Author: Mike Furci (Page 27 of 65)

Time equals muscle

A highly overlooked, but very useful tool for progressive resistance 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 weight train don’t use tools like tempo is shear laziness. Performing a set to momentary failure, to the point where you can’t possibly get another rep is grueling. Few people have what it takes to train correctly, achieving 100% intensity. Hence, the legions of frustrated people in gyms across the US. Like any endeavor, doing your best takes hard work, focus and dedication.

So what is tempo? Tempo goes hand in hand with “time under tension” or TUT. TUT is simply the amount of time a muscle in under tension. To develop the optimum amount of muscle in the shortest amount of time, a set should last between 20 and 60 seconds.

Tempo is the speed of your reps. It is expressed and recorded by three or four digit numbers representing the seconds required to complete a rep. Example: 402 (four, zero, two) or 50X0 (five, zero, explosive, zero). Using the bench press, the first digit is the speed in which the weight is lowered (negative). The second digit is the amount of time one pauses once they’ve reached their chest. The third digit is the amount of time one takes to raise the weight (positive). The forth digit, if used, is the amount of time one takes before lowering the weight again. If an “X” is used, it means explosive, or as fast as possible.

Designing Your Workouts

Is it really necessary to count each rep in order to build strength and muscle? No. Is it necessary to lift under control and to vary your speeds to get the best most rapid gains per your genetics? Yes. When you perform an exercise under control, the muscles are truly doing the work. ?Slower?, not ?slow? speeds make the muscles work harder by eliminating momentum and bouncing. There?s nothing impressive about performing a bench press by allowing the weight to drop, bounce off your chest and then barely being able to complete the lift.

If tempo is used properly, the target muscle group is truly performing the exercise. Tempo forces one to lift in a very controlled manner, but like any training tool it should be used as an adjunct to your weight training program.

Did you know… which is better, Cialis or Viagra

In a previous Did you know… column, which offers research, trends and other info to help with your fitness, health and nutritional needs. I reveal that: testosterone has been proven to help protect against heart disease; Cialis offers spontaneity over Viagra; how you can break your johnson, partial reps can be productive; and more.

Did you know…

?that half of all men over the age of 30 experience problems getting erections at one point or another. Viagra since its introduction has increased the sexual capacities of many men with erectile dysfunction (ED). Cialis is a new drug for the treatment of ED and was introduced in 2003. The side effects are the same as Viagra; headaches, flushing, heartburn and nasal congestion. Cialis, however, works faster than Viagra and lasts between 24 and 36 hours. Cialis allows a man to be more spontaneous.

?you can actually break your penis. Normally when we talk about breaking a part of the body we are concerned with bones. However, when fully erect the penis becomes almost as hard as bone. If you were to have vigorous sex and unintentionally slip out, the force of missing the target could cause a break. The tubes (corposa cavernosa) that are filled with blood can rupture. This can be accompanied by a popping sound, extreme pain and severe swelling. Unfortunately, the damage is difficult to repair and some men are prevented from ever having full erections. (mypleasure.com)

Full article HERE

B vitamin possible cure for Alzheimer’s

One out of every eight Americans gets it, and 47% of those who reach 85 years of age have it. Up to now Alzheimer’s was a disease without a remedy. Sure, there are nutritional or drug based substances that slow the symptoms, but If nothing else killed you Alzheimer’s would over a period of time.

Up until recently Alzheimer’s patients took medications just to be able to dress, bathe, use a phone, and other basic necessary functions by themselves a while longer. A team of researchers from the University of California, Irvine, has announced the discovery of a true cure for Alzheimer?s. The best part of this cure is it’s cheap and widely accessible. The cure is vitamin B3, nicotinamide, or more commonly referred to as niacinamide.

Kim Green, Ph.D., director of the team at the University of California, Irvine, bought a year?s supply of niacinamide for $30 and stirred it into the drinking water of forty lab mice, half of which were
specially bred to get Alzheimer’s disease.

After treating the mice for only four months, he discovered what should have been front-page news in every city in the world. ?Cognitively, they were cured,? said Dr. Green. ?They performed as if they?d never developed the disease.?

All the researchers in the study were both astonished and excited. Rarely do you hear researchers using the word ?cured,? but that?s exactly what happened.

At the end of the study, the diseased mice that were treated with niacinamide performed just as well in memory tests as healthy mice! The niacinamide not only protected their brains from further memory loss, but incredibly, it also restored lost memory function.

Human trials are underway.

The earliest indicator of coming Alzheimer?s may not be a memory test at all, but a test of your sense of balance.

Dr. Kaufman often tested the impact of niacinamide on balance, and my colleague Julian Whitaker, M.D., editor of Health & Healing, uses it as a test of aging. Borrowing a bit from both of them, here is how you can test yourself:

1. Stand on an uncarpeted floor barefoot or in low-heeled shoes. Close your eyes and balance on your right foot. Slowly draw the heel of your left foot up to where it touches your right kneecap. Don?t wave your arms for balance, just see how long you can stand there. (If you?re accident-prone, have somebody to catch you.)

2. Do the same standing on your left foot.

3. Repeat #1 and #2.

Then average your four scores.

The average by age group is:

Your Age – Seconds
Up to 20 – 30
30?39 – 25
40?49 – 15
50?59 – 10
60?69 – 7
70+ – 5

Why such a large difference between ages? It?s because certain nerve fibers in your spinal column tell your brain the location and angle of each joint in your body…but if you stop assimilating enough B vitamins, the fibers eventually stop sending their messages upstairs?and that?s definitely a pre-Alzheimer?s condition.

Master your health

Do genetics control our bodies or can we control our genetics? Many scientists now believe genetics do not control life but are controlled by environmental factors such as our mental attitudes. This is a mind blowing, culture bending new way of thought that is starting to gain popularity.

“Mind over matter” is a well known saying that has merit. The power of the mind over the body has been shown time and time again. Science shows us everything is made of atoms and that atoms are energy. Therefore, everything is energy. It is no stretch to think that our positive mental energy created by a positive mental attitude would transfer to better health.

The Good Morning

Bending over to pick something up can be a very dangerous move if done with a rounded back. Most people in their lifetime will have an injury to the lower back. One way to help prevent such injuries is to do the good morning.

Performing the good morning is an excellent choice for strengthening and building the posterior chain, which includes the lower back, glutes and hamstrings. The glutes (butt) and the hamstrings are responsible for hip extension while the muscles of the lower back (erector spinea) are contracted statically.

Because of the large degree of hip flexion, the gluteus maximus and the hamstrings are utilized throughout the movement. The glutes work in unison with the hamstring to extend the hips in the concentric (raising) part of the movement. The hamstrings, located on the back of the upper thigh, become more involved as you begin to decrease the degree of hip flexion while raising 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.

Extension of the body occurs when the upper body, torso and pelvis rotate up and back. The biggest mistake I see with this movement is 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 a big question mark (?) while performing the exercise, that?s a different story.

The good morning

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