The Management Consulting Group

Russian kettlebells can’t be called a new invention. The current belief would have them approximately three centuries old. It’s only recently that they’ve rocketed to worldwide renown, and following that they are as popular as any style of weight.

Kettlebell exercises are not complex, don’t need a lot of special apparatus, and we’re confident anyone could start out tomorrow. Obviously, the trickier moves aren’t as straightforward. As you might expect, the basic aspects come first.

The best weight to employ is something you absolutely must find out before you go for real with the Russian kettlebells. And, when you use kettlebells in your exercises, you need smaller weights than you’d expect. Gauged along gender lines, the 18lb variety is usually sufficient for female beginners, and males making the change to this program should expect to do best with a thirty five pound weight. This is down to the fact that you benefit from a kettlebell exercise in ways related much more closely to the movements proper than they are to the weights lifted. An informative aid - like a brochure or video - is a smart acquisition as you start out, checking that you have the movements correct. Before trying to learn any other kettlebell routine you have to study a two-handed swing. This movement acts as the core of the majority of techniques, and its easy appearance is misleading. Hasty stops, uneven movements - these are the last thing you should be aiming for. Pick up with your hips, rather than with your back or shoulders, to guarantee your own comfort over the course of your exercises. But once you’ve got all of that, you’ll be in a position to progress farther - you’ll have learned enough to try advanced techniques. To retain your motivation, variation is key - you could perhaps alter the accompanying tunes, move techniques in and out of your regime, etc. Perhaps another pair can be factored in once you know what you’re doing, and to punch things up altogether you can maybe even vary the weight of the kettlebells you use. In this way, you’ll make sure your muscles will be working as hard as they were at the beginning and not run the risk of levelling out.

A message we really must point out while we’re at it is that the kettlebells won’t help you develop your muscle mass or aid in body building. What these exercises are intended to do is stimulate weight loss, tone up, and enhance fitness and stamina.

Lastly, integrate a session using the kettlebells into a pre-existing fitness program. Of course, the amount you employ them is your personal choice. Aiming to maintain body weight? A mere two routines is enough. Or you can ramp up your pace, have 5-6 sessions a week and burn off that excess…

Fulvic acid maybe be one of nature?s best kept secrets. Users of Fulvic Minerals have described feeling vitality, loss of excessive appetite, a stronger immune system and numerous other benefits. At Long Last, like any nutraceuticals product you must make a decision on your own about the potency of such a product. This is simply because the Food and Drug Administration does not okay nutraceuticals.

You might be curious how an acid can help you feel better, specially when you may have also learned that base-forming materials may be healthier for your body. First, Fulvic is not actually acid at all, it was referred this because in early pioneering days acids were used to extract organic fulvic matter from substances such as fossilized peat moss. Since that time, better methods to extract fulvic have been discovered. It is always best to find a Fulvic Minerals product that has not been processed with excessive heat, chemicals or acids. You are much better off with an all natural, organically processed Fulvic Ionic Minerals product.


True Fulvic Ionic Minerals should contain no less than seventy two minerals in their ionic form and should contain the 8 essential amino acids. It is very important to note that you should be looking for fulvic that has no minerals in their molecular form as it is likely to have heavy metals in it. There are only a couple of Fulvic Minerals sources that have been found to have 0 heavy metals and only 100% ionic form minerals.

Being obese induces many serious health problems. No matter how badly you wish to get rid of that excess weight, it is going to take some work. To get the best from any diet plan, you must discover the best method of losing body fat. No-one likes to limit their food intake indefinitely, irrespective of the fact that it has taken time to put the pounds on to start with. Watching what you eat for months and months and not seeing the results is bad for motivation levels. To make matters worse, some types of radical diet can end up in other severe medical issues. So it’s important to take into account every choice available before opting for any specific diet.

Although surgery is common these days, sometimes it can result in some extremely unpleasant not to mention severe consequences. Overindulging subsequent to gastric bypass surgery can frequently end up in you feeling sick or vomiting. Numerous patients who have opted for the surgical option also develop intolerance to particular food groups, constipation and the cold intolerance. For most individuals the dangers definitely outnumber the gains. For anyone wanting to drop their extra body fat fast, fat-burners provide an excellent solution. fat burners increase the metabolic pathways in the human body through elevating the quantity of heat generated inside your body, which simulates the effects of exercise to help unburden yourself of the excess fat. Assorted active ingredients such as asprin and caffeine are utilized in fat-burners. These organic compounds are nowadays obtainable as liquid fat-burners. This means they act very quickly and will start to metabolize fat pretty much instantly.

The nutrients required for you to work properly are paramount irrespective of what method you decide on to lose body fat. Restricting your food consumption often means limiting your nutrition and the quantity of nutrients available. So, a good supplement and drinking sufficient water are necessary. If you’d like to speed up your weight loss even more, you need to take some fat burning exercise on a regular basis.

The entire world wants an easy way to get rid of straightaway. The thing to remember is that your goal is not just to lose body mass index, but additionally improving your health generally. To summarize, it’s a great idea to follow a healthy eating plan, exercise regularly and use a good supplement to increase your prospects of shedding your unwanted pounds…

Kettlebells aren’t new developments. The current belief is that they’re nearly three hundred years old. During recent years, however, kettlebells have skyrocketed in fame to become one of the most popular fitness routines internationally.

The simpler exercises can be done by anybody, whatever their prior keep fit regime, and there’s no need to spend much on paraphernalia. Clearly, the trickier exercise routines require more experience before they’re attempted. Learn to walk before you run, as the well known saying has it.

The most essential move when beginning to train with Russian kettlebells is to ensure you get yourself the ideal weight. What’s more, with these kinds of exercises, you need smaller weights than you’d expect. Female beginners are probably better off with an 18lb kettlebell, and male weight trainers should generally examine the 35 pound size. Actually, the weights are remarkably light — as in this workout, the burn comes more from the movement as opposed to the weight that is involved. An educational aid — like a video or pamphlet — is a helpful acquisition at this point, checking that you have the actions involved as they’re intended. Before tackling any of the other Russian kettlebell routines you need to master a double-handed swing. As the basis of a great many movements, this ought to be mastered in the early going — and it looks simpler than it is. The kettlebell ought to move smoothly, without sudden stops. Lift lifting from your hips, and not with back and shoulders, to guarantee your own comfort through the exercises. Once you have this maneuver mastered, you’ll be in a position to study one or two of the more advanced movements. To make sure the kettlebell will retain your devotion, variance is key; you can always adjust the accompanying tunes, rotate exercises in and out of your regime and so on. An additional set can be added once you’re comfortable, and to shake matters up completely you might maybe even alter the weight of the kettlebells. Naturally, you don’t want your regime to lose its effect, and these tips help to avoid the issue. A message we must make clear while we are at it is that Russian kettlebells will not help you build your muscles or play much of a role in body building. These exercises are designed exclusively to boost your general fitness level and help you lose weight and improve tone. We should suggest introducing a session working with the kettlebells into your wider fitness program. Obviously, the degree to which you employ the kettlebells is your choice. Simply going for one or two sessions per week you can easily maintain your baseline fitness levels. And if you up that to a daily regime you can be sure to burn off your fat at an awesome pace.

Many, if not most women, discard weight lifting as a good form of exercise because they think that weight lifting will actually make their bodies look like that of a man. If you are one of those who believe in that myth, then you might be surprised to know that this is not true. The hormones of man and woman are not the same. And the testosterone from those hormones play a big role in all this. This hormone is only present in very small doses in the female body. Therefore, women do not grow muscle wise as much as men does and in the same ways.

Researches also demonstrate that resistance exercise, also called strength training, like weight training and weight lifting, has profound effects on the musculoskeletal system. This whole thing makes you less likely to have back illnesses, knee problems and so on, as you body gets stronger and can take more without giving up. a good supplement is also a great idea. there are several serious Benefits of Weight Loss Supplements.

Weight lifting also contributes to muscle conditioning. Muscle conditioning is important for the overall stability and strength of the body. This is something that you will be benefiting from your whole life. This so called muscle conditioning will make your bones grow stronger as they are developing from the pressure of the muscles used around them.

The stance of the body is based on how well developed you are in several muscles in the back, neck and shoulders, as well as your hip and abdominal muscles. Being stronger, you will have an easier time standing straighter in the right way and with more comfort. You will absolutely see improved stability in your body.

Testosterone Therapy is for those who have significantly low testosterone levels - this sounds simple. But this has more to it, as this therapy might not be helpful for all. You can’t take this therapy just for the heck of it. Go for it only when you need it and doctors are sure that this is going to help you. The only thing that you need to keep an eye on is the right time to go for the therapy. In most cases, patients don’t see a doctor on the right time as they fail to recognize the symptoms of low testosterone levels.

To start with frequent changing of moods is a great indicator of male andropause and subsequent low testosterone levels. After returning from office if you feel a stretch in your muscles or feel exhausted early in the morning, then you are sure to be short of testosterone hormones. You can go ahead to see a doctor for testosterone therapy. There is no need to feel that these are sure shot signs of low testosterone count, though, as these can be the result of other health problems too. Some men after 40 start having cracked voice, and lack of sexual drive. They can even fail to have solid erections and very low sexual drive.

Symptoms vary from person to person, but there are some symptoms which are commonly found. You can even experience heightened blood pressure and continuous sense of irritation. The most important suggestion here is to go for a diagnosis as soon as any of the symptoms surface, rather than waiting for the disease to take a toll on you. A thorough checkup reveals the exact condition and if needed, doctors would suggest testosterone therapy to make a difference. After all you have every right to enjoy life till the end.

WHY CAN’T YOU GAIN WEIGHT?

Though there may be many reasons why you may be thin, the most apparent reason is because of your genetics. If your parents are naturally thin or have a small body frame, then you will most likely have the same small body type.

To some degree, your size can also be controlled by your metabolism. If you have a difficult time gaining weight of any kind (fat or muscle) then you most likely have a fast metabolism. That simply means that your body burns calories at a faster than normal rate. You must take this into account whenever you are considering a particular diet or training program. Is it geared towards someone with your metabolism and goal?

Now as you know, there are many ways to train. Hundreds, thousands even. Some work and some do not, but for the specific goal of gaining weight, there are a few UNIVERSAL things that all skinny guys must do.

Though much of the information I cover here is not as “magical” as you may like, I consider these rules to be the basics with regard to weight gain. These are not all of the answers, but they are definite elements that MUST be addressed in any successful weight gain program.

You should be able to easily integrate these rules into your current program to make it more suitable for your particular body and goals.

GENERAL RULES

1.Get the proper information that pertains to your SPECIFIC condition and goals.

The first big problem I find in most people is the lack of correct information. Yes you are motivated and doing things, but your effort is wasted on incorrect dieting and training information. Basically, skinny guys are taking advice from people who have never had a weight gain problem. Want to know how to gain weight? Then find someone who has walked your shoes. Someone who has been where you are.

2.Set a specific goal and create a plan of attack.

If you were to drive cross country to another city, would you just start driving randomly, or would you plan a route that would get you quickly and efficiently?

Think of your plan as a road map and your goal as your destination. Without a plan and a specific goal you will be without focus and can easily get lost or side tracked. This happens more often than you know. I see many people in the gym just doing whatever, or just eating whatever — no plan or specific goal. They wonder why they don’t make progress. They have no focus.

Having a specific program to follow allows you to take action each day. This action is focused on specifically getting you to your destination quickly. There is no thinking, debating or guessing. You just do it. A specific plan provides necessary daily structure that not only keeps you on the road moving forward, it also helps to develop good eating and training habits that will benefit you long after you have reached your destination.

3.Have confidence in yourself and belief in what you are doing.

Let’s face it; we live in a cruel world. Hate and jealously is everywhere. For most people who begin a fitness program to improve themselves, getting started will be half the battle. The other half will be staying motivated throughout the constant onslaught of negativity from others. A few negative words can do serious damage if you allow it.

The most insulting things you hear may be from friends, co-workers and acquaintances at the gym. People hate change. It makes them insecure, because they suddenly discover there’s more to you than they were probably willing to admit. They fear that you may actually achieve your goal. It makes them look less “superior”.

Once you have begun your plan, you must have faith and believe in what you are doing. Stay focused and avoid overly critical or negative people. If you have to, keep your business to yourself. When I first began my program, I stopped talking about what I was doing because I got tired of hearing things like “you can’t do that”, “that’s impossible”, “you’re wasting your time and money”. Funny thing is, now those people are constantly bugging me for advice.

It’s your life. It’s your body. It’s your dream. Don’t allow your success or failure to rest in the hands of others.

WORKOUT RULES

4. Stop listening to every ridiculous piece of advice you hear in the gym or read on a message board.

Recently a client of mine informed me that someone in the gym stated that he was training all wrong and he needed to train 5-6 days a week, and aim for more reps during his workout. Somewhere in the range of 15-20 reps per set.

The person giving the advice was quite confident about his recommendations, and he had an impressive physique that typically elevates him to the elusive “listen to me if you want to look like me” level in the gym. He was bigger than my client, so even though my client’s “intellectual” mind knows that advice is absurd; his “unrealistic dreamer” mind took this information very seriously. So seriously that he changed his program and didn’t inform me until a week or so later. This particular person had been making great progress on his current program, yet he allowed this one person’s comment to overshadow that progress and convince him that his program was inadequate. This is a mistake and it showed in his lack of further progress.

In addition, don’t judge the validity of what a person says by how they look. Just because the guy is huge doesn’t mean he is spewing pertinent advice for you. Many people that have big physiques are big despite of their training, not because of it. I know some huge guys that know very little about training and dieting correctly. They can do whatever and still gain muscle; unfortunately we are not that way, so we much approach things in a more intelligent way.

5.Workout Infrequently

This is the most difficult concept for many to grasp simply because it involves less action, instead of more. When we get motivated and start a new program, it’s natural to want to do something. We want to train and train and train. Thinking all along that the more you train, the more muscle you will build. Unfortunately, this could not be farther from the truth.

More training does not equal more muscle growth. Understand that the purpose of weight training is to stimulate muscle growth. That takes very little time. Once that has been done, the muscle needs to be repaired and new muscle needs to be built. That only happens when you are resting. You do not build muscle in the gym, you build muscle when resting! If you never give your body any essential “non active” time, when will it have a chance to build muscle? Think about that.

Now, add in the fact that you have a difficult time gaining weight and the importance of rest increases. Individuals who are naturally thin and have difficulty building muscle tend to require less training and more rest.

6. Focus on Multi-Jointed Lifts

Multi-jointed exercises are those that stimulate the most amounts of muscle fibers. Unlike isolation exercises which only work individual muscles, multi-jointed lifts work many different muscle groups simultaneously. For those needing to gain weight, this is ideal because these lifts put your body under the most amount of stress. This is the stress that will shock your nervous system and cause the greatest release of muscle building hormones. This results in increased muscle gain all over the body.

You can still do some isolation work; however it should not be the focus of your workouts, and should only come after your multi-jointed lifting is complete.

7. Focus on Using Free Weights

Free weights are preferred over machines for many reasons, but most importantly because they allow the stimulation of certain supporting muscle groups when training. Stimulating these stabilizer and synergistic muscles will allow you go get stronger, and ultimately build more muscle faster. Yes, some can most likely still build large amounts of muscle using machines, but why make it more difficult if you already have a difficult time gaining weight?

8. Lift a weight that is challenging for you

Building mass involves lifting relatively heavy weight. This is necessary because the muscle fibers that cause the most amount of muscle size growth (called Type IIB) are best stimulated by the lifting of heavy weight. A heavy weight as one that only allows you to perform 4-8 reps before your muscles fail.

Using a lighter weight and doing more reps can stimulate some Type IIB fibers, but again if you have a difficult time gaining weight, why make it more difficult? You need to try and stimulate as many as you can with the use of heavy weights.

9. Focus more on the eccentric portion of the exercise.

When you lift a weight, it can be divided into three distinct periods. The positive, the negative and midpoint. The concentric or “positive” motion usually involves the initial push or effort when you begin the rep. The midpoint is signaled by a short pause before reversing and returning to the starting position. The eccentric, or “negative” portion of each lift is characterized by your resistance against then natural pull of the weight.

For example, when doing push-ups, the positive motion is the actual pushing up motion. Once you have pushed all the way up, you hit the mid point. The negative motion begins when you start to lower yourself back down. Most would simply lower themselves as fast as they pushed up, but I recommend extending and slowing down this portion. Slowing down the eccentric part of the lift will help to stimulate more muscle growth. It actually activates more of the Type IIB fibers mentioned about in Rule 7.

10. Keep your workout short but intense.

Your goal should be to get in, stimulate your muscles and then get out as quickly as possible. It is not necessary to do large amounts of exercisers per body part trying to target every muscle and hit every “angle”. This should only be a concern of someone with an already developed, mature physique who is trying to improve weak areas.

If you have no pec, don’t concern yourself with trying to target inner, outer, upper, lower or whatever. Just work your chest. You should do no more than 2-3 exercises per body part. That’s it. Doing more than that won’t build more muscle, faster. In fact it could possibly lead to muscle loss. Long training sessions cause catabolic hormone levels to rise dramatically. Catabolic hormones are responsible for breaking down muscle tissue resulting in MUSCLE LOSS. While at the same time, long training sessions suppress the hormones that actually build muscle.

If you don’t want to lose muscle during your workouts, I suggest limiting your sessions to no more than 60-75 minutes MAXIMUM. Less if you can.

11. Limit your aerobic activity and training

Honestly, I do not do any aerobic activity when I am trying to gain weight. This is mainly because it interferes with the important “non-active” time my body needs for muscle building and recovery. I do understand that people have lives and other activities that they don’t want to give up, so it must be kept to a minimum. It won’t hurt your progress as long as you don’t over do it. If you find that you are doing more aerobic activity weight training, that’s overdoing it.

I also don’t recommend it because people tend do it for the wrong reasons. Many start aerobic activity because they believe it will help them to lose fat. While that is true, it won’t do so on a high calorie mass diet. To lose fat, you need to be eating fewer calories.

12. Don’t program hop

Here’s how it usually happens. You’ve just read about a new exercise or workout that is supposed to pack on the mass. Now, even though you had already started another training program a few weeks ago, you are tired of it and really want to start this routine instead because it sounds better.

I call these people, “program hoppers”. They are very enthusiastic when starting a new program, but they never follow it long enough to actually see any results. They are easily distracted and love to drop whatever they may be doing to follow the latest “hot” workout or exercise.

My advice is don’t do it. This is a bad habit that never leads to a positive outcome. Understand that it takes time for any program to work. To be successful, you must follow your program consistently. Yes, there are many different training methods and interesting routines out there, but you can’t do them all at the same time and jumping around won’t allow enough time for any of them to actually be effective for you. Pick one that is focused on your current goal and stick with it. There will be plenty of time to try the others later, but NOT NOW.

EATING RULES

13. Eat more

This rule is pretty simple, but usually the one that is not done correctly. If weight gain is your goal, then you will need to eat more food. Period. In most cases, you will need to eat more than you are normally accustomed to.

One large problem that I had when starting out is I just had no appetite. I knew I needed to eat more, but I just did not want to. I had to force myself to eat at each meal. Thankfully, after about 2 weeks, my appetite grew. I was becoming hungry before each meal, and if I didn’t eat my meal at the normal time, my body knew it.

If you have this problem, you still must eat something, no matter how much. Start off making yourself eat something small like fruit every few hours. Then, as your appetite becomes more active, gradually move into more real food.

What this will do is gradually get your body accustomed eating at regular intervals. Eventually you will be hungry before each meal time.

When eating more, you will need to make sure that you are getting plenty of good quality protein. Protein is a nutrient that is essential for building muscle. Every meal that you eat should contain some form of protein. Meal Replacement Powders like Myoplex are excellent for this purpose. They enable you to eat large amounts of good quality protein in a very convenient manner.

14. Eat more often

In addition to eating more calories, you should also strive to eat more often throughout the day. Eating infrequently, or going long periods without eating, will cause your body to breakdown muscle tissue for the calories it needs. This is especially true for those with fast metabolisms.

Spreading your meals throughout the day will give you more manageable meal sizes, improve nutrient assimilation, and make sure that your body always has the calories it needs for muscle building and repair. I recommend eating a high protein meal every 3 hours. During normal waking hours, that usually equals about 6 meals.

Now, I know what you are saying, “I’m too busy to do this”, or “how can I do that with a full time job and school?” Don’t let the thought of this being too difficult keep you from doing it. It may seem very inconvenient at first, but once you get in the habit of doing it, it becomes second nature and you don’t have to give it much thought. Trust me, I’ve been doing it for years and do not feel that it’s limiting or time consuming.

15. Use Nutritional Supplements.

Before you buy any product, remember that supplements are not magic. Too many people think that just because you buy the latest product, it guarantees that you will automatically begin to pack on the pounds. The truth is that supplements are only there to enhance an already solid diet and workout program.

They can give you the extra edge by:

* Adding More Convenience: Using food supplements like Myoplex or Designer Protein help to eliminate the common problem of ‘not enough time’, by providing you with a quick, efficient way to get your required nutrients each day. They make eating large amounts of calories and protein easier for people with low appetites.

* Increasing Strength Levels: Products that contain Creatine, like Phosphagen HP or Cell-Tech enable you to swing the odds of gaining more weight in your favor by increasing your strength output. Creatine enables you to lift heavier weights, which will stimulate more muscle fibers and cause more muscle growth.

* Decreasing Recovery Time: Vitamin C is essential to prevent free radical damage, which is accelerated after the heavy trauma of weight training. It is also essential is helping to repair connective tissue. All of this helps decrease the amount of time you are sore.

* Enhancing Your Immune System: Weight training increases the body’s need for many minerals like magnesium and selenium. I always use a good multi-vitamin ensures that I am not deficient in any major essential vitamin or mineral. Deficiency symptoms include muscle weakness and suppression of the immune system, muscle cramping and fatigue.

I can honestly say that I could not have built the body I have today without the convenience and enhancements supplements provide. I simply don’t have the time or desire to do it any other way. This is a choice that you must decide for yourself. You will be spending your money on these products, so make sure that you know their place in your program.

IS THIS POSSIBLE?

Yes, but I have to be honest and say that from my experience, gaining weight is much more difficult than losing fat. Even if you are doing everything right, it will still be difficult because you are fighting against what your body naturally prefers. If you are naturally thin, building an impressive physique involves persistence and determination, but no matter what anyone says, it is well within your ability. Good luck and for more information on how to gain weight, be sure to check out my website at http://www.fastmusclegain.com

Former “skinny guy” Anthony Ellis is the author of Gaining Mass. The most widely used weight gain program in the world. This unique program designed to help people gain weight and build muscle, is currently being used in over 90 countries. For more information on how to gain weight and build muscle, check out his website at http://www.fastmusclegain.com

When you first begin weight training, your view and understanding of the bodybuilding process
is entirely different from those that have been around for a while.

I frequently get asked for training advice and what should be done when starting out. Well, the first thing I do is
turn the question around. Instead, I inquire about what they already know about building muscle.
The first thing to come up is obviously weight training and secondly they mention eating chicken and pasta or something.

While weight training is a fundamental aspect of bodybuilding, it by no means completes the equation.
The unfortunate thing is, if they had a better understanding of the importance of nutrition, results would come sooner
and the success rate would be higher.

Most of us, myself included, only learn this after months or even years of training.

You know that statistic that says nutrition counts for approximately 70 to 80 percent of bodybuilding success.
Well, this is so true. In fact it is as true as two and two are four.

Nutrition absolutely governs the type of results you’ll experience. What you put in you get out.

Now back to the issue as to why so many young people who start out with the intention of building muscle do not succeed.
It basically comes down to the fact that they do not have a firm grasp of what it takes to succeed.
Unfortunately this learning process takes time and requires consistency.

If you are new to the muscle building process, keeping the above two things in mind can assist you tremendously.

My advice is, train hard and eat right. If that does not work, come back and do it better next time.

Faseegh is a 24 year old guy who is passionate about building muscle. He has a website where he shares his views on
nutrition and training.
Visit http://www.basic-bodybuilding-workouts.com/bodybuilding-nutrition.html for more information on nutrition.

Recuperative massage

Trigger point therapy (fancy name for massage)is a common method for relieving chronic pain related to sports injuries.

It is the most important tool in any athlete’s tool box; you might be surprised how many old nagging injuries can be dealt with just very simple massage techniques.

But you need to do it the right way, the idea of massage is never to massage the pain area, instead the muscles surrounding it.

Specifically, you need to find spots that are tender for pressure.

These spots are so called trigger points, and massaging them can be a huge help to many musculoskeletal pain problems. (More information below)

Joint health Supplements

As we age joint cartilage starts to thin down and loose its elasticity.

This can eventually cause pain as the bare bones starts to rub on each others.

Nutrient called glucosamine can help to slow down this process and help to rebuild lost cartilage.

Many of my weightlifting friends use it successfully and have gained additional mileages to their training years through it.

I’m not talking about training with those pink dumbbells here, but real heavy training.

Aerobic exercise for cardiovascular health

If you like training and you want to enjoy it as long as possible, you better keep your heart in shape too.

Aerobic exercise, even though it hinders and limits the muscle building potential, becomes more important as we age, as it helps to promote heart health better than just lifting.

Stretching for proper movement patterns

Adding some extra stretching and joint mobility work to your training regime might be useful, especially if you aren’t doing exercises with full range of motion. - Some key muscle croups to stretch for proper lifting bio-mechanisms; glutes, hamstrings and psoas.

And always remember that you aren’t really stretching muscle, but rather tricking your brains to command your muscles to lengthen. (get them used to new range of motion, and new movement patterns), so don’t hinder this effect with overly painful stretches, but take it gentle instead.

Resources

Learn more about glucosamine supplements for joint health below.
Information on Glucosamine chondroitin sulfate

Also more information about trigger point therapy can be found through the above link.

If cardiovascular health is something that interests you might want to check out Natural supplements to lower cholesterol page

That’s about it.

Good training.

Karri Koivula

Okay here’s a subject that really gets my blood boiling. Bodybuilding is intended to be the creation of the perfect physique…right? That means that the chest, shoulders, legs, arms and back are suppose to be developed to their full potential while keeping the waist muscular but small. Some bodybuilders may have one genetically gifted part that has a tendency to be superior to another part. The normal goal is to emphasize the training of the weaker body part while curtailing training to the more responsive body part. This is done to obtain proportional muscle size. In achieving the perfect physique, the waist is meant to be small compared to upper body parts and the legs. The smaller the waist the more dramatic the surrounding muscles appear. The Back will look like a flared cobra’s head when attached to a tiny waist.

I remember the physiques of the past, Arnold, Bob Birdsong, Franco Columbo, Bob Paris and Frank Zane achieved this dynamic look. Darin Lannaghan, Bill Davey and Stan McQuay have produced this look in modern day bodybuilding though they may never be seen at the Arnold Classic Competition.

So What’s Changed?

In mid 80’s, Human Growth Hormone (HGH) and Insulin became popular drugs with professional bodybuilders. The net result, with these top level competitors, is the “Roid Gut”. Now days, we have bodybuilders sporting a 40-46″ waists. I am guessing, of course, since no competitor would dare share the mammoth size of their waistlines. If they did, I would bet they would shave the number down an inch or two. Unfortunately, the Roid Gut has a repulsive appearance contrary to the original intent of the sport. When Jay Cutler in his early years hit national prominence, his youthful physique still had the small waist. Today, Jay’s waist is absolutely gross. Sure he may weighs 270+ lbs, but also he sports a waist line of a sumo wrestler. Most of the top bodybuilders, Ronnie Coleman, Dorian Yates and Craig Titus, all exhibit this similar phenomenon. These competitors are simply meeting the expectation of what the judges are condoning and encouraging by accepting this look at as the “champion” physique.

I am writing this article to discourage the use of these drugs. They are sucking the lifeblood out of the Sport, destroying the potential aesthetics of the physique, and taking the bodybuilding back to the freak show era of the past. THIS SHOULD NOT BE!

HGH, “Huge Gut Hormone?”

Okay so what does HGH do to the body? In a normal person, HGH is produced by the body and causes the normal body growth process. The HGH drug was originally developed for children that exhibited stunted growth and were found to have a low production of this hormone. Doctors would administer HGH in small amounts to stimulate a normal growth pattern.

In a few people, HGH production is overactive (from birth) it can also create person of gigantic proportions. Andre the Giant had this condition. Robert Wadlow was another and he grew to be 7′11″. He had many health problems and died at a very early age.

If HGH is administered to an adult, muscle growth restarts. HGH is very different than steroids. HGH causes production of new cells. Steroids cause only the enlargement of existing cells. The new cell growth seems to target only with the soft tissues and rarely skeletal system. Unfortunately, not only are the muscles cells multiplying but so are the internal muscles like the intestines and heart. Furthermore, organs, like the liver, kidneys and pancreas are growing too. When the growth of these internal muscles and organs occur in a fixed chest cavity, there is only one direction for this extra mass to go and that is out the abdominal area. Starting to get the picture?

Insulin’s Additive Affect

Now what is insulin’s affect on the body? Insulin is a super steroid that funnels the nutrients and sugar into muscle. When combined with hard workouts, recovery is very quick. Properly taken, it drives cell growth better than any other steroid. However if you screw up in taking insulin at the wrong time or dosage, you can throw yourself into insulin shock and die. Also long term use can make you a diabetic, a condition that shortens life. When Insulin is combined with HGH, the muscles are set to make significant gains.

The downside of insulin is that it is also active in creating the storage of fat in the body in the event of starvation. These fat deposits are stored internally to body and not on the exterior muscles. This is wonderful for the bodybuilder’s appearance but not for this health. These fat deposits called visceral fat are found around the internal organs of the liver, pancreas, heart and kidneys. Couple this additional weight with growth of the internal muscles and organs and you have enough extra mass to create a really protruding Roid Gut.

“Side Bar” Story

Let me tell you one story that comes to mind back in the very early 80’s. Tim Belknap, then a great in the world of bodybuilding, announced that he was diabetic. I have no reason to doubt he was, but I am now convinced that Tim found the secret to using insulin to maximize his bodybuilding potential. During that era, Tim was by far the most vascular bodybuilder on the scene. I also notice, he had a semi-protruding waistline. At the time I felt sorry for Tim being handicapped with diabetes but admired that he had accomplish a world class physique under this condition. Now looking back, I am sure Tim was able to apply his insulin to his bodybuilding benefit.

You be the Judge

I am convinced that these “super heavy weight” competitors at 270+ lbs might really weigh 240 or so if you stripped the mass out of their guts. But then again they might only weigh 220 if they lost the additional muscularity as a result of these two drugs. Let’s return to the aesthetic builds of a few years past. I hope that even if judges don’t award the small waist competitor the winning trophy, you will agree, that creating a Roid Gut is neither attractive nor healthy!

Scott Jameson is a bodybuilder and trainer for over 30 years. He has a passion for bodybuilding and helping other achieve this success. He regularly applies the techniques in this article. See more of his articles at http://www.bodybuildingprogramzone.com

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