You've just finished an awesome workout, and you're feeling pumped. You have plans with friends, so you move on to the locker room, hop in the shower, don your street clothes, and you are out the door thirty minutes later. You fight traffic for an additional thirty minutes, and finally meet up with your friends. Your window of opportunity has passed. You did not get the post workout muscle supplements that you needed to enhance muscle growth.
Muscles are in a constant state or activity. They are either breaking down, or building up, and what you are doing and consuming determines which process is going on at all times. Simply put, if muscle protein synthesis is not taking place, the muscles are breaking down.
This is where high protein muscle supplements can come in handy. If consumed immediately after a workout - within sixty minutes - you will be amazed at the benefits of these muscle supplements. When you are training with weights, there is an increase of amino acids and glucose through the muscles. This uptake continues for approximately sixty minutes after you stop working those muscles. By injecting more protein into that process, you are essentially ensuring that your muscles are quickly getting a nice dose of protein right away.
By using a muscle supplement right after a workout, you will not only be greatly enhancing the effects of your workout, with almost immediate results, but you will also be speeding up the muscle healing process that always takes place after a workout.
The best muscle supplement to use after your workout should be a high quality carbohydrate and protein mix. Many bodybuilders get this carb/protein mix with the use of a shake - because it is quick and easy. There are numerous high quality muscle supplement shakes on the market, and this is definitely an investment that you will want to make. Furthermore, we know that liquids work through your system much faster than solids.
The muscle supplement shake that you choose should have 30 to 40 grams of protein, with 25 to 30 grams of carbs. These can be purchased in liquid form, but it is generally cheaper to buy this in powder form, and mix it with water. Water is just as important as the carbs and protein, because water is the vehicle that actually moves nutrients through the muscles.
The use of post workout muscle supplements is one of the best kept secrets in the bodybuilding world. Those big muscles that you see are not due to steroids, as many people mistakenly assume. They are due to understanding how the body works, and making sure that the process of muscle building is enhanced as much as possible, through your own actions.
Those bodybuilders who do take advantage of this sixty minute window of opportunity following a workout usually notice a vast difference within a few hours - not only in how they look, but also in how they feel. Make sure that you include post workout muscle supplements to your regimen.
If your abs look good, your whole body looks good. Having Big arms and chest is one thing but having rock hard defined abs is so another.
Everyone knows that nothing turns heads like a defined full set of abs. And hey, chicks love em. What more needs to be said.
Contrary to popular belief, the abs or Rectus Abdominis is really only one muscle. It stretches from the top of your pelvis up to your ribcage. The "six-pack" as it is called is merely sections of this one muscle.
Dispelling the Ab Myths:
The action of any muscle is simply to contract. And as you can't contract half your bicep or quad, it makes sense that you cannot contract half your abs as well. Therefore the myths about "upper ab" and "lower ab" training are total nonsense. I'm not discounting those training methods but the simple fact is that if you can't see your lower abs, it just means you've got fat covering them, not that you need to work them harder.
Say goodbye to hanging knee-raises, straight-leg raises, and any other type of leg raises for building your abs. They simply don't work. The primary role of your abs is to stabilize your body. When you raise your leg for example, your hip flexors pull on your spine and arch it forward/downward. Your abs stabilize this action by resisting and essentially keeping your back from breaking. Take note that this is the static action of the abs. It doesn't build or strengthen. Leg raising exercises only feel like they are effectively working your abs because of the repeated strain and exhaustion of your muscle producing catabolic, lactic acid build up. Search for "lactic acid" at http://www.muscle-body.com for more information.
What Really Works:
What does strengthen your abs is what strengthens any other muscle in your body. Contraction! In this case - Decreasing the distance between your rib cage and your pelvis.
So we come back to the good old sit-up. But there are a few things to keep in mind.
Firstly, forget about the cool all-the-way-up sit-ups you see in the movies. Your abs are fully contracted when your shoulders are about 5 to 6 inches off the ground. So don't bother trying to impress or outperform someone by touching your elbows to your knees. It does nothing for you. Crunches as they are sometimes called are the way to go.
Secondly, don't wedge your feet under something to help you get up. You don't need to do this if you are doing crunches properly anyway. Your legs should be at 90 degrees to each other and your knees at 45 degrees to your waist. If you need to, use something to press your heels back against to stabilize yourself. This way you will use your hamstrings instead of your hip flexors which will keep the focus on your abs.
Thirdly, keep your hands lightly held against the side of your head or crossed on your chest. Don't clasp them together behind your head or neck. If you do you will be tempted to pull with your hands to get the last few reps out, which will put unnecessary strain on this fragile part of the spine.
Alternative:
Another good exercise for abs is kneeling crunches. You will need special equipment to perform this exercise. This is where you kneel and contract your abs so that your upper body arches forward/downward. You hold a rope attached to a pulley with weights for extra resistance. Most gyms will have a rope attachment to the triceps pull down to perform this exercise. The idea is to lock your arms against your upper body so that you pull down only with your abs and not your arms.
Ab Training Devices:
In 2 words - Forget it.
You don't need them. Most of them do nothing for you. Building muscle is hard and it hurts. Most of these devices are designed to take the pressure off your body making the exercise seem easy and con you into thinking you are really targeting your muscles. Don't believe the hype. Ab training is definitely hard work but definitely worth it's reward.
The Secret:
The difficulty in obtaining great abs is not so much building the muscle. It's cutting enough fat from your body for them to show. You probably know by now that spot-reduction of fat simply doesn't work here. In order to show those abs you need overall fat loss. Check out http://www.muscle-guide.com for more info.
You have to check this out. These guys are amazing bar athletes, training for years and years. The good thing about this warmup is that it requires NO equipment. Yes you can be fit and healthy with no equipment man. It is possible believe it or not. Here is the video, definatly some entertaining stuff to look at.
The title is quite self explanitory. When it comes to recovery it is the most important in building muscle. If you are not letting your muscles recover they simply wont grow. That is just the truth. They need to recover in order to grow. Check it out, this is a video of Eliot who is showing techniques in how to recover faster.
This is defiantly something worth checking out, its brilliant.
If you wanna see something that requires a lot of strength then just watch the video down below. This is something for fit healthy people, quite entertaining as well. They are usually called bar athletes. Training like this can be very effective in gaining lean quality size and strength. Build a nice muscular physique. Check it out.
Trying to build some muscle? Well doing bicep curls all day will not give you big arms sad to say. However there are certain excersizes that are better for building muscle. These excersizes are compound, meaning they work multiple muscle groups at once. Its also better for weight loss. The more muscles you incorporate the more your resting metabolic rate will increase. That is exactly what you want when it comes to fat loss.
4 MONTHS KILLER BODY PLAN : -------------------- -------------------- Part1:
important note : this plan is geared and recommended for Healthy Adult
Men that have intermediate to advanced experience at the gym. it is not
to be performed by individuals who are minors or persons with medical
conditions. Always consult your physician & Doctor before starting
any serious sport activity. This Program was solely developed by me
as a result of my 20 years experience in natural bodybuilding. it
contains 3 important components : weight training , Diet and cardio.
it is Mandatory to Stick to the plan in every detail to obtain good
results. Failure to Follow the plan accordingly will hinder greatly the
results. Your Main asset during This journey is your Will, hard work and Dedication.
Some of You will fail to Comply and to fully adhere to the plan for
different reasons but the rest of you who have the Guts to Take on the
Challenge and go on with the Plan will be rewarded with probably the
best physique they ever had, Will you be one of them???. NB: please
note that i have Always been a 100% natural Bodybuilder and i Always
Knew that the Big Boys either on the Magazines or the So Called Gym Rats
at the Gym were Taking Steroids and performance enhancing Drugs. all of
you guys know that! but that did not stop me from always researching
the Best Natural way to optimize my shape to the best i can in a 100%
Natural way. i had my ups and downs, i have red 100's of Magazines,
100's of reviews on nutritions and supplements and i genuinely think at
this point that i know a good deal about what works and what does not
work. The First think you guys will Notice is the SIMPLICITY of the
PLAN! Lots of folks think that it is so complicated to get in shape
whereas in reality we need to keep it as simple as possible to succeed ,
trust me on this! ;) First of all let me go through the Supplements
i take and am still taking either continuously or periodically, you
guys will have to check if these supplements are available & or
legal in your different countries. All these Supplements are Legal &
available in north America : 1) Multivitamins & Minerals 2) EFA's = Omega 3 ( essential fatty acids) 3) Glucosamine ( for your joints) these 3 up here are regular supplements that a normal person could take anyway but they are VERY important for us. Now let's get down to supplements that are Bodybuilding related : 4) Whey protein ( the most important supplement) 5) Casein or any other time released protein mix ( i'll tell you about this stuff on a video)
10) Dextrose or Maltodextrine ( Very high Glycemic simple sugar, inexpensive as well)
11) very recommended but not mandatory : Preworkout supplement , there
are tons of them out there, you can ask me for the brand i prefer i'll
tell you. Note: if you guys don't have the means to get these
Supplements at least try to Get the Whey Protein because it is
important.Also note that i do not recommend any FAT BURNERS for it is
not compatible with my plan. Now let's get down to Business : The
plan will be divided unto 4 months that will be differentiated by
changes in Diet, Cardio and supplement intake, on the other hand the
weight lifting will stay the same during the 4 months ( your biggest
challenge when it comes to weight lifting will be to stick truthfully to
my program and not ADD other exercises i did not proscribe) Now here is the training plan that will never Change during the 4 months : Monday : CHEST : 3 Drop Sets of incline Barbell press (8.8.8) IE: each set will have 24 reps 3 Drop Sets of Decline Barbell Press (8.8.8) ( same as above) 3 Drop sets of Flat bench Dumbbell Press ( not barbell) (6.6.6) 3 Drop sets of Flat Dumbbell Flies (8.8.8) ( next week you will be doing decline flies instead and you'll switch back and forth each week TRICEPS : Flat Bench Head Crushers 3 Drop sets ( 8.8.8) Incline Bench Head Crushers 3 drop Sets (8.8.8) overhead dumbbell extensions 3 Drop sets ( 6.6.6) BICEPS : 5 Drop sets of Barbell Preacher curls will a straight Barbell ( 8.8.8) ( yes that's it for the Biceps) lots of you are going like : What the hell! i know ;) BRACHIALIS: 3 sets of hamer curls ( 8 reps each) no drop sets ABS : 3 sets of crunches ( 20 reps) 3 Sets of Leg raises ( 20 reps) if you have strong abs add a 5 lbs dumbbell or more if you can ( i lift a 25lbs Dumbbell in my leg raises) 2 sets of Dumbbell oblique Sways (25 reps) i recommend 20 lbs for starters CARDIO : 30 min of treadmill or bike at 135 Heart beat per Min Wednesday: BACK: 4 Drop Sets of Barbell Rows ( 6.6.6) 4 Drop Sets of Dumbbell Rows ( 6.6.6) 3 Sets of pull overs ( 8 reps) no drop sets SHOULDERS: 3 Drop sets of Barbell Press ( 8.8.8) 3 Drop Sets of Dumbbell raises ( 6.6.6) 3 drop sets of reverse flies (6.6) TRAPS : 3 Drop Sets of Shrugs ( 6.6.6) ABS : 3 sets of crunches ( 20 reps) 3 Sets of Leg raises ( 20 reps) if you have strong abs add a 5 lbs dumbbell or more if you can ( i lift a 25lbs Dumbbell in my leg raises) 2 sets of Dumbbell oblique Sways (25 reps) i recommend 20 lbs for starters CARDIO : 30 min of treadmill or bike at 135 Heart beat per Min Friday: QUADS : LEG Press : 4 SETS of 8 ( don't dare doing Drop sets if you are not lifting
serious weights for years,
legs are big muscles and pump an enormous amount of blood, Drop sets are
for advanced Bodybuilders when it comes to legs and certainly not while
dieting) 4 Series of Squats (8)( i do them on a smith machine) HAMSTRINGS: 5 Sets of 8 of Stiff Legs dead lifts ( warm up well for this one and if you have trouble doing it, replace it with Leg Curls. CALVES : it's up to you, any machine at the gym will do good ( don't spend more than 20 min here though) ABS : 3 sets of crunches ( 20 reps) 3 Sets of Leg raises ( 20 reps) if you have strong abs add a 5 lbs dumbbell or more if you can ( i lift a 25lbs Dumbbell in my leg raises) 2 sets of Dumbbell oblique Sways (25 reps) i recommend 20 lbs for starters CARDIO : 30 min of treadmill or bike at 135 Heart beat per Min
PS: this is my Training plan. it is VERY simple, a lot of you guys may
be going like : what the hell??? that's it? YES that is it! no Fancy
stuff, No MACHINES, No Cables , ONLY FREE WEIGHTS, Dumbbells and BARBELS
. but as i said you got to trust me on this if you wanna follow my
plan, trust me, been there done it! ,,,,KEEP it Simple, . PERIOD! and i
know that most intermediate Bodybuilders will take some time to get
this but this is the Fruit of 2 decades of training. And Remember, we
are Natural Bodybuilders, we don't go by the same Rules as the Freaky
Roids Guys. Now let's Get down to CARDIO: Beside of you doing
Cardio each time after your Workout for 30 Min you will also Have to do
Cardio For 30 min EACH Day, First thing in the Morning on an empty
stomach ( just drink a big Glass of water before,, i said water not
Juice nor any other energy drink) and your heart beat needs to be
between 135 and 140, if you have a treadmill or bike at home , you're
fine it will have the heart beat calculator. if you don't have any, Go
Take a jog outside ( very light jogging, don't run like crazy, you need
to be able to talk while jogging, don't fatigue your self). and again
guys, i said each day, sunny day, rainy day you name it. you need your
30 min of morning cardio on DAILY! -------------------------------------
PART2 IMPORTANT NOTE : meals are seperated by 3 Hours except for the meal 4 and 5 during workout days.
Diet Plan : The Diet Plan is what will pretty much determine the Scale
of your Fat Burning, During the 4 Months period we will downgrade the
Carbs intake in 3 phases to burn out the fat and then we will Carb up
during a Whole Month in a controlled manner to maximize the mass gain
induced by the natural high hormonal state in which the body is after a
period of dieting . Month1: : TRAINING DAY: Meal1: 1 Whole wheat Beagle with FAT Free Philadelphia Cream Cheese + a Protein Shake with Skimmed Milk) + you'll take your Vitamins and Omega3 and Glucosamine You'll grow to love this breakfast , it is a delight as far as am concerned meal2 : 1 Main meal of your choice meal3: 1 main meal of your choice meal4: you just finished your Gym training. you'll take the post workout Shake. Meal5: this one is one Hour after Meal4 not 3 hours. you'll take 1 fruit + a Whey Pro Shake with water ( not milk) Meal6: Casein Shake with water or Skimmed Lactose free Milk NON-TRAINING DAY:
Meal1: 1 Whole wheat Beagle with FAT Free Philadelphia Cream Cheese + a Protein Shake with Skimmed Milk) + you'll take your Vitamins and Omega3 meal2 : 1 Main meal of your choice meal3: 1 main meal of your choice Meal4: a salad of your choice that has either Tuna, chicken breast or egg whites ( needless to say that it has no oil no dressing no salt etc,,,,) Meal5: Whey protein with milk Meal6: Casein Shake with water or Skimmed Lactose free Milk. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Month 2: it's gonna be really Basic you just need to substitute Meal3 with the content of meal4 so it's gonna be as follows : Right after your cardio, TRAINING DAY: Meal1: 1 Whole wheat Beagle with FAT Free Philadelphia Cream Cheese + a Protein Shake with Skimmed Milk) + you'll take your Vitamins and Omega3 and Glucosamine You'll grow to love this breakfast , it is a delight as far as am concerned meal2 : 1 Main meal of your choice meal3: a salad of your choice that has either Tuna, chicken breast or egg whites ( needless to say that it has no oil no dressing no salt etc,,,,) meal4: you just finished your Gym training. you'll take the post workout Shake. Meal5: this one is one hour after Meal4 not 3 hours. you'll take 1 fruit + a Whey Pro Shake with water ( not milk) Meal6: Casein Shake with water or Skimmed Lactose free Milk NON-TRAINING DAY: Pretty much the same as the training one except meal4 and 5 30m min cardio followed buy
Meal1: 1 Whole wheat Beagle with FAT Free Philadelphia Cream Cheese + a Protein Shake with Skimmed Milk) + you'll take your Vitamins and Omega3 and glucosamine meal2 : 1 Main meal of your choice meal3: a salad of your choice that has either Tuna, chicken breast or egg whites ( needless to say that it has no oil no dressing no salt etc,,,,) Meal4: a salad of your choice that has either Tuna, chicken breast or egg whites ( needless to say that it has no oil no dressing no salt etc,,,,) Meal5: Whey protein with milk Meal6: Casein Shake with water or Skimmed Lactose free Milk. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Month 3: Right after your cardio, TRAINING DAY: Meal1: 1 HALF of a Whole wheat Beagle with FAT Free Philadelphia Cream Cheese + a Protein Shake with Skimmed Milk) + you'll take your Vitamins and Omega3 and glucosamine You'll grow to love this breakfast , it is a delight as far as am concerned meal2 : 1/2 Main meal of your choice meal3: a salad of your choice that has either Tuna, chicken breast or egg whites ( needless to say that it has no oil no dressing no salt etc,,,,) meal4: you just finished your Gym training. you'll take the post workout Shake. Meal5: this one is one hour after Meal4 not 3 hours. you'll take 1 fruit + a Whey Pro Shake with water ( not milk) Meal6: Casein Shake with water or Skimmed Lactose free Milk NON-TRAINING DAY: Pretty much the same as the training one except meal4 and 5 30m min cardio followed by
Meal1: 1 HALF of a Whole wheat Beagle with FAT Free Philadelphia Cream Cheese + a Protein Shake with Skimmed Milk) + you'll take your Vitamins and Omega3 And Glocosamine meal2 : 1/2 Main meal of your choice meal3: a salad of your choice that has either Tuna, chicken breast or egg whites ( needless to say that it has no oil no dressing no salt etc,,,,) Meal4: a salad of your choice that has either Tuna, chicken breast or egg whites ( needless to say that it has no oil no dressing no salt etc,,,,) Meal5: Whey protein with milk Meal6: Casein Shake with water or Skimmed Lactose free Milk. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Month 4: EXACTLY LIKE MONTH 1 and we add 10 G of Creatine and Tribulus in that First morning Juice OK???? Note : drink tons of water during this month. AND STOP COMPLETELY THE MORNING CARDIO. Time to gain back some real mass. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Post Workout Shake : 50 grams of Whey Pro + 10 Grams BCAA + 10 Grams
Glutamine+ 35 Grams of Dextrose or Maltodextrine (+10 Grams of Creatine
in month 4) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Main Meals : the Main Meal needs to Have a Whole grains Carbs Like :
Brown rice, Whole wheat Brown spaghetti,,,and you,ll add on your either
Chichen Breast white meat, White Fish, Lean red meat, sea food,
etc,,,,,with Assorted Veggies of your choice ( IMPORTANT NO OIL TO
BE ADDED' NOT TOO MUCH SALT, and the Carb Quantity we are talking about
needs to be a Cup of either rice or Brown spaghetti Not a BIG Cup. ----------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------
Seriously, You don't need any supplements when it comes to losing weight. You can do it naturally and effectively. I am going to simplify it to the extreme so read carefully.
Training:
Weight training for 30 min - 40 minutes. Then a half hour of cardio vascular excersize.
Im talking about CARDIO not walking on a tredmill.
Do a nice paced jog for a couple minutes then you can move onto something less difficult like jumproping.
Make sure you are training on an empty stomach. You can maximize your results greatly just by doing your training without any food
Diet:
This is whats going to be the deciding factor on whether you actually lose the weight off
Your strength and rate of fat loss depends on this.
One thing to always keep in mind for overweight people is to increase protein.
Keep your carbohydrates and sugar completely low while your proteins high. Make sure you eat green leafy vegetables.
Eat clean and slightly less than what you originally would.
If you ever heard of Intermittent fasting which is extremely effective check it out here.
I will make a post about IF later. :) enjoy.
Build Muscle The Right Way
I hope that the text you are about to read really changes your life. It will if you pay attention. Building muscle, looking lean and muscular is extremely simple. However it is not something that can happen overnight. You have to give it time and patience. Once you have that applied then you are already half way there.
You have to choose one goal. Are you skinny and you want to build muscle, or are you fat and wanna look like bradd pit. If you fat well, your gonna have to shed the fat off considerably before you can start actually dive into a lean and healthy bulking phase.
Once you have decided what your goals are, in terms of losing fat first or building muscle. You cannot do both at the same time, you can try but the muscle gains will be close to none. You'll gain maybe .001 lb a weak of lean mass if you are experienced. However beginners have it easy. You will naturally start building muscle. Will it make you look like Arnold when he was 18 years old? Nope. In the mean time this is a great channel to checkout videos of twinmuscleworkout. These dudes definitely know what they are talking about. You might wanna check their channel out.
