Powerlifting versus Bodybuilding

Powerlifting is a sport that evolved from bodybuilding, and many of the goals are somewhat the same. You can benefit from the practices of powerlifting if you are involved in bodybuilding and vice versa. The main difference comes from competition-in powerlifting your goal is to move as much weight as possible, while in bodybuilding your goal is to look as big and defined as possible.

Powerlifting competitions have three parts: the squat, the bench press, and the dead weight. You win a competition not based on how big your muscles appear to be, but rather, how much total weight you lifted. Competitors are placed into classes determined by factors such as experience and age, and are asked to lift in each of the three competitions. There's no need to tan, remove hair, or learn poses to be a successful powerlifter; instead, you should focus all your training time on building strength and stamina.

Powerlifters should stick to a healthy diet, just like bodybuilders. It is important to eat enough calories in a day to optimize muscle building, but you should eat the right foods. Stay away from bad carbohydrates, such as potatoes, and bad fats, such as fried foods. Instead, eat lots of pasta, green vegetables, and sources of protein. Depending on your body type, you may to cut back on certain foods to lose weight. Remember that powerlifting, however, is not a measure of body fat or definition, so packing on a few extra pounds won't effect how the judges view you. Losing body fat, though, will promote a healthier lifestyle altogether, and you will be able to feel better in the gym when you are weight training if you cut the junk food out of your diet.

Stick to a regular routine in the gym as well, just as you would when bodybuilding. You still need time off to rest so that your muscles recover and build between workouts. Also consider taking an entire week off every eight to twelve weeks. This method is used by many trainers and is found to be beneficial in most people because it reduces stress, allows your body to breathe, and helps you stay dedicated to your sport.

Overall, power lifting can be both beneficial to your health and rewarding in the competitive sector. Set goals for yourself with each competition and focus on winning against your own goals instead of simply beating the other lifters. By being dedicated to your diet and training and by keeping a positive attitude, you can succeed in the powerlifting world.

Tom Ambrozewicz is one of the pioneers in using breakthrough audio technology on his web sites. You can read, you can listen to professional narrator reading to you or having MP3 files download and train in gym while you listen. You can check all bodybuilding tips at Ask-How.info now.

Cutting Exercises: A Bodybuilding Myth?

One of the most common goals of fitness enthusiasts is to have low levels of body fat covering their hard-earned muscles. Whether the individual is an athlete that wants to look good in and out of uniform or a fitness instructor that wants to have ?toned? arms, everyone is looking for the most effective exercises to reach their goals.

There is certainly no shortage of opinions when it comes to training programs and exercises that trainers and magazines seem to promote to reach these goals, so it is understandable that many bodybuilders and gym-goers can be overwhelmed by information. But what really confuses me is the claim made by gym employees and fitness authors that certain resistance training exercises are for definition and ?cutting up?.

Believe it or not, but no strength coach or exercise physiologist has been able to prove that one exercise rather than others can promote more ?definition? or ?toning?! Can someone explain how leg extensions are a better exercise for muscle definition than squats? This article will dispel these myths and will reveal the best exercises for meeting the goals of increased muscle definition, which is the correct term for ?toning?, ?cutting up? or ?getting ripped?. In fact, let?s just eliminate ?toning? from our vocabulary all together.

First a little background for those without a long history of weight training experience. Bodybuilders (that includes any man or woman that is seeking to improve their body?s appearance!) traditionally perform a number of exercises for a body part during a single resistance training session. For example, in a chest workout one might start with bench presses, move to incline dumbbell press, and finish with dumbbell flyes or the pec-deck.

Now according to many personal trainers and fitness magazines, the rationale behind this type of program is that the pressing exercises are best for strength and mass development and the pec-deck would provide for definition. Also, people believe that these ?definition? exercises should be emphasized in order to develop a ?ripped? body (that is, low levels of body fat). Unfortunately, it seems bodybuilders and fitness buffs alike have been led astray, and the end result is a poorly planned program that does not lead to the desired results.

Next we need a brief, yet simplistic, review of human anatomy and physiology to reason why these ?cutting? exercises (i.e. pec-deck) do not do the job. For our purposes there are 2 components determining body composition, muscle and fat. For most people it is the amount of fat that is the limiting factor for them in the development of muscular definition and not the ?quality? of their muscle. If an overweight individual were to be stripped of all their fat, they too would have muscle definition.

On the other hand, a skinny individual can increase their muscle definition by lifting weights and increasing muscle hypertrophy (growth). The body cannot tell the difference between exercises! It responds according to the demands applied to the body. If you lift weights the muscle will grow so that it is stronger and can lift the weight easier the next time. If you eat too much and do not exercise, the energy is deposited as fat and your muscle definition will be lost. It is a very simple equation!

The pec-deck can still be incorporated into workout designs, but it is not the best exercise for promoting a better body composition. In fact, this isolation exercise recruits only the chest muscles and ignores the triceps and deltoids, unlike the previously mentioned presses. And remember that more muscles result in greater energy expenditure and a greater overall training stimulus.

Another myth that seems to propagate is that sets performed for a very high number of repetitions are most effective for ?cutting up?. Refer back to the basic anatomical principle that the body?s appearance is determined by the amounts of both muscle and fat, and most importantly that low levels of body fat are necessary for muscle definition. Using a lightweight to do a huge number of repetitions might not ?show off? your muscles better than using a moderate weight and performing a moderate number of repetitions.

Why not? Because there would likely be no difference in the amount of total calories burned between the two workouts provided each performed a similar exercise volume in the workout. The greater number of repetitions in the one workout would be offset by the greater intensity (weight) used in the other workout. However, a heavier weight will stimulate more muscle growth. More muscle results in a faster metabolism and theoretically greater energy expenditure at rest. So over the long haul the more intense (heavier lifting) workout may be the optimal choice for reducing body fat. In addition, larger muscles are easier to see!

Okay, so what is going to bring you the results (i.e. definition) that you want? Keep the exercises basic and intense (i.e. moderate to heavy weight). Most bodybuilders are better off to do 4-5 sets of bench and incline presses (for a total of 8-10 sets) rather than including 3 sets of pec-deck in the traditional manner. The volume of exercise will be the same but the difficulty of exercise will be harder and the cumulative effects will greater.

Aerobic exercise is not essential for low levels of body fat but can certainly promote greater cardiovascular fitness and help prevent excessive weight gain. Interval training has now been shown in 2 studies to be more effective than slow cardio.

So stick with multi-muscle strength exercises and interval training to burn more calories out of the gym. It really adds up to more calorie burn and less body fat. That is a far better approach than relying on cutting exercises.

And finally, make the proper dietary changes to promote muscle gains and body fat reductions. Nutrition is the #1 factor for fat loss. If you don't have good nutrition, no exercise program will help you lose fat. In the end you will be healthier and will achieve superior muscle definition!

Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training fat loss workouts have been featured multiple times in Men?s Fitness and Maximum Fitness magazines, and have helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than 45 minutes three times per week. For more information on the Turbulence Training workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment, visit http://www.TurbulenceTraining.com

Do Bodybuilding Supplements Really Work - Yes, They Do!

Bodybuilding enthusiasts and athletes have been using bodybuilding supplements since time immemorial.

Whether you are a beginner or a pro, you can use bodybuilding supplements so long as you know what you?re using and your objective behind using that supplement. All bodybuilders take protein supplements, creatine being a huge favorite and with good reason.

Creatine is a naturally occurring compound that supplies energy to our muscles. Bodybuilders supplement their creatine intake by consuming creatine monohydrate which is the best source of creatine compared to anything else in terms of purity and per-weight-of-material. Benefits of creatine include dramatic improvement in lean muscle mass in as little as two weeks; improvement in recovery rates with respect to muscle fatigue, and better performance in high intensity exercises. Creatine gives you bigger and better muscles.

Another popular supplement that delivers awesome benefits to bodybuilders is glutamine. L-Glutamine is an amino acid that is found in abundance in the muscle tissue. It can be safely consumed all year round. It plays a key role in cell voluminizing, anti catabolizing, and overall muscle maintenance. Glutamine helps in the process of generating Human Growth Hormone, which is necessary for muscle growth and metabolizing body fat. However its primary aim is that of promoting a positive nitrogen balance and muscle maintenance. Moreover, it is also required by the immune system to prevent sickness.

Proteins are amongst the most popular bodybuilding supplements available; this is because protein is the most elementary building block of our muscles. Ideally, we need 1-2 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight. Protein supplements are either low-carb or weight gainers.

Whey protein is easy to digest and is a popular post-workout supplement. Casein is recommended as a bed-time supplement as it can take anywhere between 2-7 hours to digest. Egg protein is the cheapest and most easily available form of protein. Vegetarians have soy to turn to. There are protein supplements available in the market that are a combination of soy-egg-casein-whey protein. These proteins are a handy for an anytime intake and they offer a staggered rate of protein absorption.

Pro-hormones or natural testosterone boosters are important for gaining lean muscle mass improving muscular strength and muscle size. 4-androstenediol or 4-AD is an anabolic prohormone booster. It is converted into testosterone in the liver. It is a pre-training supplement that helps weightlifters and bodybuilders to exert themselves to the maximum. Pro-hormones help bodybuilders by increasing the oxygen supply to the muscles, quickening muscle recovery, and reducing muscle loss.

Nitric oxide helps to increase the blood flow to muscles and is therefore of importance to bodybuilders who use it to deliver a greater amount of nutrients to their muscles, especially when the muscles are stressed.

Growth Hormones aid in tissue growth, tissue repair, fat loss, muscle gain, and boosting energy levels. They are also known anti-ageing agents. In short, growth hormones are crucial for bodybuilders. What adds to their importance as a bodybuilding supplement is the fact that the body?s capacity to produce them naturally decreases after the age of 30.

Mansi Aggarwal recommends that you visit for Bodybuilding Supplements.

Beginning Bodybuilding - Questions/Answers

If you are new to bodybuilding, everything can be very overwhelming. The problem is if you ask a 100 people how to get started, you will get 100 different answers. I will try to answer some of the basic questions everyone asks:

Should I Join A Gym Or Workout At Home?

If you have access to a gym, this is definitely the best choice. There are too many distractions in a home. If you are a very discipline person, then working out at home may be an option. For the average person, home workouts do not last.

Once you decide where you are going to workout, you have to decide on a time of day that works best for your schedule. Try to pick a time that you know will have the least distractions. If you have a family and kids, try to get to the gym before work. Or see if you can get in a workout at lunch. Whatever you chose, just be consistent with your workouts.

An added benefit to joining a gym is you can work with a personal trainer and have a personalize workout routine setup for your body type. If you decide to workout at home, there are plenty of books and magazines that can help you setup a workout routine.

What kind of workout routine should I follow?

If you are just starting out, I would start out with a routine that hits each body part once a week:

Day 1: Chest/Back/Biceps

Chest:
Dumbbell Bench Press ? One warm-up set of 15 reps followed by 3 sets of 12 reps.
Incline Bench Press ? Three sets of 12 reps.
Dumbell Flyes ? Three sets of 15 reps.

Back:
Lat Pulldowns To The Front ? One warm-up set of 15 reps followed by 3 sets of 12 reps.
One Arm Dumbell Row ? Three sets of 12 reps.
Low Cable row ? Three sets of 12 to 15 reps.

Biceps:
Straight Bar or EZ Bar Curls ? Three sets of 12 to 15 reps.
Alternating Seated Dumbbell Curls ? Three sets of 12 to 15 reps.


Day 2: Cardio

Half hour on the treadmill or elliptical trainer.


Day 3: Shoulders/Triceps/Abs:

Shoulders:
DB Should Press - One warm-up set of 15 reps followed by 3 sets of 12 reps.
Lateral Raises ? Three sets of 12 to 15 reps.

Triceps:
Cable Pushdowns - Three sets of 12 to 15 reps.
EZ Bar Skull Crushers - Three sets of 12 reps.

Abs:
Crunches ? Three sets of 20 to 30 reps.


Day 4: Cardio

Half hour on the treadmill or elliptical trainer.


Day 5: Quadriceps/ Hamstrings/Calves

Quads:
Leg Press - One warm-up set of 15 reps followed by 3 sets of 12 reps.
Squats - One warm-up set of 12-15 reps followed by 3 sets of 12 reps.
Alternating DB Lunge - Three sets of 12 to 15 reps.

Hamstrings:
DB Stiff Leg Deadlift - One warm-up set of 15 reps followed by 3 sets of 12 reps.

Calves:
Standing or seated Calf Raises - One warm-up set of 15 reps followed by 4 sets of 15-20 reps.


Day 6: Optional Cardio

Half hour on the treadmill, elliptical trainer or fast walk.

Try to keep a journal of your workouts (including weights and times). This will help you keep track of your progress. Following the workout for a few months increasing the weights whenever you can. Try to keep strict form to avoid injury.

Should I use nutritional supplements?

Definitely! When you workout, you are breaking your muscle down. Your body requires nutrients to build the muscle back up. Building muscle is 10% working out and 90% nutrients/rest. You build your muscle when you are resting.

If I have to pick the top bodybuilding supplements, it would be in this order:

a)Multi Vitamin ? Make sure your body has all the necessary nutrients, antioxidants and minerals to build muscle.

b)Whey Protein ? Try to make sure you eat at least 1 to 1.5 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight if you are following a workout routine.

c)Creatine ? Try for 5 grams of creatine a day. If you have a sensitive stomach, try Kre-Alkalyn.

d)Water ? Water is not a supplement?but it is very important. Drinking lots of water keeps the muscles full and helps flush your body of toxins.

With the supplements listed above, also make sure you stick to healthy foods like oatmeal, egg whites, tuna, chicken, brown rice, vegetables, etc. If you need to cheat, do so in moderation. Try to stay away from processed foods, sugar and alcohol.

Eating small meals 5-6 times a day is more beneficial then 3 meals a day. It keeps your muscles fueled throughout the day.

By following the advice above, you will be well on your way to develop the body you dreamed about. The key to bodybuilding is consistency. If you stay consistent, you will succeed!

Warren Kuhl is the owner of http:www.suppsearch.com. SuppSearch.com offers bodybuilding supplement reviews and nutritional supplement price comparisons.

Maximize the Results with Bodybuilding Supplements

Taking bodybuilding supplements is a great way to boost your performance while working out. Not only will you have more energy during your workout, but you will recover much quicker as well. You should also see results such as muscle mass, weight gain and fat burning in a much shorter time. In order to maximize your results, you will need to make sure you are following a few guidelines.

First, do not back down on your workouts simply because you are taking the supplements. They are meant to work in conjunction with strenuous, consistent workouts. In fact, you might notice that you can increase the intensity of your workout because you are on the supplements.

You also need to make sure that you are taking care of your body when you are outside the gym as well. You should be taking a multivitamin daily. There are several vitamins which have been designed with the needs of bodybuilders in mind. You also need to drink plenty of water. Some supplements can cause you to become dehydrated easily. You should follow a nutrition plan that is designed with your particular goals in mind. Get plenty of rest in order to help your body recuperate quickly.

There are some supplements which you need to take in certain ways in order to maximize the results. For example, creatine works great as a bodybuilding supplement but it is believed that your body gets used to it after a certain amount of time. Because of this, bodybuilders will often do a creatine loading phase which lasts about a week. After the first week, they will cut the dose in half and continue this for three weeks. This is called the creatine maintenance phase. They will then take a week or two off in the creatine recovery phase. This helps your body utilize the creatine without becoming used to it so you can continue to see an improvement.

Another simple way to maximize your results is to keep taking the supplements even when you have reached your goal. Some people believe that stopping the supplements can cause you to lose some of your muscle mass. You need to make sure that you are maintaining your body at its peak level. You might be tempted to stop using the supplements because you feel they are too expensive. The good news is that you can find discount bodybuilding supplements online. Discount supplements are the way to go if you want to be able to continue your program and maximize your results.

Natalie Aranda writes about health and fitness. Another simple way to maximize your results is to keep taking the supplements even when you have reached your goal. You might be tempted to stop using the supplements because you feel they are too expensive. The good news is that you can find discount bodybuilding supplements online. Some people believe that stopping the supplements can cause you to lose some of your muscle mass. You need to make sure that you are maintaining your body at its peak level. Discount supplements are the way to go if you want to be able to continue your program and maximize your results.

Bodybuilding: Groundless Theories That Can Hamper Your Chest Growth

I wonder how many of you reading this have used alternating dumbell curls for your biceps. If so, let me ask you this: Have you ever asked yourself why you do them? Think about it; you never perform alternating repetitions for most other exercises. When was the last time you did an alternating leg press, alternating leg extensions, or alternating overhead triceps extensions? Probably never. Yet it?s common to see people copying what they see others do in performing alternating biceps curls. And since they?re resting each arm while lifting the weight in the opposing arm, they?re essentially doing a rest/pause between each repetition when performing curls in this manner.

One day in the gym, I asked a guy why he does alternating dumbell curls for his biceps. I pointed out that there aren?t any other muscle groups that get this alternating rest/pause treatment. What benefit was each of his biceps getting from resting as much as five seconds between repetitions? He just scratched his head and looked at the floor. ?I don?t know?? he said, smiling. ?I?ve never really thought about it?

And this brings up my point. I?m not here to tell people they?re wrong in doing alternating dumbell curls. I?m here to express that they might be cutting themselves short in life when they go through it ?never really thinking about it?. We tend to do even less thinking when we perceive the people we?re emulating (like the BIG alternating dumbell curl guy) to be experts.

Here?s something to ponder that?s a bit more consequential than whether you alter your dumbell curls. Do you subscribe to the bodybuilding theory that says you need to focus mostly on compound movements to build size? You know the story: to build a big chest, your routine needs to consist of mostly bench pressing ? for bigger legs, you?d better do a lot of squats. I?ve heard this over and over again. But is it really true? I?ve gained my best pectoral size after putting bench pressing routines on the back burner in favor of flyes. And I?m not the only one; I first became motivated to do it when I read an article many years ago in which bodybuilding legend Scott Wilson said his chest only grew when he dumped the excessive bench pressing.

Think about it: Why would compound movements be better than isolation one?s for building your body? Muscle growth occurs when you advance to moving higher volumes of weight than you previously could. If that happens while doing flat dumbell flyes for your chest, your pecs will get bigger? period. Equally, if you train your chest with bench pressing in a haphazard manner that leads to over-training, your chest won?t get any bigger even though you opted for bench pressing over flyes. It?s that simple.

Consider this: let?s say for argument?s sake that your pectoral muscles will move one third of the load when you?re bench pressing. This sounds reasonable since the deltoids and triceps are heavily called upon when performing upper body pressing movements. If you can eke out ten repetitions of 225 pounds on the bench, you?d move a total volume of 2,225 pounds but your pecs might have been called upon for a third of that work; about 742 pounds.

It?s safe to bet that a person who can do ten good reps with 225 on the bench can also perform ten strict repetitions of flat bench dumbell flyes with 50 pound dumbbells. However, those strict reps of dumbell flyes would place a significantly greater volume demand directly on the pectorals within the same time allotment required by the bench pressing. The two fifty pound dumbells are a hundred pounds on the whole chest, times ten equals a thousand. That?s a thousand pounds of volume (thirty-five percent more than the bench pressing) placed almost exclusively on the pec muscles.

Even if you can only use forty pound dumbells for the flyes, you?ll still beat the bench press for volume load on the pecs (800 lbs vs. 742 lbs). This assumes that your pectorals are indeed taking exactly one-third of the stress during bench pressing. It could be more than that or it could be a bit less; it depends much on the genetically-determined structure of your upper body.

What?s in a Hormone Spike?

Many compound movement advocates site the theory that the body releases more anabolic hormones when performing big movements like squats and bench presses. To this assertion, I can pose three very good questions:

1. How much additional testosterone can bench pressing produce over isolation movements? (unless it?s huge amounts, it?s not going to matter)

2. Does this increase represent higher average levels of the hormone during recovery, or is it only a spike during and directly after a workout? (don?t buy the ?two-hour window? theory)

3. All other things considered ? does it really matter?

Here?s an even better question: If one guy does his bench pressing in a wimpy manner and another guy does his flyes like his life depends on it ? who gets the best testosterone spike?

Another question: Since sexual activity also spikes testosterone levels, does the heavy flye user who has sex after his workout produce more testosterone than the bench presser who doesn?t?

I think you get my point. Natural testosterone ebbs and flows in everyone (women too). It?s really the levels we average during our entire recuperation period between workouts that matters. And how much does that matter? If you average a few nanograms per decileter more than I do, I?ll probably just take one more day off between workouts and make just as much muscular gain as you.

Form Matters on Flye Movements

To build your chest with flyes, good form is absolutely essential. All too often, I see people performing movements that resemble a sort of hybrid between flyes and dumbell presses. These are about the most useless things you can do for your pecs. Your elbows do need to be slightly bent during flyes to prevent hyper-extending them. However, pivoting at the elbows instead of the shoulders is just a sneaky way of deferring or avoiding discomfort.

Let?s face it, doing heavy flyes in a strict and disciplined manner is painful. When relatively heavy dumbells are lowered with outstretched arms until they?re horizontal and even with your head on the bench, there?s a searing kind of stress throughout the chest region. When you squeeze the muscles as you carefully arc the dumbells upward and back together, the pain and positive effect from working the pecs so directly is only intensified. This is a good indication that you?re doing them correctly.

Conclusion

I currently do only one compound movement during my chest workout and the rest of it consists of flyes and pec-deck exercises. What?s more, I do my bench pressing movement late in the workout so that my pectorals have become somewhat pre-exhausted. This has all led to far greater pectoral growth compared to the days when I did set after set of flat and incline bench pressing.

If you?re having trouble with pectoral growth, I suggest you try a flye and pec-deck dominated workout routine. Let go of the erroneous belief that these are ?shaping exercises?. Consider this: Ray ?Thunder? Stern, a bodybuilder from the distant past, had some of the best pectoral muscles I?ve ever seen when he was at his peak. It was said by some of his friends that he could perform incline dumbell flyes with a pair of 120-pound dumbells. That?s incredible.

Impressive flye movements will produce an impressive chest.

Scott Abbett is the author of HardBody Success: 28 Principles to Create Your Ultimate Body and Shape Your Mind for Incredible Success.

Scott is a certified fitness trainer and a certified Master Practitioner and Trainer of NLP. You can view his own physical transformation by visiting http://www.hardbodysuccess.com

Finding The Right Home Gym

It's no surprise that using a home gym is a terrific way to get into shape. You can conveniently exercise in a spare room or basement anytime of the day, and you are guaranteed to not have to wait for the equipment to be available. This is one of the biggest problems with using a public gym. During peak exercising hours you will find alot of competition for the stations. You can solve this by working out on a home gym.

So now that you've decided on setting up a gym in your home, which one is right for you? There are many different units available from many top companies such as Weider, Bowflex, and Nautilus. And each one of these manufacturers offers several different configurations of exercise equipment at varying prices. One way to avoid getting overwhelmed by information is to first determine what exactly you need from the equipment. This may sound trivial but it is a necessary first step.

Do you want to gain size and strength from working out on your home gym? Then you will want one that has many different stations targetting various muscles. You will also want one of the home gyms that has alot of weight so that you don't outgrow it quickly. Obviously these models will be more expensive, but they are worth it if you want to get bigger and stronger.

If you are looking for something that will help you lose weight and tone your body you may not need one of the top of the line products. You can browse the exercise units that have lower weights and less 'bells and whistles'. These are great for beginners or people who want to start working out but are not into bodybuilding. Spending alot of money is probably not necessary if you are in this category. Look at other cardiovascular exercise equipment like a treadmill or stairmaster as well. You can burn alot of calories on them and they are generally less expensive than home gyms.

Take a look around the internet to comparison shop once you decide on the type of home gym you need. You will be surprised at the difference in pricing, and many companies will ship the units for free. Try to find a reputable manufacturer, preferably one that has alot of positive feedback for their customer service. If you have problems later on you need to be sure they will stand behind their workout equipment.

It is important for you to just start exercising, especially if you have been neglecting your body for a long time. If this is the case check with your doctor to make sure you are fit enough to start an exercise routine. Go slowly at first, gradually increasing the intensity. Before you know it you will be losing weight and feeling more energized.

James McDonald writes for fitnesstrainingsource.com, a fitness equipment and informational website geared towards those people who enjoy working out in their own homes. You can find product information and recommendations, as well as helpful articles.