It has been quite a few years since ephedrine was banned from dietary supplements, the ban upset a lot of people since many of the studies have shown ephedrine to be safe when used properly. Most of the reports I have read about deaths due to ephedrine relate to people who took more than double the recommended dosage. There is a great site that has a ton of information on the EC, here is the link hotnfit.com. I am not a health professional, nor am I condoning the use of ephedrine, what you do with your body is your decision I am just providing some info on the subject.  Read more here...

Although I am calling this article “How to Rest Properly Between Workouts” it will also cover the basics of taking longer rests or breaks from working out all together. Now of course a lot of die hard lifters will tell you that there is no reason to miss workouts. I have heard all kinds of reasons as to why breaks are bad, from “I mean really  if you miss one, your body isn’t going to keep growing” to “Your going to lose your muscles” and finally to “All kinds of bad things will happen.” Now of course if you take a long enough break you may lose some muscle (if you aren’t eating right), but your body will still grow if you give it the proper fuel. So anyway, lets talk about resting.  Read more here...

What is the Plateau Effect?

If you have never experienced the plateau effect from working out, then you either haven’t been lifting long enough or have been doing something right. Generally the plateau effect can come into play anywhere from a month to a few months after you start lifting. So what exactly is the plateau effect? Simply put it is when your gains in the gym have reached a plateau, you are no longer gaining strength, size, or either. So you can hit a plateau by being to consistent with your workouts and not changing anything up, when your body gets used to doing a certain set of workouts a certain way you will eventually reach a point where you are no longer gaining any benefit from that particular exercise or range of motion. The plateau can last for a few weeks or remain for months until something is changed within your regimen. By maintaining the same regimen sure you will be able maintain your size and strength, but you won’t really see very many gains.  Read more here...

I haven’t been able to post a new article yet because I have been very busy with the new job. As soon a I have time I will write an article about the book I am reading called “Huge in a Hurry” you can click the link to the right to see what it is all about. This book is changing my while outlook on fitness. It is something else I have found from Ben’s blog (bennadel.com)

This program is called FreeViral and helps you spread your website to other webmasters, who will then spread their websites increasing your traffic exponentially. Here is the website: Freeviral.com

In everything we do in our daily lives, at some point we were a beginner. We all had to begin somewhere, not necessarily the same place, but we have worked our way through the beginning stages of different activities. From driving, to writing, to even working we have worked our way from beginners to veterans, so when it comes to fitness don’t let yourself be put down because there is so much to learn. We were all here at one point.  Read more here...

Everyone enjoys the idea of being able to put up heavy weights in any exercise, but many people give up on working out before ever realizing their full potential. The bench press has long been considered one of the staples of strength exercises in weight lifting. The bench press technique has already been explained in my other article, that you can find here. So this article will not be about benching technique so much as it will be about a specific approach to performing the bench press. These things sound similar, so lets start before I confuse you and myself more;  Read more here...

We have all seen those guys with massive pipes (or arms). The arms that bulge or stretch shirts to their max. The look that demands respect and calls for a second glance. So how do these guys get their arms so big? Well the secret isn’t all that secret…variation is the key. The different muscles in your arms all have to be hit with different workouts and angles to help you grow them pipes. So, how do we begin?  Read more here...

Almost everyone loves the look of abs, especially over flab. The look of a defined 6 pack is something that takes a lot of work, but is not impossible. If you have perfected your diet already, and use supplements to help increase definition, strength, etc. the process of hardening your abs will be much easier and much faster. The biggest problem I tend to see when it comes to abs is the stubborn belly fat. Doing 1 million crunches a day won’t make you shed that tummy fat any faster then doing 1 crunch a day, albeit it will add strength and make the abs more noticeable, you can’t spot-burn fat. In case you don’t know, spot burning is where you work a muscle group that is covered in fat in the hopes that your body will burn this fat faster, it has been scientifically proven that you can not spot burn fat, and that as you become leaner your body will naturally burn fat from around your body. Also note, this is usually the note that discourages people, stomach fat is usually the last thing to go.  Read more here...

Everyone knows that warm ups are an important aspect of working out. However not many people realize or utilize the proper approach. A warm up is meant to do a few important vital things:  Read more here...

• Increase blood flow, to your muscles, organs, and through out your body. This increase in blood flow helps the body stay away from fatigue during your workout and will make your recovery faster between sets, and after your workout.

Many people approach fat loss and general exercise with a bad mentality. It seems people expect to fail, and in turn to fail to achieve their goals. This can become a vicious cycle for those of us who are multiple-attempers. Cardio has long been recognized as a staple in the weight loss regimen however, many people approach cardio with the wrong mindset and the wrong type of cardio. I hope to shed some light on cardio that will burn fat.  Read more here...

Some Common Facts

• A pound of fat is equal to 3500 calories
• Cardio burns calories

I am sure we have all had those days where we couldn’t make it to the gym, and of course this throws off our entire routine, or maybe you just don’t have access to a gym and want to get into better shape, stay fit, increase strength, etc. The following workout is one I learn while in the U.S. Air Force Delayed Entry Program. I spent about a year and half in the DEP and learned a lot of great workouts to help increase strength and overall fitness. The best part of this workout is that it is short ~30 minutes and you can do it pretty much anywhere.  Read more here...

Building that Massive Back

One of the most powerful back work outs one can do to increase the size of their back muscles is the Bentover Barbell Row. One of the best back-width increasing exercises is the wide grip pull up. However, a variation on the bentover row is another great way to build a massive back with massive strength. The variation was included in one of Arnold’s many books, a book my friend had read and showed me this awesome workout.  Read more here...

The Forgotten Muscle? What Do You Mean?

In my experience the most under used and under worked muscle group is easily your forearms. How often to you actively think of working just your forearms? My guess is not often. The problem with ignoring your forearm muscles is simple: they play a vital role in your grip strength and how much you can lift with free weights for many different workouts on other body parts. So lets recap quick:  Read more here...

• Forearms are often ignored
• Forearms help increase grip strength
• Forearm strength/size is esthetically pleasing

For those about to bench…

Bench Press

Like most things in life, you have choices. You can choose to do things any old way, or you can choose to do things the right way. When it comes to weight lifting ensuring proper technique is used will help to keep ones body away from injury. Injury is a nasty thing, especially once you start seeing good results. The bench press is your staple chest workout, it is a ‘ruler’ used by many people to measure ones strength. Think back to when you first started lifting, what did people ask you? Most likely they asked how much you could bench. There is good reasoning behind this question, quite simply the bench press requires more upper body strength than any other upper body workout, note leg work outs do require even more strength.  Read more here...