tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-343986032024-03-23T18:47:53.377+01:00Natural Bodybuilding PrinciplesA complete handbook for successful drug free weight trainingGeorgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00277549339263186349noreply@blogger.comBlogger62125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34398603.post-6123291627446215022013-04-26T21:16:00.000+02:002013-05-24T11:13:40.407+02:00Bodybuilding Online Supplement Stores (III)<div align="justify">
In this post, I share some more experiences with online stores where you can buy supplements:</div>
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<a href="http://www.iherb.com/">iHerb.com</a><br />
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Impressive US store with a huge product offer. Nearly every vitamin and mineral product can be found here. The offer for specific bodybuilding supplements is not so big, but still good. Surprisingly, international shipping is quite cheap. Spanish customers can choose Global Priority Mail by DHL (without tracking support) for only 4$ or International Airmail (with tracking) for 8$ - 12$ depending on the weight. The weight limitation is unfortunately very low: 4 and 6 pounds respectively. Being a US store, Spanish customers must be aware of customs restrictions. However, packages shipped using Global Priority Mail are supposed to go via Germany, which would avoid them to be seized by customs, but it is up to you to take the risk. <strong>You can use this coupon code CDW006 and get a 10$ discount on your first order.</strong></div>
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I use this opportunity to add two Spanish online stores to the review:</div>
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<a href="http://www.masmusculo.com/tienda/es/">MasMusculo</a><br />
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This store has a good stock of products, and the prices are good in general, specially when you find special offers. It ships within Europe, and shipping to Spain is free for orders over 60 euros.</div>
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<a href="http://www.boteprote.com/">Boteprote</a><br />
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Another good store, with good prices, but with some stock problems for certain products. It ships within Europe, and shipping to Spain is free for orders over 60 euros.</div>
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New experiences to come!</div>
Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00277549339263186349noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34398603.post-108915446562251592011-02-16T17:46:00.003+01:002014-03-20T11:03:54.242+01:00Bodybuilding Online Supplement Stores (II)<div align="justify">
In my previous post <a href="http://bodybuilding-principles.blogspot.com/2009/07/bodybuilding-online-supplement-stores.html">“Bodybuilding Online Supplement Stores”</a>, I shared my personal experience with some online stores where you can buy bodybuilding supplements. In this post, I’ll add other sites to my review. Notice that I have concentrated on European stores in order to avoid problems with customs that can occur when one buys outside Europe. </div>
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<li><div align="justify">
<a href="http://www.onlyfitnessnutrition.com/">Only Fitness Nutrition</a><br />
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Very good store that sells products from reputable brands such as Optimum Nutrition, BSN, and Gaspari Nutrition at competitive prices. It only ships to Spain, but shipping is free for orders over 50 euros. In addition, it offers a very interesting feature, which they call “Massive Buy”, which establishes special prices for many products when the order is over 250 euros.<br />
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<a href="http://www.maxi-muscle.eu/tienda/">Maxi Muscle</a><br />
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Another good store with highly competitive prices, especially for Dymatize products. It only ships to Spain, but shipping is free for orders over 50 euros.<br />
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PonteMASfuerte<br />
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This store has periodic offers that make it a good option for purchasing individual products. Otherwise, the prices are not as competitive as the previous ones. It only ships to Spain, but shipping is free for orders over 60 euros.<br />
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<a href="http://www.prozis.com/">Prozis</a><br />
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This is an international store with delegations around the world. It pretends to offer a great variety of products, although in practice some of them are not in stock. Prices are expensive, unless you find one of its periodic offers. It rewards customers with points according to the amount of products they purchase. These points can be used to reduce shipping costs, which in practice become almost negligible.<br />
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<a href="http://www.hsnstore.com/">HSNStore</a><br />
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This store is an alternative when looking for micronutrients (i.e. vitamins and minerals). The rest of products are not very cheap unless you find an offer. It only ships to Spain, but shipping is free for orders over 65 euros.<br />
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<a href="http://www.iafstore.com/">IAFStore</a><br />
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This Italian store sells sport products in general. The prices of nutritional supplements are quite good for some products, but it generally suffers from stock problems. It ships around Europe, although it is quite expensive, but it could be free for orders over 250 euros. </div>
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Stay connected to hear from my new experiences. </div>
Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00277549339263186349noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34398603.post-89805213312317457632010-03-23T19:01:00.002+01:002010-03-23T19:15:19.050+01:00Exercise Instruction for Proper Form: Chest Exercises: Fly, Dip, Push-Up, and Pullover<div align="justify">This post continues the series instructing about the proper way to perform the most common exercises. It follows up with the chapter dedicated to chest exercises. Although bench press and its variations are the main exercises for working this body-part, some alternatives can be used as a complement to them. In particular, this post focuses on the fly, dip, push-up, and pullover.<br /><br />There are countless variations of the fly exercise. <a href="http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/PectoralSternal/LVPecDeckFly.html">Pec Deck Fly</a> (a.k.a. Butterfly) starts by sitting at the peck deck machine with your back flat on the pad. Place your forearms on pads. Position your upper arms slightly below parallel to the ground. Push levers together slowly and squeeze your chest in the middle. Breathe out during this part of the motion and hold the contraction for a second. Return to the starting position as you inhale until chest muscles are stretched. Some machines allow you to directly grasp the handles instead of placing the forearms on the pads. The biomechanics is the same, though (see <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/butterfly">here</a>).<br /><br />To do the <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/cable-crossover">Cable Standing Fly</a> (a.k.a. Cable Crossover), you stand in middle and perpendicular to both high pulleys with your feet shoulder width apart, knees slightly bent, and your torso leaning a bit forward. Alternatively, you can also put one foot in front of the other, with front knee slightly bent, for better balance. Grasp the two handles attached to the high pulleys so that your palms face towards the floor with your arms slightly bent. Bring the handles together in front of your midsection in hugging motion with fixed elbows and shoulders internally rotated so elbows are to the sides. Focus on using just your chest muscles. Return to starting position until chest muscles are stretched.<br /><br />In the <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/dumbbell-flyes">Dumbbell Fly</a>, you lie supine on a flat bench and hold a dumbbell in each hand over your chest by extending your arms with the palms of your hands facing each other. Maintain a slight bend in your elbows during the whole movement to prevent stress at the biceps tendon. Lower your arms out at both sides in a wide arc until you feel a stretch on your chest. Slowly return your arms back to the starting position as you squeeze your chest muscles. Elbows should stay locked throughout the exercise. This exercise can also be done on an incline (<a href="http://www.criticalbench.com/exercises/incline-dumbbell-flies.htm">Incline Dumbbell Fly</a>) or decline bench (<a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/decline-dumbbell-flyes">Decline Dumbbell Fly</a>).<br /><br />Additionally, these dumbbell flyes can also be performed in the cable station, instead of using dumbbells. You have only to position the bench between two low pulleys so that when you are laying on it, your chest is lined up with the cables. Grab each stirrup attachment with palms up grip. Again, it can also be done on a flat (<a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/flat-bench-cable-flyes">Cable Fly</a>), incline (<a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/incline-cable-flye">Incline Cable Fly</a>) or decline bench (<a href="http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/PectoralSternal/CBDeclineFly.html">Cable Decline Fly</a>).<br /><br />Some authors have referred flyes as potentially dangerous for the shoulders (see <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/matt20.htm">“The Dangers of Dumbbell Flyes”</a> by Matt Danielsson). Whereas this highly depends on each person, you can reduce the risk by using strict form (elbows slightly bent and locked during the whole movement) and avoiding overstretching in the bottom part.<br /><br />Dips exercise also presents a variation for targeting the chest (<a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/dips-chest-version">Dips (Chest Version)</a>). You mount in a parallel bar station with a parallel grip, hold the bars so that your palms face inward and keep your body at arm’s length above the bars while leaning forward around 30º. If the machine allows this, you can also hold the bar with an oblique grip (bar diagonal under palms). Bend knees and hips slightly. Lower yourself slowly by bending arms allowing elbows to flare out to sides until you feel a slight stretch in the chest. Do not descend on a deflated chest. Inhale before you descend, hold it, and then exhale during the ascent. This will help to keep your shoulders pulled back and safe. Without bouncing, use the chest strength to slowly raise yourself back to the starting position. You can increase resistance by adding weight using a dip belt or placing a dumbbell between your ankles.<br /><br />The well-known <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/pushups">Push-Up</a> is also a great chest exercise. Lie on the floor face down and place your hands slightly wider than shoulder width apart while holding your torso up at arm’s length and touching the floor with your toes. Narrower hands positioning will involve more the triceps. At this point, your body should form a straight line from your shoulders to your ankles. Your body should remain straight throughout this exercise. Keep your head and neck in line with your body so that you are looking down toward the floor. In a controlled fashion, lower your body downward, bending your elbows, until your body is nearly touching the floor. Then, press your upper body back up to the starting position while squeezing your chest. You can add more difficulty to the exercise by placing additional weight on your back (<a href="http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/PectoralSternal/WtPushup.html">Weighted Push-Up</a>) or by putting your feet on top of a flat bench (<a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/push-ups-with-feet-elevated">Push-Up with Feet Elevated</a>) or an exercise ball (<a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/push-ups-with-feet-on-an-exercise-ball">Push-Up with Feet on an Exercise Ball</a>). The latter involves more the stabilizer muscles. In any case, the higher the feet elevation is, the higher the resistance of the exercise is.<br /><br />Finally, whereas previous exercises target mainly the pectoralis major, <a href="http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/PectoralSternal/DBPullover.html">Dumbbell Pullover</a> directly targets the pectoralis minor. You have to lie perpendicular on a bench with only your shoulder blades/traps resting on the bench. Your feet should be flat on the floor, knees bent, butt hanging low. You can also lie along the bench, though this position is more prone to spine hyperextension, especially when your back flexibility is scarce. Grab a dumbbell with your hands flat against the inside plate of the dumbbell and hold it at arms' length above your face with elbows slightly bent. Lower the dumbbell in semicircular motion behind the head, going as far as possible without pain while keeping elbows locked. Return the weight back, and in order to work the pectoralis minor, stop after 30º degrees (six to eight inches). If you go further this point and bring the weight until it is straight above the chest, the pectoralis minor is no longer involved and other muscles (basically the pectoralis major) take over the main role.<br /><br />Basic guidelines for performing these and other exercises for developing your chest can be found in the article <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/pecs.htm">“Champion Chest Development”</a> and in the chest exercise guides at <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/finder/lookup/filter/muscle/id/1/muscle/chest">Bodybuilding.com</a>. </div>Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00277549339263186349noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34398603.post-3235952031084660432010-02-13T00:34:00.002+01:002010-02-13T00:44:02.893+01:00Exercise Instruction for Proper Form: Chest Exercises: Bench Press<div align="justify">This post continues the series instructing about the proper way to perform the most common exercises by moving to a new body-part, namely the chest. The main exercise for working this body-part is the popular bench press, which also presents several variations.<br /><br />The bench press is a compound, push-type exercise, which mainly targets the sternal head of the pectoralis major muscle, though it also involves largely the clavicular head, the anterior deltoid, and the triceps. There are different versions (it may be performed with a bar or with dumbbells; the bench may be flat, inclined, or declined), being the <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/barbell-bench-press-medium-grip">Barbell Bench Press</a> the most common.<br /><br />The exercise starts by positioning properly on a flat bench. This means lying on the bench with your eyes in line with the bar and firmly positioning your feet flat on the floor for better balance. You should also squeeze your shoulder blades together and keep them in this retracted position during the whole movement. This will increase your stability, thus increasing your power, and will add a measure of safety to the lift. In addition, you must maintain a flat back (or slightly arched) and the chest raised and expanded during the whole exercise. Do not arch excessively or thrust your hips in the air at any moment. Despite this enhances leverage, it also places the lower back into hyperextension, in a position prone to injury.<br /><br />At this point, grab the bar tightly, with the low part of the palm and wrapping your thumbs around the bar. This will keep your wrists straight. Thumbless grip should be avoided, since it does not allow your wrists to be in a straight position and it reduces the control over the bar, which can lead you to a serious injury if the bar slips out of your hands. Hands positioning should be wider than shoulder width apart. In particular, you should place your hands in such a way that, when the upper arms are parallel to the body, the forearms are perpendicular to the floor.<br /><br />Once positioned, unrack the bar from the supports, pause until it is steady at arm length above your chest, and then lower it under control, keeping your elbows directly under the bar at all times, to a point even with the nipples or slightly below them. If you lower the bar too high on the chest, your arms tend to rotate externally, putting a dangerous strain on your shoulder joints. You should stop the descent just before the bar touches the chest (approx. 1 cm). During the whole movement, the forearms should be vertical when viewed from the side. Never bounce the bar off your chest. This not only can cause an injury, but the involved momentum alleviates the pressure on the muscle, which makes the work less productive.<br /><br />At this point, you must drive the barbell up again until your arms are straight (but elbows are not locked). The first part of this ascent should be vertical (or slightly back towards your face), but never moving away towards your feet. Two options are being commonly used for the rest of the ascent. In the first one, the bar continues in a straight line directly following the first phase just described. In the second option (known as the "J-curve"), the bar moves in a diagonal line to finish the movement just above your upper chest. Both variations have defenders and detractors. In the first one, the travelled distance is shorter and the triceps are more involved, while the second one involves more the anterior deltoid.<br /><br />Two final remarks regarding tempo and breath control. The eccentric phase should always be tight and controlled, especially when training for hypertrophy. As a rule of thumb, this means around two seconds to lower the bar. When training for strength, you can use a faster eccentric speed, but always controlling the weight. Proper breath control is also important in your technique. Inhale deeply as you begin to lower the bar, hold the breath at the last part of the descent, and continue holding until you have pushed upward through the sticking point. Then exhale during the rest of the ascent.<br /><br />The bench press presents several variations. The <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/barbell-incline-bench-press-medium-grip">Incline Barbell Bench Press</a> is used to target the clavicular head of the pectoralis major. This variant shares the same biomechanics than the regular bench press, but it is performed in an incline bench at about 30-45 degree angle. As a main difference, you should lower the bar to the upper chest, instead of the nipple level used in the regular version. Due to the inclination of the bench, the latter would lead to excessive and unsafe extension of your shoulders. You should also avoid lowering the bar to your neck, since that positioning is also very dangerous for the shoulders.<br /><br />The <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/decline-barbell-bench-press">Decline Barbell Bench Press</a> is performed in a decline bench no more than 30 degrees. In this variation, lower the bar to your lower chest well below your nipples (on the side of your abs). Use this exercise with special caution. It can be very severe on the shoulders if you lower the bar to the mid chest or, even worse, to the clavicles.<br /><br />All the bench press variations described up to now can be also performed with dumbbells. Dumbbell versions include the <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/dumbbell-bench-press">Dumbbell Bench Press</a>, <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/incline-dumbbell-press">Dumbbell Incline Bench Press</a>, and <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/decline-dumbbell-bench-press">Dumbbell Decline Bench Press</a>, which share basically the same biomechanics than their barbell counterparts (obviously adapted to the fact that your forearms are not locked and you are moving two dumbbells instead of a barbell). Using dumbbells presents some advantages that encourage to alternate these exercises with their counterparts using a barbell. They involve supportive muscles that are not activated too much in the barbell versions. Both sides of the pectoral are trained equally and independently. You can go further down, though you should be careful not to overstretch. They have also some drawbacks that should be considered. For instance, it could be difficult to get into position when working with heavy dumbbells. It is also easier to lose the proper form, which can bring to injuries.<br /><br />More details about bench press technique and useful tips for increasing your bench press performance can be found in the articles <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/staley4.htm">“How Much Ya Bench?”</a> by Charles Staley and <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/criticalbench8.htm">“Bench Press Blastoff!”</a> by Tom Venuto, and the book <a href="http://www.hardgainer.com/insiders.html">“The Insider’s Tell-All Handbook On Weight-Training Technique”</a> by Stuart McRobert. </div>Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00277549339263186349noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34398603.post-14998113728685865272009-12-26T21:49:00.002+01:002009-12-26T22:00:04.759+01:00Exercise Instruction for Proper Form: Lower Back Exercises: Back Extension<div align="justify">This post continues the series instructing about the proper way to perform the most common exercises. It follows up with the chapter dedicated to lower back exercises. Although deadlift and its variations are the main exercises for working this body-part, some alternatives can be used as a complement to them. In particular, this post focuses on the back extension and its variations.<br /><br />The primary version of the <a href="http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/ErectorSpinae/WtBackExtension.html">Back Extension</a> starts by lying face down on a hyperextension bench, in a position that allows you to bend at the waist without any restriction, and locking your ankles securely under the footpads. Begin with your body in a straight line. Position your hands either behind your head or crossed on your chest. You can also hold a weight for extra resistance (e.g. a barbell across the back, a plate held behind the head or to your chest). Slowly bend forward at the waist while keeping your back straight (do not round it at any stage of the movement). From the bottom position, slowly raise your torso back until your legs and upper body are in a straight line again. <a href="http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/ErectorSpinae/WtHyperextension.html">Hyperextension</a> is often referred as a synonym of the back extension, though this exercise suggests extending the back going further than the straight line. Being this hyperextended position a delicate position for the lower back, it is probably better to stay with the regular back extension. Another variation, known as <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/hyperextensions-back-extensions">45° Back Extension</a>, starts by placing the body in a 45º line instead of a straight one. It also requires a special device but it is a nice alternative to the back extension, though less challenging.<br /><br />There are some aspects on back extension form that should be commented. First, whereas bending at the waist involves heavily the lower back, you can move part of the work to the hamstrings by bending at the hips. Second, hands position play a role in the difficulty of the exercise: the higher in the body the arms are placed, the more challenging the exercise is. This occurs because moving your arms higher also shifts the center of gravity further away from the articulating joint. Third, following the previous comment, it is important to notice that holding weights behind the head encourages rounding the back and stresses the neck. For this reason, these variants should be carefully approached or neglected in favor of those holding weights to the chest. Finally, if a hyperextension bench is not available, back extensions can be also performed in a high bench if a spotter helps you (<a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/hyperextensions-with-no-hyperextension-bench">Hyperextension on a Bench</a>) or using an exercise ball (<a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/weighted-ball-hyperextension">Weighted Ball Hyperextension</a>).<br /><br />There are other exercises for working the lower back. <a href="http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/ErectorSpinae/BBBentKneeGoodMorning.html">Good Morning</a> exercise has the same starting position as the squat, with a considerably lower weight of course, and consists of bending forward at the waist while keeping the legs straight (knees slightly bent) until the upper body is parallel to the floor, and then slowly return to the starting position. As usual, it is important to keep the head up and the back completely straight.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/superman">Superman</a> starts by lying face down on a mat with legs together and arms extended out directly overhead. Raise your arms, chest, and legs off the floor and keep that position for a second. Lower the back to the ground and repeat. This exercise has a variation, known as <a href="http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/ErectorSpinae/ContraLateralSuperman.html">Contralateral Superman</a>, involving only one arm and leg at a time. Using the same starting position, raise left arm and right leg into the air at the same time, also raising the chest slightly off the floor. Hold there for a second and squeeze the muscles of your lower back. Lower your limbs back to the ground and then do the same with the opposite side.<br /><br />Reverse Back Extension starts by lying face down on an elevated horizontal bench, with your legs off the end, and tightly holding the bench in front of the head. Then, slowly raise your legs until they are parallel to the floor while keeping your head facing forward. Finally, there is a variation of the <a href="http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/BackGeneral/CBSeatedRow.html">Cable Seated Row</a> exercise involving also the lower back, in which you lean forward and backward accompanying elbows movement. However, I prefer to use the regular Cable Seated Row for working the upper back, and target my lower back with dedicated exercises.<br /><br />You can find a more detailed description about these lower back exercises in the article <a href="http://www.teenbodybuilding.com/john10.htm">“All Out Back Training”</a> by John Giljum and the book <a href="http://www.hardgainer.com/insiders.html">“The Insider’s Tell-All Handbook On Weight-Training Technique”</a> by Stuart McRobert. </div>Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00277549339263186349noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34398603.post-68951330598735619072009-11-28T01:51:00.002+01:002009-11-28T02:15:33.713+01:00Exercise Instruction for Proper Form: Lower Back Exercises: Deadlift<div align="justify">This post continues the series instructing about the proper way to perform the most common exercises by moving to a new body-part, namely the lower back. This body-part is mainly worked using the deadlift and its variations. This is a very demanding power exercise that targets the spinal erectors, but also involves the quadriceps, glutes, hamstrings, traps, and forearms to a great extent.<br /><br />Starting position of <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/barbell-deadlift">Barbell Deadlift</a> exercise is standing in front of a loaded bar with your feet about shoulder width apart and toes pointing straight forward, or slightly turned out to the sides. At this point, bend your knees, lower your butt, lean slightly forward keeping your back straight (or slightly arched) and hold the bar using an overhand grip about shoulder width apart. You can use wrist straps to prevent that your grip gives out before your back and legs do. Mixed grip (a.k.a. staggered grip, in which one hand is pronated and the other is supinated) is popular among powerlifters. It improves the grip but puts a lot of stress on the biceps of the supinated hand, which could be dangerous.<br /><br />Lock the back in a straight position, pull the shoulders backwards, look straight forward or slightly up, and maintain this position during the entire movement. This is extremely important, since rounding the back puts a lot of pressure on the spine and can lead you to a serious injury. Now, begin the lift by straightening your legs and, when the bar is around knee level, start bringing your back up, all the while pushing with the legs in one smooth motion. A common mistake is to straighten the legs and then the back, or vice versa. A good rule to remember is that hips and shoulders should ascend together. During the ascent, keep the bar as close to the legs as possible. The finished position should leave you standing up straight, arms down at your sides, and the bar across your upper thighs.<br /><br />It is not needless to insist on the importance of proper form with this exercise, as bad form (e.g. rounding your back) can lead to a very serious injury. According to this, using a lifting belt can be an option when working with heavy weights in order to take some pressure off the lower back.<br /><br />There is a deadlift variation, known as <a href="http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/ErectorSpinae/BBSumoDeadlift.html">Sumo Deadlift</a>, where the feet stance is wider and you grip the bar on the inside of the legs. This moves part of the pressure from the lower back to the legs and can be more comfortable for some people.<br /><br />The <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/romanian-deadlift">Romanian Deadlift</a> is another variation that is mainly targeted to hit the hamstrings, but it also involves the lower back to a considerable degree, so it is worth mentioning it here. The main difference with the regular deadlift is that in this exercise you keep the legs almost straight (they must be slightly bent at the knees) during the entire exercise while you let your butt move back as you bend at the hips to lower the weight. Again, it is extremely important to keep your back straight throughout the entire movement. Starting position is also slightly different, since your feet are only a few inches apart (at most shoulder width apart).<br /><br />A final note is that the furthest you lower the weight, the more you involve the lower back. According to this, as Romanian Deadlift aims to target the hamstrings, it recommends to stop lowering the weight when your back forms a 30 degrees angle with the floor. Another variation, called <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/stiff-legged-barbell-deadlift-hamstrings">Still-legged Deadlift</a>, suggests lowering the weight all the way down to involve more the lower back. You must be careful if you use it, as this can be potentially dangerous.<br /><br />You can find further information about all these deadlift variations in the articles <a href="http://www.teenbodybuilding.com/john10.htm">“All Out Back Training”</a> by John Giljum and <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/schultz35.htm">“Deadlifts: Learn Why The King Is Dead!”</a> by Curtis Schultz, and the book <a href="http://www.hardgainer.com/insiders.html">“The Insider’s Tell-All Handbook On Weight-Training Technique”</a> by Stuart McRobert. </div>Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00277549339263186349noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34398603.post-11968894142479265982009-10-23T17:13:00.003+02:002009-11-28T02:10:59.572+01:00Exercise Instruction for Proper Form: Upper Back Exercises: Pulldown and Row<div align="justify">This post continues the series instructing about the proper way to perform the most common exercises. It follows up with the chapter dedicated to upper back exercises, focusing now on pulldowns and rows.<br /><br />Whereas pull-up/chin-up should be the basic exercise on your routine for developing the width of your back, lat pulldowns can be an option when you are not strong enough to move your bodyweight, or just as a complement in your workout. A pulldown is basically a pull-up mimicking movement, but performed in a specific pulldown machine. As pull-ups, it presents several variations depending on your hands position (<a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/underhand-cable-pulldowns">Underhand Cable Pulldown</a>, <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/v-bar-pulldown">V-Bar Pulldown</a>, <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/wide-grip-lat-pulldown">Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown</a>), having each position a different effect on your back muscles. Refer to the previous post for more details.<br /><br />This exercise starts by sitting in a pulldown machine with the legs positioned under the kneepads and the feet flat on the floor and grabbing the bar/handle with the desired hands position. Then pull the bar down until it touches your upper chest. Focus on keeping your elbows back as far as possible, while arching your back slightly. Hold and squeeze at the point of contraction, and slowly raise the bar/handle back to the starting position. Do not lean back too far or pull the weight down using your body weight during the movement. Avoid the behind-the-neck version of this exercise, as it can lead you to injury.<br /><br />Being significantly different from a regular pulldown, the <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/straight-arm-pulldown">Straight-Arm Pulldown</a> exercise also works the lats. Stand in front of a lat pulldown machine with your arms outstretched towards the bar. With an overhand grip, keeping the elbows slightly bent, the wrists locked, and the torso erect, pull the bar down towards your body in an arcing motion until the bar almost touches your thighs. Then slowly allow the bar to come back until reaching the shoulder level.<br /><br />Rowing exercises are fundamental for adding size and thickness to the back. Three main categories of rowing exercises exist. The first one comprises the exercises in a bent over position. <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/bent-over-barbell-row">Bent Over Barbell Row</a> starts by standing over a straight bar with feet about shoulder width apart. Bending your knees, lean over and pick the bar up, with an overhand grip a little wider than shoulder width. Then, while keeping your knees slightly bent, bend at the waist until your torso is at an angle anywhere from 15 to 45 degrees to the floor. From this position, pull the bar straight up to your waist focusing on pulling your elbows back, and then lower the bar back down slowly. It is important to keep the head up and the back straight (or slightly arched) during the whole movement, since rounding the back can result in a serious injury. Furthermore, do not swing or use momentum to lift the weight. This exercise can be also performed using an underhand grip with hands shoulder width apart (<a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/reverse-grip-bent-over-rows">Reverse Grip Bent-Over Row</a>).<br /><br />Another variation is <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/one-arm-dumbbell-row">One-Arm Dumbbell Row</a>, which uses a dumbbell, and works each side of the back by itself. For working your right side, you must start resting you left knee and lower leg on a flat bench and then lean forward so that you support the weight of your upper body with your left arm on the bench and you keep your right leg almost straight, and positioned to the rear and out of the way. An alternative setup is to keep your leg foot on the floor well ahead of the right, with the leg slightly bent. For both setup options, grab the dumbbell with the right hand and, keeping the back straight and almost parallel to the floor and the left arm locked at the elbow, pull the weight up as far as possible, by pulling your elbow back. Then slowly lower the dumbbell to the starting position.<br /><br />The second category comprises the rowing exercises performed in a cable station. <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/seated-cable-rows">Seated Cable Row</a> starts by sitting down at a low-pulley rowing machine and placing your feet against the footrests or platform near the bottom of the weight stack. Keep your knees slightly bent throughout the entire movement to reduce stress on your lower back. Bending only at the waist, lean forward and grasp the pulley handle in front of you. Again, several hand positions are possible (<a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/seated-cable-rows">close grip</a>, <a href="http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/BackGeneral/CBWideGripStrBackSeatedRow.html">wide overhand grip</a>, underhand grip, <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/seated-one-arm-cable-pulley-rows">one arm at a time</a>). With your arms stretched out, lean back at the waist until your torso is perpendicular to the floor. This is the starting position. Keeping the back straight and looking forward, bring your elbows back until the handle touches your waist. Then, slowly return to the starting position. There is a <a href="http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/BackGeneral/CBSeatedRow.html">variation</a> of this exercise involving also the lower back, in which you lean forward and backward accompanying elbows movement.<br /><br />The final category comprises the exercises where you lay/sit positioning the chest against the top of the pad and pull the weight up/back until elbows are behind back, without lifting the body off from the pad. This category includes for instance <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/lying-t-bar-row">T-Bar Row</a> and <a href="http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/BackGeneral/LVWideGripSeatedRow.html">Seated Lever Row</a>. Again, you can use a palms down, palms up, or palms in position depending on what part of your back you want to involve more.<br /><br />You can find further information about all these back exercises in the article <a href="http://www.teenbodybuilding.com/john10.htm">“All Out Back Training”</a> by John Giljum and the book <a href="http://www.hardgainer.com/insiders.html">“The Insider’s Tell-All Handbook On Weight-Training Technique”</a> by Stuart McRobert. </div>Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00277549339263186349noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34398603.post-73165576069245119962009-09-18T21:57:00.003+02:002009-11-28T02:01:53.153+01:00Exercise Instruction for Proper Form: Upper Back Exercises: Pull-Up/Chin-Up<div align="justify">In previous posts, I have insisted on the importance of performing all the exercises using a strict form (mastering the weight during the whole rep and using a full range of motion) in order to ensure an adequate muscle stimulus and avoid injury. This post initiates a series instructing about the proper way to perform the most common exercises. This first chapter is dedicated to upper back exercises, starting with pull-ups/chin-ups.<br /><br />A pull-up/chin-up is a compound, pull-type, close-chain exercise (body moves towards resistance), which is commonly referred as a basic exercise for back building. It presents several variations, which share the same biomechanics. All of them start by grasping a bar with a firm grip. Hands orientation and separation depends on the variation you use, as detailed later. With your arms straightened, allow your body to hang from the bar. Next, pull yourself upward until your chest nearly touches the bar and your chin gets over the bar. Pulling to the rear of your head is not recommended as this puts a dangerous stress on the shoulders and neck. While you are pulling, focus on keeping your body straight without arching or swinging. Once your chin is over the bar, you can lower yourself all the way down so that your shoulder blades go up (but without locking the elbows). This gives a full stretch, and allows for a greater range of motion. Nevertheless, avoid relaxing your muscles too much while in this position, since this can place a great deal of stress on your shoulders joints. During the exercise, you can either bend your knees and cross your feet or keep your legs straightened so long as your feet do not touch the floor, but in any case, keep them in line with the torso as much as possible.<br /><br />Variations differ basically on the used grip. Pull-ups are done with a pronated grip (palms down) and chin-ups are done either with a semi-supinated (palms facing each other a.k.a. neutral grip) or with a supinated grip (palms up). In particular,<br /><br /><a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/pullups">Wide-Grip Pull-Up</a> uses a pronated grip with hands separated by a distance roughly twice the width of your shoulders, which emphasizes the lats. This is a great exercise for developing back width. Using a grip with hands shoulder width apart moves part of the stimulus from lats to the biceps, while narrowing it to only 4 to 6 inches hits the lower part of the lats and overloads the brachialis and brachioradialis.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/chin-up">Chin-Up</a> uses a supinated grip with hands shoulder width apart, which shifts part of the work to the biceps. Narrowing the grip to only 4 to 6 inches between the little fingers increases the overload for the brachialis and the elbow flexors.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/v-bar-pullup">Close Parallel-Grip Chin-Up</a> uses a semi-supinated grip by means of a V-handle. You should focus on bringing your lower chest to the handle as you pull yourself up. This variation increases the load on the rear deltoids and provides a good stimulus to the rhomboids.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/LatissimusDorsi/WtPullupN.html">Parallel-Grip Chin-Up</a> uses a semi-supinated grip with hands about 22 to 24 inches apart (with comes typically in multi-station machines). This grip reduces the stress on your wrists, elbows, and shoulders, and it is supposed to position both the elbow flexors and the shoulder extensors in their most effective line of pull.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/gironda-sternum-chins">Sternum Chin-Up</a> involves keeping your torso leaning back throughout the entire movement and arching your spine bringing your lower portion of the chest (i.e. sternum) to the bar. Your hand position can be either pronated or supinated and vary in distance from narrow to shoulder width. Overload on the scapulae retractors is increased in this variation. The beginning of the movement is more like a classical chin, the mid-range resembles the effect of the pullover motion, and the end position duplicates the finishing motion of a rowing movement.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/mixed-grip-chin">Mixed-Grip Chin-Up</a> uses a mixed grip: one hand pronated, one hand supinated. With this variation, the load focus is on the supinated hand. Make sure to equal sets and reps by reversing the grip on each alternating set.<br /><br />One-Armed Chin-Up is an advanced variation, which uses one hand in the supinated position while the other hand helps with only balance. This is ensured by placing a towel around the bar and holding on the towel with the other hand, or by holding the working arm on its wrist. The stronger the athlete, the lower the hand is placed on the working arm. Again, you should alternate hands so both arms get a stimulus.<br /><br />Subscapularis Pull-Up assumes the starting position of the wide grip pull-up, and consists of pulling yourself to the bar until the chest reaches bar, and pushing yourself away from the bar as you lower down to the starting position in a controlled fashion.<br /><br />Further information on pull-ups/chin-ups (including pictures) can be found on the articles <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/charles4.htm">“Improving Chin-Up Performance!”</a> by Charles Poliquin, <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/ridgely9.htm">“Exercise Of The Week: Pull-ups”</a> by Charles Ridgely, and <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/dimaggio5.htm">“Chins For Your Back”</a> by Christopher Phelps, and the book <a href="http://www.hardgainer.com/insiders.html">“The Insider’s Tell-All Handbook On Weight-Training Technique”</a> by Stuart McRobert. </div>Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00277549339263186349noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34398603.post-87446657071479571002009-07-11T17:29:00.004+02:002013-04-26T20:39:52.966+02:00Bodybuilding Online Supplement Stores<div align="justify">
As you know, the supplements industry moves millions of dollars every year. There are countless brands and distributors. According to this, one of the trickiest things for the bodybuilder is finding reliable stores that offer quality brands at competitive prices. In this post, I’ll share with you my personal experience with online supplement stores. Hope this helps. </div>
<ul>
<li><div align="justify">
<a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/">Bodybuilding.com</a><br />
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This is probably the most popular store, and this fame is well founded. It offers a lot of variety at very competitive prices (from the perspective of a European citizen). The worst is probably the international shipping, which is only available via International Postal Service (at least to Spain). This results in expensive and slow shipping, and without tracking support.<br />
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A word of caution for Spanish customers (in fact, I think that this applies to all the EU customers) that want to shop in this store. Keep in mind that your supplements could be seized by customs. This occurs because it classifies certain food supplements as medicine, especially vitamins and other products with physiological effects. Food supplements classified as medicine cannot be imported without an import license. Only authorized importers are allowed to import medicine. The importer has to provide an import permit issued by the Ministry of Health. The medicine must be registered in Spain, otherwise the importation will not be allowed. Private individuals cannot import medicine unless they can provide a medical prescription from a doctor and a special authorization from the Ministry of Health issued for the respective shipment. If the importer cannot provide an import license (or the private consignee cannot provide a prescription), the goods will be returned to the shipper or destroyed. </div>
</li>
</ul>
<div align="justify">
Taking into account these customs restrictions, Europeans are forced to search for alternatives within their frontiers. UK stores offer most of the US products, with quite competitive prices for the rest of Europe, especially considering the current euro-pound exchange rate. </div>
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<li><div align="justify">
<a href="http://www.sshealthfoods.com/">SS Health Foods</a><br />
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Probably the best UK supplement store. Many products of reputable brands such as Optimum Nutrition or Dymatize are available in this store, and offering probably the most competitive prices in Europe. Shipping is fast, but not very cheap. </div>
</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><div align="justify">
<a href="http://www.myprotein.co.uk/">MyProtein</a><br />
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An online store from the UK that sells bulk supplements (i.e. generic brand). I typically use it to purchase bulk carbohydrates (i.e. dextrose, maltodextrin, oats …). You can find them in sizes that are hardly available in other stores. A final remark, <strong>if you use this MyProtein referral code (MP104567), you’ll get a 5% discount on your first order</strong>. Shipping is fast and with a reasonable price. </div>
</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><div align="justify">
<a href="http://www.discount-supplements.co.uk/">Discount Supplements</a><br />
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Another UK store with a good supplement offering. I especially appreciate its variety on multi-vitamins, minerals, and joint supplements. Prices are quite good, though they have stock problems with some products sometimes. Shipping rates are quite cheap (even free for orders over 200 pounds). </div>
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</ul>
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These are the online stores I have used so far. In the future, I’ll update this post with my new experiences.</div>
Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00277549339263186349noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34398603.post-6629425560722302312009-05-06T12:24:00.002+02:002009-05-06T12:30:25.816+02:00Enhancing Supplements for the Natural Bodybuilder: Amino Acids & BCAA<div align="justify">This post presents a new chapter in the series regarding the best enhancing supplements for the natural bodybuilder. In particular, this post is devoted to amino acid formulas, and in particular to Branched-Chain Amino Acids (BCAA).<br /><br />As we discussed in post <a href="http://bodybuilding-principles.blogspot.com/2007/04/importance-of-amino-acids-for.html">“Important Amino Acids for Bodybuilders”</a>, amino acids are involved in innumerable physiological processes in the body, in particular those related with muscle building, which makes them fundamental in a bodybuilder’s diet. BCAA are comprised of three different essential amino acids, namely leucine, isoleucine, and valine. Being essential amino acids means that they cannot be synthesized by the body and must be completely taken in the diet. BCAA can be found in many high protein foods, especially in dairy products and red meat. These three amino acids present anabolic and anti-catabolic properties by themselves, but these effects are increased when they are synergistically combined.<br /><br />Amino acids in general and BCAA in particular play an important role in protein synthesis, hence they stimulate muscle-tissue formation. In addition, BCAA also boost the immune system, play a role in the regulation of blood-sugar levels, and stimulate hormones production. It is also remarkable the BCAA action on preventing catabolic effects in the muscle that occur after intense workouts. BCAA suppress the use of muscle proteins for fuel, thereby sparing the breakdown of muscular protein. This also translates in faster recovery from exercise induced protein damage, which in turn means faster size and strength gains.<br /><br />Although dietary protein contains a multitude of different amino acids, they do not always come in the ideal amounts or proportions. In addition, the metabolic effects from ingesting free-form amino acids are different from ingesting the same amino acids when they are in a whole protein, basically due to their faster absorption. For these reasons, supplementing with amino acid formulas composed of the essential amino acids and/or with BCAA can help the natural bodybuilder to fulfill his amino acids needs.<br /><br />Both amino acid formulas and BCAA are best taken just after the workout (i.e. with your post-workout shake) to promote recovery and muscle-formation. Doses typically range between 4 and 10 grams. Depending on your budget, you can add an additional intake prior to the workout to increase performance and prepare recuperation. Powder forms are recommended over pills, though amino acid formulas come also in liquid form, which has a good absorption rate. When choosing a BCAA product, look for a 2:1:1 ratio of leucine, isoleucine, and valine, respectively, which has been demonstrated to be the most effective. Staying in the recommended amounts, no side effects have been reported due to amino acid supplementation.<br /><br />More details on the benefits of BCAA supplementation can be found in the article <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/bcaa.htm">“BCAA'S: The Building Blocks Of Muscle”</a> by David Galanis, the article <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/inmag5.htm">“BCAA Supplementation For Athletes”</a> by Intensity Magazine, and the article <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/catbulk.htm">“Top 10 Supplements For Bulking”</a> by Big Cat. </div>Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00277549339263186349noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34398603.post-48079198254002466892009-03-19T18:37:00.001+01:002009-03-19T18:37:47.521+01:00Enhancing Supplements for the Natural Bodybuilder: Glutamine<div align="justify">This post presents a new chapter in the series regarding the best enhancing supplements for the natural bodybuilder. In particular, this post is devoted to glutamine, which is a somehow controversial supplement, but which has demonstrated to be highly effective under stressful conditions (very intense and heavy training or dieting phases).<br /><br />Glutamine is a non-essential amino acid that is present in the body in large amounts. In fact, it is the most abundant amino acid in the body, achieving the 60 percent of the total amino acid pool at some times. Glutamine is a non-essential amino acid because it can be synthesized from other amino acids, namely glutamic acid, isoleucine, and valine. In addition, it is found in many high protein foods such as dairy products, fish, beef and beans.<br /><br />Glutamine plays a key role in synthesis of muscle-tissue (promoting anabolism) and is a contributor to muscle cell volume. In addition, it boosts the immune system, increases HGH secretion, and is a major building block for DNA. Glutamine also acts as a powerful ammonia scavenger, eliminating it from the body. Ammonia is a highly toxic substance to muscle cells, which occurs as a residue of nitrogen processing. More importantly, glutamine is released from the muscle during times of stress (such as intense workouts) and dieting in order to prevent muscle catabolism occurred due to cortisol action, enhance glycogen replenishment and maintain the acid/alkaline balance (thus reducing lactic acid). This makes glutamine a vital agent for faster recuperation from weight training workouts.<br /><br />There is some controversy about the need of supplementing glutamine, especially in a bulking phase. In such a phase, you should cover the most part of your glutamine requirements through the diet, though additional supplementation can reap some benefits. While on a dieting phase, supplementing with glutamine is highly recommended, especially to prevent muscle catabolism. Recall that muscle protein can be used as an energy source for the body (via gluconeogenesis) when the supply of carbohydrates is low. In addition, the additional glutamine will allow your body not to break down other amino acids to make glutamine under stress conditions.<br /><br />Glutamine supplementation is typically carried out using 1-3 doses of 5 grams per day. To exploit glutamine benefits, it is best taken after the workout, with your protein shake, but it can additionally be used first thing in the morning or right before sleep. To get the best absorption, L-glutamine in powder form is recommended. No side effects have been reported due to glutamine supplementation. However, some people experience slight stomach discomfort during the first days of use.<br /><br />Additional information about the benefits of glutamine supplementation and how to perform it can be found in the article <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/hugo32.htm">“Supplementation For Maximum Growth: Part 2”</a> by Hugo Rivera, the article <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/betteru2p.htm">“The Benefits of Glutamine”</a> by Nick Nilsson, and the article <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/drobson6.htm">“Glutamine: The Pinnacle Of Supplements”</a> by David Robson. </div>Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00277549339263186349noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34398603.post-82474343508503337122009-02-05T15:08:00.001+01:002009-02-05T15:14:07.389+01:00Enhancing Supplements for the Natural Bodybuilder: Creatine<div align="justify">As discussed in post <a href="http://bodybuilding-principles.blogspot.com/2007/06/supplementation-for-natural.html">“Supplementation for Natural Bodybuilders”</a>, enhancing supplements contribute to optimize your body functioning and in this way accelerate your gains. Creatine monohydrate is probably the most popular supplement in this category. This is a well-deserved popularity, backed up with empirical evidences. This post, which initiates a series covering the most popular enhancing supplements for the natural bodybuilder, describes the benefits of creatine and provides some guidelines for its supplementation.<br /><br />Creatine is a naturally occurring compound that is present in the body. Under the right circumstances, the body can manufacture it from the amino acids glycine, arginine, and methionine. In addition, small amounts are taken in through food, mainly from red meat and fish. Creatine contributes to regenerate ATP stores in the muscles. This ensures a short-term burst of energy that can increase anaerobic strength levels, enabling you to lift heavier and train harder. Creatine also increases retained water in the muscles. This exerts a temporary size increase but also draws more nutrients in the cell and stimulates protein synthesis, which can contribute to muscle growth.<br /><br />There is some controversy on how and when to take creatine. One approach consists of cycling the intake. The cycle starts with a loading period (in order to saturate the area surrounding the cells) in which you consume 4 servings a day of 5 grams each during 4-5 days. A possible schedule could be having the creatine with breakfast, mid-afternoon before workout, immediately after the workout, and right before bed. After the loading period, a daily amount of 5 grams for a period of 6-8 weeks is recommended. During this period, bodybuilders can benefit from taking the creatine in a single dose after the workout, which contributes to recovery and stimulates muscle growth, or in two doses, one of them 15-30 minutes prior to the workout, which maximizes ATP stores and increases in this way workout performance, and the other just immediately. Finally, this steady period must be followed by a break for 2-4 weeks, giving the receptors a chance to upgrade again. At this point, another creatine cycle can be started. On the other side, some studies suggest that a low-dose continuous approach works too. In this case, having a daily single dose of 3-5 grams for the long term would be enough.<br /><br />To get the best absorption, creatine in powder form is recommended. In addition, the presence of insulin in muscle cells is required. For this reason, creatine is best taken with high GI carbs. This is another reason for taking it with your post-workout shake (which includes protein and high GI carbs), or with breakfast on non-training days.<br /><br />Supplementing with creatine has proven to be safe. However, some bodybuilders have reported dehydration, stomach upset and diarrhea, especially with higher dosages. In order to prevent dehydration, it is very important to drink a lot of water, especially during the loading phase. People experiencing stomach upset and diarrhea can give a try to the continuous approach (without loading period), or even better, use micronized creatine, in which size of creatine particles has been reduced. This allows creatine to be faster absorbed, while avoiding stomach upset. Finally, keep in mind that creatine, once in a solution, destabilizes in very short time, rendering it useless. This is why liquid creatine serums are not recommended. For the same reason, you should take the creatine as soon as you mix it.<br /><br />More information about how creatine works and how to supplement it can be found in the article <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/likness2.htm">“All About Creatine”</a> by Jeremy Likness, and in the following articles by Big Cat: <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/catbulk.htm">“Top 10 Supplements For Bulking”</a>, <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/catcrea.htm">“Creatine, Ribose and Insulin Potentiators”</a>, and <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/catupdate.htm">“Creatine Updates!”</a>. </div>Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00277549339263186349noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34398603.post-89315347164683270902008-12-23T11:40:00.002+01:002008-12-23T12:03:33.858+01:00Foundation Supplements for the Natural Bodybuilder: Essential Fatty Acids<div align="justify">As discussed in my post entitled <a href="http://bodybuilding-principles.blogspot.com/2006/11/macronutrients-guide-fat.html">“Macronutrients Guide: Fat”</a>, the 15-25% of your total amount of calories should come from fat, since it is essential for many body functions. It is an important building block for all cell membranes, it is needed for the absorption and transport of the fat soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K), it is used for hormone production (e.g. testosterone), it may be of assistance in the metabolism of body fat, and it helps to the digestion and use of protein. In addition, fat can be also used as a long-term energy source (fat yields 9 calories per gram).<br /><br />Fat includes Essential Fatty Acids (EFA’s), which are polyunsaturated fats that cannot be synthesized by the body on its own, and thus they must be ingested in the diet. However, during fat loss periods (which are often driven by extremely low fat diets), getting the needed amount of EFA’s through diet can be hard. In these situations, supplementing with EFA’s can make sense. According to this, this post ends up the series related to the foundation supplements for the bodybuilder providing information about good sources of EFA’s and some useful pointers for their supplementation.<br /><br />There are two types of EFA’s: Linoleic Acid (Omega-6) and Alpha-Linolenic Acid (Omega-3). The best sources for Linoleic Acid are safflower oil, sunflower seed oil, flax seeds and flax seed oil, canola oil, corn oil, hemp oil, olive oil, soybean and soybean oil, fresh deepwater fish (especially salmon, tuna, and trout) and fish oils, nuts (especially peanuts and walnuts), pumpkin seeds, and avocados. Most of them are also rich in monounsaturated fats. Some of them (i.e. fresh deepwater fish, flax seeds and flax seed oil, hemp oil, canola oil, soybean oil, walnuts, and pumpkin seeds) are also sources of Alpha-Linolenic Acid, especially flax seeds and flax seed oil, which have a good balance of both EFA’s.<br /><br />Adding some of these sources to your diet should be enough to get all the required EFA’s. As a rule of thumb, 5-6 grams of Linoleic Acid and 2-3 grams of Alpha-Linolenic Acid are recommended per day. As Linoleic Acid is more usual in food sources than Alpha-Linolenic Acid, additional supplements are typically not needed when following a proper nutrition. Supplementing Alpha-Linolenic Acid can be needed during fat loss periods. Using a fresh source of EFA’s is highly recommended. Go for capsules or pills only if you cannot tolerate the taste of liquid forms. An indicative measure is using two tablespoons three times a day with food. For instance, you can add them to salad dressings or protein shakes.<br /><br />Finally, it is not recommended to use these oils for cooking, since EFA’s are delicate substances, and exposing them to heat disrupts their structure, thus eliminating their benefits, and even worse, generating trans-fatty acids. If one must be used, olive oil and sunflower seed oil are the best options.<br /><br />More information about EFA’s and their supplementation can be found in the article <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/catbulk.htm">“Top 10 Supplements For Bulking”</a> by Big Cat, the article <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/efa.htm">“The Lowdown On EFA's!”</a> by Mike Hajoway, and in the <a href="http://www.muscle101.com/supplements.html">“Supplements”</a> section of <a href="http://www.muscle101.com/">Muscle 101</a> site. </div>Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00277549339263186349noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34398603.post-54833921175388570702008-11-19T12:16:00.000+01:002008-11-19T12:17:22.171+01:00Foundation Supplements for the Natural Bodybuilder: Protein Powders<div align="justify">As described in my post entitled <a href="http://bodybuilding-principles.blogspot.com/2006/11/macronutrients-guide-protein.html">“Macronutrients Guide: Protein”</a>, getting enough high quality protein is mandatory for bodybuilders, since its amino acids constitute the basic material for muscle building. According to this, bodybuilders need about 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight per day. Nevertheless, getting this amount of protein through regular food alone is sometimes difficult and unpractical. Protein supplements (a.k.a. protein powders) come into play to alleviate this problem. This post follows up the series related to the foundation supplements that must be the basis of the natural bodybuilder’s supplementation regime by going further on these protein supplements.<br /><br />When considering the presentation of the protein supplements, the most common form is a simple powder that you mix with water or milk in a shaker or blender. In addition to this, you can also find pre-made drinks and protein-rich bars.<br /><br />When considering the composition of the protein supplements, three different forms can be usually found: mass gainers, pure protein powders and meal replacement powders. Mass gainers provide a considerable amount of carbohydrates along with the protein, typically in 1 to 1 up to 2 to 1 ratio, and some fat. Combining protein with carbohydrates has been shown to improve protein absorption. Mass gainers are very caloric and intended for ectomorphic people who have problems to gain weight, or for bulking phases (especially as a post-workout supplement). Meal replacement powders present a relatively balanced content of protein and carbohydrates, having a moderate amount of calories. As the name says, this product can be an option when you need to eat but don't have time to prepare a real meal. The trouble with these is they are pre-packaged, so they don't allow you to choose your doses and amounts. Pure protein powders are mainly composed of protein (typically up to 90%). They provide a relatively low amount of calories while getting a noticeable quantity of protein. For this reason, they are mainly intended for meso/endomorphic people, or for dieting phases.<br /><br />Protein supplements are commonly based on whey and casein proteins (though egg and soy protein can play also a role). Both are high quality protein sources with high PDCAAS and BV scores but with different rate of digestion and absorption into the body. Casein takes longer to get to the blood stream than whey, but it also remains there longer. According to this, protein sources can be categorized into two groups: slow-digested (e.g. casein) and fast-digested proteins (e.g. whey).<br /><br />Several timeframes are the most adequate for having a protein powder. Having a fast-digested protein powder with carbohydrates first thing in the morning can rapidly contribute to stop the catabolic process after 8 hours without nutrients. Having a slow-digested protein powder with some low GI carbohydrates one hour before training can provide your body with protein that will be readily available in the blood stream for initiating recovery just after training. Having a fast-digested protein powder mixed with high GI carbohydrates immediately after training can provide the basic materials needed to refill glycogen stores and stimulate muscle growing. Finally, having a slow-digested protein powder (preferably with none or few low GI carbohydrates) immediately before bed can contribute to delay the catabolic process as late as possible. In addition, protein powders can also be taken as part of a snack during the day when it is hard to prepare a meal (e.g. midmorning or mid-afternoon).<br /><br />To conclude, just a final word about protein powders. It is true that they are absorbed quicker and easier, and have better amino acid profiles than many foods. Furthermore, they usually come with extra vitamins and minerals. Regardless of this, it is important not to get into the habit of skipping meals in favor of powders. The basis of your nutrition should always be good, healthy food. Supplements should be only a complement.<br /><br />You can find further information about the usage of protein supplements in the article <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/planet4.htm">“The Protein Bible”</a> by John Berardi, in the article <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/matt88.htm">“Beginner's Bodybuilding Program!”</a> by Matt Danielsson, and in the <a href="http://www.muscle101.com/kitchen.html">“In the Kitchen”</a> section of <a href="http://www.muscle101.com/">Muscle 101</a> site. </div>Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00277549339263186349noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34398603.post-59911163292704283062008-10-10T16:00:00.000+02:002008-10-10T16:03:26.433+02:00Foundation Supplements for the Natural Bodybuilder: Multivitamin/Mineral<div align="justify">As I have already stated in previous posts, supplements can be a great aid for making your progress easier and quicker, acting as a complement for ensuring that you get enough of all needed nutrients, and for optimizing physiological processes, such as muscle growth, fat loss and recovery. However, one must not forget that supplements can never fully compensate bad eating habits or inadequate training. The basic supplements for the bodybuilder (a.k.a. foundation supplements) are those that provide substances that are mandatory for proper body functioning such as vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, protein and essential fatty acids (EFAs). If you could follow a perfect diet, you would obtain the needed amount these substances from food alone. However, in reality this is often difficult to accomplish. Foundation supplements come into play to alleviate this problem, and should always be the basis of your supplementation regime. This post initiates a series discussing the supplements falling in this category. This first post is dedicated to the multivitamin/mineral supplement.<br /><br />This supplement is probably one of the most important ones. Many body functions require vitamins and minerals to be accomplished. In fact, levels of these substances must be kept above a certain level for optimal functioning of the body. These levels are higher for bodybuilders, since intense training increases the need of these substances. For this reason, bodybuilders are susceptible to have deficiency in vitamins and minerals if their diet is not totally balanced. Such a deficiency can impair optimum functioning of the body and consequently hinder your growth. Supplementing with a multivitamin/mineral can prevent this deficiency.<br /><br />There are great amounts of brands that offer multivitamin/mineral. Typically, they differ somewhat in their composition and provide the vitamins/minerals using different shapes, such as pills, tablets, powder-filled capsules or even in liquid form. The important thing to look for is that you get at least 100 percent of the Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) (formerly Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA)) for all or most of the vital minerals and minerals. The DRI provides the daily dietary intake level of a nutrient considered sufficient to meet the requirements of nearly all healthy individuals in each life-stage and gender group. When choosing your multivitamin/mineral, it is also important to assure that the pill/tablet/capsule can fully dissolve in your stomach. A dose (containing the aforementioned DRI of each of the vital vitamins and minerals) of the multivitamin/mineral supplement should be taken daily, preferably in the morning with your breakfast.<br /><br />In addition, there are some substances, known as antioxidants, which help to neutralize harmful toxins and free radicals. Antioxidants also help control inflammation, muscle fiber damage, and fatigue. They also help to build muscle and improve the immune system. Intense exercise increases the number of free radicals in the body, making even more necessary to maintain a good level of antioxidants. Supplementation can help to accomplish this. Some vitamins and minerals are also antioxidants, for instance vitamin C, vitamin E, and selenium. According to this, it is typical to supplement extra vitamin C in divided doses over the day. Vitamin C is water-soluble and passes through your system quickly. For this reason, several smaller doses are better than one big dose.<br /><br />Further details about multivitamin/mineral supplementation can be found in the article <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/catbulk.htm">“Top 10 Supplements For Bulking”</a> by Big Cat and in the article <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/matt88.htm">“Beginner's Bodybuilding Program!”</a> by Matt Danielsson. In addition, deeper information about vitamins and minerals can be found in the article <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/catvit1.htm">“Water-Soluble Vitamins For Bodybuilders”</a> and in the article <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/catvit2.htm">“Fat-Soluble Vitamins, Minerals and Trace Elements”</a>, both by Big Cat. </div>Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00277549339263186349noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34398603.post-52046164100015490492008-06-19T17:45:00.000+02:002008-06-19T18:01:05.852+02:00The Basics of Bodybuilding Competition: Mandatory Poses<div align="justify">This post finishes (for now) the competition series, which tries to provide the newbie bodybuilder with the basics of competition. In particular, this post provides a brief description of the General Mandatory Poses used to drive the Muscularity Round in a bodybuilding contest.<br /><br />1. <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/frontbiceps.htm">Front Double Biceps Pose</a><br /><br />Stand facing forward (toward the judges) with heels almost touching, toes pointed slightly out and knees slight bend. Expand the chest up and spread out your lats. Then, have your arms out to the sides flexing both biceps with the thumbs tucked in a tight fist.<br /><br />2. <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/frontlat.htm">Front Lat Spread Pose</a><br /><br />Leg stance is the same as in the Front Double Biceps pose. Put your hands into your sides with the thumb and fingers placed into each side of the pelvic bone and flared out elbows, keep the chest up and spread out the lats. The anterior delts should be a little forward. Keep the triceps flexed to show more depth and hardness in the arms.<br /><br />3. <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/sidechest.htm">Side Chest Pose</a><br /><br />Take a quarter turn to the side, so judges can see your profile. Bend your knees slightly and flex the calf closest to the judges (by raising the heel from the ground). The toes of that calf should be right in the middle of the back foot. Put the front arm to your side with your elbow at a 90 degree angle and then bring the back arm across the front of the torso to grab the front hand (or wrist). Keep the chest raised and flexed.<br /><br />4. <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/sidetriceps.htm">Side Triceps Pose</a><br /><br />Basic position is the same as in the Side Chest pose, except that the forward arm is now flexed straight down showing off the triceps (which is squeezed against the lat) while the back arm is stretched across the lower back to grab the forward hand (or wrist).<br /><br />5. <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/backbiceps.htm">Rear Double Biceps Pose</a><br /><br />Stand facing the rear of the stage, bring one leg a half step back and flex that calf. Put both arms out to the sides with biceps flexed. Make sure to squeeze all of your back muscles, posterior delts, hamstrings, calves and glutes, while keeping your chest up. A variation consists of extending the arms straight up in the air instead of putting them out to the sides.<br /><br />6. <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/backlat.htm">Rear Lat Spread Pose</a><br /><br />Basic position is the same as in the Rear Double Biceps pose, but now the arms are placed into your sides (above the pelvic bone), the elbows are pulled out and the lats are flared outward while keeping the chest up, trying to show your back as width as possible. A tip is bringing first the arms back closely to each side until the upper back is extremely tight and then placing the arms into the sides and spreading the lats out.<br /><br />7. <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/frontabthigh.htm">Abdominal and Thigh Pose</a><br /><br />Stand facing forward, extend one leg in front of the other while flexing it and put both arms up over your head. Then flex your abdominal and oblique muscles. Optionally, you can bend or turn to the side to show off your oblique muscles more.<br /><br />8. Most Muscular Pose<br /><br />This pose has some variations. For the first one, stand facing forward, put one leg in front of the other flexing both of them and bend your upper torso slightly over your legs. Then bring your arms together in front of your body with your elbows angled out, hold in your stomach, and flex every muscle in the front part of the body. Another variation includes placing the hands on the hip area with the thumbs forward and fingers pointed down or back. Finally, another variation includes keeping both legs together and flexed and bringing your arms together in front of you with hands touching. In all cases, try to keep the pose very tight and compact.<br /><br />Additional details of these mandatory poses (including explicative pictures and videos) can be found in the article <a href="http://www.teenbodybuilding.com/duncan3.htm">“Pointers to Posing”</a> by Scott Duncan, in the article <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/mark9.htm">“Posing: Video & Text Guides”</a> by Mark Tilden, and in the <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/posing.htm">“Posing Advice”</a> section from <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/">Bodybuilding.com</a> site.</div>Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00277549339263186349noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34398603.post-64396702705537867932008-05-08T11:46:00.000+02:002008-05-08T11:52:40.382+02:00The Basics of Bodybuilding Competition: Judging Procedure<div align="justify">This post continues the competition series, which tries to provide the newbie bodybuilder with the basics of competition. In particular, this post covers the judging procedure in a bodybuilding contest and the basic criteria used to evaluate the competitors.<br /><br />The participants in a bodybuilding contest are evaluated by a panel of judges, which includes one head judge and a number of regular judges. All judges’ scores are weighted equally, yet the head judge, which is usually the most qualified and experienced person on the judging panel, is also responsible of driving the prejudging, by calling out the different poses and changes of position. In addition, he can consider additional comparisons or poses resulting from requests of the regular judges.<br /><br />Typically, contests are evaluated by nine judges (one head and eight regular). Each judge provides a list per weight class ranking each competitor. This list orders the competitors according to the judge’s feeling on the position the competitor should place. The competitor’s position in the list determines a number of points that he receives. For instance, a competitor placed in the second position obtains two points from that judge. Following this procedure, at the end each competitor obtains a series including his scores from all the judges. For instance, a participant may obtain a series like the following: 3, 1, 2, 2, 1, 3, 1, 2, 2 (assuming 9 judges). According to this, a perfect score in bodybuilding is to receive all 1’s.<br /><br />At this point, each competitor must throw out his two higher and two lower scores in order to obtain a more unbiased score. For instance, in the previous example, two 3’s and two 1’s will be thrown out, resulting in the following series for that competitor: 1, 2, 2, 2, 2. By adding up these values, the final score for that participant is obtained. In the example, this final score will be 9. This process is repeated for all the competitors, and the one with the lowest score wins.<br /><br />Sometimes, contest can be evaluated by seven or five judges. In the former case, only one high and low score can be thrown out for each competitor. If only five judges are present, then their five scores must be used (no scores can be thrown out).<br /><br />In order to score the different competitors, the judges evaluate different criteria that contribute to the overall quality of the competitors’ muscular development. These criteria include Mass, Definition, Proportion, Symmetry, and Stage Presence, being all of them equally important. Mass refers to the perception of muscular size. Definition indicates the degree of muscularity brought about by the absence of subcutaneous body fat. Defined muscularity is necessary to fully display the development of the physique. Proportion implies an even balance of muscular development in comparison to each muscle group. Theoretically, having a ‘stronger’ body-part can be just as detrimental as a having a ‘weaker’ body-part. Bodybuilders must strive for equal development between all muscle groups. Symmetry denotes equal development of muscularity on both right and left sides of the physique. There is a common misconception with this term, which is often used to refer Proportion. Finally, Stage Presence includes posing performance and other factors influencing general appearance such as skin tone, grooming, charisma, and poise. Effective stage presentation is essential to display the physique to its maximum potential.<br /><br />Further details about judging procedure can be found in the <a href="http://www.exrx.net/Bodybuilding/JudgingCriteria.html">“Judging Criteria”</a> section of <a href="http://www.exrx.net/">ExRx.net</a> site and in the article <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/compfaq.htm">“Bodybuilding Competition FAQ”</a> by Steve Kidwell. </div>Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00277549339263186349noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34398603.post-66207059095751624162008-04-18T18:02:00.000+02:002008-04-18T18:04:37.593+02:00The Basics of Bodybuilding Competition: Contest Structure<div align="justify">The ultimate goal of an amateur bodybuilder is being able to participate in a competition. This is not easy at all, and probably most of us will never accomplish this goal. However, in order to stay prepared, this post initiates a series providing useful information for the newbie competitor. In this first post, I will focus on the contest structure.<br /><br />A bodybuilding contest is typically structured in two different phases, namely the prejudging and the evening show. In the prejudging phase, the competitors are evaluated in three rounds. Each round is used to evaluate specific competences in the participants. These rounds are described below, though they do not always occur in this specific order.<br /><br />The first round of the prejudging is the Symmetry Round. In this round, proportion and symmetry are closely evaluated, focusing on the relationships between the muscle groups. The more evenly developed the competitor is, the higher he will be placed. There is no direct flexing in this round. Instead of this, competitors stay in the Standing Relaxed position. This position consists of standing with heels together, toes pointing out at a 45-degree angle, and lats semi-flared. While standing in this position, the competitors are viewed from the front, both sides, and the rear. Despite being a “relaxed” position, it is in reality semi-flexed, since every muscle should be tight on stage.<br /><br />The second round of the prejudging is the Muscularity Round (also known as Comparison Round). This is where the real flexing begins. In this round, mass and definition are closely evaluated, by comparing the level of muscular development and definition each competitor has acquired in relation to the other competitors. The comparison is driven by a series of General Mandatory Poses, though the judges can additionally request other poses (a.k.a. Optional Mandatory Poses). General Mandatory Poses include Front Double Biceps, Front Lat Spread, Side Chest, Side Triceps, Rear Double Biceps, Rear Lat Spread, Abdominal & Tight, and Most Muscular poses. I will describe in detail these poses in a later post. Examples of Optional Mandatory poses are Front Victory, Rear Victory, Serratus Intercostals Twisted Crunch, Flexing Calves from the Rear, Flex Thigh and Twist and Rotate, Crab Most Muscular, Hands on Hips Most Muscular, Hands Behind Back Most Muscular, and Flex Hamstrings.<br /><br />The final round of the prejudging is the Free Posing Round, where competitors are allowed to freely express their muscularity by going through their individual poses routines. Depending on the organizing association, this round can be accompanied by music or not. All components including stage presentation are evaluated during this round, providing an overall impression of the competitor.<br /><br />The evening show allows the competitors to show the audience what competitive bodybuilding is all about, by free posing with music of their choice. Notice that after the prejudging phase, all participants have already been placed except for the overall winners from each weight class. The winners from each weight class and the overall winner are decided in the evening show after the posedown.<br /><br />You can find further information about bodybuilding contest structure in the <a href="http://www.exrx.net/Bodybuilding/Competition.html">“Competition”</a> section of <a href="http://www.exrx.net/">ExRx.net</a> site and in the article <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/compfaq.htm">“Bodybuilding Competition FAQ”</a> by Steve Kidwell. </div>Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00277549339263186349noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34398603.post-39435491909082699652008-03-10T11:51:00.000+01:002008-03-10T11:59:48.365+01:00Training Styles for Ensuring Continued Muscle Growth<div align="justify">In previous posts, I have already described the basic principles for adequately stimulate your muscles and induce them growing. However, even these basic principles become useless if you repeat them each and every day. This occurs because of muscle adaptation, which makes unnecessary adding new muscle for handling the same workload. For this reason, I have already pointed to the need of periodically changing your routine, by modifying parameters such as the number of sets, the number of reps per set, the exercises, etc. This is one part of the equation. In addition, you need an overall strategy to be used as a reference for the changes you do in the routine. This post describes some well-known training styles that can be used to implement this strategy, contributing to avoid stagnation, break plateaus and maintain constant progress.<br /><br />Probably the most important training style for ensuring continued muscle growth is periodization (a.k.a. cycle training). The basic idea is splitting up your training into chapters, where each successive chapter is sufficiently different from the last to elicit more muscle growth. This difference is accomplished by changing some routine variables from one chapter to the next. These variables include the number of reps per set, the number of sets per exercise, the number of exercises per muscle, the exercise selection per muscle, the tempo, the rest between sets, etc. Notice that the number of chapters you can design is almost unlimited, though probably the two most common chapters are “Heavy” (i.e. low reps, heavy weight) and “Light” (i.e. high reps, light weight). The reason for this is two-fold. First, since heavy training puts a lot of strain on the muscular as well as the nervous system, alternating it with light training gives your body a chance to recover and prevents overtraining. Second, while heavy training hits more fast-twitch muscle fibers, light training focus more on slow-twitch fibers. Alternating both, you can fully work all your muscles fibers. Typically, each chapter lasts from 3 to 6 weeks, enough time to determine whether it worked or not, but not too much time to halt your progress again.<br /><br />Second training style comes from a common situation: After sticking with an exercise for some weeks, one surely would be able to increase the weight and do the same number of reps, or increase the number of reps while using the same weight. This results from muscle adaptation. Obviously, if you decide not to increase the number of reps or the weight, you are not taking your muscles to the maximum, and therefore, you are not forcing them to grow. In order to maintain a constant challenge to the body, progressive overload training style aims for increasing at least one training variable every workout. This can be achieved in a variety of forms such as increasing the reps per set, slowing down the tempo, increasing the weight, decreasing rest time between sets, etc. Unfortunately, it can occur that in some workouts you are not able to increase any variable. Factors causing this include inadequate nutrition and/or rest during the previous days, sickness, injury, mental barriers or overtraining. Identify what are the causes in your case, and respond appropriately.<br /><br />Traditional training style involves going for the heaviest weight for the desired number of reps for a working set just after having warmed up properly. However, continually training in this way will let you soon or later to a strength plateau. A good way to break/avoid this plateau is introducing periodically pyramiding training style in your routine. With pyramiding, each successive set is done with heavier weight and less repetitions. For instance, if you are performing 3 sets for an exercise, use light weight to get 12 reps on the first set, then increase the weight in the second set so you can get 10 reps, and in the third set increase the weight again in order to reach only 8 reps. Additionally, you can also use reverse pyramiding. In this style, each successive set is done with lighter weight and more repetitions, which allows you lifting maximum poundage before being excessively fatigued.<br /><br />Further information on these training styles can be found in the <a href="http://www.muscle101.com/principles.html">“Training Principles”</a> section of <a href="http://www.muscle101.com/">Muscle 101</a> site, while the article <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/matt47.htm">“Periodization: The Key To Continuous Gains!”</a> by Matt Danielsson goes deeper into periodization. </div>Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00277549339263186349noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34398603.post-22089296790269900612008-02-11T12:24:00.000+01:002008-02-11T14:13:37.540+01:00Playing with Intensity for Profitable Cardiovascular Sessions<div align="justify">The intensity of cardiovascular training is one of the most important parameters for obtaining the maximum profit of your sessions. Different intensity settings allow focusing on burning fat or improving the endurance. This post details the different goals that can be achieved by adequately setting your intensity and provides pointers for being able to set this intensity easily.<br /><br />The intensity of cardiovascular training is typically measured with respect to the target heart rate. Traditionally, several training zones have been distinguished. Anything above 85% is considered anaerobic training. Low intensity zone (50-60%) is intended for warming-up or burning calories without stressing the body, though burning a significant amount of calories requires a lot of time. This zone is also a good choice for people just getting started with cardiovascular training or returning from an injury.<br /><br />The 60-70% heart rate zone is commonly referred as the fat-burning zone, because here the higher percentage of burned calories comes from fat: over 65% according to performed studies. For this reason, this zone is a great option for burning fat with minimal muscle breakdown. Notice that this does not mean that this is the necessary zone for burning fat. In fact, you can burn fat in other zones, as described later.<br /><br />Aerobic zone (70-85%) is mainly intended for improving endurance, but can be also used for burning fat. In fact, though only the 45% of burned calories will come from fat, this zone can burn a higher amount of fat calories than the fat-burning zone, due to the increased intensity. However, this must be approached with caution, since muscle protein wasted in this zone is also higher. For this reason, it is important to maintain also your effort on weight training to avoid losing muscle. An added benefit of cardiovascular training, especially noticeable when training in the aerobic zone, is that it maintains your metabolism elevated for some hours after ending training, which improves your capability for burning fat during these hours.<br /><br />Calculating your target heart rate (THR) requires knowing first your maximum heart rate (MHR). The MHR can be theoretically defined as the most times that your heart can safely beat in the span of one minute. There are several methods for calculating your MHR. In the simplest one, the MHR results from subtracting 220 minus your age. This method works quite well, but if you want a more accurate value of the MHR, you can use the Tanaka method, where the MHR results from the following formula: 208 - 0.7 x age. Once you have the MHR, you can obtain the target heart rate by multiplying the MHR by the percentage in which you want to stay (e.g. MHR x 0.65).<br /><br />It has been speculated that the above methods for determining the MHR are not very accurate, since they only depend on the age. Of course, individuals with the same age can have different sized hearts, stroke volume, blood pressure, resting heart rates, etc. which will contribute to different MHR among them. According to this, some improvements of the formula for calculating the THR have been proposed. One of them is known as the adjusted heart rate or Karvonnen formula. This method takes also into account the resting heart rate by removing it from the MHR before applying the percentage.<br /><br />Let’s see an example comparing all the discussed methods. Suppose a 25 years old person, who has a resting heart rate of 60, and wants to stay at the 80% of his maximum. His target heart rate using the traditional method will be (220 – 25) x 0.8 = 156. Using the Tanaka method, it will be (208 – 0.7 x 25) x 0.8 = 152.4. Using the Karvonnen formula, it will be (((220 – 25) – 60) x 0.8) + 60 = 168.<br /><br />You can find further information about the importance of intensity in cardiovascular training in the article <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/matt97.htm">“Priming the Cardio System”</a> by Matt Danielsson, and the article <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/likness19.htm">“Heart Matters: Are You Training Your Heart?”</a> by Jeremy Likness. </div>Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00277549339263186349noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34398603.post-57068866502034573842008-01-04T16:12:00.000+01:002008-01-04T16:14:47.375+01:00Contribution of Cardiovascular Training in a Successful Bodybuilding Program<div align="justify">Traditionally, a significant amount of bodybuilders has deprecated cardiovascular training, concentrating only on building muscle mass. Nevertheless, bodybuilding’s goal is not only being huge, but also lean and defined. Although proper dieting is the main (and mandatory) instrument to achieve muscle definition, cardiovascular training can strongly contribute in this process. For this reason, this post goes through the basic guidelines for incorporating cardiovascular training into a bodybuilding program.<br /><br />Regular cardiovascular training has three main benefits for the bodybuilder, namely enhancing overall health (especially the cardiovascular system), improving endurance for exercising, and burning calories in the form of body fat. The latter makes it a prime component in all fat loss programs. However, cardiovascular training must be carefully incorporated in your program, in order to reduce its negative impact on muscle growth. Remember that the more cardiovascular exercise you do, the more muscle tissue your body starts to use for energy after it becomes depleted of glycogen.<br /><br />The most important aspects to be considered for successfully incorporating cardiovascular training to your bodybuilding program are the intensity of the sessions, their duration and frequency, and their timing in your daily routine.<br /><br />The intensity of cardiovascular training is typically measured with respect to the target heart rate. Optimal fat burn is achieved in the 60-70% heart rate zone. Lower intensity (50-60%) burns more percentage of fat calories, but the total amount is not very high. Higher intensity (70-85%) improves endurance and burns more fat calories indeed, but muscle protein wasted is also higher. According to this, stay in the zone more convenient for your interests. Additionally, you can also use ‘interval training’, which consists of varying the training intensity during the exercise by moving between the different heart rate zones. This has demonstrated to be very effective for losing fat.<br /><br />Duration and frequency of cardiovascular training depends on your goals. During the bulking phases, where the main goal is building muscle, you should do cardio sparingly. When losing fat, the key for deciding the duration and frequency of cardiovascular sessions is maximizing the number of burned calories while avoiding muscle breakdown. Best results use to be obtained with sessions of 30-40 minutes, 3-4 times a week.<br /><br />It is commonly stated that the most effective moment to do cardio is first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. In this point, you have been without food for many hours, and this will force your body to burn body fat as energy source, since your carbohydrate stores are empty. However, this also applies to your protein stores, and cardiovascular exercise in these conditions can induce muscle breakdown. Having a protein shake before the cardiovascular session can overcome this problem.<br /><br />Some people locate their cardiovascular sessions directly before/after their weight training workout. However, this is not recommended. Doing cardio before the workout depletes glycogen stores. This leaves you with less energy to lift weights, making the workout ineffective. Cardio after the workout might help you to burn some additional body fat, but high cortisol levels in this situation will put you in a catabolic state, inducing muscle breakdown and hindering growth. A sensible advice is to keep your cardiovascular training on your days off. If this is not possible, keep it separated from the workout at least 8 hours.<br /><br />You can find further advice on how to incorporate cardiovascular training to your bodybuilding program in the article <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/james4.htm">“Don't Just Do Cardio, Do It Right!”</a> by James Cipriani, the article <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/mike1.htm">“Not All Cardio Is Created Equal”</a> by Mike Hajoway, and the <a href="http://www.muscle101.com/cardio.html">“Cardio”</a> section of <a href="http://www.muscle101.com/">Muscle 101</a> site. </div>Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00277549339263186349noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34398603.post-71163022052559572112007-11-21T14:27:00.000+01:002007-11-21T14:33:50.842+01:00Advanced Training Techniques for High Intensity Workouts<div align="justify">In a previous post, I described some basic techniques to increase training intensity, which is mandatory for stimulating the muscles and inducing them to grow. This post presents more of these techniques, probably not as popular as the previous ones but that can be a good complement when developing your training program. However, some of them must be carefully used, whether because they are very demanding and can lead to overtraining if abused, or because they are intended for very specific purposes, and can be counterproductive if wrongly used. The techniques covered in this post include giant sets, eccentric training, partial reps, and cheat reps.<br /><br />The concept of a superset can be generalized to a composition of any number of different exercises for one particular body-part performed without rest, which is known as <strong>giant set</strong>. Typically, the exercises are performed in an order such that you lift the heavier weight first and the lighter weight last. This is not a common technique since it requires high effort and concentration to be accomplished and it cannot be used with all body-parts (probably only back training can take real profit of this technique). The particular case of a giant set where you do three exercises for one body-part is commonly referred as <strong>tri set</strong>.<br /><br /><strong>Eccentric training</strong> exploits the negative part of the exercises (when going from contraction to rest). Studies have shown that this type of training results in greater fiber activation than concentric training, resulting in an increment in muscle mass and physical power. The key of eccentric training is handling a weight that you cannot lift. This can be accomplished in two ways. The first, sometimes referred as ‘forced negatives’, applies when you reach failure in a regular set. At this point, a spotter helps you thoroughly to accomplish the positive part, and then you slowly bring back the weight to the resting position, repeating this process for 2 to 4 reps. Second possibility consists of using eccentric training since the beginning of the set, i.e. do eccentric-only contractions. Load a weight about 125% of your one rep max and focus on controlling this weight during the negative phase of the movement, while one or more spotters perform the positive part. Notice that in both cases having a spotter is mandatory to perform this technique. Eccentric training is very demanding and if done too frequently can lead to overtraining.<br /><br /><strong>Partial reps</strong> consist of moving the weight through a partial range of motion. They can be done anywhere in an exercise range of motion. When used in the strongest part, they can contribute to pack additional size by emphasizing the contraction of the muscle. When used in the weakest part, they can help to get through sticking points. Partial reps can also be used to extend a set once you reach failure. Notice that this technique goes against one of the basic principles of bodybuilding, namely using full range of motion. For this reason, it must be used only for one of purposes commented before, since wrongly used or overused, it can exacerbate muscle imbalances.<br /><br /><strong>Cheat reps</strong> can be applied when you reach failure and cannot do any more reps with good form. At this point, you can use a bit of body swing or momentum to help get the weight past the sticking point. This technique must be carefully used, since cheating excessively, may lead you to injury. Cheat only to work the muscle harder, not to make the exercise easier, maintaining always the focus on the worked muscle. Probably arm and leg muscles are those that can obtain more benefit with this technique.<br /><br />I’ll go in detail on these techniques in future posts but, in the meanwhile, you can check the article <a href="http://www.teenbodybuilding.com/james43.htm">“Training Styles: Which One is Best for You”</a> by James Sadek, the article <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/betteru13.htm">“The 16 Most Advanced Intensity Building Techniques”</a> by Nick Nilsson, and the article <a href="http://bodybuilding.com/fun/ice4.htm">“A Question Of Intensity”</a> included in the <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/ice.htm">I.C.E. Training Program</a> developed by Big Cat. </div>Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00277549339263186349noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34398603.post-45235562439330137142007-10-24T12:44:00.000+02:002007-10-24T12:47:58.326+02:00Basic Training Techniques for High Intensity Workouts<div align="justify">Achieving high intensity in your workouts is mandatory for stimulating your muscles and inducing them to grow. However, plain sets and reps are often not enough for advanced bodybuilders for achieving the needed intensity levels. To deal with this, many specialized techniques intended to increase the training intensity exist. This post introduces some of these techniques, namely supersets, pre-exhaust training, forced reps, rest-pause training, and drop sets.<br /><br />A <strong>superset</strong> is a composition of two exercises performed consecutively in a row with virtually no rest between them. Supersets are especially useful when the training time is limited. Two types of supersets can be distinguished. In the first one, you superset two exercises for two different body-parts (typically two antagonistic body-parts). This allows recovering each body-part while working the other one. Typical antagonistic body-parts that can benefit from this technique include biceps/triceps, but also chest/back or quadriceps/hamstrings. In the second one, you superset two exercises for the same body-part. This allows hitting a muscle from two different angles (or hitting different heads of a muscle) without rest. You can superset any two exercises basically, but it is generally more of application when referring to pre-exhaust training (see next paragraph).<br /><br /><strong>Pre-exhaust training</strong> consists of doing an isolation exercise followed by a compound exercise for a given body-part. The isolated exercise fatigues the major muscle and, for this reason, during the compound exercise the smaller and weaker secondary muscles must come into action, which allows pushing the major muscle harder. Typically, weight in the isolation exercise is light to moderate and reps are usually in the higher range. Pre-exhaust training can be approached in two different ways. One consists of first doing all the sets of the isolation exercise and the move to the compound exercise. The other uses the superset concept, namely first doing one set of the isolation exercise and then, without rest, doing a set of the compound one. In fact, the pre-exhaust concept can be extended to an entire workout, for instance by doing triceps first, followed by chest. This applies also to biceps and back, shoulders and chest, or calves and thighs.<br /><br /><strong>Forced reps</strong> involve working a body-part to failure. When you reach failure, a spotter gives you a very gentle lift to finish the rep and squeeze out the muscle a bit more. As you can see, the utilization of a spotter is essential in this technique, but providing more a mental boost than actual help. In this sense, typical abuse with this technique comes when the trainer relies on the spotter for assistance during most of the set. Notice that properly executed, this is a very demanding technique, and it should not be done for every set.<br /><br /><strong>Rest-Pause training</strong> is similar to forced reps, but when you reach failure, instead of getting help from the spotter, you put the weight back on the rack for a few seconds. Then you do a few more reps until failing again, and repeat this process until you get the desired total number of reps. This technique is useful when a spotter is not present and it is very effective for getting past sticking points.<br /><br />A <strong>drop set</strong> entails performing a set of any exercise to failure, then drop some weight (the necessary to maintain the same number reps) and, with little or no rest, continue for more repetitions with the reduced poundage until failing again. Notice that a spotter is recommended to keep rest time short (by helping you to drop the weight). Several names are used to refer to this technique, including breakdowns, descending sets, or strip sets, and it entails also a lot of variations, such as the double-drop (reduce the weight once), the triple-drop (reduce the weight twice), or the down-the-rack sets (use every consecutive set of dumbbells down a rack).<br /><br />Remember that these techniques are great for increasing your training intensity, stimulating in this way muscle growth, but they are also very demanding on the muscular and nervous systems, taking longer to recover totally. For this reason, using them too often (especially those moving around the failure concept), can lead you to overtraining.<br /><br />I’ll go in detail on these techniques in future posts but, in the meanwhile, you can check the article <a href="http://www.teenbodybuilding.com/james43.htm">“Training Styles: Which One is Best for You”</a> by James Sadek, the article <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/betteru13.htm">“The 16 Most Advanced Intensity Building Techniques”</a> by Nick Nilsson, and the article <a href="http://bodybuilding.com/fun/ice4.htm">“A Question Of Intensity”</a> included in the <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/ice.htm">I.C.E. Training Program</a> developed by Big Cat. </div>Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00277549339263186349noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34398603.post-62746548683919688032007-09-20T15:27:00.000+02:002007-09-20T15:29:30.063+02:00Avoiding Injuries by means of an Accurate Exercise Selection<div align="justify">In previous posts, we have already stated that performing the exercises with proper form is mandatory for preventing injury. However, some exercises are inherently dangerous because their biomechanics situates some muscles and/or joints in a position that is prone to injury. The safest for the bodybuilders is to neglect most of these exercises when designing their program, while some of them can be slightly adapted in order to avoid harmful positions. This post describes some problematic exercises, and provides pointers to avoid harmful positions (if possible).<br /><br />Typical exercises that should be eliminated from your program include the behind-the-neck pull-down/pull-up, the behind-the-neck shoulder press, the upright row, and the sit-up/straight-leg raise. The behind-the-neck pull-down/pull-up can easily cause a shoulder injury. This occurs because this movement requires to externally rotate the shoulders as much as possible. This position is known as external rotation, and it is a very delicate position for the shoulders (especially when you add resistance), since it puts a great stress on the rotator cuff muscles. In addition, since most people do not have enough shoulder flexibility to pull the weight in a straight line behind the neck, they must bend their neck forward to do the movement. This can also result in an injury (e.g. a neck strain), being another cause to avoid this exercise. The problems described above occurs also with the behind-the-neck shoulder press, since to do the movement, you must also externally rotate the shoulders.<br /><br />The upright row is also a dangerous exercise for the shoulders. The problem with this exercise is that it places the shoulder in internal rotation as the arm is raised. When resistance is added in that position, every time you raise the weight, a small tendon gets pinched (i.e. impingement) by the bones in the shoulder. Probably this will not hurt immediately, perhaps nor in a long time, but the tendon will gradually become damaged.<br /><br />The sit-up and the straight-leg raise have been traditionally used to train the abdominal muscles. However, when doing these exercises, the hip flexors pull directly on the spine, placing excessive pressure in the vertebrae and the spinal discs, which can lead to strain in the lower back area. In addition, since these exercises primarily involve the hip flexors, the abdominals are not trained in an effective way, because they are merely exhausted in prolonged static work to hold the torso steady.<br /><br />The wisest solution is to avoid previous exercises in your program. For other exercises, it is not necessary to be so drastic. Just avoiding compromised positions can do the trick. For instance, when performing the deadlift or the stiff-leg deadlift, in order to protect the lower back from injury, you should keep it slightly arched during the whole movement. Without the arch, supporting muscles will relax, switching to the spine much of the tension that they are supporting. For this reason, avoid going down beyond a position that impedes you to maintain a straight back.<br /><br />The bench press is another example of exercise that wrongly performed can lead to a shoulder injury. Using a too wide grip increases the stress on the shoulder joint. You should use a grip in which your elbows are at a 90º angle at the bottom of the motion. The shoulder joint also suffers when touching the bar to the chest too high up. Aim for lowering the bar to approximately the nipple line by keeping your forearms perpendicular to the floor during the whole movement and your elbows at a 60º angle to your body at the bottom of the motion.<br /><br />There are other controversial exercises, such as dips or pullover (see Luis Berrios’ article) or flyes (see Matt Danielsson’s article), which have been labeled as dangerous exercises by some authors. You can find additional details about all these exercises in the article <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/betteru26.htm">“Five Exercises You Must Avoid To Stay Injury-Free!”</a> by Nick Nilsson, in the article <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/luis4.htm">“Bodybuilding and Shoulder Injury”</a> by Luis Berrios, and in the article <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/matt20.htm">“The Dangers of Dumbbell Flyes!”</a> by Matt Danielsson. </div>Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00277549339263186349noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34398603.post-31873393078424827022007-08-18T21:15:00.000+02:002007-08-18T21:17:17.511+02:00Overtraining: The Natural Bodybuilders’ Nightmare<div align="justify">Overtraining is probably one of the most serious obstacles for natural bodybuilders. As you already know, muscle growth occurs as a response to high intensity training that progressively overloads the muscles and forces them in this way to grow in order to meet the demand. However, when the muscles do not get the time and rest needed to rebuild them, this strategy immediately backfires, resulting in overtraining. This post provides basic advice to detect overtraining and summarizes the best practices for its prevention.<br /><br />Overtraining results in a variety of negative effects on the body, including both physiological and psychological disturbances. Physiological symptoms include lower performance in the gym, manifested with decrements in strength and lean body mass, changes in blood pressure and heart rate, prolonged muscle soreness, stiffness, increased joint and muscle aches, delayed recovery from training and increased chances of injury. You can also suffer from chronic fatigue, dehydration, loss in appetite and sleep disturbances (insomnia, poor quality sleep). In addition, your immune system can be also compromised, thus making your more susceptible to minor infections (e.g. colds), gastric problems, headaches, and prolonging your healing time. Psychological symptoms include loss of motivation, pessimism, unusual feelings of sadness or depression, mood swings, increased apathy and irritability, anxiety and reduced ability to concentrate. The appearance of some of these symptoms must be used as a warning, and deserves a detailed following in order to assess your overtraining degree.<br /><br />Of course, the best treatment for overtraining is prevention. This must be accomplished from several points of view, including training, rest and nutrition. With respect to training, the key is to do exactly the right amount of sets needed for stimulating the muscles. Doing additional sets will yield no benefit and it can even be counterproductive. In this sense, you should keep workouts short (preferably less than 1 hour) since after that time your hormonal levels become very unfavorable (pronounced cortisol release and testosterone depletion). In addition, don’t overuse high-intensity techniques such as supersets, pre/post-exhaustion or descending sets, since they are very demanding both mentally and physically.<br /><br />Adequate rest is fundamental for allowing muscle recovery. Don’t go to the gym too often (aim for 3 or 4 days per week, maximum 5 in advanced routines) and let a muscle fully recover before directly training it again. In addition, once a while take a break in your routine. You will come back totally recovered, both mentally and physically, being able to deal with intense activities once again. It is recommended to take a week off for every 12 weeks of constant exercise. In addition, remember to get adequate sleep (at least 8 hours per day) for proper recovery. Focus also in mental recovery by getting lots of relaxation and trying to minimize stressful events in your life which will contribute to slowdown recovery.<br /><br />Nutrition has also an important role in overtraining prevention. Have a balanced diet including the right amount of all macronutrients (e.g. 55% calories from carbohydrates, 30% from protein and 15% from fat). Take care of fulfilling your daily caloric requirements, or even better, having a caloric surplus. Distribute your food intake among 6 different meals along the day to guarantee a constant flow of nutrients to the muscles and control cortisol levels, avoiding catabolism. Take care also of having the needed micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) and plenty of water, using a multivitamin supplement if needed.<br /><br />These practices contribute to prevent overtraining, and they must be also followed if you have already entered in an overtraining state. In this case, you should additionally rest completely from training of any form for some days. Then, begin training tentatively, with very light weights and short sessions. Once you recover, it is important to review your training program to avoid overtraining again. Set realistic goals so you don't train your body harder than it can handle, train depending on how the body feels and learn to recognize overtraining symptoms.<br /><br />You can find further details about overtraining in the article <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/drobson15.htm">“Overtraining: A Bodybuilding Nemesis!”</a> by David Robson, the article <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/topicoftheweek87.htm">“How Can One Prevent Overtraining?”</a> and the <a href="http://www.muscle101.com/overtraining.html">“Overtraining”</a> section of <a href="http://www.muscle101.com/">Muscle 101</a> site. </div>Georgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00277549339263186349noreply@blogger.com0