Posts Tagged ‘work out’

Bodybuilding Training For Hardgainers – Unique Approach to Training For Massive Muscle Gains!

Sunday, December 20th, 2009

I was always wondering why my friends were getting bigger in the gym while my muscles did not respond to training as much as I would expect. Then I realized that as a skinny hardgainer I will have to do much more than just “train hard” and “lift heavy” – as many of the bodybuilding “gurus” and magazines would advice. After a bit of research about ectomorph body type I realized there are many genetic challenges hardgainers have to overcome in order to be able to build muscle.
One of the reasons why hardgainers struggle with “getting bigger” is a higher ratio of type one muscle fibers in hardgainer’s body. In general, there are several types of muscle fiber in our body, but the two that we deal with the most are type one and type two muscle fibers. Type one muscle fibers are your endurance related fibers (e.g. marathon runners have a higher ratio of type one muscle fibers). At the other hand, type two muscle fibers are the ones you get your power from, these are explosive power type fibers. The way hardgainers should target these two muscle groups is completely different than what a “normal” bodybuilding program would suggest!
Other reason for very slow (if any) muscle growth is the fact that hardgainers are biologically challenged when it comes to neuro-muscular communication, which results into poor muscular response and slower muscle building process. In other words, when you’re working out and lifting weights, your type two muscle fibers are much harder to target. Research has shown that only 20 to 30 percent of them are actually hit by your heavy lifting training! That is why the “lift heavy approach” does not really work for hardgainers.
So what advice would I give to skinny guys that do not want to be disappointed seeing all their hard work gone to waste?
One way to overcome the hardgainer’s training challenge with targeting type II muscle fibers is to gradually increase your body’s neuro-muscular communication throughout your workouts by using a “Rest Pause” format. This format is used in many different variations. The aproach I am going to show you might be a bit controversial but it is definitely worth trying because it can greatly magnify your bodybuilding results:
- Pick up a weight that is about 50% of your one-rep max
- Perform 5 repetitions and then rack the weight
- Wait 10 seconds
- Perform another 5 repetitions and rack the weight again
- Wait 10 seconds
- Perform another 5 reps & so on…
By gradually increasing overall workload in your sets with this twisted “Rest-Pause” format, you will slowly activate your Type II muscle fibers. The ten second rest periods will give you just enough time to catch your breath and regenerate energy for the following set. This technique dramatically improves neuro-muscular communication and results in 3 times better muscle growth.
When applied correctly, this “advanced” bodybuilding training technique is actually the HOLY GRAIL for hardgainer training.
Enjoy and lift smart!
Andy Mikulka

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Are Sport Drinks Healthy and Do Sport Drinks Help While Fitness Training?

Thursday, December 17th, 2009

Sports drinks are a bad sport! Many people are in the habit of drinking a sports drink whenever they exercise to re-hydrate themselves. Sure they do hydrate, but unless you have just run an entire marathon, there is practically no benefit to a sports drink over water. The big down side is that they are packed full of sugar, so take a look at how much sugar you are taking in.
A bottle of Powerade has 36grams of sugar in it, almost as much as a can of coke. If you have a Powerade 3 days a week that equates to 5.6kg of pure sugar! It hits the wallet hard too, at say $3.50 a bottle that’s $546 year. Compared to water which is sugar free, costs nothing and does the same job, a sports drink defies the point of drinking it for health benefits.
Water is the best option for hydration during exercise- in fact you need 4-6 ounces for every 15 minutes you exercise. Sugar rich sports drinks actually slows down hydration because the cells absorb the sugar first, which reduces the rate that the water is absorbed into the cells for re-hydration. For this reason, juices and carbonated soft drinks are not good to drink, either. It is advised that you avoid any drinks that are high in sugar or caffeine.
While the sugars and caffeine offer an energy boost, they are not nutritionally good for you and many contain as many calories as you are burning during your exercise routine, which defeats the purpose. In fact, energy and sports drinks slow re-hydration, you may drink a lot more of them than is necessary and still feel thirsty. You certainly don’t need the extra calories they provide.
That’s not to say that there aren’t some of the sugar-free sports drinks that might be better for you, and now they are making vitamin enhanced or flavored bottled water, making it more likely that you will drink enough to get properly hydrated, without the added calories, sugar and caffeine. The only thing is that to get re-hydrated properly, there is no replacement for the free, calorie-less drinking water that comes out of your kitchen tap.
During an exercise routine, it is re-hydration that is most important, not nutrition. While juice has vitamins, minerals and electrolytes, which are good for you, it is more like a food item and it isn’t a great thirst quencher. Even coffee and tea are considered diuretics which pull more water out of your bloodstream, even as the digestive system is putting it back in. Adding milk or sugar only makes this process worse.
Of course alcoholic beverages can have the opposite effect and actually make you thirstier. Any kind of diet carbonated beverages are high in sodium, which has the same “drying” effect on your cells. If you have ever drunk these on a hot day to quench thirst, you may have noticed that the more you drink, the thirstier you get.
Drinking water is the best remedy for quenching thirst during your workout. Save the sports drinks for running a marathon, where you need the boost of energy from the sugar. You will still need to be sure you drink plenty of water, though.
Scott Hunt has been a Personal Trainer for over a decade and has personally taken over 20,000 Personal Training sessions. While his Gold Coast Studio, Fitness Enhancement has done hundreds of thousands of sessions. To find out how quick and easy it can be to get fit and lose weight with a Personal Trainer visit their website at www.fitnessenhancement.com.

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Training to run the best marathon ever

Saturday, December 12th, 2009

There many things you can do to prepare yourself to run a marathon.  As you know running the marathon you must be in the best shape you possibly can be in.  Not being in the best shape than you can risk getting injured while running the marathon.

There many people that think they can just get off the couch and start running 26 miles like nothing.  However, with little bit of preparation you can possibly can run the best race that you’re capable of.  I know personally when I am trying to run a long-distance race I always try to prepare myself beforehand.  It’s not cool running 26 miles and halfway thru to the finish you pulled a muscle in have to with draw from the race.

There are many things that you can do on a daily basis to prepare a marathon are simple.  Normally, what top runners do before marathon is a lot of distance training.  What you want to is train at least six weeks prior to running your first marathon.  Doing this on a daily basis your body will get used to running a long-distance.  However, you want to keep a log of how many miles that you are running daily, so you can track your progress leading up to the marathon race.

Also, this allows you to track your progress from Marathon to marathon and you can see where you need to improve on your training.  In conclusion, you always want to try to stretch at least 30 minutes to 45 minutes before running a marathon.

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Bodybuilding Tips, How To Train Your Body After Age 40

Friday, November 27th, 2009

You have heard it said that your age is merely a number and in many respects that is true, however when it comes to getting in shape it can play an important role in how. Many people use their age as an excuse not to get in shape or lead a healthy lifestyle including a decent workout regimen.The first thing you should know is that your age is not a note from mom and dad letting you out of physical education. When you approach healthy eating, weight training and cardio, training correctly there is no reason why you cannot be healthy not to mention in great shape no matter how old you are.If you are interested in reshaping your body, becoming healthy and fit, losing weight and or increasing bone density weightlifting and bodybuilding are exactly what you are looking for. Besides everyone knows that people who are fit and trim have better self-esteem and generally feel better about life as a whole.Exercise also has depression busting ability. You see exercise releases chemicals in the brain called endorphins, which give you a feeling of well being and happiness.Okay, now that we have discovered some of the benefits let us talk about the reality of being 40 and trying to get into shape. You may have to change up a few things in the routines but you do not have to fall victim to a too old mentality.When we age muscles and joints are not as flexible as they were when you were 20 so you will need to pay special attention to proper stretching and warm up exercises. Take 15 minutes and devote it to stretching muscles and joints. This will give you better flexibility and decrease your risk of injury to muscles and joints. The better you do this 15-minute routine the more conditioned your muscles will get.Next in line is a 15-minute cardiovascular workout. You can do this on an elliptical machine, stair stepper, treadmill or stationary bike. Do not approach this as a marathon, however you should get your heart rate sped up a bit and continue to build on the limbering you have just finished. This point of your routine is to get the blood flowing and put your body on notice that you are serious about getting some work done.Lightweights should be your next step. When you are using free weight training or circuit training, go through your complete routine without the use of heavy weights. You can then follow up with appropriate weights and repetitions.A pyramid system works wonders for many bodybuilders. This workout regimen begins with many reps with lightweights and decreasing the number of reps as you increase the weight. If you want to add bulk and muscle this is a sure fire way to do so.One of the most important things to remember is to keep proper form with every move. It is better to cut back on the repetitions or weights than to have poor form. Keep the position of your body foremost in your mind. Proper form not only gives you the best results but also reduces the risk of injury.Keep your weight routines to a maximum of 30-45 minutes each and focus on working out at least four times every seven days. When you have completed a weight training routine, you can return to a quick cardio session to cool down and further strengthen your lungs and heart.

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