This video will surely make you think.

It is a documentary on steroids and supplements in America.

Very Informative. Don’t waste a minute…watch this video

Here is a new five day workout routine that’s meant to add bulk and strength.
Remember to go heavy as you can for the reps given.

Don’t get all Wizard Sleeve on me and lift a few reps past what you are supposed too.
When it says 8 reps, I want you to lift some HEAVY WEIGHT so that the 8th rep is a HARD ONE.

Lets do this for a month and maybe a month and a half and they we will change it up and do something that will lean us out for summer.

Enjoy.

Monday

• Incline Flyes 3×20
• Incline Barbell Press 4×8
• Incline Dumbbell  4×8
• Bench Press 4×10
• Flyes Machine 5×8

Tuesday

• Lat Pull downs 4×15
• Dumbbell Rows 5×10
• Reverse Grip Pull downs 4×10
• Wide Grip Row Machine 4×8
• Cable Rows 3×10

Wednesday

• Dumbbell Shoulder Press 5×8
• Lateral Raises 4×10
• Front Raises 3×12
• Upright Rows 4×8
• Shrugs Barbell 4×10
• Reverse Flyes 4×8

Thursday

• Leg Extension 4×15
• Leg Curls 4×12
• Leg Press 5×15
• Deadlift 3×12
• Lunges stationary 4×12
• Calf Raises 4×15

Friday

• Barbell Curls wide grip 5×10
• Tricep Rope Pressdown 5×10
• Hammer Curls 4×12 or Concentration Curls
• Close Grip Bench 4×12
• Preacher Curls 4×8
• Dips 4×10
• Machine Curls 1×20
• Straight Bar Tricep Press down 1×20
• Wrist Curls 4×15

If you are ever thinking about failure being an option, please watch this video below.

I have often mentioned one of my favorite meals to friends and I eat it a lot post workout. Just the other day on twitter a friend asked me for the recipe. I thought I might get around to that someday, but I recently ate it AGAIN and though I would take pics as I cooked it and make a blog post out of it.

Before you get started read this several times. I have had some get confused and omit the Italian dressing, and even boil the tuna from the start. First of all the Italian dressing is the most important part to the flavor, second I only add the tuna at the end and let it sit in the water for about 1 minute to get it all warm.

I call it Tuna Deluxe. Its Tuna with Pasta, throw some peas of some sort in there for the fiber, AND THE MOST IMPORTANT PART add Italian Dressing and lots of pepper with a dash of salt. Some all the tuna and pasta meal the prison meal cause they say its what a lot of inmates eat in the “joint” to get huge. If it works for them hopefully it will work for me, and its delicious to boot! I would pay for what this meal I am about to teach you to create.

Thank me later. (or now)

Ok you will need the following:

• A pot to boil water in, mine is a 1 1/2 quart or maybe its 2.
• 2 cans of chunk light tuna in water, drained
• 2 1/2 cup of uncooked wide egg noodles
• 1/2 can of chickpeas or any peas for that matter. I like chickpeas, but purple hull peas or crowder peas work well too.
• 3/4 cup Italian Dressing
• Salt and lots of Pepper

Ok here is all our ingredients we will be using. Listen to me real quick. This may sound disgusting and even look disgusting but trust me, if you like pasta, you like tuna, you like Italian dressing…you will like this.

Ok boil your water, add the pasta, and yes I know it seems like a lot, but HEY we gotta feed those muscles!
When cooking noodles you can add a few tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil to keep it from boiling over.
Cook it for about 7 minutes or until tender but not gummy. We want out pasta to have a little bit of strength to it. Its know as Al Dente.

I like to add my peas into the mix before the boil so that they are nice and warm. I just cook it all right in, no need for extra dishes to dirty up.
I know this might look a little nasty, but trust me it will be great in the end. As you can see in this picture I have added half a can of purple hull peas.
I did not have any chickpeas, so the purple hull will have to do. The Tuna is open and ready to go in later. Yes it gets grosser.

Now everything has boiled up pretty good now, the pasta is just about right and now I have added all my tuna.
I only add the tuna right at the end. It does not sit in there the entire time.
I add it and let it sit in the water for about 1 minute to get warm, then drain it all.
I do it this way so that it will all be nice and warm and no separate dishes to wash.

After a little while I drained everything in a strainer and put it back in the pot.
Here we have peas, pasta, and tuna.

Now lets add the Italian Dressing. I usually use 3/4 to 1 full cup with this much pasta.

Doh! Lets not forget the pepper! I add about 3 tablespoons of pepper. I aint skeered! I like it just a little spicy.
I like to know I AM ALIVE ! Just stir it on in there big boy. Don’t cry.

Look at that right there. That’s some muscle food right there son!
Trust me, unless you are a hawg, you will have a little left over in the pot for a midnight snack.

Trust me it looks better in person and taste marvelous. Now go cook some!

When you do the math, sometimes you will quickly see that not all things are as safe as they appear to be. Dont get me wrong this is still a good meal for bulking, but the italian dressing surprised me. Use it lightly, just for taste and you will be fine. Also some say the refined carbs in the pasta are a bad idea. If refined carbs bothers you, simply use wheat pasta. I have no problem or guilt from ingesting refined carbohydrates.

Tuna x 2 cans
Calories 200
Fat 4 grams
Protein 44 grams
Carbs 0 grams

Pasta 2 1/2 cups uncooked
Calories 440
Fat 6 grams
Protein 16 grams
Carbs 80 grams

Purple Hull Peas
Calories 135
Fat 0 grams
Protein 9 grams
Carbs 29 grams

Italian Dressing
Calories 432
Fat 43 grams
Protein 0 grams
Carbs 14 grams

Grand Total for it all
Calories 1227
Fat 53 grams
Protein 69 grams
Carbs 123 grams

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Author: Klint Newton

How many times have you witnessed someone trying to do shrugs with an unreasonable amount of weight. I have seen guys trying to use 110lbs dumbbells in each hand. This doesn’t seem effective and is quite frankly rediculous. There are many exercises that can work your “traps” or Trapezius muscles, other than extreme weight shrugs.

If you don’t mind looking like a fitness model (which I agree isn’t that bad), then don’t worry about your traps. I happen to think they are what sets the body builder look apart from the body of a fitness model, among other things. No wonder people work so hard to get huge traps.

The “traps” or Trapezius muscles are above your collar bone on top of your shoulders and extend from your neck to the tip of your shoulders.

If your traps aren’t developed just be glad they they can be the biggest improvement in your overall look, and grow really quickly. With well developed traps, you will raise the bar from looking like a regular Joe to looking like a body builder.

Trapezius “Trap” Exercises

I know you probably think shrugs are the only way to build huge traps. How’s that working out for you? I’m guessing not too well, otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this. Well, shrugs are an effective core exercise to build traps just like bicep curls are to build biceps, but there are other things you can do to get a good trap workout. Below is a routine I have developed to get you on your way.

1. Shrugs 3 sets X 10 – 12 reps

These had to be included, they are the key to a successful trap training. Now I know we have all done shrugs before, but I would like to included a few tips. Now I know that when I use the standard shrug form and fully contract my traps, they end up hitting my neck resulting in a limited contraction. If you push your head as far forwardas possible, it will remove your neck from the range of motion and allow your traps to fully contract. Once you have flexed your traps, hold the position for two seconds and slowly release. It is also good to sit on a bench to avoid cheating.

1. Lateral Raises, with Traps Flared 3 X 12 – 15

This can be a much harder move than the shrug. The first thing you want to do is flare your traps with the dumbbells in your hands. Next you will perform a lateral raise. This is just like a lateral raise done for shoulders, but with your traps flared, most of the pressure is put on your traps. You will want to start with 12 to 15 reps and not very much weight to maintain proper form and get used to the movement.

1. Bent over lateral raises, with Traps Flared 3 X 10 – 12

The bent over lateral raise is just like the last move but obviously bent over. This is good for hitting the back of your traps which helps you look more built, defined and strong from behind. You will want to bend at the waist at about a 45 degree angle.

These are two unpopular exercises that will really improve your trap building results.  You can just add the exercises into any workout, they would be perfect if you do a split and have a “shoulders day.”

Throw these exercises into the mix and watch your results go through the roof!

2002 Arnold Schwarzenegger Classic Winner

When I turned pro in 1996, I weighed 248 pounds. In 1998, I was 260. In 2000, I was 265. In 2001, was 267; and when I won the Arnold Schwarzenegger Classic this year, I was 270. I’ve said it a thousand times: The secret to my success is consistency, and the secret to my consistent improvement is a harnessed but aggressive pursuit of mass and a healthy acceptance of time.

It’s all right to be impatient, but you need to realize that quality mass does not come overnight. Quick mass might, but quick mass doesn’t win contests, because it hasn’t been forged into place and anchored deep in bones by the cold-steel hammer of decisive training. There is a lot of braggadocio these days from bodybuilders who are proud of their “insane intensity” when they train. The winners, however, are invariably seasoned pros who take charge of their bodies, encouraging them onward, rather than punishing them masochistically for not responding to demands.

Your body has its own rules for growth, and those rules are the parameters for getting the most out of your training. Try imposing your own rules, and your body will refuse to respond; cooperate with your body’s rules, and your body will respond in kind. Thankfully, I intuited this early in my career, and, ever since, my body and I have been able to negotiate a set of rules for keeping me balanced at the peak of my potential.

Rule 1

EAT BIG

To grow, you need to eat more calories than your body uses. My rule of thumb is one to one-and-a-half grams of protein per pound of bodyweight per day and two-and-a-half to three grams of carbohydrates per pound of bodyweight per day. Start with that, then fine-tune it to your individual requirements as you go. Keep saturated fats to a minimum, eat as much quality and variety as possible, and drink at least two gallons of water per day. This is to keep your metabolism elevated, an especially important consideration when you’re consuming this much food.

Rule 2

TRAIN HEAVY

Train at 70-80% of the maximum weight you’re capable of handling effectively for six reps almost to failure. This is bodybuilding, not powerlifting; do not train so heavy that you reach total failure at two reps. My goal with every set is to help the muscle empty itself of its existing glycogen, so that can push more glycogen into the muscle in its place, without taking the muscle to failure or damaging tissue. With every set, leave the muscle room to recuperate and grow.

Rule 3

STICK TO BASICS

Meat-and-potatoes exercises make you grow best, and that means bench presses for chest, squats for quads, deadlifts for back, shoulder presses for shoulders, barbell curls for biceps, close-grip bench presses for triceps and stiff-leg deadlifts for hamstrings; i.e., all of the compound exercises that people hate to do. By involving muscle groups ancillary to the target bodypart, synergistic growth of adjacent muscles is stimulated, as well. This, in turn, accelerates your strength gains, which, in turn, translates into even more muscle growth; round and round we go, in an ever-faster upward spiral of mass gains.

Rule 4

SIX TO 10 REPETITIONS

Pick a weight you can control for six to 10 repetitions, executing each rep to its fullest contraction. Avoid excessive sloppiness in your training, but at the same time, use enough force, in the form of body thrust and explosiveness, to exhaust the muscle and break down the tissue. What I tend to do in a Jay Cutler routine is warm up by pyramiding the sets for my first one or two exercises. As I continue to move through the successive exercises in my workout, I will start with the heaviest weight and stay with it through all of the sets. For range of motion, I compromise: I don’t lock out, but I get a full contraction. No half reps.

Rule 5

A MINUTE TO A MINUTE-AND-A-HALF REST BETWEEN SETS

When training for a show, I rest only 30 to 45 seconds between sets, but when I’m trying to 3 add mass during the offseason, I rest twice as long: a minute to a minute and a half. This gives me just enough recuperation time to catch my breath and allow my heart rate to return to normal. Most important, I want to have maximum strength to perform every set to its fullest potential. At the same time, a minute and a half is not so much of a delay that I will lose the pump I built from the preceding set.

Rule 6

NO MORE THAN 12 SETS PER RODYPART

If you’re not getting the job done in 12 sets, after training heavy and resting only a minute to a minute and a half, you are doing something wrong. Most likely, you’re not training with enough intensity. Conversely, if you trained intensely with your first 12 sets, you’ll be entering the region of muscle waste if you try for more. As for myself, I like four exercises per body part, with three sets per exercise.

Rule 7

AT LEAST EIGHT HOURS OF SLEEP PER NIGHT

You grow when you’re out of the gym, not in it, and you grow even more when you sleep. That’s when your body slows down, and its natural stores of growth hormone are released. Without enough sleep and recuperation, your body will have to struggle, and you won’t be able to add weight. I get at least eight hours of sleep at night, but I also get in two additional hours of naptime every day, preferably an hour after a workout and another hour cumulatively after meals. In other words, I get 10 hours of sleep in a 24-hour period.

Rule 8

LIMIT OTHER PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES

Calories burned for other physical activities are not available for training, thereby limiting your growth cycle. I get a lot of questions from construction workers and athletes, for example, who complain about not being able to maintain weight; likewise, those who do a lot of walking and running, and people who live in hot climates. In such cases, I suggest eating every hour to hour and a half, breaking down the meals to half-size and having 10 to 12 meals a day, to help avoid a calorie deficit.

Rule 9

TRAIN A BODYPART ONCE EVERY FIVE TO SEVEN DAYS

Avoid overtraining at all costs. For an average person, recovery time is assumed to be 48 hours for a bodypart, but for a heavy-lifting bodybuilder trying to add mass, it’s much longer. Even that protraction is modified by your work schedule, family obligations and other activities. Ronnie Coleman trains every bodypart twice a week, but not everybody can do that. Your individual case will take some experimenting on your part. For me, it works out to be five to seven days. None of this is written in stone, but those are safe numbers that have worked for me, illustrating the vast differences among us.

Rule 10

NO OFF-SEASON CARDIO

I like to emphasize that training to your fullest ability burns more calories than any specific cardiovascular workout; conversely, cardiovascular workouts, if performed to a beneficial level, burn muscle mass, so I suggest that bodybuilding and cardiovascular training should not be mixed. It’s healthy to be cardiovascularly fit, but if you lift weights with sufficient intensity to substantially boost your heart rate, that’s enough. Train with very heavy compound movements and moderate reps, and you not only tap into glycogen reserves and fat storage, but you force yourself to breathe deeper than you would in a standard cardio workout. A healthy heart is one that is responsive to dramatic demands on its rate differentials. Bodybuilding conditions the heart to handle those sudden jumps; cardio training does not. Even for a contest, I tend not to do a lot of cardio, yet I hear some guys do as much as two hours a day. They’re burning more than glycogen and fat; they’re burning muscle.

Rule 11

CONSISTENCY

The one word you’ll hear me utter more than any other is “consistency,” but if you expect to make major gains in mass, it becomes more than a flip term or even a rule. It’s a philosophy that perfuses every aspect of a bodybuilding life. You need to eat consistently, train consistently and keep yourself consistently motivated. Fight every impulse to subordinate your workouts to rationalizations and temptations. After work, do not go home before you go to the gym. The refrigerator, couch and television are powerfully seductive. Also ignore hunger pangs at that time of day; do not stop at a drive-through burger joint, but go directly to the gym. If your training partner fails to show, don’t use that as an excuse to go home. Plow through your workout by yourself, and take pride that you have more guts than he does. Guts and consistency drive you toward your goals.

“The big 11: my 11 rules for building mass and power”. Flex. FindArticles.com. 13 Jan, 2010.
COPYRIGHT 2002 Weider Publications
COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group

Learning how to build muscle naturally is obviously the preferred way to grow muscles yet many choose shortcuts which at times can be dangerous. While some of these shortcuts are okay under supervision you need to understand the long term effects which can result.

Did you know that building muscle is a natural process anyway. In any type of exercise or work out you are tearing microscopic fibers. The muscle building occurs when these fibers repair and this is a natural process. Can you understand why pumping unnatural stuff into your body can work short term but is suspect over the long run.

In this article, we’ll take a look at building natural muscle and some important tips on how diet can help you achieve the growth you’re looking for.

Natural Muscle Building

It is important that you follow a strict schedule of weight training so that you can build natural muscle. Many people believe that if you lift heavier weights you will gain muscle faster. This is not always the case as people may think.

If you work out the correct way each and every time you only need to do weight training once or twice a week. If you want to you can pay a professional so they can tell you exactly what you should be doing on a weekly basis. This way you are sure that you are not overworking your muscles.

It is very important that you give your muscles ample time to rest this way they have time to rebuild. The period of time that you are resting during workouts is important to give your muscles the ability to regenerate. It is extremely important that you work your muscles to the point of exhaustion each and every day when you visit the gym so you are sure you build new muscle.

Diet Tips

1. Watching your diet is one of the best ways to build muscle and burn fat at the same time. Getting the right amount of vitamins and minerals is important because it will help you maintain a healthy lifestyle.
2. It is important that you do not starve yourself because you need to eat food in order to lose weight. The reason for this is that it takes calories to burn calories. A great thing that you can do is to cut sugary and fatty foods from your diet completely. Sticking to vegetables, meat, and chicken is a great way to start eating healthier.
3. In general most people need to eat around 2,000 calories or day, but this can vary based on your activity level. If you are working hard every day and you are already at the proper weight then you may need to eat extra calories every day. These extra calories are not bad for you because you are burning them up when you exercise.
4. Drinking water is also a very important part of building muscle naturally and in a healthy manner. Most doctors recommend that you drink anywhere from eight to ten glasses of water consistently on a daily basis. Although, if you are sweating a lot during a workout routine you can drink additional water.

Starting this year in 2010 we will be posting a new 5 day workout routine every month.
This will keep you motivate and with change in routines every couple of months, comes progression and most of all RESULTS!

Complete this entire routine in an hour or less. This is how you will get ripped. Rest no longer than 1 minute between sets. This is your cardio, trust me on this.

When I say do 4 sets of 10 reps, that 10th rep better be ALL YOU GOT! I would rather see you do between 8-10 than to go over ten. If you are going over, its not heavy enough!

Monday (Chest)

• Incline Barbell 4×10
• Incline Dumbbell Press 4×8
• Flat Bench Press 3×10
• Chest Flyes Dumbbells or Machine 3×12
• Dips 3×15 -Push Ups 2xfailure

Tuesday (Back)

• Lat Pulldown 3×20
• Reverse Lat Pulldonw 3×12
• Dumbell Rows 4×10
• Wide Grip Machine Pulls 3×12
• Chin Ups 2xfailure -Shrugs 5×10

Wednesday (Legs)

• Leg Extensions 3×20
• Squats 3×15
• Leg Press 3×15
• Lunges 3×20
• Leg Curls 3×10
• Calf Raises 4×10

Thursday (Shoulders)

• Dumbbell Shoulder Press 4×12
• Lateral Raises 4×12
• Front Raises 3×12
• Upright Rows 4×10
• Reverse Flyes (rear laterals) 3×10

Friday (Biceps Triceps Forearms)

• Barbell Curls 4×10
• Tricep Pressdown 4×10
• Hammer Curls 3×12
• Skull Crushers 3×12
• Preacher Curls 4×8 -Barbell Wrist Curls 4×15
• Close Grip Bench Press 4×8
• Wrist Curls 4×15

Stay Tuned for Part 2 coming next month.

With the holiday season comes gifts, friends and family and lot’s of food. Many would be dieter’s are waiting to start that new diet as part of their New Year’s resolution. Instead of waiting, why not be proactive during the holidays by actively performing some tips that we have in store for you.

1. Reduce your intake of alcoholic beverages – Although this is a merry time of year, and many of us like to celebrate with a glass of wine or a bottle of beer. Do yourself a favor a limit yourself to one glass or bottle of alcohol. Alcohol increases insulin which increases appetite. The average American over the age of 14 consumes 2.65 gallons of pure (absolute) alcohol per year, which would average out to be more than 20 pounds of weight for every person in the U.S. Since one-third of the population does not drink, this figure would be 28 pounds of weight per year on the average for a person who does drink. Alcohol prevents the body fat from being burned, and alcohol removes the self-control required to tolerate hunger.

2. Increase the consumption of water – A recent study found more people drink soda over a year’s time than water. The body itself can only survive without water up to 72 hours before the human body shuts down. Drinking water also fills you up, feeling your stomach with fluids, thereby giving a full effect. Drinking two glasses of water before eating a big meal may help you eat less and give your body the water it desperately needs. Drink at least 8 ounces of water daily, or 4 bottled waters. If you look at most bottled water labels, it contains about 16.9 ounces of water.

3. Reduce your intake of sugar – Sugar, soda & other artificially sweeten drinks and deserts goes straight to your waistline. Even juices contain high amounts of sugar and should either be limited or removed from one’s diet. If you’re craving orange juice, eat an orange instead. Although fruits contain natural sugar, it contains much less of the other fructose and high end sugars usually found it drinks, juices and sugar related beverages. It is the holidays, so everyone will eat sweets and deserts. Just make a conscious effort not to divulge too much.

4. Eat slowly – Not only does eating slowly give you a more fuller effect after eating, but it’s way better for digestive purposes. Everyone get’s excited with the amount of good food available and sometimes eats too quickly. Again, be conscious of that and chew your food at least 20 times before swallowing and you’ll big differences in your digestive effects and feeling more fuller after eating.

5. Tighten your stomach with exercise – Yes that is correct. Most people won’t do this because again, they plan to start “right after the holidays”. But the key to losing weight and wellness overall is to be proactive about your weight and health. Doing something later, just for the sake of a couple of days is really silly. Be proactive and do 50 leg lifts or 50 sit-ups 30-45 minutes before a meal and your stomach will tighten up a bit.

6. Limit Your Intake of Saturated Fat – This is the kind of fat, found mostly in animal products, that increases blood cholesterol levels and has other negative health effects. It should supply less than one-third of the calories derived from fat. Keep your cholesterol intake below 300 milligrams per day.

7. Vitamins and Minerals

Supplements cannot substitute for a healthy diet, which supplies nutrients and other compounds besides vitamins and minerals, but they can assist the body to function more efficiently when taken properly. Providing your body with the right types of vitamins and minerals may also lead to better weight management along with providing your body with added nutrients it needs to perform optimally.