Keeping Fit is A Daily Battle

Muscle mass is considered significantly for the bodybuilders.

Muscle mass can be developed by following a perfect combination of balanced diet, workout and supplements. Read further to gain knowledge about the correct strategy for augmenting muscles.

Contract the Muscles – Muscle growth is directly proportional to the degree of contraction of muscles. Perform the negative technique to put excess burden on muscles and gain muscle mass.

Fish for Food – Fish is rich in omega-3 fatty acids which increases the sensitivity of the muscles towards insulin. Insulin sensitive muscles have increased capacity to store glycogen and facilitate easy entry of amino acids in the muscles.

Enhanced Intake of Sodium – Sodium increases the storage of carbohydrate in the muscles and the amino acids are also absorbed at an increased rate in the muscles due to the presence of the optimum amount of sodium in the body.

Increase the Weights – Muscle growth is proportional to the amount of force muscles endures. Increase the weights lifted to build the muscle mass fast.

Balanced Diet – Low calorie does not support in the muscle mass building process. Carbohydrates, fats and proteins are required in excess quantity to build muscle mass.

Take a Break – Continuous training puts lots of stress on the muscles. Ample rest is also required to allow muscles to recover from the strain of workout. Ample rest augments the process of anabolism and restores the glycogen.

Protein Intake in Night – Bodybuilders diet includes four to six meals in a day. Supplement the diet with the protein shake in the night to enhance the absorption of the nutrients in the body.

Powerlift – Go for six to twelve rep range as it increases, both the strength and size of the muscles.

Combination of Three – Glutamine plays an important role in muscle building. Low level of glutamine inhibits the muscle growth. Creatine is essential to produce ATP, the energy molecule. Creatine releases energy in the muscles. Branched Chain Amino Acids provides the body with nitrogen required to build muscles.

by Michael Jans

No body wants to be “fluffy.” Being muscular is not only healthy but it is also physically attractive, cool and… really sexy.

A body that features a pair of “love handles” and a nicely rounded belly isn’t very attractive or sexy anywhere or anytime… but it’s especially unattractive and definitely not sexy when you stick it in a swimsuit and take it out to the pool or beach. Like it or not, MUSCLE is more attractive than fat!

Physical fitness is based on the development of muscle and the simultaneous loss of fat. You want to KEEP the muscle that you have and build on it, while getting rid of that “fluffiness.”

These four pillars of muscle building are eternal and unchanging, no matter your age, sex, or starting weight:

1. Strength Training 2. Cardio Training 3. Diet 4. Mental Training

If you leave out any one of these four pillars of muscle building, your efforts will fail. Also you can’t build muscle on just one pillar at a time. ALL of the pillars must be used from the very beginning of any muscle building program for you to be successful.

Muscle Building Pillar #1: Strength Training

All of the muscle building programs that I’ve ever seen start with strength training… generally weight lifting. Weight lifting is a good strength training option but it isn’t the only one.

Body weight exercises can be used instead of or in conjunction with weight lifting. If you do a push up, you’ve lifted your body weight. If you do a chin-up, you’ve lifted your body weight.

Muscle Building Pillar #2: Cardio Training

Cardio training is more often than not called aerobic exercise. Walking, jogging, cycling, cardio machines, aerobic exercise classes are all cardio training options.

Muscle Building Pillar #3: Diet

The idea here is to nourish the muscle while dropping the fat, and doing it without starving the whole body. Starvation diets and “fad” diets simply don’t work over the long haul and “low carb” diets are not good for producing results when you want to build muscle.

A somewhat reduced calorie – but nutritionally balanced – diet is the one that will work. Eat healthy and depend on the additional exercise to burn the fat.

Muscle Building Pillar #4: Mental Training

Most people think that the insurance height/weight tables can tell them how physically fit they are. They also believe that a scale is the only tool needed to find out whether a physical fitness program is working. That’s just wrong.

The weight to height ratio is important, but it’s NOT the only factor. The mind must toss out old worn out fitness ideas and accept the fact that percentage of body fat is a much more important factor than a number on the scale – and the way that clothes fit and how you look is an even more important factor.

Seated Cable Rows are great for the lats muscles, and it also exercises the trapezius, rhomboids and rear deltoids. It will give you wider lats if done correctly, but may result to lower back pain if not done correctly.

Below are the steps on proper way of doing seated cable rows:

1. Sit at the pulley row machine. Anchor your feet against the foot platforms, with your knees slightly bent.
2. Keep your back straight, lean forward slightly and grasp the handles with a narrow grip.
3. Pull the handles high toward your chest, keeping your spine straight. Your elbows should point behind you. Don’t lock your knees.
4. Hold for a second, then return to the starting position.

To target more on the trapezius, pull the handles or bar through a high trajectory towards the middle chest; a low trajectory toward the abdomen works more on the latissimus dorsi.

Remember to keep your back straight and torso upright, to prevent injury to your lower back and you are contracting the right muscles (lats and traps). Squeeze the shoulder blades together to maximize muscle contraction.

Below is a video demonstrating the proper execution of seated cable row:

Your eyes benefit from strength training! From previous post, where we knew that there are sexual benefits for strength training, now another benefit is that it saves you from suffering glaucoma. Researchers at Mississippi State University report that you can reduce your risk of glaucoma with bench presses.

Glaucoma is one of the leading causes of blindness, affecting more than 67 million people worldwide. It affects the optic nerve, the connection between the eyeball and the brain. It’s caused by an abnormally high internal eyeball pressure and requires lifelong treatment and monitoring.

In the study by MSU, 30 people who performed three sets of bench presses reduced the pressure within their eyes, called intraocular pressure (IOP), by 15 percent.”Anything that lowers IOP reduces the pressure on the optic nerve, thus reducing the likelihood of nerve damage and glaucoma,” says Joseph Chromiak, Ph.D., the lead study author. Exercises that recruit a lot of muscle mass, such as bench presses or squats, reduce pressure best, Chromiak says.

Fitness machines. Learn More.

I was in the same boat recently when I stopped lifting weights for almost 6 months. I could not find time during those months when I shifted to a new house and took me some time to resume my previous routines. What is the best strategy when returning to lifting weights again after returning from a long layoff?

According to a study by Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, anyone returning from a layoff of six months or more should at first limit their lifting to one set per exercise. This applies too for those beginning to lift weights. The researchers reviewed 16 studies and determined that single-set programs yield gains similar to those produced by multiple-set programs at the start.

“You’re actually better off beginning with a light training regimen to acclimatise your body to additional stress”, says Linda LeMura, Ph.D., a co-author of the study. So there’s no need to break-in your body with doing multiple sets for one to 4 weeks. I actually followed this advice, and re-conditioned my body to adapt to perform more sets after 1 month of doing one set only. This would also prevent injuries or “pulled” muscles, especially when attempting to lift the weight you can do easily before.

Do one set first of approximately 65 percent of your one-repetition max, for one month. One set is 8 to 10 repetitions. After that, resume your multiple sets as you did before your layoff, 3 to 4 sets of about 80 percent of your one-rep max. Take it easy at first and you will be on your way to getting shape again.

Seated leg raise gives an overall workout for the abs. It exercises the both the main abs muscles (rectus abdominis) and the obliques – the abs muscles that passes obliquely downward from the rib cage to the pelvic bone. The obliques are also known as “love handles” to those of us who have packed a few pounds around the middle.

The rectus abdominis is only one large muscle, but can be described to consist of upper and lower abs. As the crunch or sit-up primarily exercises your upper abs, seated leg raise is great for exercising primarily the lower part of the abs. Seated leg raise also workouts secondarily your butt and hip flexors.

Proper Execution of Seated Leg Raise:

1. Keeping your knees slightly bent, extend your legs and raise them a few inches off the floor.

2. While bringing your body to an upright position, slowly pull your knees in to your chest as far as you can without losing your balance.

3. Hold for a second, then simultaneously return your upper body and legs to the starting position, keeping your back straight as you go.

A video speaks a “trillion” words Below is a workout video by Bodybuilder Frank Sepe, demonstrating how to properly do the seated leg raise.

Lat is short term for “Latissimus dorsi”, the primary upper back muscle which gives a V shape look for our trunk, and makes our waist look smaller. Our back muscles enable us to pull with power, or grab something heavy from the ground, like a heavy baggage for example.

Lat pulldown is a great upper back exercise, but I advise against pulling down behind your head. I see sometimes guys in the gym pulling behind the head; it could lead to shoulder injuries and should be avoided.

This exercise also works your rhomboids, which lie between your spine and your shoulder blades. Don’t overdo the amount of weight.

As always, a workout video showing the exercise, provides a better grasp of the workout instructions. Below is a video of bodybuilder Frank Sepe demonstrating the correct form of doing lat pulldown.

Muscles Involved:
Primary: Latissimus dorsi (outer section).
Secondary: Rear deltoid, lower trapezius, rhomboids.

Proper Lat Pulldown Execution:

1. Sit at a lat pulldown station. Grasp the bar overhead, placing your hands shoulder-width or farther apart. Your palms should face away from your body. Keep your upper body straight and your eyes forward.

2. Slowly pull the bar down in front of your head until it reaches the top of your shoulders and touching your upper chest, keeping your upper body fairly upright throughout the movement. Hold for a second, then slowly return your arms in the starting position.