most efficient ab exercise that we can do, because instead of only targeting one group of muscle, it can hit the entire abdominal family. How to do the bicycle maneuver: Lie flat on the floor with your lower back pressed to the ground. Put your hands beside your head. Bring your knees up to about a 45-degree angle and slowly go through a bicycle pedal motion. Touch your left elbow to your right knee, then your right elbow to your left knee. Breathe evenly throughout the exercise. |
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Being a writer, the majority of my day is spent sitting at a desk and starring at a computer all day. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining – I love my job. The only problem is sitting at a desk all day is apparently limiting my gains in the gym, and now I am complaining. I stumbled onto this article at MSN.com about posture in reference to your shoulders and chest. Human instincts tell us to slouch forward while typing or reading at a computer and with that, our heads also come forward, putting more weight on our neck, upper back and shoulders. Our chest is also affected:
Now why the hell are we going to log so much time on the bench press if we’re just going to waste that effort the next six or so hours sitting behind a desk? The article recommends doing “10 standing shoulder retractions every hour when working at a computer.” Stand and pull your shoulder blades together – while also keeping your head and shoulders above your pelvis – for 3 seconds. This movement forces your chest muscles to extend, which prevents them from becoming permanently shortened. The article also gets into ways to strengthen the muscles around our shoulders (i.e. rear delts, rotator-cuff, scapular), which we tend to ignore because we don’t see them when we look for gains in the mirror. Doing some of these recommended exercises will in turn grow the muscles will can check out in the mirror, as well as keep our posture straight so that doesn’t effect our workout gains. Plus, as a general rule of thumb, you should always be working out the surrounding muscles in every group, not just your shoulders. Filed under: General fitness and Workout programs and Men's Health and Wellness and Chest and Medical Issues for Men and Xternal Fitness and Xternal Furci Comments: 2 Comments |
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As a beginner – or even if you’re experienced – nothing can be more embarrassing than jumping up on a bar and only banging out one pull-up. In fact, the average person approaches the pull-up bar like he or she is about to steal something, looking around to see if anyone else is watching before hammering out a sloppy, uncontrolled couple of sets. Well, stop it, because you’re only hurting yourself by not maximizing the value the pull-up can bring. Your latissimus dorsi (back) is the biggest muscle in your body and if you want a V-shape torso, the pull-up can’t be viewed as the red headed stepchild of your workout any longer. Here is an article from Men’s Health magazine dedicated to mastering the pull-up. It has a step-by-step guide on helping you improve add reps to your pull-up routine. It doesn’t matter if you can do 0 to 1 reps or 8 to 12, this article should help you maximize the benefits of the pull-up. Here’s a taste of what the article offers. For the entire column, click here.
Filed under: Uncategorized and Exercise and Workout programs and Weight training and Bodybuilding and Specific workouts and Back and Xternal Fitness and Xternal Furci Comments: None |
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