Training Tips - The Best Workout

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Bodybuilders, strength coaches, and personal trainers most often recommend a high intensity workout routine to develop muscle strength and mass. However, not everyone agrees on the best routine. Some may recommend a routine of eight repetitions maximum (RM), one set to failure, or a very slow high intensity movement routine. Others contend that doing one maximum set or a two to three or more set routine with low five to eight repetitions will produce the best result. Each of these routines may be touted as the best and most effective way to train. But is any one routine really the best? The answer is no. All workout routines have benefits. The key is to know when to use them and for what purpose. Even a "low" intensity routine consisting of relatively high repetitions, for example, in the 15 to 20 RM range, can be beneficial. About 10 to 15 years ago, the 15 RM routine was "best" for bodybuilders. This routine produced a "burn" in which there was maximum blood engorgement in the muscle so that you got a maximum "pump." Today, such routines in bodybuilding are rare. Most important to understand is that if you stay on any one routine on a year-round basis you will most likely end up with an injury or find yourself in an overtrained state. You may experience great success and impressive gains when you first start the routine, but after a few months the gains will gradually slow down and come to an end. You may even begin losing strength and mass. The reason for this can be found in a phenomenon known as adaptation, or how your body changes in relation to training. As you begin a new workout routine, your body responds with high energy levels and you experience great physical changes. This is why beginners, when first starting a weight training or bodybuilding program, make very impressive gains. As you improve, your body makes physiological changes in response to the stress created by the workout. The gains begin to slow down. Usually after about three months, there is full adaptation. This means that your body is now totally adjusted (accustomed) to the workout regimen. In essence, all the changes possible from this routine have been made and the gains seen earlier are no longer possible.

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It is analogous to doing the same task over and over. When you first start the work, your energy levels are high and you can repeat the task easily. In time, if you keep doing the same thing day after day, you get bored with the work. Your progress slows down and your energy levels decrease. The same thing happens on a physiological levels when doing only one workout routine, especially a high intensity one. Your nervous system becomes stagnant and loses its energy. As a result, your body can no longer respond with any increases in strength or mass from the workouts. This is when you need a change in the workout routine. If you persist in doing the same routine, you may make excuses for your lack of gains and increase the intensity to shock the body into greater gains. Increasing the intensity at this time usually over stresses the body and you end up in an overtrained state or with an injury. Note that overstress type injuries are not uncommon in bodybuilding. They seem to be occurring with increasing frequency and the injuries are usually quite severe. A lack of impressive or significant increases does not mean that the routine that you are using is not effective.

A high intensity routine is very effective. It is a key to success in bodybuilding and for increasing strength and muscle mass in general. Doing only a high intensity routine is where the problem lies, not in the actual program. The key is to not get stuck doing only a high intensity exercise routine. It can be very effective at a certain time in a year-round training program, but when used on a regular basis it can be downright dangerous. It can produce negative results in almost all participants. If you find someone who is on a high intensity routine for extended periods and who does not seem to have any problems, most likely he or she is on steroids or other drugs. There are other negative effects from doing only a high intensity routine. Suppose you experience a great increase in muscle mass in your program. In order to sustain this new growth, there must be increased capillarization to keep the new tissue and muscle fibers healthy and to supply them with adequate energy supplies during the workout. In addition, waste products, which can be quite high in a high-intensity routine, must be removed from the muscle as quickly as possible by the circulatory system.

Research has shown that increases in circulatory system development lag far behind increases in muscle mass. In time, the circulatory support network will be found lacking and will not be able to maintain the muscle in a healthy and efficient state. If muscle mass and strength continue to increase with the use of high-intensity workouts, in time the muscle will not be able to get sufficient energy or be able to remove the waste products. The exchange processes will be greatly inhibited. It is at this time that your gains will be hard to come by and your may experience a decrease in the amount of weight you can lift. Continued use of a high-intensity routine makes the muscle more vulnerable to injury. Because of the constant strain placed on the ligaments, tendons and connective tissue, they weaken. These structures have poor blood supplies and as a result can not strengthen as quickly as the muscle increases in size and strength. In essence, the high-intensity workout pushes the body beyond its limits even through the muscle fibers can handle the work. Thus we see a "catch 22" situation. You need high intensity workouts to get the necessary gains in strength and muscle mass, but by so doing, the muscles and the support structures become weaker and more vulnerable to injury. To compound matters, continual use of high-intensity training can lead to a decrease in flexibility. You become unable to work through the full range of motion in the exercises that you do. When you use maximum weight and constantly strive to increase the weights, you invariably modify execution technique to accommodate the heavier resistance. For example, when doing a biceps curl, rather than completely extending the arms when beginning the exercise, you start with slight elbow flexion. This makes it easier to lift the heavier weights but you are no longer going through the entire range of motion. Without a full stretch (not straightening the arms at the end of each repetition), the connective tissue eventually shortens, resulting in less flexibility. You may counter that your objective is not to have a full range of motion but to develop maximum strength and muscle mass. Let’s look at some of the long-range consequences of decreased flexibility. First, it produces postural changes. If you continually work the pectoral muscles (without a corresponding amount of work on the opposing back muscle) it leads to a round - shouldered condition. The muscles and connective tissue on the chest shorten, pulling the shoulders in and down. It continued for a long time, it will constrict the rib cage. This, in turn, will interfere with your breathing. (When I was counseling boxer I found this to be the reason why some would breathe harder, get short of breath, and fatigue). A decrease in flexibility also results from certain physiological after-effects of the workout. After completing a high-intensity workout, there is residual muscle tightness caused by nervous impulses that continue to fire on a low level and do not allow the muscles to relax completely. The residual tension keeps the muscles in a slightly shortened state. If you do not use restorative methods, which include stretching to completely relax and recuperate the muscle, the continually shortened muscles will lead to decreased flexibility.

To prevent some of these negative changes caused by using only a high-intensity routine, it is best to execute different routines. These should include high repetitions, medium repetitions and use of many different exercises and speeds of execution. You should gradually build up to a high intensity routine. Staying on each of these different programs for different effects and for specific periods and then changing them continually re-energizes the nervous system. This can produce impressive gains as you undertake each program. You can get even greater results than if you stayed in a high-intensity routine all the time. Try a two weeks split routine. Two weeks of high-intensity exercise routine. During this time increase your calories along with your carbohydrates (3 to 1 – carbohydrate – protein, and increase Creatine intake). The next two weeks change to a low-intensity exercise routine, lower your calories, carbohydrates and creatine intake and increase your protein (2 to 2 carbohydrates – Protein and adding or increasing Testosterone products).

Training Tips

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If you're lifting about the same weights now as you were a year ago, you can't expect to have bigger muscles. Gear everything related to your bodybuilding to adding iron to the bar in good form - this is the central creed. To add more strength to your workouts, you may want to add a testosterone products one hour before workouts. Conversely, if you weigh the same now as you did a year ago, you can't expect to have bigger muscles unless you've substantially reduced your fat intake and increase your protein calories.

The most productive muscle-building exercises are the big multi/joint/compound movement including the squat, bench press, parallel-bar dip, pull-up and overhead press. Focus on them, not on detail exercises such as leg extension, leg curls, the deck and lateral raises. But remember the bigger the muscle the longer the recovery. The intake of protein within 30 minutes after of these exercise is very important in recovery. Glutamine and/or HMB support the body's ability to minimize protein breakdown and damage to muscle cells.

Advanced techniques such as forced reps, negatives and drop sets are extremely stressful and almost invariably lead to overtraining if done too frequently, especially among beginners. So use them only very prudently. Overtraining can lead to muscle wasting. Muscle wasting will actually make you look and feel soft. High protein and Glutamine and/or amino acids is very important in preventing muscle wasting.

Choose free-weight movements whenever possible. Some machines are good, but many are inferior to free weights because they lock you into a movement pattern that doesn't conform to your natural muscle contraction sequences. Free weights also recruit stabilizer muscles that help you maintain balance, therefore, you can expect more complete development. The only time I recommend machines would be for fat burning or a replacement for a muscle injury exercise

For each body part, perform a compound movement first, not an isolation exercise. most beginners and intermediates, however, are better off sticking exclusively with compound exercises for their delts, pecs, triceps, lats, erectors, quads, hams, and glutes.

Train your weak areas first in a workout, but be sure not to over-train them. Over-training will keep your weak areas weak.

You should be tired when you finish training, but it should be an exhilarated feeling of tiredness, combined with the satisfaction of a job well done. Cut back on sets and exercises until you find the volume of work you can cope with without wiping yourself out. If in doubt, do less work rather than more.

Take it relatively easy the first few weeks you’re on a new program, then start pushing hard. But listen to your body; if you feel tried regularly, you’re over-training or under - recovering. Get more rest and recovery, and/or cut back in the gym.

Accurately record all your reps and poundages, and consult your log before each work set. Relative to your previous workout for the exercise concerned, target a little more weight for the same rep count, or one rep more with the same poundage. Remember, progression in good form is the key.

Find a like-minded training partner who has an similar recovery ability to yours, so that you can follow a similar training program. Warning: An inappropriate training partner can be your undoing. If he or she recovers more quickly than you can, tolerates more sets and pushes you to abuse forced reps and other intensity-enhancers, cut your ties promto.

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No single program works well for everyone. Of course, some programs are much better than others, but even the good ones have to be fine-tuned to suit the factors of exercise volume, training frequency and exercise selection that are best for you.

Focus on what you’re in the gym for – to train hard and progressively. Talking diminishes focus. Be so focused that you simply can’t be distracted.

Commit yourself to excellence. Bodybuilding is a very demanding activity, and half-measures and corner-cutting have no place if you want to maximize your rate of process. You must train well every workout, eat well every day, rest well when out of the gym and sleep well every night. Alcohol dehydrates the muscle and drugs can slow down recovery time. Fatty foods, other than feeding the fat, have no value to muscle growth.

Don’t skimp on warm-ups. A warm muscle is much less likely to get injured than a cold muscle. Begin each workout with a general warm-up activity until you break a sweat, then do specific warm-up sets before your work sets for each exercise.

Try both a pronated and supinated grip, and different hand spacing, when performing pull-ups and chins to find the most comfortable and powerful grip for you. You can even try a parallel grip if your gym’s chinning setup has parallel handles.

Pull-ups should be done to the front, not the rear. The pull-up to the rear is a somewhat unnatural movement that can put exaggerated stress on your shoulders. Pull-downs are similar to pull-ups. Always pull to the front.

When doing stiff-legged deadlifts, keep your back flat. To avoid rounding your back, avoid using an excessive range of motion. Don’t go any deeper than the point at which your back is parallel to the floor.

Only at the top of the stiff-legged deadlift should your legs be straight; keep your knees slightly unlocked at all other times.

Building mass means you have to get stronger. To keep using heavier and heavier weights, you need to rest adequately between sets – up to several minutes between sets on your heavy compound exercises.

When doing biceps curls, choose a medium grip. A very close or very wide grip puts exaggerated stress on the elbows. If the barbell curl irritates your elbows and your form is good, try dumbbell curls. Dumbbells permit your wrists to find their natural positioning. Also, keep your wrists straight when curling; don’t extend them backward or flex them forward when doing the movement. 3 –6 teaspoons of Flax seed oil can help fatigued muscles recover more readily while exercises. Flax seed is an essential fatty acids that is needed to helps lubricated joints and joints movement.

Increasing your strength, and hence your muscle size, is a slow process. You can’t hasten it by adding poundage to your exercises faster than your body can build strength. Add only very small plates instead of going for the big ones.

When doing pull-downs, lean back a little and arch your back at the bottom of each rep. Pull your shoulder blades back and down at the bottom of the movement. If you can’t retract your shoulder blades, you’re using excessive resistance.

To avoid the tendency to lean backward, perform the shoulder press seated, not standing. To further protect your lower back, use an adjustable bench set at about 75-80 degrees.

Don’t actually use a close grip on the close-grip bench press. A shoulder-width spacing is close enough to put lots of stress on your triceps without excessively stressing your wrists and elbows.

Minimize or eliminate physically demanding activities other than your weight training outside the gym. Restrict aerobic training to just 25 minutes of moderate work three times a week. This aerobic training can consist of and should include: rolling blading, running, aerobic class, biking, or any sport activity.

When doing crunches, hold resistance on your chest rather than behind your head. This prevents unnecessary stress on the neck and pulling with your hands.

Set limits, but don’t expect the impossible. Live for the next bit of progress, and then the next, and then the next. Target a 5% strength gain on exercise, get it, then target another 5% and so on. Bit by bit you’ll get bigger, and lots of little bits add up to huge gains.

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Ten Commandments of Squatting

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How to Squat Safety and Effectively
Bad Squat Form. Looking down and rounding the back are the primary reasons a person could develop back problems from squatting. Experts agree, injuries from squatting are due to poor form - not an inherent problem with the exercise itself! Support and protect your back and knees by wearing knees wraps and an weight lifting belt.

Arch your back

Never round the back

Do not rotate the knees inward; keep them in line with the feet

Keep the bar in line with the middle of your foot

Never twist the trunk

Do not lean forward excessively

Descend slowly

Don't raise the heels during the exercise; learn to squat flat footed

Never use weights that are too heavy for proper technique

Always use spotters or a power cage

General Guidelines

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For Basic Weight Training

Keep a Training Journal - Detail and record your workout routines and poundages. Each week refer to them and select a few lifts on which to increase the weight. A log will provide a good indication of your training progress and of which exercises are working for you. This allows you to eliminate lifts that are not producing results. (click for FREE Journal)

Eat Several Small Meals a Day - Eating this way insures you are providing your body with adequate nutritional support. Frequent small meals provide a consistent supply of nutrients for the most efficient muscle growth. Many diets provide inadequate, below maintenance levels of calories and nutrition. This results in metabolization of muscle tissue.

Eat Protein - Try to eat at least 1 gram of protein per lean pound of body weight daily. This is critical for people engaging in high-intensity resistance exercise because they need increased amounts of protein to support muscle growth. This goal can be easily met by supplementing the diet with amino acids or protein drinks. Eat right, and treat your body with respect. Proper exercises will not counteract bad eating habits and poor eating patterns.

Avoid Distractions - Have conversations before and after workouts if you like, but once the workout begins, become self-centered, serious and selfish with time.

Vary Your Program - You must become your own exercise scientist. After a period of time, muscles conditioned to the same routine and exercises-in other words they become immune to the workout. Gains become null. This can be over come by periodically varying the order, exercises, and muscle groups. Keeping new angles and new exercises incorporated into your routine causes "muscle confusion" which forces muscles to break down more easily.

Increase The Weight - Only by increasing the weight as often as possible will you provide muscles with the stimulus to protect themselves from future assaults by building up more muscle mass. This is the single most important fact for increasing muscle size and strength.

Train Hard, Not Long - Cut back on the amount of lifting you do and raise your intensity level. High-intensity muscular contractions are an absolute requirement for stimulating rapid, large-scale increases in muscular size and strength. Muscles respond to stimulus. Completing and arbitrarily chosen set of reps will not make muscle grow. You must take the last rep to process. Over-training is a common and often fatal mistake made by novice and intermediate bodybuilders. Heavy lifting should not exceed much more than 30 minutes.

Train For a Complete Physique - It is great to develop exceptional muscle mass and tone, but it is a sorry state of affairs when there is so much body fat on your frame that the muscles you have worked for so hard don’t even show. Add some aerobic training to your routine. It is not only healthy for you, but it is important for aesthetic reasons as well. Twenty minutes of aerobics daily is usually plenty. Calculate your aerobic heart by taking 220 minus your age and multiplying that by 70%.

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Focus On The Muscle Group You Are Working - By concentrating on a specific muscle, you will automatically isolate it more. Do not rely heavily on machines. Free weights are more efficient for muscle growth.

Breath Correctly - Proper breathing is very important. Breathing supplies oxygen to the muscle cells, which is necessary for muscle contraction, and helps deliver energy and build the muscle. Exhale when you lift the weight. Inhale when you lower it.

Concentrate On The Negative - Most of the damage, and thus gains, in muscularity is caused during the negative (eccentric) portion of the lift. It is more important for growth to control the weight when lowering it than when pressing it upwards (concentric/positive). Concentrate on the negative portion of the lift. That is, lower the weight more slowly than you press it up.

Maintain Constant Resistance - A lift should be preformed with constant tension. Pressure should remain constant on the muscle group you are training throughout the exercise. Many times this can be avoided by not locking out the joint in a effort to rest momentarily

Full Range Of Motion - People make serious mistakes by not completing a full range of motion in their lifts. They either miss the top or bottom range.

Focus on Form, Not Weight - While you should always train as heavily as possible and increase the weight as often as you can, you must also perform the exercises using good form. Having a lot of weight can make you feel macho, but improper form will keep you from developing the best physique.

Achieve Peak Contraction - This is a training principle that turns the average "rep" into a growth-producing blitz. Rather than merely moving the weight up and down, you should actively squeeze it hard for a second at the peak of contraction.

Rest Is Critical - Allow at least 72 hours of rest before training the same muscle group. Some people may need more recovery time. Very few can get by with less.

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