The Vince Delmonte No Nonsense Muscle Building Program Review

If you are looking to build muscles and develop your physique, you will be looking around for a program that works - a fitness plan that will support you in achieving your goals. Now: some people will decide that steroids are the best way to do this, even though in actuality, this can impinge on your health and ultimately make your physical condition a lot worse in the future.

More sensible people will choose Vince Delmonte's extensive treatments such as the No Nonsense Muscle Building program. If you are the slightest bit skeptical about this man's credentials, one of the most reassuring things for you to do is to check his physique - and as you will observe, his muscles show that he knows how to achieve a thing or two in this arena. No Nonsense Muscle Building was originally presented in a book, with a detailed landing page that shows you all of the potential results that could be achieved through working hard in this program.

This, when combined with videos on YouTube that aim to help new bodybuilders to find their feet, means that there is a comprehensive way to transform your appearance and change your life. Have you ever wanted to shed pounds and exchange your fat for some fantastic muscle? Now, you have the irresistible opportunity to show the world what you're made of, becoming eye candy in no time.

The No Nonsense Muscle Building program isn't for people who want amazing biceps and triceps in two weeks, it doesn't promise wonders for little work. In order to reap the rewards of this program, it's vitally important for you to follow the advice of this expert, who suggests throughout the program that the only way to develop your muscles in a satisfactory way is to increase the weights you are lifting gradually.

It's great if you can manage to lift some of the heaviest weights in the gym, but if you're not taking the time to look after your body you won't last for long. Make sure that when you get the No Nonsense Muscle Building book, you take heed of the detailed information that's available about resting your body in between workouts. The worst thing that any aspiring bodybuilder can do is burnout, and this is why you need to ensure that you warm up and cool down after every session. Don't try and do too much too quickly, either. Vince Delmonte helps you with all of this, outlining the mistakes that you should avoid. You might feel like you can do another hour of bodybuilding, but your body could experience extreme fatigue that means you're not in the right condition for working out in the future.

If you're going to start adding muscle mass, you need to do it right. Vince Delmonte's No Nonsense Muscle Building, in addition to his other publications, can give you that well-deserved boost that will propel you to success.

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Vince Delmonte Workout - 5 Muscle Building Workout Tips

The Vince Delmonte workout program aims to show skinny hardgainers how to gain weight and build muscle, often where they have failed to previously.

Below are my five muscle building tips that every hardgainer should be utilizing in order to gain muscle mass, and I've shown how each one relates to the Vince Delmonte workout program.

Eat More Calories...Much More

The biggest reason most skinny guys and girls fail to gain muscle mass is their insufficient calorie intake.

In order to gain weight and build muscle you need to be consume a much larger amount of calories per day in order to achieve your goals.

As a general rule of thumb, you'll want to multiply your current bodyweight in pounds by 24 to achieve your daily calorie goal. For example if you weight 150 pounds you should be aiming to consume (150 x 24) 3,600.

This is a simplified formula, and there are other factors to consider. The Vince Delmonte workout shows you how to measure bodyfat and necessary caloric intakes accurately, for your specific circumstances.

Follow An All-Body Workout Program

In addition to an adequate diet, the need to follow a proven all-body workout program cannot be overstated.

Many hardgainers are wrongly advised to split their workouts into upper body and lower body, often resulting in them only working out one body part once per week.

The Vince Delmonte workout shows you how to organize and plan your workouts to get the maximum benefit to your muscles. By performing 3 or 4 all-body workouts per week, you are guaranteeing that your muscles are being stimulated sufficiently for massive muscle growth. The goal here is to stimulate as much muscle as possible each time you hit the gym.

Compound Exercises

In addition, compound exercises are the best way to stimulate multiple muscle groups and fibres and get the most muscle building bang for your buck.

Free weights exercises like Squats, Deadlifts and Bench Press, work a larger number of large muscles, as well as forcing you to utilize minor stabilizing muscles. This all in turn results in faster muscle gains, and a more efficient workout time...meaning you spend less time down the gym.

The Vince Delmonte workout focuses on compound exercises in order to get you muscle gains as fast as possible, with particular reference to the "big basic" exercises such as Squats and Deadlifts (as mentioned above), since these get you moving as much weight as possible each workout session.

Change Up Your Workouts To Prevent Stagnation

Many skinny guys and girls fail to change up their workouts on a regular basis, meaning that they often see initial gains, which tend to trail off after a few weeks. The main reason for this is that your body is getting used to stress which is being placed upon it.

The Vince Delmonte workout takes the approach that in order to see consistent muscle gains you need to make your body keep "guessing". By changing up your workouts regularly, through rep and set numbers, and exercise variations, you keep your muscles "on their toes" and continue to see sustained muscle growth over time.

The Vince Delmonte workout provides you with over a year's worth of workout routines, and the advice on how to best use them and change them to fit your own circumstances. This enables you to build your own workouts in the future.

Understand and Harness Your Natural Hormones

Many people tend to overlook the role that your natural hormones play in helping you to gain muscle mass. By understanding them, and learning how to use them to your advantage you can see impressive muscle gains, without resorting to pills, potions and of that other junk.

The Vince Delmonte workout shows you the role your hormones play in everyday activity and how best to use them to your advantage and get an edge on the competition.

From sleeping patterns to what you eat, Vince shows you how to maximize the positive muscle building hormones in your body, and minimize the existence of the negative ones - since these can really sabotage an otherwise sound workout and nutrition program. He also shows you how to maximize your testosterone levels by choosing the exercises that increase them substantially.

Check out my site for a full in-depth review of the Vince Delmonte No Nonsense Muscle Building workout, where I actually take you inside for a sneak peek ==> Vince Delmonte Workout Review.

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Weight Lifting Workouts For Insane Muscle Growth

Weight lifting workouts are the cornerstone of any successful muscle gain program. Without the proper stimulation, your muscles simply will not grow. If you're trying to build muscle mass but don't know how to structure your weight training workouts for muscle growth look no further.

While everybody knows that weight training is the way to go if you want to build muscle mass. Very few people understand the basics of designing a growth stimulating workout. Listed below is the framework that I use to put together 90% of my weight lifting workouts.

Before we get into the workout structure, It's important to talk about the muscle building process and how it works. Here's a simplistic overview of how the muscle building process works:

In order to build muscle mass you must first stimulate muscle growth with intense weight lifting workouts. After you have given your body a reason to grow, you must then focus your attention on fueling muscle growth. Just like your car, your body will not function properly without the right fuel (nutrients). After you have put in the hard work to stimulate and fuel muscle growth, you must give your body a chance to actually grow. The fancy term for this process is rest and recovery.

That's really all there is to the muscle building process. Armed with this knowledge, you should have a better than average idea of what it takes to build muscle.

Here's the formula for growth stimulating weight lifting workouts

1.) Always perform a complete warm up prior to jumping into any weight lifting workout. If yo decide to skip the warm-up and jump right into your workout, you will get hurt!

2.) limit the duration of your weight lifting workouts to 60 minutes max. I personally like to design them to complete in under 45 minutes. There are two reasons that I strictly follow this methodology.

The first reason is that studies have shown that the muscle building hormones begin to spike withing 30 - 45 minutes. If you continue to train past the 60 minute threshold the muscle building effect of your workouts will not be as effective as an intense weight training session during your bodies peak hormonal period.

The second reason is that you'll have a very hard time maintaining the proper muscle building intensity level for more than 60 minutes. Another way to say it is - If you are able to train for 2 - 3 hours, chances are your workouts are not intense enough to stimulate muscle growth.

Besides, who has the time to commit to 2 -3 hours a day in the gym anyway?

3.) Design the majority of your workouts around compound exercises like squats, bench press, dead lift, rows etc. If you really want to add an isolation exercise into the mix, make sure that you only perform it after you have completed at least 1 heavy compound movement.

4.) Train heavy to stimulate muscle growth. If you're serious about building as much muscle mass as quickly as possible you need to train with heavy weights through a complete range of motion. I've found the 6 - 8 repetition range to be effective for most body parts.

5.) Incorporate stretching and flexibility into your weight training routine by stretching between sets.

6.) Focus on only 1 or 2 body parts per workouts max! If you want to stimulate muscle growth you need to hammer each muscle group with heavy weights. If you're trying to cram in 3 or 4 different body parts you will not be able to train heavy enough towards the end of your workout.

7.) Perform between 2 - 4 sets of each exercise beginning with your heavy compound exercises first and moving on to your secondary isolation exercises second.

8.) Rest for 2 - 3 minutes between sets. This is enough time to allow for complete muscle recovery, but not so long that your body cools down between sets.

9.) Train each body part only 1 time each week. This will allow for full muscular recovery between workouts.

Here's what a typical chest and bicep workout looks like following this model:

Bench Press - 4 warm up sets, then 3 sets of 6 - 8 reps.

Dumbbell Incline Press - 2 sets of 6 - 8 reps.

Straight Bar Curl - 4 warm up sets, then 3 sets of 6 - 8 reps.

Alternating Dumbbell Curl - 2 sets of 6 - 8 reps.

While it may seem counter intuitive to limit your weight lifting workouts to 60 minutes, you'll soon find that you can actually train with heavier weights and wind up stimulating more growth in the process!

If you're ready for more top notch bodybuilding workouts and weight lifting tips, check out Gain-Muscle-Workout-Less.com. While you're there, sign up for the Free "5 Secrets To Building More Muscle In Less Time" Mini-Course and learn how to gain muscle mass quickly, easily and naturally in less time starting today!

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My Top 15 Non-Traditional, Muscle Building, Fat Scorching Workouts

If you have been a subscriber to my newsletter for some time, you know that I'm always trying to give you ways to make your workouts more interesting and fun, while also stimulating big-time results. Don't you agree that your training should be fun? This is what separates the people who jump on and off the "fitness bandwagon" a couple times every year without ever making any real progress from the people that actually adopt a true fitness lifestyle and finally achieve the body they have always wanted. Make it interesting, make it fun, and make your fitness a priority, and you'll have the body that you want.

What I have noticed over the years is that many people will train regularly for a few months and then will either get bored with the same old weight training and cardio routines, or will get discouraged because their progress comes to a grinding halt after a while. In my opinion, I don't think your workouts ever need to get boring or stale. You just need to have an open mind to the huge world of various training styles and techniques that are out there. Seriously, there are so many different and fun training styles out there, that there is no reason you should ever get bored with your workouts and give up on that lean ripped body that you've been looking for. Also, mixing in various training styles builds stronger joints by reducing repetitive movement pattern overload and varying your training stressors.

Now before I start with some of my favorite non-traditional training styles, I will state that I think one of the best ways to achieve a lean, muscular and healthy body is through a consistent weight training routine with free weights. You can choose to integrate some of these alternative training techniques with your weight training routines on the same day, as alternative workouts on separate days of the week, or even as separate training cycles where you try some of these techniques for several weeks at a time before cycling back to a traditional weight training workout. Try some of these training styles out and you'll be on your way to never being bored again with your workouts...and your body will thank you with muscles popping out that you never knew existed!

Alright, here are some of my favorite non-traditional training techniques:

1. Staircase Workouts - This is great because stairs are everywhere. You can go to a football field and do stadium stairs, any building that has stairs like a hotel (most people take the elevator, so you will not even have many people looking at you while you're working out), or even the stairs in your own home. For an awesome full body workout, try mixing stairs sprints with an upper body exercise like pushups or pull-ups. If done with a high enough intensity, stairs workouts help to create changes throughout your entire body due to the muscle building and fat burning hormonal response and metabolism increase that you get through working the biggest muscle groups in your entire body. If you thought that going up and down the stairs was the only way to get a good stairs workout...think again. My fellow trainer and friend, Virgil Aponte, has developed a website that focuses on creative stairs workouts using all kinds of exercises you never would have thought of before. You can find out more info on stairs exercises workouts at my 'fitness products' page at truthaboutabs.com at the link below.

2. Wind Sprints and Hill Sprints - Find any open field in a park or athletic field and try 50, 75, and 100-yard all-out wind sprints. After each sprint, rest long enough to catch your breath before the next one (generally 1-2 minutes). Try workouts of anywhere from 6 to 20 wind sprints for a great "cutting" workout. Also, if you have a hill nearby, hill sprints are also great workouts. Sprint up the hill as fast as you can and walk down for your rest interval. Repeat until you're whooped (a 20-30 minute hill workout is plenty). These sprint workouts are so amazingly effective at changing your entire body for the same reason as stairs exercises...by powerfully working the biggest muscle groups in your entire body, you greatly stimulate your metabolism while simultaneously increasing your fat burning and muscle building hormones.

Just look at any world class 100-meter sprinters and notice how ripped-to-shreds those guys are. Now compare that to the emaciated weakling physiques of many marathoners, and you'll see that sprinting is where the action is at for a healthy, ripped, powerful body! Now I don't want to upset all of you distance runners out there. Hey, if distance running is something you enjoy, then go right ahead. But don't say you're doing it for the health benefits, because I might just have to disagree. You can read my full story on why I believe variable intensity training is far superior to steady-state endurance training in one of my other ezinearticles.com articles at Cardio-Enthusiasts: Discover a More Effective Training Method for Fat Loss and Heart Health!

3. Kettlebell Training - If you've been reading my articles for some time, you've probably heard me praise kettlebell training many times before, but I will have to reiterate that it has been one of the best training methods that I've ever tried and has taken my physical capabilities to a whole new level. Kettlebells are an alternative type of free-weight training instead of barbells and dumbbells. Their unique construction and weight distribution (basically a cannonball with a handle) allows for a whole different realm of exercises that's available compared to dumbbells and barbells. Kettlebells have been typically used for training hard-core athletes, military units, martial arts competitors, and other tough individuals, but there is no reason that anybody looking to get stronger, bigger, or more cut can't learn the exercises and benefit from them.

It's been a little over a year now since I've incorporated kettlebell training into my routines, and I'll admit that I'm hooked for life! At between $100-$150 per kettlebell, they are definitely not cheap, but they are well worth the money. Just one or two kettlebells and you've literally got yourself an entire home gym that you can use for the rest of your life...worth every penny in my book! If you want to give these body-hardening kettlebells a try, you can find more info at my 'fitness products' page at truthaboutabs.com at the link below.

4. Bodyweight Workouts - For a change of pace, try adding to your routine one or two workouts a week at home with just bodyweight based exercises. These can be great because you can get a high intensity workout done in only 15-30 minutes without having to go to the gym on days that you might not have time for a trip to the gym. Try alternating bodyweight squats, pushups variations, lunges, and floor abs exercises continuously for 15-30 minutes. Try to take very short rest periods or none at all to really amp up the intensity since this will be a brief workout. If you're more advanced, you can even incorporate more challenging exercises like handstand pushups, one-arm pushups, and one-legged squats into your bodyweight training routines.

5. Ring Training - This type of training basically uses portable gymnastic rings that you can take anywhere with you. You throw the straps up over any high bar like a pullup bar, the top of a power rack, or even over a football field goal crossbar. Then you can quickly adjust the rings to do exercises like ring dips, ring pushups, ring pull-ups, hanging leg raises, horizontal body rows, L-sits, and more. Dips and pushups on the rings are my favorites and the rings really make them a hell of a lot more difficult, while also incorporating your stabilizer muscles to a much greater degree. The rings allow your joints to move in a more natural pattern and can help you prevent or even recover from shoulder injuries. Personally, when I try dips on a normal dip stand, it hurts my shoulders. However, dips on the training rings feel perfect, and also give me a much better muscle pump. The training rings are one of the best training devices I've ever bought. Give them a try...I think you'll like them if you're up for a challenge. I found my rings, which you can hang up easily on a power rack, pullup bars, or at a park, at ringtraining.com.

6. Swimming - A great full body workout that stresses the muscles and joints in a much different way than most resistance training. Incorporating swimming workouts once or twice a week into your normal training routines can really enhance your physique. I recommend trying a "sprint" style swimming workout, which will help more for building muscle compared with endurance long distance swimming. For sprint style, swim as hard as you can to the other side of a 25-meter or 50-meter pool (or sprint swim similar distances in a lake or the ocean if you like to swim outdoors). Rest enough to catch your breath between sprint swims (about 20-40 seconds). Try to keep the rest intervals fairly short with swim sprints. You can also mix different strokes (crawl, breaststroke, sidestroke, backstroke, butterfly) on each swim sprint. I've found that sprint swimming gives me a great muscle pump (especially in the upper body), without any soreness the next day as is typical with weight training. This is because swimming has no eccentric movement (the negative portion of a lift), which is what causes muscle soreness. Keep in mind that even though swimming works your muscles well and is a nice alternative workout to mix in once or twice a week, it does not strengthen your bones. You still need to do regular weight training to do that.

7. Sandbag Training - This form of training is a nice variation to mix in with your strength training. It works your body with an unstable object, which makes muscles that might normally be neglected get in on the action to perform the movements. I've been mixing some sandbag training into my routines for over a year now, and I've found it is a very intense method of training that works your muscles in a different way and gets you huffing and puffing like crazy. You can make your own sandbags to train with by filling various sized duffle bags with sand, or you can use those construction type sandbags that come in several shapes. Sandbag exercises can be done as squats, cleans, presses, lunges, shouldering, throws or heaves, carrying up hills, etc. Make no mistake, training intensely with sandbags will get you ripped in no time flat! I've actually found an entire book devoted to sandbag training, which gave me some great ideas for doing sandbag based workouts. If you're interested in this type of training, you can find more info at my 'fitness products' page at truthaboutabs.com at the link below.

8. Mountain Biking - As you may have figured by now, I'm not a proponent of steady pace endurance exercise, but rather, highly variable intensity exercise that works with bursts of exertion followed by recovery intervals. Well, mountain biking fits this bill perfectly. You get the leg pumping exertion during the uphill climbs, while also getting the adrenaline rush of the downhill acting as your recovery intervals. Mix it all together and you get a super-fun, high-intensity, leg burning workout that will melt fat off of your entire body and build awesome legs at the same time. The climbs can be tough and will challenge you both physically and mentally as you pump away trying to make it up steep hills without having to resort to getting off of the bike. Then after you make it up the challenging climbs, you get rewarded with the adrenaline rush of flying down steep hills while jumping off of boulders and logs and trying not to stumble or fall off the bike. It's such an addicting thrill...I love it! See, who says that working out has to be boring!

9. Indoor (or outdoor) Rock Climbing - This is yet another fun way to get in a great workout that will also challenge you both physically and mentally. Indoor rock climbing gyms have starting popping up all over the place in recent years and will be more accessible than outdoor rock climbing to most people. Rock climbing is a great workout for your legs, arms, shoulders, and your entire back. It also really works your grip strength and forearms like crazy. Whenever I go indoor rock climbing (which is only on occasion), my forearms are sore for about 2-3 days afterwards. Give it a try if you've never done it...it may be just what you're looking for to spice up your fitness routine.

10. Stick Wrestling - This is a killer full body workout and can also be a great competition between you and your friends. This is probably more of a guy thing for most people. You could even come up with your own "fight club" and have stick wrestling competitions with your buddies to see who is toughest. There are actually sticks designed specifically for stick wresting, but you can even just use a strong broomstick cut down to about 30-36 inches long and taped up with some athletic tape to prevent splinters. For your stick wrestling workout, stand on a soft mat or carpeted area (or grass if outdoors), match up with a friend or foe. You'll both grab the same stick toward the ends with your hands on the outsides of your partner's hands, on the inside, or staggered. Then you simply push, pull, jerk, and thrash your opponent around trying to knock them off balance until they either fall or lose their grip of the stick...and you win that round! Be careful not to get the stick up high and knock each other in the face. Use common sense. You can do this in 1-2 minute rounds or just keep going until someone gives up. Be creative and keep going until you've gotten a killer workout. Your forearms and legs will be screaming!

11. Strongman Training - This type of training is a little more hard-core, but it's a blast for those who are into trying something different. The premise is based on the types of exercises competitors perform in the "worlds strongest man" competitions. If you have a yard, you can even set up some of these exercises in your yard and do some outdoor workouts to have a little fun. Your neighbors will probably give you some funny looks, but it's fun, so who cares! You can get one of those giant tractor tires and do tire flips (which is basically a deadlift followed by a push-press). You can also try your hand at log lifts, boulder lifts and carries, keg lifts and tosses, weighted sled dragging...anything that involves pulling, pushing, lifting, or heaving any types of odd objects. You don't need to be a monster to enjoy this type of training...just handle whatever size objects are challenging for your individual strength. Strongman training works your entire body in a very intense fashion and could easily spark some new results. If you're interested in finding out more ideas for strongman training, check out my 'fitness products' page at truthaboutabs.com at the link below.

12. Rope Climbing - This goes back to the old high school days of climbing the rope in gym class. Seriously, if you have access to a rope, either at a gym or somewhere outdoors, rope climbing builds a powerful and ripped upper body like no other exercise. A great way to incorporate rope climbing into intense workouts is to do a climb up, then lower yourself back down. Then while your upper body is recovering for the next climb, you can do a lower body exercise like squats or lunges, or go up and down stairs. Keep alternating the upper body rope climbs with the lower body exercises in between and you'll get one hell of a full body workout.

13. Bag Boxing - You can use a heavy bag, a speed bag, or even one of those rebound bags to get a great workout. Among the three, the heavy bag is the best all around full body workout, while the speed bag will test your rhythm and timing and give you a great upper body workout. If available at your gym or if you have a bag at home, try mixing these in as a good warm-up or as an intense finish to your strength routine.

14. Rope Skipping - You can't beat rope jumping as a great full body exercise. I like to use it as a warm-up for my weight training workouts. I prefer to use the really cheap "speed" ropes with a plastic rope instead of a fabric rope. Once you get good, you can jump rope much faster with the plastic ropes than the fabric ones, which will allow you to get a more intense workout. And don't mess with the weighted handle ropes...they'll just slow you down. Your goal is speed when rope skipping. Try mixing together two legged jumps, one-legged jumps, arm crossovers, double jumps (rope passes under feet twice for each jump) to keep things interesting and increase the intensity. Also, try alternating 15-20 second high intensity bursts where you jump as fast as you possibly can, followed by 15-20 second recovery intervals where you jump slowly to get ready for your next burst. Keep repeating until you're whooped, which might happen pretty quick!

15. Jumping exercises - squat jumps, box jumps, lunge jumps, and broad jumps are some of the best ways to incorporate explosive jumping exercises into your routines. The explosive and powerful nature of jumping exercises works your leg muscles in an entirely different way than most normal slow grinding strength training moves. I've even seen a university study cited once that found squat jumps to elicit the greatest testosterone response of all exercises studied. That means more muscle and less fat on your entire body, not just your legs. Try super-setting jumping exercises with upper body exercises for some really intense workouts.

Well, I hope you've enjoyed all of these ideas for ways to really shake up your workouts and make them fun again. I know some of them may seem a little "out there", but open your mind to the possibilities and you'll never be bored again...and your body will respond with new found results!

Visit http://truthaboutabs.com/Training-and-Nutrition-Articles.html to receive your own personalized metabolic rate calculator as well as 5 of my secret hard-body workout routines - all FREE.

Michael Geary is a nationally dual certified personal trainer (NCSF-CPT, AFAA-CPT), and author of The Truth about Six Pack Abs ?2004-2006.

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The Secret of the Properly Balanced Post-Workout Meal for Fat Loss & Muscle Building

I'm sure you've heard before that your post-workout meal is actually your most important meal of the day (aside from breakfast).

I'd have to agree with that for the most part because refueling your body with the right combination of nutrients are so vastly important to repairing your muscles from the breakdown of a workout, and keeping your metabolism sky high.

From the research about post-workout meals:

"A recent 12-week study says that those who failed to consume a post workout meal immediately after their workouts suffered a lower metabolism, loss of fat free mass, and had clear indications of muscle loss - while their counterparts (those who consumed a post workout recovery meal) significantly lost more fat, increased lean muscle, improved their metabolism, and increased dynamic strength."

I've noticed that many people are confused as to what actually makes a good post-workout meal. A couple common questions about post workout meals:

1. Aren't post-workout meals just important for building muscle? Do they matter at all if my goal is fat loss?

2. Is it best to use one of the fancy post-workout drinks or shakes that you see in the magazines or is a whole food meal better? What's the best combination of carbs to protein to fat in a good post workout meal?

3. How quickly after a workout is best to consume my post workout meal?

Answers:

1. Post-workout meals are important for BOTH muscle building and fat loss!

Always remember that one of the most important aspects of long term fat loss and maintaining a lean body for life is raising your overall metabolic rate by building and maintaining adequate lean muscle mass throughout your body.

By consuming a proper post workout meal after every workout, you assist your body in repairing and building lean muscle throughout your body. The more lean muscle you have, the higher your metabolic rate... hence, you lose fat easier, and it is MUCH easier to stay lean long term.

2. Whole foods or supplement shakes? This can be done either way, but I'm going to show you some guidelines why some post-workout shakes are better than others and some whole foods are better than others. Either way, you can make it work.

First, keep in mind that your goal throughout the majority of each day is eating small whole food meals frequently that digest slowly with high fiber and a controlled glycemic response (blood sugar). These normal daily meals should also contain healthy fats and slowly digested proteins to keep a steady supply of amino acids.

Well, when it comes to post-workout meals, you can almost use the exact opposite strategy of your normal meals. With post-workout meals, you actually want a faster digesting carbohydrate source to elicit an insulin response, which surges nutrients and glycogen back into your muscles for repair.

So while I always preach high fiber for most of your meals, with post-workout, you actually want low fiber, high GI carbs, and quickly digesting proteins as well for muscle repair.

Another aspect to keep in mind... while I always preach healthy fats at most of your meals... with the post workout meal, you actually want almost all carbs and protein, and very little fat if any. Fat just slows the absorption and glycemic response which is not what you want with the post-workout meal.

What about ratios of carbs and protein?

I've reviewed dozens and dozens of studies on this subject and it always seems to come back to a ratio of approximately 2 to 1 carbs to protein. This seems to be the optimal combination to maximize muscle repair to boost that metabolism for long term fat loss.

I usually make my post-workout shakes using a frozen banana, whey protein, water, and some real maple syrup and aim for about a 2:1 ratio of carbs to protein.

If you want to make things simpler, one of the best post-workout shakes that I've found is Prograde's Varsity Post-Workout mix. Check it out at:

3. How quickly should you eat (or drink) your post-workout meal?

As soon as you can after your workout (the sooner the better)!

Studies show that the sooner you consume your post workout meal following your intense workout, the better your muscle recovery will be, and a higher percentage of the carbs ingested will be used for muscle glycogen replenishment instead of other uses.

The first thing I do when I get back from the gym is make my post workout shake, and this is about 10 min after finishing my workout.

Make sure to check out some of the other research about post-workout recovery meals at:

[http://www.allaboutsixpack.com/]

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Build Bigger Muscle - Getting Muscles With Natural Supplements Was Never This Easy

People are usually amazed and sometimes awe with a little tinge of envy to see men and women having perfect body shapes. A lot of us dream of being able to display a well-sculptured body not just to show off but to inspire others to be physically fit and healthy. As soon as you hit the gym you expect the same body and when the results do not come you wonder why.

In this busy world, there isn't much time for people to really spend sculpturing their bodies to the ideal shape. A few hours each week at the gym is what most people can do as they juggle career and home plus their need to look good and stay fit and build bigger muscles.

It may take some time and a lot of effort to grow those muscles into their right size and shape but once you attain this state, it is rewarding in itself because of the intangible benefits that one gets. You may not exactly be the most handsome man but a good physical stance with well toned muscles gives you a chance for a second look from girls around. You also tend to exude a higher degree of confidence in yourself and by this, people take notice of you.

But how to build bigger muscles if you are too busy? You just have to know how your body works. Though it may still require regular workout, this knowledge can help you facilitate muscle growth a little faster than the usual time it would take you.

Nitric Oxide assists in facilitating muscle growth by clearing the way for your blood to move around freely bringing the needed oxygen and nutrients where it is supposed to be delivered. This process is mostly important during your workout because it is the time when your muscles start to grow.

Nitric Oxide is manufactured through the natural body processes. In other words, it is already within you. Supplements on the other hand, help the body to manufacture more of his compound so that the muscles can grow faster.

There are lots of supplements available. Just remember that nitric oxide supplements give the best result and help you to build bigger muscles quickly. If you are struggling to see any results and are fed up with working out and not seeing any change this is the solution, try nitric oxide supplements now and start seeing real results quickly for getting bigger muscles.

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Build Bigger Muscle - Stop Post Workout Soreness and Start Seeing Real Results Quickly

Bodybuilding refers specifically to the growing of muscle tissues. There are different degrees of exercise as to how difficult or strenuous it is and these are light, moderate and heavy. Bodybuilders definitely work out their muscles with heavy and very strenuous exercises that may cause aches and pains after the training when trying to build bigger muscles.

These aching body muscles are not felt during the exercise but it is felt after physical activity, especially when you wake up. People who are not doing exercises on a regular basis usually feel this soreness. If you are new to this kind of training, it is advisable for starters to begin with light exercises to condition your body for the physical activity and then gradually level up until you reach the level that you are aiming for to start seeing real results.

A lot of people are aware of this soreness after heavy work or exercise but they do not really know what causes this. When pressure and force are used especially in heavy workouts, there are very tiny tears formed in the muscle. However, you can help your body heal very quickly by the help of nitric oxide supplements to help you to build bigger muscles much faster.

People who workout for bodybuilding make use of weights and that is where the stress for the muscle tissue comes from. This stress now is what you feel as an aching body when you wake up the next day especially after a very strenuous workout.

Bodybuilders are aware of this soreness but they know that their muscles are growing. Beginners on the other hand should be aware that though it is normal to have an aching body the next day, other factors may cause also pain like doing the exercises in the wrong way.

Conditioning your muscles before any workout is advisable to lessen the after effects of the strenuous activity but if your body can not take it anymore, it is only for you to give your body time to rest to recover and nitric oxide supplements can do this to help you to get bigger muscles quicker.

Good supplements will help your body to recover as fast as it can from the stress of the physical activity allowing you to achieve your goal to be strong, to be physically fit and to look great.

If you do not want to be one of those people who spends months in the gym with no results to show for it the best course of action is to combine nitric oxide supplements with the right workout routine to build bigger muscles and to start seeing results much more quickly. Start to get bigger muscles now.

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Build Muscle - Tips for Gaining Mass

Building muscle is the number one goal of just about every guy out there who is looking to get in shape, but I am sure you have noticed that muscle building has become popular among many women and people of many ages. Weight training is an important aspect of working out, especially for thin or skinny men and women who want to build muscle.

If you want to build muscle you have to be patient in the method you choose. If you expect to see results to quickly, you will get discouraged, but if you don't see results at the right times, you will need to change up your method. To gain muscle is not a one size fits all deal. It is also important to keep in mind that your capability to build mass can be restricted by your genetic makeup and gender.

Now, building muscle may seem confusing, but at the same time it's not rocket science. You need to find the method that works best for you if you want to get the maximum results you want. Having said that though, it doesn't mean you will never reach your goal of getting that ripped physique you are after, building mass is a goal you will be able to reach.

Proper diet plays a large part in muscle building for your body. So if gaining muscle is your goal, you must place great emphasis on your diet. Proper training is also required. When you couple these two main areas of building muscle together, you will find the formula that works best for you

One key food I am sure you know about that will help you gain muscle mass is protein. But why do we need it? Protein is essential for muscle building and is the building block of human muscles. For both males and females, building muscle will make you healthy, stronger, and more powerful, you will look more athletic and you will maximize your confidence.

If you are a beginner or getting back into the swing of things after slacking off for a few years, why not start by going back to the basics. Train, Eat, Rest, and you will see, growth.

Protein is the chief source for providing amino acids to your muscles. Protein will be your building block for all the muscles in your body, period. It is the one supplement that is good and effective for building muscle and is recommended by many personal trainers and muscle building experts. But keep in mind that protein along with lifting weights is one of many keys to building muscle.

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Build Muscle Quickly - The Faster Way to a More Muscular Body

A lot of bodybuilders exert a lot of their time and energy to achieve the desired physique that they aim for. This may not only be for aesthetic purposes but for health purposes as well. Though it is not an easy task for those who would like to see themselves in proper shape and they will have to work to build muscle quickly.

Today, bodybuilders include nitric oxide supplements to help with blood circulation and better absorption of nutrients. This is the basis for muscle building and helps the body's recovery and ability to train harder.

The result depends on the kind of physical activity that you do from simple to more difficult forms of exercises. Bodybuilders work out with higher levels of difficulty as they perform also weightlifting. Nitric oxide opens the blood vessels for blood to go though without difficulty thereby delivering oxygen and vital micronutrients to the muscles for more effective absorption that boosts the energy level to build muscle quickly.

Muscle building supplements may be beneficial when taken in accordance with the right kind of physical activity. The main reason for workouts is that for people to be in shape and not to lose weight although this may be a good side effect as good exercise increases metabolism which in turn burns more energy.

In order to build your muscles, you will have to really train and not to depend on the supplements alone. Some people think they can cut back on training when they take supplements. These supplements cannot give you the desired physique while you are sleeping or doing nothing. Its effect is felt while doing the strenuous activity because of sufficient physical power for strength and endurance.

Nitric oxide is produced by the body itself and not found in supplements, but the supplements can make your body produce it. The most effective exercise supplements have other ingredients which may help to hasten metabolic processes of the body especially with the delivery of the needed power while doing physical workouts so you can build bigger muscle.

The only way to know how effective these supplements are is for you to give it a try so why don't you try supplements that will really work. If you want to build muscle quickly try for yourself and start seeing results in weeks and stop wasting your time and start seeing real results.

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Deadlift To Build Muscle

Deadlifts are better than squats, to build muscle, in many cases. They are a very powerful exercise that will put slabs of muscle on a person, very fast. People have ignored this truth for too long, choosing to take the easier, softer way of making excuses for their inability to progress.

Why are deadlifts a better exercise in some cases?

Well, people have different body types. Depending upon individual anatomical differences, a person will perform exercises differently. The effectiveness of an exercise could vary from one person to another. Some people are more suited to squats, and others are more suited to deadlifts.

How does a person know if deadlifts are best for them?

The easiest way for a person to tell whether or not deadlifts are best for them is to perform an experiment. They should test to see which exercise they can move the most weight in. If you can deadlift quite a bit more weight than you can squat, you should give deadlifts preference over squats.

How many sets and reps should a person perform if their body type is more suited to deadlifts?

You need to do at least 6 reps to build muscle. Up to 20 repetitions per set can be productive, but typically a person would be better staying at 10 or below. 4-5 sets should be plenty when working at the 6RM and 1-2 sets should be sufficient when working at 20RM.

How must a person eat to build muscle with deadlifts?

Deadlifts stimulate nearly 75% of your muscles. These muscles need calories to grow bigger. In my experience, I find it best to concentrate on eating healthy foods. I suggest that you double the intake suggested on the food pyramid, which will give you a healthy 4000 calorie diet.

Are there any supplements that will help a person build muscle mass?

Deadlifts are very demanding, and there a few supplements I have found to be helpful. I would suggest taking whey protein powder, creatine monohydrate, and a multivitamin. These three basic supplements will aid you in recovering from your workout.

The plan laid out here is simple, and it will be helpful to some of you. Test to see if you are more ideally suited to deadlifts or squats. If you are suited to deadlifts, combine them with a healthy 4000 calorie diet, and you will build muscle mass as fast as possible. What are you waiting for?

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Fast Methods Of Gaining Muscle For Skinny Guys

If you are looking for tips on building muscle for skinny guys, I have compiled a complete guide here for you. Including how to eat, train and everything else to help skinny people gain muscle. I understand that you are probably very frustrated with your body. Also maybe feel a little let down by some of the dodgy information being passed around these days? How skinny people gain muscle is different than other methods of muscle building.

Although I am natural fairly skinny myself, I do not have a truly 'skinny guy' genetic make up. I have trained a good friend of mine who is a true natural skinny person and I have been there to witness the hardships. Every pound put on in weight seems like a hard fought battle. Thankfully we have been able to get his weight and muscular development up to respectable levels. I am about to show you now how to gain muscle for skinny people!

Skinny Guy Gain Muscle Facts

As a skinny guy you are very catabolic in nature. This means that you have a very fast metabolism and burn of energy from food very fast. Your body also burns muscle for energy at times, so when skinny people gain muscle, it can be easily burnt for energy. The reason I am telling you this is that, you need a lot of food and nutrients to build muscle; but your body keeps burning all that nutrition before your muscles get a chance to use them. Don't worry as there are ways to fix this to help skinny guys gain weight.

We can however use this information to help you make a complete building muscle for skinny guys program. For starters you have to train correctly for your body type and use a proper skinny guy workout. Not some training program used by massive bodybuilders who are possibly taking steroids.

Skinny Guy Workouts

There are a few guidelines to be aware when looking at skinny guy workouts. Firstly you now know that you are catabolic, meaning you burn muscle for energy easily. Therefore we want to minimise that effect. The best way to do this with your skinny guy workout, is to keep every session under one hour. If you train for over an hour, your body begins to produce a stress hormone and begins burning muscle for energy. This has to be avoided at all costs, so keep your workouts relatively short. Besides if need longer than an hour, you are not working hard enough.

Another issue to aware of with your workouts, is that you cannot handle as much volume on a muscle group. So doing to much volume can give diminishing returns for your efforts. Skinny people gain muscle with less volume and higher frequency. Therefore full body workouts attend to this need very effectively. This is mainly because you can hit a muscle several times a week. Full body workouts have proven time and again to help skinny people gain weight. These workouts should be done on non-consecutive days like Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Skinny Guy Workout Rules

It is essential that you work your entire body, especially the legs with big exercises. This is because when you work large amounts of muscle you body elevates your testosterone levels naturally. Which massively helps in gaining muscle for skinny people. The only muscles on the upper body that manipulates testosterone production is the lats on your back. So only doing your favourite upper body exercises will not help the skinny person gain muscle very well.

It is also important to use a large rep range, using lower rep ranges for strength and higher rep ranges for muscle growth, during your skinny guy workout. This is because lower rep ranges elevates testosterone levels even further. While higher rep ranges elevates growth hormone levels naturally. Elevating your natural hormone levels is key to building muscle for skinny guys.

How To Gain Weight For Skinny Guys

Okay, as I have already explained skinny people have very fast metabolisms. Which gobble up all the food you eat, before your muscles even get a sniff of it. The obvious answer here is to eat more, right? Well in theory eating more will work, but it did not work well on my friend. Despite him eating more he still didn't put weight on. I would advise you to start doing what my friend did:

Keep a food diary for a while and record everything you eat. Yes it is a pain, but if you are serious about gaining muscle for skinny people, this will help you out greatly, by helping you spot problem areas of your diet. The main problems I noticed with my friend's food diary was days where he eat a piece of toast for breakfast, sausage roll for lunch and a big (in his eyes) dinner. This is nowhere near good enough for skinny guy gain muscle diet.

You should start aiming to eat 6 times a day as this will keep a constant feeding of food for your muscles to use. Aim for 3 good square meals, with a good size of snack in between. Something like a handful of nuts once or twice a day for a snack. Then finish of the day with a decent supper at night time. Do this and the scales will start to move in the right direction.

Another great tip for building muscle for skinny people, is to use milk. I read about this a while ago and use it myself. Start drinking 2 litres (half a gallon) of milk everyday. This is a very simple and effective way of getting more nutrients into your body. If eating 6 times a day is not possible, this milk tip could really help you out.

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Get Muscle Fast - 4 Tricks To Get Your Dream Body And Supercharge Your Results

If you want to get muscle fast while at the same time working your body to lose weight fast, then get ready. Keep in mind it is not enough just carry out your routine exercises. What is crucial is following an exercise regimen that will give you the best techniques which can truly help you accomplish 3 goals: gaining strength, losing weight and building muscle. Focus on these top four techniques which will teach you how to gain that hard body you've always wanted.

1. Maintain a healthy and hearty diet

First and foremost, know what you need to eat more of and what you need to eat less of. Avoid loading yourself with carbohydrates. Instead, eat protein-enriched foods to get muscle fast since they help repair the fibers that get injured as you work out. Keep in mind that protein is key to help you get muscle fast. Load up on whey proteins and grains, fats, fruits, vegetables and of course meat.

2. Implement a correct exercising routine

Implement the right kind of exercise but take note that the workout plan you should be geared towards how to get muscle fast. You may start your exercises with some squatting, push-ups and pull-ups. But since these can tone your body, it is best to do them with free weights at the same time.

3. Focus on doing free weights

For fail-safe ways to achieve a hard body, concentrate on doing dumbbells and barbells which have been proven to help one get muscle fast effectively. This is because you are exerting pressure on your working muscles which will eventually make them more toned or built. Most of all make sure that you gradually raise the weight of your dumbbells or barbells or gradually increase the number of repetitions that you will lift at regular intervals to get optimum results. Take note that 8-12 repetitions per set is good enough after which you will need to rest.

4. Aim for persistence.

Last but not least; strive to be persistent. These tips will never work if you do not pour in an ounce of determination in it. Take your diet as well as your exercising seriously. Make your own progress report so you will know if you are getting the results you need. This will help you get muscle fast and get the dream body you've always wanted.

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How To Build Muscle and Gain Weight Quickly - And Stop Feeling Frustrated At Your Lack Of Progress

Frustration is a very common emotion amongst naturally skinny people who feel that they have been dealt the dud genetic hand, and simply cannot seem to gain any weight. They are left wondering why it is that most people seem to be able to effortlessly put on weight, and yet they cannot. They have tried all the usual suspects like eating more, copious amounts of exercise and eating weird and wonderful supplements that claim to be able to stimulate weight gain, and yet they stay skinny and shapeless.

The problem is that they are approaching gaining weight in the wrong way. The best way to build muscle and gain weight quickly is not to randomly try eating lots of different things (until you have no idea of what you actually ate!) Or do randomly do lots of exercises, or down supplements on an ad-hoc basis.

The best way to overcome your frustration at your lack of progress is to instead take a totally different approach, and first of all ditch random snacking and exercise. And instead seek out carefully designed programs that were put together by naturally skinny people who have then found (often through lots of trial and error), the best combination of methods to gain weight if you are not a normal weight gainer.

Seeking structured help is essential, because it can help to combat the feelings of frustration that you are otherwise probably experiencing right now, and will help to alleviate them, and instead give you the quick weight gain that you want.

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How to Build Muscle in 4 Weeks!

When I first began working out and lifting weights, I didn't have a clue on how to build muscle, let alone know how to build muscle in 4 weeks! I started out by doing bicep curls and throwing the weights around thinking that my muscles will just grow.

I was wrong! There can be a very big difference in how you train and the amount of muscle that is gained. Keep reading, you're about to learn some important tips to cut your time in half.

Are You Eating Like a Bird?

Although you might want to hear about workouts, I'm going to start with calories. Why? Because they are the primary building blocks to gaining mass. Plain and simple, you are burning more calories than you are taking in you are NOT going to gain muscle.

And you must be sure to not just eat any calories; your diet must consist of 3 primary food types, healthy fats, protein, and complex carbohydrates. Put those 3 together in a high calorie diet and you will be forcing your muscles to grow.

No Calorie Should Go Wasted - Weight Train Correctly!

How you weight train will determine how you have used all those calories you have been eating. The whole point is to not let those calories be put to waste. So a proper training routine is a must.

You want to stick to compound movements that allow you to use your muscles full potential by using as much muscle as possible. Stick to workouts such as squats, dead lifts, dips, overhead presses and chin ups. Free weights is the best way to continually add muscle mass. Stay away from machines and isolation lifting. Sticking to these primary tips will easily help you build muscle in 4 weeks.

Ok keep reading this is important! Take a couple of minutes to read the next page... you will discover what I did that took me from 142LBS to 161LBS in 2 ? months. Specifically designed to force your muscles to grow, you will easily gain pounds of muscle weight in weeks guaranteed. I strongly urge you to go on to the next page and take advantage of this free muscle building package - Click Here

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Muscle Gain Secrets From The Man With 23 Inch Biceps

I was flipping through an old muscle magazine last night and spotted a picture of Bill Pettis.

If you don't recognize the name, Bill Pettis was a bodybuilder who built himself quite possibly the largest arms of his era.

Rumor has it they measured 23 and 1/4 inches. (I say rumor has it because nobody really knows if arm measurements are accurate since most bodybuilders are prone to inflating the truth just a bit.)

But even if you don't believe the numbers, the pictures don't lie. Any way you slice it his arms were HUGE.

And strong too. He could curl 225 pounds and could use a whopping 340 pounds in the standing triceps press.

But what really caught my eye was how he ate:

While most bodybuilders still swear by the six meals a day method, Bill ate just two meals per day. He'd eat around 3-4 eggs per day and a hefty portion of bacon, steak, fish, chicken, vegetables and some fruit.

For supplements, he'd have some protein powder, brewer's yeast and also desiccated liver tablets.

His training was high volume -- he'd do dozens of sets of heavy barbell curls, along with plenty of triceps work. In fact, he'd do about twice as much triceps work as he did biceps exercises.

The reason? The triceps contains more muscle than the biceps muscle group so by working the triceps you can increase overall arm size faster.

You might not be able to build 23 inch biceps like Bill Pettis but by following the tips in this article you too can increase your arm size and start stretching out your t-shirt sleeves.

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Reasons Why Kettlebells Will Help You Build Muscle in No Time

Do you want a whole body workout that will build stronger bones and muscles, help you lose weight and strengthen your core? If you said yes, then kettlebells are the way to go. Kettlebells are designed to strengthen and tone every muscle in your body. Kettlebell exercises are especially effective at increasing lean muscle mass. Additional lean muscle means that your metabolism will remain higher throughout the day, which in turn, will help you to maintain a healthy body weight.

Working out with kettlebells will help you to develop back muscles and to improve your posture, because by lifting and swinging the weights you are strengthening your core. You are also working out the muscles of your chest and back. Kettlebells work differently on the body than lifting weights. The handles on the weights are off center, which causes it to pivot when it is lifted. This pivoting action of the kettlebell works your arms, chest and back as you stabilize the weight. Your whole body is stimulated to act in unison to lift and control the weight.

The off-center weight of the kettlebell works against the body's center of gravity, which forces you to use your core and back muscles to remain balanced. Swinging the kettlebell back and forth between your legs stimulates almost every inch of your body. Your arms get worked out as you hold the weight. Your back and abdominal muscles work to stabilize your body. Start off doing a set of 12 swings while holding one kettlebell with both hands with your palms pointed toward your body. To work your core, swing the weight with first one arm and then use the other.

Doing kettlebell exercises can burn on average 20 calories per minute, and you can burn as much as 400 calories by working out for 20 minutes per day. You would have to run one mile in 6 minutes to in order to burn the same amount of calories. Kettlebell exercises will also increase your heart rate more than static weight lifting (dumbbells) for a superb cardiovascular workout.

You will notice that your back, abdominal and arm muscles will feel stronger within a week after beginning kettlebell exercises. Your body will become toned and your joints will feel more flexible.

Robin Reichert is a certified nutrition consultant, certified personal trainer and freelance writer. She has been involved in the health and fitness industry for over 10 years. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from the University of San Francisco and a Master of Science in natural health from Clayton College. Robin's goal is to make every personal training session fun and effective for her clients. Her services include both in-person and online personal training at http://www.trainwithmeonlinetoday.com/ Lose up to 10 lbs with a 24-DAY WEIGHT LOSS CHALLENGE! Visit my website to get started today!

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The Best Back Strengthening Exercises To Turbo Boost Muscle Growth

Did you know that your back muscles are the second largest muscle group in your body? This fact makes it all the more important for you to put some serious effort in training and building your back muscles. The best back strengthening exercises will definitely pay off whether you are aiming to look better in your shirts or you simply want to burn up more calories. Developing your back muscles can even help you increase your overall functional strength and develop good posture.

Specifically, the best back strengthening exercises can help you easily pick up any heavy object from the ground, especially when a strong back works in unison with a strong pair of legs. A stronger back will also allow you to move more easily in any direction, but most especially when you need to pull yourself up. Finally, working your back is a very good way of correcting any muscle imbalance you may be experiencing as a result of focusing too much on chest exercises. What's best is that back strengthening exercises help you burn as many calories as you do when exercising your legs.

Before we discuss what the best back strengthening exercises are, it may do you good to familiarize yourself with the anatomy and functionality of your back muscles. This way, you will have a better understanding of why such exercises are considered the best for back strengthening. For our purposes, we will focus the discussion on the middle and upper back.

Even with your shirt on, you can still see the two major muscle groups in your middle and upper back. These muscle groups are known as the latissimus dorsi (lats, for short) and the trapezius (also called traps). The lats runs from your armpits to your waist. This is the muscle group you see when people strike a lat spread bodybuilding pose. The traps are those muscles that start at the base of your skull, run through both sides of your neck as well as above your shoulders and then extend in a diamond shape to the middle of your back.

Another muscle, known as the levator scapulae or scapula, works in conjunction with your lats and traps. Now, you will recognize that an individual is serious about training his back muscles when he appears to have no neck because his traps are fully developed. If a person has flat traps, it usually means that he does not spend much time in free weight exercises such as deadlifts, barbell rows, and barbell shrugs. Such a pity, since these are counted among the best back strengthening exercises.

Your back is also composed of some smaller muscles which are secondary to your lats and traps. These muscles are the teres major, teres minor, supraspinatus, infraspinatus, and rhomboideus or simply rhomboids. They are stimulated when you perform vertical and horizontal training exercises for your lats. The serratus is another back muscle that is also visible from the front, as it wraps around your body. Many people wish to train this muscle directly and the best back strengthening exercises for that are dumbbell and barbell pullovers.

Now that we have sufficiently discussed the anatomy of your back, it's time to talk about its functions. The primary function of your lats is to pull your arm down towards your pelvis. Subsequently, when you perform back strengthening exercises with your arms in a fixed position such as pull-ups, the function of the lats is to bring your body up towards your arm. The lats serve the same function both times, except that it works from opposite directions. Your lats also serve to keep your torso stabilized during movements like the flat bench press and the overhead press.

For its part, your traps facilitate the elevation of your scapula. This function is best demonstrated when you shrug your shoulders. It also serves to facilitate scapular adduction in rowing and scapular depression in performing pull-downs. The traps often work in conjunction with the lats as well as the smaller muscles of your back, especially when you perform rowing and pull-down movements.

Now that you know more about the anatomy and functions of your middle and upper back muscles, you're ready to learn what the best back strengthening exercises are. Here are the top three exercises you can do to develop your back muscles:

1. Bent-over Barbell Rows

Start this exercise by standing on a box with a weighted barbell. It is necessary to stand on a box so as to prevent the barbell from hitting the floor when you bend over. Take a shoulder-width stance for conventional barbell rows.

To start the movement, pull the bar up until it touches your chest. Make sure that the movement is controlled by your back muscles rather than your arms. Keep your head up, your elbows tucked in, and your back straight when you pull the bar up and be sure not to bounce it on your chest.

Next, keep your head up, back straight, and knees slightly bent as you slowly bend over until your upper body is positioned less than 45 degrees to the floor. Get as close to parallel with the floor as you can. Make sure that the weight hangs down from your arms directly below your chest and that your palms are facing towards you. Feel free to use some chalk for this exercise, but definitely NO STRAPS!

2. Chin-ups and Pull-ups

Set up for these back strengthening exercises either by standing on a box or simply jumping up to reach the bar. Grip the bar with your palms facing away if you are doing pull-ups and with your palms facing towards you if you are doing chin-ups. Furthermore, your hands should be a little more than shoulder width apart for pull-ups and a little less than shoulder width apart for chin-ups.

The movement starts when you pull yourself up until your chin goes over the bar. Be sure to keep your head up and pause for about half a second at the top of the movement. Lower yourself back down slowly until your arms are about 99% straight; be careful not to bounce upon lowering yourself.

If you are unable to complete the movement required for these exercises, you might want to try using assisted pull-up machines until you become strong enough for free weight pull-ups. And when you can already do more than ten pull-ups effortlessly, it may be time to try weighted pull-ups and chin-ups.

3. Barbell Shrugs

You can start this exercise either by deadlifting the barbell directly off the floor or unracking it at thigh height from a squat rack or power rack. Grip the bar with your palms facing towards you and then unrack the weight or lift it off the floor until it hangs to mid-thigh. Be sure to always stand straight with your head up and your knees slightly bent. Shrug your shoulders straight up as high as you can and try to touch your shoulders to your ears. Hold this position for half a second and then lower the weight slowly back to mid-thigh.

This is one of the back strengthening exercises where it is okay to use straps. However, you'll want to refrain from using an alternating grip. Take note as well that chalk sometimes doesn't work well with this exercise, especially if you are using a much heavier weight than you usually deadlift.

Now that you know what the best back strengthening exercises are, you need to learn how to integrate them properly into your regular workout routine. You will need to ensure a balanced strength training program so as to reap the full benefits of these exercises.

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Training Tips for Building Muscle at Home

If you plan to build up your muscle mass by working out at home instead of a gym, the most important thing is that you stay motivated. Develop a plan, stick to the plan and stay motivated to follow through with the exercise program every day. Set realistic expectations for muscle development and track your progress by keeping an exercise diary and charts. Realistic goals and expectations for muscle development will help you stay on track. Stick with a healthy diet and exercise on a regular schedule. You will soon see results.

Building muscle at home does not have to be an expensive ordeal. In fact, all you really need is your own body and maybe good set of used dumbbells. To build leg muscles, do a set of squats every day. Perform squats by standing with your legs apart about shoulder width and your toes pointed forward. Keep your upper body straight and your head pointed forward like your toes. Squat down as if you were going to sit down on a chair. Try to keep your upper body straight and don't lean forward, if you can help it. Do at least 25 squats at least 3 days a week, and increase the number of squats as your strength and endurance increases. Squats will help you build muscle in your hips, thighs and glutes.

To build up your biceps and triceps, begin by sitting on a bench or on a chair that does not have arms. A dining chair works well to perform curls while sitting down. Grasp a dumbbell in each hand and lift the dumbbell first with the right arm and then with the left arm. Repeat curls for your biceps for 3 sets of 10 repetitions each, and then switch to the triceps exercise. Work your triceps by grasping one dumbbell with both hands. Lift the dumbbell over your head and then lower it behind your head. Start with a weight that you can handle easily so that you do not drop it and injure yourself at home. Add weight to the dumbbells as your strength increases.

Push-ups on a stability ball are at the top of the list to build up chest and arm muscles. Face the floor with your palms down and place both legs on the ball. Stretch your body out, but keep your hands underneath your shoulders. Lower your upper body toward the floor as you breathe out, and push your body back up as your breathe in. Do at least 10 push-ups every other day.

Robin Reichert is a certified nutrition consultant, certified personal trainer and freelance writer. She has been involved in the health and fitness industry for over 10 years. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from the University of San Francisco and a Master of Science in natural health from Clayton College. Robin's goal is to make every personal training session fun and effective for her clients. Her services include both in-person and online personal training at http://www.trainwithmeonlinetoday.com/ Lose up to 10 lbs with a 24-DAY WEIGHT LOSS CHALLENGE! Visit my website to get started today!

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Weight Training Programs Are The Best Way To Change Your Muscle Mass

There are two types of Weight Training Programs, the Off Season and Pre Contest. With each program comes two entirely different types of training. We will break down what you need to do in each program such as techniques, reps, sets, etc. and what kinds of nutrition you need to get the best results.

When we talk about weight training programs, we are talking about a lot more than just lifting weights. There is a system involved that professionals use to get the most out of every workout. This system include two different weight training programs.

The first program is called Off Season Weight Training Program. In this program, you will add muscle mass. That means having a caloric surplus while lifting very heavy weight to add muscle size and density.

The second program is called Pre Contest Weight Training Program. This program requires you to lower your calorie intake and include cardiovascular exercises along with your weight training. For this Pre Contest Program, your weight training will not be the same as the Off Season Program. The poundage of weights used will be less and the techniques will be different.

Off Season Weight Training Program

Off Season Diet Your diet should have plenty of...

...spaced evenly every 2 to 3 hours throughout the day.Protein is key in both weight training programs. The amino acids found in protein help rebuild the cells that have been broken down and split during the workout. Having a fast absorbing protein, like whey protein is great right after a workout. Other then post workouts, all you really need is a protein source found in natural foods. Some great choices should consist of...

eggsmilkfishchickenturkeysteak.

Carbohydrates give you the energy needed during the workout to pump out as many reps as you can with loads of energy. Complex carbohydrates should be consumed all throughout the day in moderation.

In this diet plan for Off Season Weight Training, you want your carbohydrates to be equal to or more than your protein intake. But, be careful you don't over consume your carbohydrates because unused carbohydrates will be stored as fat.

Speaking of fat, your fat intake should be low. Fat yields 9 calories for each gram. So beware of your fat intake. Also, do not consume any saturated fats or trans fats. This is true for both weight training programs. Instead, focus on unsaturated fats like monounsaturated fat and polyunsaturated fat.

Off Season Training Training for the Off Season Program requires you to go heavy on the poundage and low on the reps. It's all about breaking down the muscle and then rebuilding it with the food you eat afterwards.

The exercises you pick should be ones that target the entire muscle area instead of those that target specific areas. An example of this would be...

Flat barbell bench press targets the entire chest muscleDecline barbell bench press only target the lower part of the chest.

To build the most muscle mass possible, focus on exercises which favors entire muscle stimulation.

Off Season Techniques It is always wise in the beginning of both weight training programs to develop good form. This is why we recommend using a technique called negatives.

Negatives require you to slowly lower the weight, forcing you to use good form and work against gravity. The normal time it takes to lower a weight will usually be around 2 to 3 seconds. When performing negatives, your aim will be for a total lowering time of around 10 to 12 seconds. Once you have perfected this technique and developed good form on your exercises, you should switch to descending sets or another technique.

The one important thing to remember in both weight training programs is, always switch up your routine once your body becomes adapted to it.

Pre Contest Weight Training Program

Pre Contest Diet For the Pre Contest Program, the diet could be your best friend or your worst enemy. Most people think you need to drop your calories dramatically. But you don't. Once you learn that a calorie is not just a calorie and you find out different foods have a different hormonal response within your body, you will notice that it isn't the amount of calories but the quality of calories that you consume.

You still need to watch the amount of calories you consume. But 2000 calories consisting of cupcakes and cookies versus 2000 calories of fish and chicken will have a completely different effect on how those calories are stored in your body.

Pre Contest Training A big difference between the two weight training programs is that the Pre Contest Weight Training Program will have you more out of breath when the workout is over. By reducing the rest intervals between sets and adding aerobic exercises, you will be burning fat while still maintaining your muscle mass. The poundage of the weight will have to be less than your Off Season Program but, you still want to lift as heavy as you can.

Pre Contest Techniques For weight training, you want to use a circuit based workout. Compound movements that use more than one muscle group to complete the task is preferable for this circuit training. Jumping from one exercise to the next with little to no rest and engaging both the upper and lower body will maintain your muscle mass while shedding layer after layer of fat.

For your cardiovascular exercise, you do not want long distance cardio. Long distance cardiovascular exercise will sabotage both of your weight training programs. After an hour of this type of cardio, your body will start to break down muscle tissue to use as fuel.

When performing your cardiovascular exercise, you want the time to be around 20 to 40 minutes. A good cardiovascular technique for burning fat and maintaining muscle mass is called high intensity interval training. This technique is based on sprinting for as long as you can and then resting until you are able to repeat the same intensity for your next sprint. 20 minutes of this kind of cardio is great for getting ripped and lean.

Both of these weight training programs will be cycled for a certain length of time. This means you will not be on the Off Season Program for one week and then cycle on the Pre Contest Program the next.

Usually, when you've built up enough muscle mass during your Off Season Program which could take anywhere from 6 months to a year on average, you will then cycle to your Pre Contest Program and strip away stored fat you have gain during your Off Season. This is when you'll show off the new muscle you worked hard for. These weight training programs are just a simple starter for anyone who wants to build muscle mass and then get ripped.

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If You Are Looking To Build Muscle While Losing Fat - This Is For You

Building muscle and losing fat, is what you should be shooting for.

Having additional muscle is a great idea, because with additional muscle mass you will burn more calories, make everyday living easier, give you confidence that you will be able to handle tough tasks that you are confronted with, and build self-esteem.

Building muscle mass while losing fat, is perfect for fine tuning your body, to reach the peak of your potential.

Some great benefits:
You'll sleep betterYou'll have more energyYou'll have a better outlook on lifeYou'll be able to finish tasks easier and fasterImproved self-esteemLess stressGeneral feeling of well-beingMore resistance to diseaseQuicker recovery from illnessAnd many more benefits

Gaining additional muscle mass, while you lose fat, go hand in hand with a healthy, optimized goal for good health.

The building muscle part of this equation is pretty straightforward:
Increase whole protein consumptionBegin, or increase working outIncrease high quality carbohydrate consumptionBe consistent

Some sources of whole protein:
ChickenTurkeyTunaCheeseBeefEggsMilkProtein supplements

Some sources of high quality carbohydrates:
CerealsGrains and breads: Bagels, whole wheat bread, white breadWhite ricePastaMuffinsFruits: Apricots, bananas, blueberries, figs, apples, grapes, orangesBeans: Refried beans, chickpeas, white beans, garbanzo beans, navy beansPotatoesSweet potatoesCarrotsCorn

As far as working out to build muscle and lose fat, you should workout about 3 times a week. Be consistent, do it faithfully. Don't make the workout so hard that you dread doing it. Make it challenging and enjoyable.

Set up a part of your home where you can do your workouts. It can be in your basement, or if you have a spare room that would be fine. Preferably a light airy place that would be conducive to a good workout.

For building muscles you should start with light weights, to get your body acclimated to using muscles that you hardly ever use. The goal is to work up to heavy weights with low repetitions. Your workouts should include targeting all parts of your body, you want a nice muscular proportional body.

For losing fat, you should train with low weights and high repetitions, this will help you lose fat and streamline your body.

Now these two routines seems at odds with each-other, high reps-low weights versus low reps-high weights, but what you will need to do is to have 2 low rep workouts and one high rep workout per week. That way you cover building muscle mass and also the losing fat part of your goal.

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