Newbie's guide to developing strength and size in bodybuilding.

Most neophytes don't know how to get started in bodybuilding they spend many years doing the wrong things before they learn what exactly the right things are. In this article I will address one of the mistakes the newbie's make and give a simple antidote to the problem of developing strength and size as a bodybuilder.

I think before we go any further its important to understand that strength training for a bodybuilder is not the same as for other athletes. A bodybuilder must develop strength while building muscle size, shape and endurance, and on many occasions these goals are exclusive of each other. So let's start this discussion with how to choose the correct weight.

What does your trainer mean when he says light weight or moderate or heavy? How do you know by the weight what rep count you should use? I try to simplify this all too confusing problem in just a few lines.

Everyone get confused about what is heavy weight, what is moderate weight and what is light weight. I will try clear this up for you right now. Heavy weight is any amount that is so heavy that on your first set you can only complete 6 to 8 reps. I think it goes to reason that on your second and third set you will not be able to complete as many.

Moderate weight is any amount that is so heavy that on your first set you can only complete 8- 12 reps. Of course less on the following sets Light weight is any amount that is so heavy that on your first set you can only complete 15-25 reps

Now there is one more thing that I want to address that is strength. understand this, just because you are getting bigger does not mean you are getting stronger; however, if you are getting stronger you are getting bigger even if you can't see the size increase! Finally, train to get stronger, but not for strength, if you understand the principles of the Progressive Resistance System this will make more sense

The four days per week workout The four days per week is called a split routine, because the body is split into four sections Unlike a lot of trainers I think there is a relationship between growth and total amount of sets completed in a week's time. On the three day routine you had 9 set for chest, back and quads, and six set for shoulders. In this routine the weekly sets will range between 12 and 16 per body part.

In no way do I advocate the High Intensity Training (HIT) methods that you'll find in all over the internet. I don't deny how well it works; I just feel much of the injury throughout my career has come as a result of working out with too much intensity. Age and wisdom has taught me to the never to even advocate the negative or forced reps for any reason I personally call them injury reps! But let move on to what I think will work.

Some important things to understand about this routine

1. Workouts are never longer than 1 hour! Never!

2. Dips are done with no weight, except "bench dips" if you have a partner

3. "Max" represents the most you can do correctly( never do forced reps)

4. Unless I specify dumbbells, use only barbell

5. shoulder press are done to the front of the chest not behind the neck See article my article on shoulder injuries

6. Lat pull downs are done at shoulder width never wider and only to the front of the chest.

7. Seated row are done either on a seated row machine or on seated on a low cable row machine. If doing them on a low cable row machine lean forward only enough to full extend your arms keep lower back arched. Never let the shoulders roll forward for that "extra stretch"

8. Barbell curls are done in smoothly never jerky or fast.

9. Leg press are done with full range of motion your calf should touch your hamstring at the stretched position.

10. Leg curls should be contracted until heel touches you butt.

11. Seated calf raises this exercise is harder than it appears. Calf should get a full stretch at the bottom of the movement, and completely contracted at the top.

12. Warm up and cool down with about 10 t 15 minutes of stationary bike or ski machine ( I only do low or no impact aerobics, never run, never stairs,)

13. Stretch only after you have completed the workout and only for the muscles worked that day.

Workout 1 Monday

Dips 4 set of 8-12 reps Bench press 4 set of 8-12 reps Dumbbell Shoulder Press 4 set of 8-12 reps Shoulder Shrugs 4 set of 8-12 reps

Workout 2 Tuesday

Pull Ups 4sets of 6-8 Reps Lat pull downs 4 sets of 8-12 reps Seated Rows 4 sets of 8-12 reps Seated Calf Raises 4 sets of 15-25 reps

Workout 3 Thursday (after one day rest)

Hack Squats 4 sets of 15-25 reps Leg Press 4sets of 15-25 reps Leg Curls 4 sets of 8-12 reps Standing Calf Raises 4 sets of 15-25 reps

Workout 4 Friday

Barbell Curls 3 sets of 8-12 reps Dumbbell Curls 3 sets of 8-12 reps Bench Dips 4 sets of 8-12 Reps Close Grip Bench Press 4 sets of 8-12 reps

Troy Pearsall has over 25 years of bodybuilding experience. 15 years as a competitive bodybuilder 15 years as a personal trainer and 10 years as a trainer of competitive bodybuilders. He has other successes in other areas but his first love is teaching the sport of bodybuilding. for mor information go to http://www.fire-iron-online.com

4 Bodybuilding Exercise Tips To Really Pump You Up

You only need two types of bodybuilding exercises to craft a really effective routine. Efficiency is a thing of beauty, unless you actually prefer to spend half your life at the gym, breathing sweaty air, and getting frustrated when you don't get results. Use your brain before your brawn, and you'll work smarter and see success sooner.

Bodybuilding Exercise Tip #1:

Know your muscles. This doesn't mean giving them cute little nicknames, this means knowing the size and function of each muscle. What kind of bodybuilding exercise will work each muscle? You want to create a physique of evenly developed muscles, and still be able to put your arms down by your sides.

Bodybuilding Exercise Tip #2:

OK - pop quiz. What will give out first, your triceps or your chest?

When you're doing bench presses, what starts to hurt first? Your poor little triceps! By the time you can bench enough to exhaust your chest, your triceps are shot.

The solution? Use isolation bodybuilding exercises first. These, by definition, isolate individual muscles and work them hard. If you isolate a larger muscle and work it thoroughly, it evens the playing field when you move on to a bodybuilding exercise that uses a group of muscles.

Bodybuilding Exercise Tip #3:

After you've put your larger muscles through the paces, it's time to let the smaller fellas join in. Bring in the compound bodybuilding exercises, the ones that use groups of muscles. Take the simple push-up for example: Wrist, forearm, biceps, shoulders, core, and chest all working together. Since some of the muscles involved are smaller than others, they normally fatigue more quickly. If you've isolated the larger muscles first, the push-up becomes a much more efficient bodybuilding exercise, because your whole body gets exhausted at about the same time.

Bodybuilding Exercise Tip #4:

Let it rest! The two sides of the coin are smart exercises and rest. They're both necessary to getting the results you want.

Using efficient isolation and compound bodybuilding exercises, you've got the work side covered. You'll get a more valuable workout in less time. But, it's all in vain if you don't allow for sufficient rest for your muscles afterward. Since muscle growth takes place during the recovery period, as your body knits itself back together, you can't interrupt that process by working those muscles again too soon. Give your muscle groups a full week to recover.

Half the battle in bodybuilding is having good information. Good info lets you create a good plan for your diet, bodybuilding exercises, and rest periods. Follow a good plan, and you'll get the results you want.

The "Muscle Nerd", Jeff Anderson, is a world-renowned fitness consultant and author, most noted for his cutting edge research in natural bodybuilding and fat loss. Discover the secrets to transforming YOUR body today at: http://www.musclenerdfitness.com

Diet For Natural Bodybuilding ? Powerful Tips You Can Use Everyday

We are going to examine the most common challenge bodybuilders face which is nutrition.

Unfortunately there is so much confusion about what to eat, when to eat, how much to eat and on and on that it is almost impossible to sort out what to do. Also eating to grow is very different the eating to get shredded so the key point to remember is that your diet needs to evolve with your physique.

Consistency and self-discipline on your eating is two biggest keys to long term success on whatever eating program that you are following. Bodybuilders who are successful always plan ahead and have meals prepared well in advance. If you don't plan out your meals and have them with you at all times you will invariably fail in giving yourself the best possible gains. Hoping that restaurants, or friends or relatives will be serving "bodybuilding food" is unrealistic and leads to frustration as well as no progress. Don't be one of those people who do not prepare their meals in advance.

Here are a few simple rules to remember:

1. Always carry 1-2 meals with you more than you think you will need. This way any delays in your schedule will not throw your eating off.

2. Always eat before you go shopping, to the movies, or to other social occasions where non-nutritious food will be served this way you will reduce any cravings for junk.

3. Prepare food in bulk and use Tupperware containers so that you can grab quick meals at any time. Also you will find it takes very little extra time to prepare 10 meals as it does one meal. This savings in time will actually make your life way more efficient and your eating plan easy to stick too.

4. Get off all artificial sweeteners. Artificial sweeteners cause cravings for sugar, mess up your metabolism and brain function, and may have negative effects on your overall health. Cut them out of your diet immediately and switch to Stevia, or Raw Honey for sweetening. No Diet Sodas.

5. Drink plenty of water each day. Most often dehydration is misinterpreted as hunger. Slug back a liter of water 30 minutes before eating or when you feel hungry and you will see how it curbs appetite significantly.

6. Place nutritious snacks in you car, your office desk at your house basically everywhere that you spend a considerable amount of time. You will quickly develop the habit of eating healthy and junk foods will quickly lose their appeal.

7. Schedule a regular junk food meal once per week. This is a powerful lesson that starts building the will to understand delayed gratification. Every time you have a craving for junk food simply right it down and schedule to eat it on a set day. By the end of the week you can review the list and go eat those foods guilt free. Often times by the junk food day you won't want the food or it won't taste as good as you anticipated. Over time you will develop more control over your cravings and reduce negative guilt associations with food.

This list isn't the be all and end all of eating but it gives you a start to work with.

Keep in mind that your eating program should evolve over time. Your body will naturally adjust from desiring different types of foods depending on a variety of factors such as season, nutrient levels, PH balance of the body, training demands, and conditioning levels to name a few.

Recording how food affects you as biofeedback is critical in understanding the powerful effects of food on your mood and your performance. Review your eating journal regularly so that you become aware of your patterns of eating as well developing awareness of how each food affects your body.

You must master eating and training first before supplements can be effective. So many people try the other way around and wind up frustrated. No supplement can make up for a poor diet or poor training so vow to master these two facets first before wasting money on supplements. Once you master your diet than the right supplement at the right time can do wonders to improve performance but seldom does the supplement deliver when the diet is poor.

Check out http://www.muscle-guide.com for more great information on building muscle and getting fit.

What are Digital Home Gyms

If you're a technophile and tend to look at the old age use of barbells and other free weights with reluctance and maybe even a modicum of disgust, you're definitely more suited to digital home gyms.

Technology has indeed made its impact on the world of physical fitness and has resulted in the proliferation of digital home gyms. Digital home gyms are certainly more expensive to set up than other types of home gyms, but if you believe you?ll be happy with nothing but that, here are some tips on what you should concentrate on to make your home gym positively congruent with the digital revolution.

THE LOOK AND FEEL

Your personal gym must have a futuristic look to it if you wish it to become as modern as possible. A futuristic look would often encompass furniture and design made in basic colors of black, gray, and white and materials that consist of glass and metal. Absolutely no country style d?cor is allowed.

VENTILATION AND SOUNDPROOFING

Your digital home gym must be air-conditioned. Furthermore, anything that has to do with ventilation must be kept out of sight (air pipes, etc.), and if that's not possible, they should be designed in such a way that it would not detract from the gym's overall look.

Walls must be soundproofed as well to allow you to play music as loudly as you wish.

MODERN EQUIPMENT

Body Monitoring Among other things, the equipment used in your personal gym must be able to detect your heart rate, your blood pressure, and the amount of fats and calories you?ve been able to burn in how many minutes? worth of exercising.

Fully Electrical Nothing manual must be found in this room.

ADDITIONAL EQUIPMENT

And of course, who can forget the need for great music when exercising. So do make sure that you've got ample space for your 10-part sound system that's sure to bring the roof down!

Home Gyms provides detailed information on Home Gyms, Cheap Home Gyms, Best Home Gyms, Home Gyms Review and more. Home Gyms is affiliated with Fitness Equipment Financing.

How To Choose The Best Low Impact Home Gym Equipment

More and more, we are reminded to exercise to get in shape and maintain good health. Unfortunately, many of the exercise options that are offered to help us can hurt us at the same time. High impact exercises burn a lot of calories and offer good cardiovascular benefits. At the same time, they can damage joints and bones. There are now options available that have the same benefits as high impact exercises but also minimize the chance of injury.

There are several great low impact pieces of exercise equipment. Three of these are:

Exercise bikes
Rowing Machines
Elliptical Trainer

Let's examine each of these exercise machines.

Exercise Bikes

Exercise bikes come in two main forms, upright and recumbent. The upright bike is like regular bikes in that you are sitting upright when using it. The benefit of an upright bike is that you can use it sitting down or standing up. Alternating sitting and standing will burn more calories by increasing exertion.

The recumbent bike leans back and your feet are positioned in front of you. These bikes offer more comfort and back support, but burn fewer calories since you have to remain in a seated position. Both styles of bike offer good exercise benefits, but mainly just exercise your legs. The prices range from $300-$600.

Rowing Machines

Rowing machines are built to simulate rowing a boat. They provide a good workout, not just for rowers but also for anyone seeking a good overall form of exercise. They range in price from $100 all the way up to $1500, depending on the quality of the machine and the options available. They offer four forms of resistance:

Air-This works by using a fan. As you pull on the bike, the fan spins and simulates the feel of rowing an actual boat.

Hydraulics-This works through hydraulic cylinders or pistons. While less expensive, they don't work as smoothly as others.

Water-This works by pulling bars through a small water tank and comes closest to simulating actual boat rowing.

Magnetism-As the title suggests these models use magnets. They offer a smooth, quiet ride and are more expensive.

Elliptical Trainers

Elliptical trainers also offer a good workout. The movement of the pedals combines the benefits of both a treadmill and an exercise bike. This works by standing upright on the pedals, which move around a large wheel. Since many have cross training bars that move back and forth, you get both an upper and lower body workout. The prices range from $200 up to $2500 for elliptical machines. Choose one with the following attributes:

Large wheel in front for sturdiness
Magnetic breaks for longer wear
Articulating footpads to keep circulation in your feet
A stride length between 18 and 21 inches.

When determining which piece of equipment is best for you, consider all the facts presented here. This way you can decide which machine is the right one for you.

Gregg Hall is an author living in Navarre Florida. Find more about this as well as other Fitness Equipment

http://www.fitnessequipmentplus.com

Stop kidding No home gyms allowed

Not long ago my wife went shopping for home gyms. No not for her but of all people for me. I was devastated. The idea, me exercise? I sit and work at the computer all day and that's plenty of exercising for me. I told her we didn't have room and the (2) extra bedrooms were for visitors besides.

Nevertheless off she went and darned if a couple weeks later she drug one home. A home gym of all things!

My wife was telling me that the convenience of privacy at home, no driving and time efficiencies is what I really would enjoy. Humbug! She also discussed her goals for me and frankly I was impressed. Lose 20 lbs or else! Else what? Rabbit salads and vinegar for life.

She also told me that in making her decision she considered our budget, room available, weight based or rubber band machines and relative versatility. I told how appreciative I was of here thoughtfulness.

She assured me I wouldn't need the motivation that a real gym provides, nor would we miss the room lost, and that putting the thing together would be a blast.

Also, just because I wasn't surrounded by other hard exercising chargers my tendency to be lazy and slack off wouldn't be a factor.

Thus far, the only thing that's lost weight is my wallet but I'm assured perseverance would prevail.

Before starting that home exercising program I suggest seeing your doctor to check on your health condition and your brain because when you're grand kids see you trying to do your thing they'll think you lost your mind.

Having home gyms is probably a pretty good idea and I for one am all for it. My grandson looks so fit now he can't keep the girls away from him. Boy, am I glad I have a grandson.

More good gym stuff http://www.home-fitness-gym-4u.com/