Posts Tagged ‘body building’

How to Succeed in Fat Loss and Muscle building…Dont be a Jumper!

Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008

Being a ‘Jumper’ is the main reason why people fail when trying to achieve both fat loss and muscle growth. A Jumper is some one who ‘jumps’ from diet to diet and from training program to training program, never staying with a one system long enough to find out whether it works or not. If they don’t see the results they want immediately, they assume that the diet or training program that they are following doesn’t work so they jump to the next one. While it is true that there are alot of diets and workout routines that don’t work, there are alot of good ones out there.

The key to getting the results that you want is to find a good program and stick with it. If you are trying to lose fat, look for a program that combines and good calorie controlled balanced diet, with a training routine which includes some resistance training and cardio sessions (jogging, exercisebike, rowing, etc.). With your diet you should stay away from all the fad diets, they just don’t work! This includes diets that cut out carbs completely, extremely low calorie diets, diets that tell you to eat just one type of food and no fat diets. Your body needs a certain amount of the good fats, just try and avoid saturated fats as much as possible. Your diet should have controlled calories and should include a variety of foods, obviously junk foods are a not included in the list! Remember that you need to combine exercise with your diet, it’s the best way to see great results.

When Looking for a Weight training program again look for a program that has a good high protein high calorie diet, combined with a sensible weight training routine. Remember rest is vital for your muscles to grow, so avoid any workout routines that tell you to train the same muscle groups more than twice a week maximum. Also don’t let yourself get drawn into the trap of believing the hype around some supplements that promise you miracle results, they don’t work,this also applies to diet pills if you are trying to lose weight. If a program is based around a specific supplement it should be avoided. 

So getting back to the point of this post, I did stray a bit with a few tips on selecting a program! Pick a sensible fat loss or muscle gain program to follow and stick with it, Jumping from program to program will never get you the results you want. Be patient, results may not be immediate but they will come. So remember, DON’T BE A JUMPER!

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Posted in General | 4 Comments »

The Truth About Breathing When Weight Training…

Wednesday, April 2nd, 2008

I’m sure that any of you who have been inducted at a gym have been shown the ‘correct’ way of breathing when lifting weights or using resistance machines. Breath in during the negative part of the movement, then breath out during the positive or force applying movement. This is usually the breathing technique that the trainer will tell you to use, and under no circumstance should you hold you breath.

So is this true? Is holding your breath? Well in fact holding of the breath is a technique used by some powerlifters, it is known as the Valsalva maneuver. The theory behind this technique is that when you hold your breath you actual tense up your abdominal muscle, which leads to your torso become more sturdy. The only bad thing about this technique is that is does create a temporary rise in blood pressure, which is not dangerous unless you have high blood pressure anyway.

So which technique should you be using? Well in my opinion, the best way is to let your body decide naturally. Breathing is a naturally thing, your body should be able to adapt the way you breath to best fit the situation. Trust your bodys natural response.

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Posted in Fat Loss Training, General, Muscle Building Training | 2 Comments »

Gain Muscle While losing fat

Wednesday, March 12th, 2008

“Can you put on muscle while losing fat?”

This is a question that seem’s to pop up every where now days. Unfortunately the honest answer is that it is very very rare, but does occur in some cases! Not a very definitive answer I know, but let me explain…

The problem is that losing fat and gaining muscle are at opposite ends of the scale. To lose fat you must create a calorie deficit, which means you needs to be using more calories than you are taking in. To gain muscle you need to overfeed, eating more calories than you body needs to sustain it’s current weight (obviously there are other factors too but i’m not going to go into those).  There are certain instances where muscle and fat loss may occur together, for example a complete beginner or young trainer who responds well to exercise may experience a small amount of muscle growth while losing body fat. Also the are the genetic ‘freaks’, who have the ability in their genes to lose a small amount of body fat whilst putting on muscle, or gain muscle while losing. This would only be in small amounts however. It also has been known to occur in experienced trainers, who have had a break and come back to training. This is unsually put down to ‘muscle memory’. Lastly there are the drug users (steroids, etc.), but we won’t go there.

So in short for all us regular guys and girls, what it comes down to is that you need to choose what you want from your training. If you want to put on muscle and lose body fat, then target each one in turn. First train to bulk up your muscle mass, then once you are happy with the amount of muscle you are carrying, move your target to fat loss. If you try and do both you are most likely to achieve neither.

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Posted in General, Muscle building, fat loss | 2 Comments »

The Big Three for Muscle Growth

Friday, March 7th, 2008

There are three exercises which are widely regarded as must do exercises to have in your workout when aiming to build muscle. What are these? See below…..

  • Number one on  the list is the good old bench press. The number one exercise for your chest, bar none. This compound exercise is great for putting on size on your chest. The chest is one of the most impressive areas of the body when toned and built to a good size.
  • The second on the list is the barbell squat. A very demanding exercise, both mentally and physically. Mainly targets the legs, but also strengthens all of the core (lower back and abs) . The results that can be achieved by this movement are amazing. 
  • Lastly is the deadlift. This is an exercise that is great for building a strong back. Care must be taken when performing this exercise, as the risk of injury is high if form is bad.

These are three great exercises that you should consider introducing into your workout routine, as excellent gains in muscle size and strength can be made.

The deadlift and the barbell squat can be tough on your body. If you are unable to perform any of these, perhaps due to an old injury or general discomfort. Dont worry, all is not lost. There are alternatives that can produce great results to.

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Posted in Muscle Building Training | 3 Comments »

Key Points for Muscle Growth

Wednesday, March 5th, 2008

If you are training to build lean muscle, and are seeing little or no results. I have created a list of key points below that you should be doing in your training and diet.

  •  Lifting heavyweights – Fairly obvious one, but you really need to be pushing yourself for muscle growth. You should be aiming for 3 to 4 sets (plus warm up sets) of 6 to 8 reps.
  • Train to failure – On the last rep of the last set on each exercise you should keep going till you fail. In other words you can’t complete anymore reps at all. This is where you will get the greatest gains.
  • Progressive resistance – Make sure you continually progress with your training, every workout try and push out an extra rep or a heavier weight than you did in your last workout.
  • Rest – I’ve recently posted about the importance of rest for muscle growth. If you don’t give your muscles enough chance to repair and recover,you will end up over training. This will halt or even start to reverse any gains.
  • Complete every workout - Don’t get into the habit of missing training sessions because your not in the mood, or finishing them early because you’re tired. For continuous progress train regularly and train hard! 
  • Eat, eat and eat! – Can’t stress this enough. If you are not consuming enough calories you won’t get bigger! This doesn’t mean that you should be eating any junk you can get your hands on. Eat good quality food. Make sure you are getting plenty of good proteins from chicken, fish, lean beef steak and egg whites. Ensure that you have plenty of energy by eating good quality carbs, found in brown rice, wholemeal pasta and potatoes. Also you want to be get enough good fats found in fish and nuts.
  •  Sleep – When you’re a sleep your muscles repair and grow. Try to get 8 to 10 hours of sleep a night.

Implement all these things into your training, diet and lifestyle and you should start seeing positive results.

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Posted in Muscle Building Diet, Muscle Building Training, Muscle building | 1 Comment »