The Eagle Claw is actually a Chinese form of martial arts, but there is an old school creative way to build grip strength, just by mimicing the hand that you see in the image. It’s really simple, but very effective.

1. Find two large jars (Or just buy some)

2. Fill them up with a heavy substance (Sand, Wooden pellets, Coins)

3. Close the lids as tight as you can

4. Hold one in each hand

If you make the jars heavy enough you will struggle to hold your grip. It’s simple… start with a light weight, hold your grip until failure. When it becomes too easy, just increase the weight or find something heavier to put in the jars.

While you’re at it, have some fun with it. Have competitions with your gym buddies and see who can last the longest. That will give all the muscles in the gym something to scream about for sure.

If you want to really prove your He-man strength, then try and lift the damn thing. Good luck I say! But if you do manage to start ‘repping’ them out, at least your triceps will have something new to scream about.

See you in the comments.

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I’m going back to basics today. I hope you are all working out and preparing those muscle for summer. Increase the intensity now! It will be too late to start looking your best once the summer months kick in. Any how, here is a triceps routine that I have on my draft planner. My planner won’t mean much to you as you’ll have your own goals. But this an advanced workout that you can throw into your routine when it’s time to hit the triceps or when you want to switch things up.

Seated Bent Over One Arm Dumbbell Triceps Extensions

• Sets: 3
• Reps: 8-12 (Increase the weight after each set)
• Rest: 3 minute rest between each set

Standing Dumbbell Triceps Extensions

• Sets: 3
• Reps: 8-12 (Increase the weight after each set)
• Rest: 3 minute rest between each set

Cable One Arm Tricep Extensions

• Sets: 3
• Reps: 8-12 (Increase the weight after each set)
• Rest: 3 minute rest between each set

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It’s been a while since I’ve done a bugs best of. The time where I rap up the most popular posts for the month. Well… like this classic song from Moloko I’m bringing it back, sing it back to me….

BUGS BEST OF: February 2010

Shock Body Exercise Variations

Shock Bodybuilding Preparation

The Most Important Bodybuilding Supplement… EVER!

The Only Exercise That Will Truly Test Your Strength

Why You Should Get Your Girl To Be A ‘Sexy’ Bodybuilder

15 Things Successful Bodybuilders And Successful Entrepreneurs Have In Common

Until next month… Bugs out!

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If I ever want to aspire to be like any Olympian, then it would have to be a gymnast. Both male and female (Both are a delight to watch). Not only do these gals and guys look great, they also wield superior strength.

But guess what?

What Shaun?

These guys and gals only use bodyweight exercises to build strength… and mass!

Nah… I don’t believe you, why don’t I look like they do then?

Well, let me explain

They Add Resistance

Adding resistance is the only way that you can increase your strength when you workout. Your muscles will naturally contract against resistance, but with time they will get used to it and become stronger. At this point, you will need to increase the level of resistance. That is one reason why most people who train for muscle mass give bodyweight exercises the cold shoulder, because we are not robots, or super human and there is no way to increase resistance with our own body weight.

However, gymnasts use creativity to increase resistance when performing bodyweight exercises and being creative with bodyweight exercises is something that I have been doing for years.

One example of a creative resistance would be when they perform the leg lift exercise.

Instead of performing the exercise with your legs tucked in, perform the exercise with your legs ‘dead straight’. This will double the difficulty of performing a leg lift with just your bodyweight. All you had to do was use some leverage.

However, an optimum workout routine will utilize weightlifting exercises and creative bodyweight exercises. (Sometimes with assisted weights)

One key point about performing advanced bodyweight exercises is that performing these harder exercises will give you better results. This is because you will be aiming for maximum contraction rather than exercising until failure, and for most of the advanced exercises, it will be all the muscles of your whole body that will contract. As long as you keep maxing out the contractions, you will build superior strength, and size too.

You still haven’t told me why I don’t look like a gymnast?

Well… have you looked at a gymnast recently? Of course you have. They look great and possess raw strength. They have learned how to perfect ways to keep on increasing their strength using advanced exercises. And on Friday, you’ll get a full taster of some these in the ebook. These unique exercises are designed to challenge you beyond the conventional pull up or dip exercise, which will allow you to push your strength to the max.

Some Advanced Exercises To Look Forward To

1. Mixed Grip Chin Up
2. Straddle Planche

It’s not very likely that you will build a body like a gymnast just using creative bodyweight exercises with assisted weights (although possible). As gymnasts dedicate their whole time to their career, using many other techniques then just bodyweight exercises to build their bodies and are required to tick all of these boxes as a requirement.

• Passive flexibility
• Active flexibility
• Joint preparation
• Static strength
• Dynamic strength

And others.

This is why you will probably never look like a gymnast!

But the aim of this post is to show you that by incorporated the mindset and strength training progression of a gymnast, you too can take your strength training to the next level and show all of the overly bulky muscle heads in the gym what true strength is all about.

Remember, this is all about higher-level strength progression and building defined muscle mass.

In addition to all of this you will also improve your level of balance, coordination and agility and you may even turn into a mini version of these guys.

Tony Jaa

Jackie chan (Maybe older now, but I bet he still out performs those who are the same age as he was when he was in his prime)

If you really want to show off and look good while performing some of these exercises then take up some dance classes (read this post for some ideas).

Getting good at these dances will provide you with grace and flair, which will make you, stand out from the crowd when you move.

Grow Like A Plant

In order to even get to a level where you can perform the above exercises effectively, you will need to grow like a plant.

You will need to allow your body to go through the phase of steady growth, and once matured, go for the advanced bodyweight exercises. Once you do finally adopt superior strength and athletic ability, start to practice your one rep max on certain exercises. You will find that the level in which you have now increased your strength may have far surpassed the level of strength gains you was achieving in your weightlifting workouts. If that is the case, then lifting weights will now become a novelty for you. But both are just as important as the other, because you still probably won’t achieve the strength gains and mass of a gymnast, because you aren’t a gymnast. Incorporate both weightlifting and body-weight exercises into your routine, adopt the patience of a tortoise, the speed of a hare and like the plant in the video…. GROW!

For more detail on how to build up to the level to which you can perform these exercises, make sure you grab the e-book on Friday 12th March 2010

Here >>>

Or simply sign up now to automatically receive it via email.

See you in the comments.

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If you are anything like me ‘A natural hard gainer’ or 6ft plus in height, It might just be that you suffer from having a long giraffe pencil-neck. If so then, and if you have decided to take up bodybuilding to help bulk it up a bit, then I know you have done or still are struggling to develop the ‘Bull-neck’ look.

Why Do You Want A Strong Neck?

Your neck is always on display

Like I stated in the tailor-made wardrobe post, your neck is one of the first things people will see when they meet you, and they will judge you by it. Your neck will alsobe visible in almost anything you wear, so it’s always going to be on show. Since that is the case, you will want to have a strong and powerful neck to show to the world, as a strong neck signals strength, power and determination to those you meet. (First impressions are everything!)

Withstand a blow

Having a strong neck will enable you to withstand a fatal blow, whether that be from a fight or when taking up a particular sport. It really is that serious. Having a strong neck will be the difference of whether you spend a few days resting or recovering, or whether you end up in hospital for treatment of a spinal injury when faced with a fatal blow to the head. From my own personal experience, building a stronger neck was the difference between me falling flat on my face or withstanding the weight and walking away when I helped lift a friend into my attic. It was actually quite frightnening. This guy was 14 stone of pure muscle, he accidently slipped while balancing on my shoulders and I lost my balance a little. But because I had been training at the gym (2 years at this point in my life), my neck had the advantage of bulking up from it’s previous pencil-neck form, and I was able to push back and withstand the force of his weight.

Protects your spine

If you want to avoid back problems in the future then start focusing on building up the muscles in your neck. I’ve seen grown men reduce to tears because of back problems they’ve faced, and I can tell you, it really isn’t a pretty sight. So do yourself a favour and take action.

Another issue which I know affects every single one of you is bad posture when sitting at the computer. This will put strain on your neck muscles and spine. But build a strong neck and you can beat the odds of back pain in the future.

The ‘Pencil-neck’ Eraser Exercise

Now, I’ve already shown you a few ways that you can build up your neck muscles here, even when you are at work. But here is one effective technique that you probably haven’t tried which you can do in the comfort of your own home.

Nash rubber like a canine

1. Go to your nearest bike store and buy a new bike tyre inner-tube
2. As you get ready for your workout, stand on the floor on all fours (Like a dog)
3. Place and hold one end of the inner-tube in one hand (or both)
4. Place the other end in your mouth and grip it with your teeth
5. Make sure you have a firm grip on both ends and make sure you have a good range of motion for the movement
6. All you do now push your head back in a upwards/ backwards motion. Back down again and repeat.

You can workout the number of sets you wish to do by gauging your own strength levels. But perform this exercise once or twice a week for a few months and you will feel the difference in the look and feel of your neck.

Note: If you suffer from a history of neck injuries, I would highly advise that you visit a physician before performing any kind of neck exercise or training. The above information will without a doubt help you build a powerful neck, but if you don’t have the right foundation for doing so you could well be setting yourself up for injury, failure and set backs (Which I do not want. I can’t have my stayfitbuggers out of action now… can I? )

See you in the comments

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Although I usually feed you hardcore and often intense methods to take yor muscles to the next level, I thought I’d just share with you a butt routine that I have been currently focusing on. After all, It’s still ok to do the basic exercises throughout your weightlifting routines, as they will be a crucial link in the chain when you need to mix things up in your workouts. However, you will still have to up the ante while performing this routine, as it involves increasing the weight throughout each exercise.

Glute Extensions

• Sets: 3
• Reps: 8-12 (Increase the weight after each set)
• Rest: 3 minutes between each set

Cable Hip Extensions

• Sets: 3
• Reps: 8-12 (Increase the weight after each set)
• Rest: 3 minutes between each set

Smith Machine Squats

• Sets: 3
• Reps: 8-12 (Increase the weight after each set)
• Rest: 3 minutes between each set

See you in the comments.

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When I wrote ‘this post‘, I stated that running up hills is one of the best high intensity training techniques that you can do for your cardio workouts, which is true. But I’ve found something better. This technique really will separate the men from the boys in more ways than one. It is something that I used to do back my college days, and I can vouch for it’s effectiveness. I call it…

RUNNING UP ‘DOWN’ ESCALATORS!

Now, I know you have all used an escalator before, and I know you have all tried to run up the ‘down’ escalator at least once in your life, so you know how much of a challenge that can be. But this is a whole different ball game. You will use these escalators to perform high intensity training at least once a week.

Now let me be your introductory guide for this unique exercise

#1 Finding An Escalator

The first thing you will need to do is find an escalator in an isolated location. You will want to avoid injuring members of the public. That could lead to all kinds of complications. The best place that I know of is underground railway stations. They always open very early and close very late, so there will be plenty of time to choose your run time. Another idea would be to choose the station at the end of the line. Those will always be empty.

#2 Reps And Sets

Before you begin to understand how many reps and sets you will do, you will first have to nail the process for progression.

- Start small by running down the escalator by 5-6 steps
- Turn around and run back to the top

Then all you do is increase the number of steps you run down as you begin to progress. After that it’s entirely up to you how you wish to break up your sets.

#3 You Could Get Into Trouble

This will happen, more likely then not. That’s where we will find out if you are a man, or just a boy. Will you take that risk? Will you reap the rewards of this exercise? That’s down to you. But if you really are a man, then no one will get in your way. Developing and using some charm, charisma and schickt will get you a long way.

#4 It Will Be Fun And Liberating

If your workouts (or life in general) are lacking some excitement in them, then you can guarantee that this will put the fun back into it. Performing this exercise in these locations will make you feel like a big bad kid again and liberated is how you will feel. If you are lucky you may even find yourself on youtube.com. However, if you become an internet superstar from the whole escalator ordeal, just make sure you link back to stayfitbug.com and give me credit for it.

Nevertheless, if you do grow some balls and attempt this exercise, you can be sure that it will test you to the max. And again, in more ways then one.

See you in the comments.

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If you are alive right now and reading this, it is very likely that you play video games in some way or another on one of these formats:

• PS3
• Xbox360
• Wii
• Nintendo DS
• PSP
• iphone
• Online web games
• MMORPGs

All of which cover a huge demographic in today’s world.

Games in general do get a lot of flack for apparently wasting our time. I don’t agree with that. I actually think you are living an experience when playing games, and any good experience you go through in life certainly won’t have a price on it (Priceless). But that’s another argument. One good thing that I see games doing is that they may start developing better mindsets for the masses. The mindset to succeed more often in other real world activities, and how this could help you be a better bodybuilder?

How?

Because games teach you how to fail a lot before you finally succeed.

Now, you may have not looked at things this way before and you have probably separated your gaming life from your real life. And what ever has happened in the gaming world has stayed in the gaming world. But open your mind a little. The next time you play that challenging game, try and stick it out to the end to earn that trophy or beat that boss or score that goal against that super good online nerd. I’m guessing that you probably give up and turn the console off when you begin to lose and decide to go back to it another time. It’s OK to do this if you are restricted by time, but if you simply give up because you cannot stand the heat of getting beaten, then you are probably the cowardly type. If this is you then I can bet money on it that you act the same way in other challenges that you face in life. Such as bodybuilding. In fact, if you want to see if you are cut out to build a great ’stand out from the crowd’  body, then start playing games more. This will be a true test of your character.

Play Hard Games

You will fail a lot. You will get fed up from endless failure. And it is at this time which will determine wether you succeed or not. And as usual, it is a very thin line between the two. But do yourself a favour and leave the console on. See the battle through until you succeed. Learn how to beat that boss properly, and when you finally do, the enjoyment and fulfillment you get afterwards is second to none. There aren’t too many great feelings like that in life. Quite like scoring a goal in soccer/football.

Some Games

Guitar Hero and Rock Band

(Nailing that 5 star difficulty track on Expert mode)

Viewtiful Joe

(Beating Fire Leo -- See the video and comments to understand how hard a task this was… and still is)

Comments such as -- ‘I traded in this game because of this guy i could never defeat him i think i should go and get it again’ thorgrim103

Devil May Cry 3

(Still probably one of the hardest games around)

Midnight Club 3/ Los Angeles

(The original was released back on the PS2. The cars you would race against were simply unforgiving. You crash, you lose… it was as simple as that)

Demon Souls

(A PS3 game that I’ve yet to play, but going by the reviews, It’s bitch hard)

Sorry folks, I’m a hardcore gamer. I don’t know many challenging casual games. Perhaps some of you could recommend such games that would fit the above criteria.

I personally love it when games are ultra hard and unforgiving. It keeps my mindset in ‘challenged’ mode. In fact, I often complain when things become too easy, because I know that I cannot progress with anything in life unless I face defeat every now and again. And whenever I hit the gym and face a challenge, I now will have more experiences under my belt of times when I overcame a challenge, regardless of the scenario.

The point is…

The point is… the more you begin to develop this mind set, the more likely it will be that you will succeed in your quest to build that body you deserve. You will begin to learn how and why failure is important at break neck speed, with your only cost being time, electricity and maybe an extra games controller or two. And guess what. The more you learn to adopt this mind set the faster you will begin to succeed too. I call this the ‘Reverting back to childhood mindset’, because as a child, you will fail more times than ever then as you do as an adult.. it’s just part of the process of growing up.

• Walking
• Talking
• Reading
• Writing
• Bike riding

To name a few.

But when the failure happens at this age, it is never questioned by anyone.

(Ahh, look at little Shauny trying to ride his bike. He’ll get there soon enough)

But as you migrate into adulthood, failure starts to feel like you are breaking the law, which is wrong. This is something that is wrong with the worlds mentality at present, and I’m not quite sure how it can be fixed. But all YOU need to know is that you will adopt the video games mindset, and fail in your workouts as much as you need to until you succeed. Because that is the proper way to build a near perfect body.

Fix the mind and you can fix the body

See you in the comments.

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The Calf Raise

This is one exercise that I had no choice but to get good at. Being 6ft 2″ and 2/3’s of my body being all legs (probably not 2/3’s, but it certainly feels that way) it is a no brainer that I would struggle to build muscle mass on my lower legs. Nevertheless, I have been progressing and the changes in growth have been noticable. But this has only begun to happen from using the following techniques.

Performing The Exercise Properly

• Find a standing calf raise machine
• Get into position by holding the bar and placing the pads on your shoulders
• When positioning your feet, make sure there is a good separation between your feet and your toes
• Make sure your toes are pointing forward
• Start with your heels low and as far down as you can get them
• Keep your knees straight but not locked
• Lift

The Mistake That You Will Not Make

Now, you want to avoid lowering your heels all the way down. By doing this you are stretching your calf muscles before they get a chance to contract, which will affect your ability to effectively build muscles on your calves. You will want to imagine that there is only flat ground below the area of your heel and lower your heel to flat ground level only.

You will want to keep your knees straight also, as mentioned above. If you start bending your knees then you will introduce your quads and butt muscles into the movement. This too will reduce the tension that you are building up in your calves.

Another thing to avoid is turning your toes in or out. This will only put unnecessary stress on your knees.

Tips, Tricks and Tweaks

And now for my favorite part. Taking exercise to the next level.

Contract Your Butt

This will allow you to get a 1-2 inch raise above what you normally do, thus giving you a better and more effective calf workout.

Isolation

I’ve mentioned this technique in a few exercises, such a the leg press. The idea here is isolate one leg and press it behind the remaining leg. Then carry on performing the calf raise. This will make the exercise that much harder to perform and in the long run will give you better results. This is especially good for hard-gainers, those with chicken leg syndrome or for those who are over 6ft in height, as all of those body types will have a hard time building muscles in their calves.

Work The Inside Of Your Calves

Set your feet wider apart and start rising up from the balls of your feet.

Workout The Outside Of Your Calves

Bring your feet in closer and rise up on the outer balls of your feet.

This has been working well for me so far, but if I do find any other tweaks that produce results, you will be the first to know.

See you in the comments.

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Most people that are already into bodybuilding are probably already fighting fit. But depending on your age, previous/current injuries and other things, you may want to ensure that you are ready to take up a weightlifting program, let alone taking things to the next level the stayfitbug.com way. You can do this by,

1.  Taking a PARQ (Pre Activity Readiness Questionnaire) – These questionnaires are designed to understand if there is any risk involved for the individual in question to take up an intense fitness program. Here’s an example of one PARQ

2. A lifestyle questionnaire – These can help determine what level of workout you should go for.

3. Determining your goals

The easiest way to write your goals down is by asking yourself 4 questions in this order.

1. Overall Goal(s)
2. Break down these goals into shorter achievable goals. Say 1-3 months.
3. The purpose of each goal
4. Look deeper into it… do these goals you now have seem impractical in anyway. If so how can you make them more practical?

Find Your Routine And Then Follow ‘These’ Articles

It’s simple… follow the rules of bodybuilding and you will get to where you need to be. Eat well, supplement well, workout with intensity and results will come. You will feel the burn, the pain, and the agony. If you keep at it, you will prevail.

However, there will likely come a day when you simply wont be happy with how your body looks. In fact you probably never will be. You will always look at someone else’s body and want what they have.

Yes, I have taught you to know better than to compare with others, but lets face it… It’s going to happen anyway. Especially when you catch your girlfriend eyeing up some muscle bound model type on a hot summers day. But hey, at least the jealousy will push you to work harder. Never the less, it is at this point when Shaun of stayfitbug.com will come to the rescue and show you ways to keep those muscles active. It is these exercises that you will use to find your own map. What tweaks work and which don’t? Here you will pick those posts that either unveil an innovative exercise or workout routine such as,

Hard Gainer Weightlifting Workout Routine

Shock Body Exercise Variations

Unique bodyweight exercises

How To Build A Sandbag For Your Weightlifting Routine

And use them to take your muscles to the next level… in your own way.

Understand Your Genetics

Unfortunately you cannot change the genes that you have been blessed or cursed with. Whether you have a big butt, high calves with skinny ankles, a long neck, small wrists or whatever… you are lumped with it for life. But the quicker you understand that, the quicker you can figure out what you can do in your workouts so that everything you do works to your advantage.

If you have small wrists like I do, then you will have focus on grip work and building your forearm muscles more (compound exercises can fix this too). If you have a long neck, then focus on neck exercises and building up your traps. Then make sure to build yourself a tailor made wardrobe so that your hard work is always on display when you are in public. You might not be a show off all of the time. But I bet you would like to show off that one part of your body that you have always been insecure about… right?

Once you have understood this, then it is up to you put more focus on the areas of your body where your genetics have decided to curse you.

Watch How Your Body Responds To Certain Scenarios

This is a key thing that you need to do. You can read everything that I tell you here and a lot of it may work. There will be times when you do something ‘right’ in your workout, different to what you have done previously, and that is when you will have found out what works for you! When that does happen, make sure you write it down. If it begins to work again then you know you can use that method over and over again. You will now have learned how to ride your own bodybuilding bike… just know that you will have to change the gears every now and again so that your muscles always have something new to talk about.

Now, this probably won’t happen often… well, it just might. But when it doesn’t, you will be faced with bodybuilding failure. You will either face a plateau or worse… lose muscle mass. I have personally experienced the pain of losing muscle mass, at a time when I was working out the hardest. I just couldn’t figure it out. Looking back now, it was probably a combination of things.

• Not having enough rest days
• Working the same muscle group to much
• Not taking my glutamine supplement
• Or just not eating the right food before my workout

Since then I haven’t really faced any traumas as I did then. I’ve managed to find ways to prevent that from happening. I guess you could say that I have begun to find my own map. But it’s not to say that the same thing can’t happen again.

The devil really is in the detail here. Just make sure you keep your eye on the ball. Watch how your body responds to everything you do. And when the good things happen, write it down… and celebrate a little.

Create And Follow Your Own Trial And Error

In the last couple of posts, you will have learned the about the importance of

• Writing things down

(If you don’t yet use a journal, here is a simple one that you can use)

And here’s another simple one, which you can just download.

However, I personally think I can design a better one. If I do, you will know about it.

• Following up what you did with what you had planned

• Understanding why you didn’t follow through with the whole plan

• Drafting a new plan to fix and improve

• Keeping a journal of that

• Tracking and analyze the results

• Using that data that as a base of progression

This is a much better way than following the leader for a few reasons

• You have different genetics – Your bodies will respond different to different things
• You may have slightly different goals
• You don’t know their ‘real’ lifestyle (What they eat, how they eat, how much they sleep etc.)

There are many factors in ones lifestyle that could affect the way one looks and performs in the gym.

But something that is beneficial is if you find a leader in the gym that openly states what works for them, but also recognizes what may work for you, using the same info. I might even be a contender to be your virtual gym partner. Time will be the decider of what happens with that.

The last thing you want to make sure you do is HAVE FUN!

I’ve already covered a few ways in which you can do this, both when working out and not.

Forget About The Gym! Play Rockband and Guitar Hero For Fitness

Help! I Can Barely Lift My Own Body Weight, How Do I Start?

Working Out is Boring! Lets Just Dance (part 1)

But there’s no point doing any of this if you aren’t going to have some fun along the way. (Don’t worry; I will always be on the quest to find new ways to have fun with bodybuilding)

Once you follow this map in this order, you’ll be able to see where all of the loopholes exist in your workout routine.

See you in the comments.

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