I’ve just finished looking at a 486 page-muscle building magazine. Guess how many supplements advertisements were there in it? It had 216 pages of supplements advertisements. That works out close to 44 percent of the entire stuff. This means that out of all the stuff you read in the magazine 44 percent does not have any value.

This reminds me of the story of my good friend Jim. Jim was a muscle building freak who got a chance to meet the famous pro bodybuilder. This bodybuilder had won prestigious competitions, authored a couple of muscle building books, given public appearances, aired programs on television, and I think acted in a few movies too. He had actually inspired hundreds of people. Unfortunately, the promises were misleading.

Joe started training with him and did everything that this pro told him to do. He split his body parts up, did 12-24 sets per muscle group, ate what the pro ate, and slept as much as the pro slept in a day. He practically impersonated his trainer in every possible way. But as straightforward a guy my friend Joe is, he knew he does not look any different than what he did when he started training.

This was because Jim was taking advice from someone who he could not relate to. Our Mr. pro did not have the long limbs, a Lamborghini kind of a metabolism. This muscle building pro right on his first day in the gym did a 300-pound bench press; he was born with amazing genes, which enabled him to build muscles even if he sneezed. Jim didn’t get what he worked hard for as he went wrong with his decision of selecting a mentor, an instructor.

Would you take financial advice from somebody who won a lottery or inherited trillions of money? Similarly, would you want to take muscle-building advice from a commercially successful muscle-building magazine or a genetically blessed pro? I guess NO.

The point is to take bodybuilding advice from someone who has build every muscle without performance-enhancing drugs and doing strenuous muscle building exercises. Go to someone who can tell you how to build your muscles while training smartly, minus the drugs and rubber-band long hours in the gym. When you deserve the body you want, why not make the right choices, go ahead and get it.

Muscle Gaining Secrets

Thanks to all the athletes-turned-models such as Lisa Leslie of Women’s National Basketball Association, athletic bodies are in rage. The media limelight and popularity they get for excellence in sports, coupled with their glamorous looks inspires many people. I have seen an amazing increase in the number of people, especially youngsters, getting attracted to the gym to get those perfect athletic bodies like their role models.
The USP of athletes lies in their flexibility, speed and strength. In each sport, specific muscle groups are given top priority, which makes every sportsperson look different from the other. Training, exercises, and diet vary for different sports. Even exercise type, number of reps, and number of days differ depending on the requirements of the particular sport.

Athletes of sports like baseball and football focus more in increasing stamina and improving performance thereof, along with building muscles. Professional boxers give more importance to building their muscle tone in their workouts. Footballers and baseball players do full body workouts and include squats, various types of presses, curls, sit ups and other back, shoulder, as well as wrist exercises in their weekly plan. Wresters do cardio exercises, compound exercises, and stress more on tracks, shoulder, arm, and chest muscle strengthening.

Muscle building workouts for athletes are diligently planned and comprehensive in nature. They are trained step-by-step and muscle-by-muscle to achieve optimum stamina and a flexible physique. For bodies like David Beckhem, Anna Kornikova, or a Mohammed Ali, you need to club your training sessions with a high protein-carbohydrate, controlled fat balanced diet. After strenuous workouts and consistent efforts to improve, you are sure to become replica of your sporting stars.

Feel free to share your opinions or ask questions in the comments section below. Happy exercising!

Muscle Gaining Secrets

One of the blogs I wrote in September dealt with leg exercises and the importance of having strong lower body. Overtraining can cause leg injuries while doing different types of squat, deadlifts, or any other lower body exercises. I always advise my clients to be ultra cautious, otherwise they may hurt their leg muscles. A tear, strain, or a pull could be painful, or have a lifelong affect.

If we look at our Quadriceps or thighs as a bundle of muscle fibers, then four of the muscles are the most prominent ones: the Rectus Femoris, Vastus Medialis, Vastus Lateralis, and Vastus Intermedius. Of these, the Rectus Femoris is the most vulnerable to strains or tears around the knee and it crosses both-the hip, as well as the knee joints.

What if injury decides to make a call on you despite all the precautions? Instant ice treatment and timely compression cures a normal pull or jerk. However, if you suffer from a direct injury such as a hit, you should be careful that it does not become a contusion; or even worse Myositis Ossificans. In a contusion, a muscle is trampled against the bone, and you need to ice it immediately and probably put a compression tape. On delayed attendance, or wrong treatment it can worsen in to a Myositis Ossificans.

A Myositis Ossificans, also known as a dead leg, can keep you out of action for a couple of days, weeks, or even months, depending on the severity of your injury, which is classified into stages (I, II, or III). It is an extremely painful condition where along with the muscle you damage you sheath (surrounds a bone) and your bone grows within your muscle (calcification). However, the good thing is that this calcification starts 2-4 weeks after an injury and takes 3-6 months to grow in to a complete bone.

On an average, you might recover and resume your gym exercises in a matter of weeks (or months at the max). The recovery period for a quadriceps injury usually depends on the injury stage. Experts advise rest for at least 72 hours and start with the least stressful stretches and gradually move towards the tougher levels.

I suggest you to consult a sports physician, or an injury professional even if you think you just overstretched your ligaments.

Muscle Gaining Secrets

Ooh, aah and ouch are a part of every exercise routine and most of the trainers are used to buckets of tears and pleading requests. However, we all know that this is the part of the exercise, or fitness regime and take it with a pinch of salt. What is important for all of us is to be able to differentiate between a mere pleading and an actual pain caused by an injury.

Experienced muscle builders will agree that extensive training sessions bring in the probabilities of shoulder injuries as well. Technique and timing are the most vital issues that need to be kept in mind while doing the bench press, deadlifts, push-ups, dips, including others that stress the shoulder muscles.

The shoulder joint is one of the most complex bone-muscular arrangements that our body has, with more than one bone joining the ‘main’ shoulder bone and the upper arm. This is one place where several joints work together making it more prone to injuries than other body parts.

Dumbbell fly, rear-neck shoulder press, rear neck lat pull down, and pull-ups play the spoilsport exercise that are very dicey and can cause shoulder injuries such as the rotator cuff tendonitis.

Rotator cuff tendonitis is of the most common and frequent shoulder injuries that most muscle builders face even during regular training sessions. Overuse of a shoulder muscle that makes it weak or fatigued is the main cause of injury. A Rotator cuff tendonitis acts like an envelope around your shoulder and takes all the stress when you do your presses or dips. It is can also cause tendon inflammation and pain. Persistent and repetitive movements and stress, strong hits, or accidents also lead to Rotator cuff tendonitis.

It would be the best to prevent Rotator cuff tendonitis or any other shoulder injury by regular and proper warm ups, light weight lifts, and arm stretch exercise. I would also recommend you stop exercising in case you overdo some shoulder exercise or overstrain it. However, if you still get a shoulder injury, first thing is to take an R.I.C.E treatment- Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation. Massaging the shoulders and gradually doing very light elevation movements is an effective way to treat your wounded shoulder. If nothing works, you should see a sports injury professional or physician without wasting much time.

Muscle Gaining Secrets

From professional muscle builders to beginners, an orderly chart for tracking down the progress in workouts is essential. Strenuous workouts require muscle builders to test their compatibility and measure the success ratio. The chart helps keep a track of how an exercise works on your body, and how much mass you gain overtime.

Jeff Anderson, the ‘muscle nerd’ kept a detailed documentation of all his workout plans. This documentation helped him design the Optimum Anabolics program. His theories and exercise plans are a reflection of his ‘tried and tested’ formulae for muscle building.

Working out recklessly, without tracking your workout balance sheet is not a professional approach to all the sweat you excrete in the gym. You would never be able to know which exercise combination suits your body type and which one is eating up your muscle mass. A ‘workout chart’ would help you to detect if your workout has put you at a standstill, and if your body is adapting to your current exercise schedule.

A number of planning options such as Pyramid Weight Lifting Chart, Blank Weight Lifting Chart, Body Mass Index Chart, Body Fat Percentage Chart, Weight Loss Chart, Weight Lifting Rep Chart, Calories Chart, and so forth are available. Besides, you get charts of diet, weight, body index, body fat, muscular mass, and body mass index. You can get printed copies of these charts from the internet.

Maintaining these charts meticulously not only quantifies your success ratio but also keeps you self-motivated and focused on the program. You can decipher the best and the worst workout combination and save loads of time and energy spent on smaller muscle group workouts. Your story of transformation from a skinny physique to a muscular person could be an inspiration for all.

Registering the measure of your progress in numbers and percentage is imperative to your success as a bodybuilder. If you have any suggestions, please post them in the comments section below.

Muscle Gaining Secrets

I always advise amateur body builders to first find a good instructor before they start pumping iron themselves. To have an experienced instructor is more helpful than following a muscle-building book, or a DVD. Instructors-cum-experts who have themselves been bodybuilders (preferably professionals) advise you on the minutest details about your body and the exercise that suits your body type. The two of you can sit together and plan an effective workout that makes you sweat lesser in the iron jungle and reap more muscle building benefits.

I am not trying to scare you, but muscle-building instructors do not appreciate irregular and tardy students. Some of the best instructors are strict and much disciplined with their plans. So, you will need to start hitting the gym regularly and that too on time. The second best thing is that they are extremely encouraging and push you to give your 200 percent to muscle building. Their superlative knowledge helps you to know more about your body type and how various exercises work for you. They can gauge your physical capacity and train you to your maximum limits so that you build muscles the right way.

Some muscle building exercises such as bench presses, chin ups, or squats require assistance when you do them for the first few times. An instructor is the best person to rely on when it comes to exercise assistance. They teach you the exact techniques and help you achieve the apt postures so that you save yourself from muscle damage and serious injuries.

Besides this, if you visualize seeing yourself in a state, or national level muscle building competition, a coach is a must-have. For, he is everything you may require-a sounding board, a catalyst, a teacher and a source of inspiration to boost your self confidence.

Muscle Gaining Secrets

High intensity workouts are the ‘in thing’ these days and I consider them to be one of the best and the fastest fat burning technique that boosts your muscle building ability. High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) are a type of cardio workouts that burn maximum fat and build muscles with a minimum time spend in the iron jungle.

One of my favorite HIIT is the Wahlberg workout, which is quite popular in the muscle building fraternity when it comes to selecting a workout plan. The workout is named after the famous Hollywood actor Mark Wahlberg, who has one of the most enviable bodies in the town, which he attained following this workout schedule.

What attracts people most is not just the result that stands out when any one sees Mark. But, the straightforward and easy to follow workout plan. These are a type of high intensity-low time-consuming workouts that enhance muscle building and boosts metabolism.

What’s more, these workouts are a very well organized and planned set of exercises that can give you a fabulous body without spending hours in the gym. In HIIT workout, you spend 30 minutes a week in the gym concentrating on not more than three body parts a day. The trick here is an increased focus on weight lifts and high intensity presses and lifts, with lesser rest time between different sets of exercises. Wahlberg workouts not only make you push up your physical limits, but also lead to improvements in your metabolism.

I recommend Cindy crossfit workouts if you are looking for a whole body workout that not only builds muscles, but also makes you lose weight, and have an attractively toned body. Cindy crossfit is a high-power inclusive workout focusing more on functional exercises such as squats, pull-ups, and chin-ups. These exercises are most effective as they force you to use your own body weight for muscle building and weight loss instead of any fancy gym equipments. This 20-minute workout requires you to do a set of about fifteen squats, ten press ups, and five chin ups that can fit into almost every individual’s routine. You can increase your sets as you get more comfortable with crossfit workouts.
Enjoy doing these HIITs. Let them work on the fat accumulated in your body parts and the muscle mass buildup process and experience the lingering feeling of the effect, even after you leave the gym.

Muscle Gaining Secrets

Apart from efficient gym facilities and an experienced instructor, I would recommend some useful muscle building accessories. A pair of gloves is necessary for exercises done on a bar to get a firm grip. Training gloves should be a top priority for strength building exercises such as clean and press, pull ups, chin ups and so forth. These gloves keep the grip firm, absorb excess moisture or perspiration, and provide wrist stability.

Next in the priority list are waist belts. They help the body attain correct posture and reduce injuries. Squats, deadlifts, overhead presses, inverted rows, rack pulls, reverse crunches, etc. put enormous stress on the back muscles. Wrong posture can jeopardize the training program and may leave you subject to regular physiotherapy sessions. Waist belts prevent wrong posture, which shields you from such injuries.

Joint wraps are the subsequent ‘must haves’ of muscle building accessories in your gym bag. You have joint wraps for elbow, foot, and ankles, all these enhance your ability to take muscle stress. Athletes, gymnasts, footballers, cricketers, and people having sports background all use joint wraps to avoid injuries. Joint wraps are available in wide varieties. There are hot and cool wraps that give you the maximum comfort. Wraps are very helpful when you resume with your workouts post injury. You can get on workout after enjoying a hot/cold wrap treatment.

Hooks, manta and stingrays, grizzy dipping belts, MyoTapes, lifting straps and chalks are few other accessories that can do wonders to make the gym experience an enjoyable one. I will discuss other accessories in detail in my upcoming blogposts. If there is anything that you would like to share, please feel free to post it in the comments section below.

Muscle Gaining Secrets

When I started bodybuilding, the first major hurdle I had to cross was excess belly fat. The fat decreased to a certain extent but wouldn’t go away completely no matter how many cardio exercises I did. At that point in time, when I was searching possible answers, I came across an article on High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). And believe it or not, when I tried it, my body hasn’t accumulated an ounce of belly fat ever since.

Well, HIIT isn’t a complex workout but the difference it makes is due to intensity. The high intensity exercise causes fat burnout in a shorter period. This is because the body uses up energy through aerobic as well as anaerobic processes during the workout. It burns away fat while remaining in the anabolic or muscle building state. This prevents the degeneration of muscle tissues into energy. The exercise is more effective because the fat burnout does not stop even during the recovery period. This means that you are torching calories even while watching your favorite TV show at night! Additionally, as the time period for the workout is limited, you can spare enough time for other things.

HIIT must be done two to three times a week in between the weight lifting routine. The exercise requires ample resting period so that the body recovers completely. The training can be completed in five simple steps:

Step 1: Do warm up exercise for five minutes
Step 2: Sprint at your maximum speed for about 30 seconds
Step3: Rest for about 2 minutes, which includes brisk walking or jogging
Step 4: Repeat this cycle at least 6 times
Step 5: Give time for your body to cool down

The number of cycles will depend on your level of fitness so it is advisable that you consult a medical practitioner before beginning. Moreover, the most important thing you need to take care of while doing HIIT exercises is your diet. Like weight training, it is necessary to have a post workout drink so that glycogen level is maintained and muscle repair does not stop.

Hope this helps you lose fat and get back in shape. If there are other ways of high intensity training that you want to know or would like to share, please post it in the comments section. Happy exercising!

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Muscle groups train best with the help of sets and repetitions, and abdomen is no different. The problem with most people figuring out ways to reduce belly fat is that they look out for spot reduction. This is not right at all. Hard work with consistency is needed to achieve results. There are no ‘tricks’ or ‘easy ways’ to build six pack abs.

When I get down doing abs exercises, I focus mainly on upper and lower abdominal areas. I use weights for simple abs exercises and avoid bending or rotating movements. This helps me avoid accumulating fat in the waist area. Moreover, as I mentioned in my previous blog post, I do high intensity interval training to minimize the fat percentage.

For lower abs muscles, I do crunches with knees bent and at a higher position. To begin with lay down with your back touching the ground and breathe out as you move up. At the end of the crunch movement, feel the squeeze in your abs section. Do at least three sets of these exercises and then switch over to weighted crunches. Repeat these crunches holding a weight firmly with both hands. Keep the breathing rhythm like the previous exercise. While doing weighted reps, remember to keep yourself few inches high in the starting position without letting the back of your head touch the floor. I always remain consistent with these exercises except that I increase the weight or try to do more reps the next week.

Similarly, for upper abdominal muscles, lie down on your back with arms behind your head and knees bent. Now pull your body upwards slowly but do not let it touch your knees. Keep yourself in this position for 2 seconds and let your upper back touch ground again. Also, take care that the position of your legs remains rigid.

Another important point to remember is that you must not do abs exercises more than thrice a week as it lengthens the recovery phase. If you would like to share any suggestions or want to ask anything related to these exercises, please feel free to post it in the comments section.

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