Natural Bodybuilding Principles

Bodybuilding Online Supplement Stores (II)

2011-02-16T17:46:00.003+01:00

In my previous post “Bodybuilding Online Supplement Stores”, 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.

Only Fitness Nutrition

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.
Maxi Muscle

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.
PonteMASfuerte

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.
Prozis

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.
HSNStore

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.
IAFStore

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.

Stay connected to hear from my new experiences.

Exercise Instruction for Proper Form: Chest Exercises: Fly, Dip, Push-Up, and Pullover

2010-03-23T19:01:00.002+01:00

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.

There are countless variations of the fly exercise. Pec Deck Fly (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 here).

To do the Cable Standing Fly (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.

In the Dumbbell Fly, 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 (Incline Dumbbell Fly) or decline bench (Decline Dumbbell Fly).

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 (Cable Fly), incline (Incline Cable Fly) or decline bench (Cable Decline Fly).

Some authors have referred flyes as potentially dangerous for the shoulders (see “The Dangers of Dumbbell Flyes” 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.

Dips exercise also presents a variation for targeting the chest (Dips (Chest Version)). 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.

The well-known Push-Up 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 (Weighted Push-Up) or by putting your feet on top of a flat bench (Push-Up with Feet Elevated) or an exercise ball (Push-Up with Feet on an Exercise Ball). The latter involves more the stabilizer muscles. In any case, the higher the feet elevation is, the higher the resistance of the exercise is.

Finally, whereas previous exercises target mainly the pectoralis major, Dumbbell Pullover 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.

Basic guidelines for performing these and other exercises for developing your chest can be found in the article “Champion Chest Development” and in the chest exercise guides at Bodybuilding.com.

Exercise Instruction for Proper Form: Chest Exercises: Bench Press

2010-02-13T00:34:00.002+01:00

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.

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 Barbell Bench Press the most common.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The bench press presents several variations. The Incline Barbell Bench Press 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.

The Decline Barbell Bench Press 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.

All the bench press variations described up to now can be also performed with dumbbells. Dumbbell versions include the Dumbbell Bench Press, Dumbbell Incline Bench Press, and Dumbbell Decline Bench Press, 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.

More details about bench press technique and useful tips for increasing your bench press performance can be found in the articles “How Much Ya Bench?” by Charles Staley and “Bench Press Blastoff!” by Tom Venuto, and the book “The Insider’s Tell-All Handbook On Weight-Training Technique” by Stuart McRobert.

Exercise Instruction for Proper Form: Lower Back Exercises: Back Extension

2009-12-26T21:49:00.002+01:00

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.

The primary version of the Back Extension 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. Hyperextension 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 45° Back Extension, 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.

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 (Hyperextension on a Bench) or using an exercise ball (Weighted Ball Hyperextension).

There are other exercises for working the lower back. Good Morning 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.

Superman 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 Contralateral Superman, 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.

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 Cable Seated Row 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.

You can find a more detailed description about these lower back exercises in the article “All Out Back Training” by John Giljum and the book “The Insider’s Tell-All Handbook On Weight-Training Technique” by Stuart McRobert.

Exercise Instruction for Proper Form: Lower Back Exercises: Deadlift

2009-11-28T01:51:00.002+01:00

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.

Starting position of Barbell Deadlift 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.

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.

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.

There is a deadlift variation, known as Sumo Deadlift, 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.

The Romanian Deadlift 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).

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 Still-legged Deadlift, 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.

You can find further information about all these deadlift variations in the articles “All Out Back Training” by John Giljum and “Deadlifts: Learn Why The King Is Dead!” by Curtis Schultz, and the book “The Insider’s Tell-All Handbook On Weight-Training Technique” by Stuart McRobert.

Exercise Instruction for Proper Form: Upper Back Exercises: Pulldown and Row

2009-10-23T17:13:00.003+02:00

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.

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 (Underhand Cable Pulldown, V-Bar Pulldown, Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown), having each position a different effect on your back muscles. Refer to the previous post for more details.

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.

Being significantly different from a regular pulldown, the Straight-Arm Pulldown 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.

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. Bent Over Barbell Row 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 (Reverse Grip Bent-Over Row).

Another variation is One-Arm Dumbbell Row, 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.

The second category comprises the rowing exercises performed in a cable station. Seated Cable Row 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 (close grip, wide overhand grip, underhand grip, one arm at a time). 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 variation of this exercise involving also the lower back, in which you lean forward and backward accompanying elbows movement.

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 T-Bar Row and Seated Lever Row. 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.

You can find further information about all these back exercises in the article “All Out Back Training” by John Giljum and the book “The Insider’s Tell-All Handbook On Weight-Training Technique” by Stuart McRobert.

Exercise Instruction for Proper Form: Upper Back Exercises: Pull-Up/Chin-Up

2009-09-18T21:57:00.003+02:00

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.

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.

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,

Wide-Grip Pull-Up 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.

Chin-Up 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.

Close Parallel-Grip Chin-Up 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.

Parallel-Grip Chin-Up 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.

Sternum Chin-Up 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.

Mixed-Grip Chin-Up 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.

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.

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.

Further information on pull-ups/chin-ups (including pictures) can be found on the articles “Improving Chin-Up Performance!” by Charles Poliquin, “Exercise Of The Week: Pull-ups” by Charles Ridgely, and “Chins For Your Back” by Christopher Phelps, and the book “The Insider’s Tell-All Handbook On Weight-Training Technique” by Stuart McRobert.

Bodybuilding Online Supplement Stores

2009-07-11T17:29:00.004+02:00

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.

Bodybuilding.com

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.

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.

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.

SS Health Foods

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.

MyProtein

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, if you use this refers code (MP104567), you’ll get a 5% discount on your first order. Shipping is fast and with a reasonable price.

Discount Supplements

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).

These are the online stores I have used so far. In the future, I’ll update this post with my new experiences.

Enhancing Supplements for the Natural Bodybuilder: Amino Acids & BCAA

2009-05-06T12:24:00.002+02:00

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).

As we discussed in post “Important Amino Acids for Bodybuilders”, 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.

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.

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.

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.

More details on the benefits of BCAA supplementation can be found in the article “BCAA'S: The Building Blocks Of Muscle” by David Galanis, the article “BCAA Supplementation For Athletes” by Intensity Magazine, and the article “Top 10 Supplements For Bulking” by Big Cat.

Enhancing Supplements for the Natural Bodybuilder: Glutamine

2009-03-19T18:37:00.001+01:00

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

Additional information about the benefits of glutamine supplementation and how to perform it can be found in the article “Supplementation For Maximum Growth: Part 2” by Hugo Rivera, the article “The Benefits of Glutamine” by Nick Nilsson, and the article “Glutamine: The Pinnacle Of Supplements” by David Robson.

Enhancing Supplements for the Natural Bodybuilder: Creatine

2009-02-05T15:08:00.001+01:00

As discussed in post “Supplementation for Natural Bodybuilders”, 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

More information about how creatine works and how to supplement it can be found in the article “All About Creatine” by Jeremy Likness, and in the following articles by Big Cat: “Top 10 Supplements For Bulking”, “Creatine, Ribose and Insulin Potentiators”, and “Creatine Updates!”.

Foundation Supplements for the Natural Bodybuilder: Essential Fatty Acids

2008-12-23T11:40:00.002+01:00

As discussed in my post entitled “Macronutrients Guide: Fat”, 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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

More information about EFA’s and their supplementation can be found in the article “Top 10 Supplements For Bulking” by Big Cat, the article “The Lowdown On EFA's!” by Mike Hajoway, and in the “Supplements” section of Muscle 101 site.

Foundation Supplements for the Natural Bodybuilder: Protein Powders

2008-11-19T12:16:00.000+01:00

As described in my post entitled “Macronutrients Guide: Protein”, 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.

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.

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.

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).

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).

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.

You can find further information about the usage of protein supplements in the article “The Protein Bible” by John Berardi, in the article “Beginner's Bodybuilding Program!” by Matt Danielsson, and in the “In the Kitchen” section of Muscle 101 site.

Foundation Supplements for the Natural Bodybuilder: Multivitamin/Mineral

2008-10-10T16:00:00.000+02:00

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.

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.

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.

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.

Further details about multivitamin/mineral supplementation can be found in the article “Top 10 Supplements For Bulking” by Big Cat and in the article “Beginner's Bodybuilding Program!” by Matt Danielsson. In addition, deeper information about vitamins and minerals can be found in the article “Water-Soluble Vitamins For Bodybuilders” and in the article “Fat-Soluble Vitamins, Minerals and Trace Elements”, both by Big Cat.

The Basics of Bodybuilding Competition: Mandatory Poses

2008-06-19T17:45:00.000+02:00

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.

1. Front Double Biceps Pose

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.

2. Front Lat Spread Pose

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.

3. Side Chest Pose

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.

4. Side Triceps Pose

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).

5. Rear Double Biceps Pose

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.

6. Rear Lat Spread Pose

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.

7. Abdominal and Thigh Pose

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.

8. Most Muscular Pose

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.

Additional details of these mandatory poses (including explicative pictures and videos) can be found in the article “Pointers to Posing” by Scott Duncan, in the article “Posing: Video & Text Guides” by Mark Tilden, and in the “Posing Advice” section from Bodybuilding.com site.

The Basics of Bodybuilding Competition: Judging Procedure

2008-05-08T11:46:00.000+02:00

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

Further details about judging procedure can be found in the “Judging Criteria” section of ExRx.net site and in the article “Bodybuilding Competition FAQ” by Steve Kidwell.

The Basics of Bodybuilding Competition: Contest Structure

2008-04-18T18:02:00.000+02:00

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

You can find further information about bodybuilding contest structure in the “Competition” section of ExRx.net site and in the article “Bodybuilding Competition FAQ” by Steve Kidwell.

Training Styles for Ensuring Continued Muscle Growth

2008-03-10T11:51:00.000+01:00

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.

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.

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.

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.

Further information on these training styles can be found in the “Training Principles” section of Muscle 101 site, while the article “Periodization: The Key To Continuous Gains!” by Matt Danielsson goes deeper into periodization.

Playing with Intensity for Profitable Cardiovascular Sessions

2008-02-11T12:24:00.000+01:00

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

You can find further information about the importance of intensity in cardiovascular training in the article “Priming the Cardio System” by Matt Danielsson, and the article “Heart Matters: Are You Training Your Heart?” by Jeremy Likness.

Contribution of Cardiovascular Training in a Successful Bodybuilding Program

2008-01-04T16:12:00.000+01:00

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

You can find further advice on how to incorporate cardiovascular training to your bodybuilding program in the article “Don't Just Do Cardio, Do It Right!” by James Cipriani, the article “Not All Cardio Is Created Equal” by Mike Hajoway, and the “Cardio” section of Muscle 101 site.

Advanced Training Techniques for High Intensity Workouts

2007-11-21T14:27:00.000+01:00

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.

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 giant set. 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 tri set.

Eccentric training 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.

Partial reps 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.

Cheat reps 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.

I’ll go in detail on these techniques in future posts but, in the meanwhile, you can check the article “Training Styles: Which One is Best for You” by James Sadek, the article “The 16 Most Advanced Intensity Building Techniques” by Nick Nilsson, and the article “A Question Of Intensity” included in the I.C.E. Training Program developed by Big Cat.

Basic Training Techniques for High Intensity Workouts

2007-10-24T12:44:00.000+02:00

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.

A superset 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).

Pre-exhaust training 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.

Forced reps 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.

Rest-Pause training 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.

A drop set 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).

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.

I’ll go in detail on these techniques in future posts but, in the meanwhile, you can check the article “Training Styles: Which One is Best for You” by James Sadek, the article “The 16 Most Advanced Intensity Building Techniques” by Nick Nilsson, and the article “A Question Of Intensity” included in the I.C.E. Training Program developed by Big Cat.

Avoiding Injuries by means of an Accurate Exercise Selection

2007-09-20T15:27:00.000+02:00

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 “Five Exercises You Must Avoid To Stay Injury-Free!” by Nick Nilsson, in the article “Bodybuilding and Shoulder Injury” by Luis Berrios, and in the article “The Dangers of Dumbbell Flyes!” by Matt Danielsson.

Overtraining: The Natural Bodybuilders’ Nightmare

2007-08-18T21:15:00.000+02:00

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

You can find further details about overtraining in the article “Overtraining: A Bodybuilding Nemesis!” by David Robson, the article “How Can One Prevent Overtraining?” and the “Overtraining” section of Muscle 101 site.

Consolidating Your Muscle Gains: Advanced Program

2007-07-28T21:50:00.000+02:00

After sticking with the intermediate’s program for the last 1-2 years, you have surely experienced noticeable muscle gains. However, lately your progress seems to slow down, or even halt. You keep training hard and your nutrition and rest are adequate, but you have hardly gained any muscle during the last months. Facing this situation denotes that you have to go one step further in your training and enter into the advanced level. This post provides the basic guidelines for designing an advanced program.

Surely you remember how easy was gaining mass during your first months in bodybuilding. Unfortunately, being an advanced bodybuilder, you have to work hard for gaining each additional pound of muscle. As we commented in previous posts, this occurs because your muscles evolve to work more efficiently, and for this reason, you require to increase intensity for further progress. As a consequence of this, the primary goal in an advanced program should be achieving constant muscle stimulation and maximum intensity. As you know, the key to constantly stimulate your muscles is introducing periodization in your training, switching regularly between heavy cycles (mainly compound exercises and low rep range) and light cycles (isolation exercises and high rep range). In addition, it is also mandatory to vary your workouts every 4-6 weeks by altering one or more factors (i.e. number of reps, sets, tempo, exercise selection, etc.). In this sense, it is important to avoid doing always the same exercises, or performing the same number of sets or reps, since the muscles adapt to this workload and then stop growing. For instance, you can alternate the 3-day split introduced in the intermediate’s program, with a 4-day or even a 5-day split.

Intensity can be achieved by staying focused, reducing the rest between sets and giving the maximum in all your sets and using the maximum weight that allows you to maintain strict form. In addition, you can also include in your workouts high-intensity techniques such as supersets, pre/post-exhaustion, descending sets, negative reps or forced reps (I’ll go in detail on each one in later posts). These techniques are great for increasing the intensity of your workouts and stimulate in this way muscle growth. However, they should be carefully used, since they are very demanding on the muscle and can contribute to overtraining, which is always threatening natural bodybuilders when training to the limit. For this reason, watch carefully for overtraining signs (I’ll also go deeper on this in the future), and use adequately high-intensity techniques.

With respect to nutrition and rest, you are probably on the right way, since the same principles provided with the intermediate’s program rule here. Stick eating several small meals throughout the day (every 2.5-3 hours) including enough protein (1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight per day), drinking plenty of water and sleeping at least 8 hours per night. Be also careful of regularly monitoring your metabolism in order to adequate your caloric intake if needed. You have to take into account that muscles are active tissues that continuously burn calories. For this reason, if you gain muscle, your metabolism will go up, thus you have to adjust your daily caloric intake upwards to meet the demand. Finally, this is probably the right moment for considering supplementation in your program. The basis should consist of a multivitamin/mineral stack and some protein supplement. Then you can experiment with other supplements such as creatine, glutamine, and BCAAs and see what works better for you.

These and other guidelines for developing your advanced program can be found in the article “Advanced Bodybuilding Program” by Matt Danielsson and also in the article “Progression of Training” included in the I.C.E. Training Program developed by Big Cat.

How to Deal with Injuries for Safe Muscle Development

2007-07-09T14:40:00.000+02:00

Making progress in bodybuilding requires intense and consistent training. Unfortunately, pushing yourself to the limit day after day increases your chance of getting injured. Typically, an injury can turn you away from the gym a few days or weeks, but if neglected, it could even end your days in bodybuilding. As you can see, this is a critical issue and deserves special attention. Learn with this post how to deal with injuries, and some safety tips for preventing them.

Of course, nobody wants to get injured. However, this happens to almost everybody at some point in their training career, and for this reason it is convenient to learn how to deal with injuries. If you get injured, you have to stop training immediately. By continuing with your workout you are only making the injury worse, probably prolonging the recovery time by weeks.

For most injuries, you will be fine again if you just give yourself the time to heal properly, thus rest is the key. Additionally, you can try to accelerate recuperation applying ice to the painful area for approximately 15 minutes every two hours following an injury, compressing the area with a bandage and elevating it, and applying heat for 10 to 15 minutes several times a day four or five days after the injury.

You have to avoid any kind of training on your injured part until you notice definite improvement. At this point, you can probably start with very light training but avoid heavy training until you are completely recovered. However, that does not mean that you have to stay out of the gym until being almost recovered. In fact, you can still train all body-parts which are not related to the injured body-part. For instance, having an elbow-injury, you can still do legs, abdominals, and lower back. Use the time to work on your weaknesses, keep going to the gym regularly, stay active and stick to your diet.

When coming back from an injury, spend some time on reviewing your training routine. In order to prevent future injuries, it is important to determine what caused the injury so you can avoid it. During this review process, you have to pay special attention to the following issues:

Are you thoroughly warming up before weight training? This refers both to general warm-up for raising your body temperature, and generally preparing the body for activity, and to specific warm-up for the muscle you are about to train, for adapting it to the weights you will use. Refer to previous post “Proper Warm-up for Gaining Muscle while Preventing Injury” for details.

Do you consider some stretching in your program? Stretching reduces soreness, increases flexibility, and strengthens your joints. You should do some stretching after warming up and between each set, and you have to stretch thoroughly after working a muscle. Refer to previous post “Stretching for Safe and Successful Muscle Development” for details.

Are you always using proper form in your exercises? Poor form is a primary cause of injury. For this reason, use always textbook form, maintain the control on the weight over the whole movement, and avoid cheating, jerking or using momentum. In this sense, it is convenient to stay focused and avoid distractions which contribute to poor form. Related to this, it is also convenient to avoid dangerous exercises (such as behind-the-neck pull-down, behind-the-neck shoulder press, and upright row) that put your joints in a position that is prone to injury.

Are you evenly training all your body-parts? Having an unbalanced body can increase the chance of having an injury. In this sense, it is important to have a strong midsection (abdominals and lower back), since this acts as a stabilizer in a great amount of exercises.

You can find further details about how to deal with injuries in the article “Injuries: How To Prevent & Treat Them” by Matt Danielsson and the article “A Bodybuilder's Guide To Injury Prevention” by Jon Huston.

Supplementation for Natural Bodybuilders

2007-06-24T16:50:00.000+02:00

Supplements are present throughout in bodybuilding. For instance, one can find many people that trust in supplements as a magic pill to transform their body from day to day, even when their training and nutrition are not precisely an example to follow. On the other side, one can also find many bodybuilders that adequately use natural supplements as a complement to their nutrition. The industry contributes to this situation by offering a huge amount of supplements, all of them with the most fantastic claims. However, some of these supplements are not natural, or not effective (or at least not for everyone), or even dangerous. This post intends to guide trainees in this crowded space by discussing how supplementation fits in a natural bodybuilding program.

Proper use of supplements requires a clear understanding of what are they intended to, since this a common point of confusion. In this sense, people tend to forget that if training and nutrition are not adequate, supplements are virtually worthless. In fact, it has been established that training hard, eating clean and resting enough determine the 90% of your success. Supplements are a good complement, but they can never fully compensate bad eating habits or inadequate training (although they probably can slightly reduce the negative effect of these bad practices). For this reason, it is important to focus on getting the basics in shape before bothering with the details.

Having said this, what is then the role of supplementation in natural bodybuilding? Well, although supplements are not needed to succeed, they can be a great aid for making this process easier and quicker, acting as a complement for ensuring that you get enough of all needed nutrients, and also for optimizing physiological processes, such as muscle growth, fat loss and recovery. Supplements can be broken down into 3 groups, namely foundation supplements, enhancing supplements, and application specific supplements. I deliberately omit in this list unnatural solutions, such as steroids, that can have catastrophic secondary effects on your health.

Foundation supplements provide substances which are mandatory for proper body functioning such as vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, protein and essential fatty acids (EFAs). In fact, 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. Use a multivitamin/mineral stack daily (some vitamins are also antioxidants), add some protein supplement to your diet (e.g. protein powders) and consider supplementing EFAs during fat loss periods.

Enhancing supplements contribute to optimize your body functioning and in this way accelerate your gains. Supplements in this category, such as creatine, glutamine, BCAAs, arginine, and HMB, are mainly focused to build muscle. As you gain experience in the gym and muscle gains slow down, you can give a try to this kind of supplements. Finally, application specific supplements are intended for advanced bodybuilders allowing them to increase their control on certain physiological processes such as fat mobilization (e.g. L-carnitine), metabolism acceleration (e.g. ephedrine, caffeine), natural testosterone boost (e.g ZMA), and joint injury prevention/healing (e.g. glucosamine).

Further reading about basic supplementation and its role in natural bodybuilding can be found in the article “Broke Buying Supplements?”, and the article “Food vs. Supplements”, both by Matt Danielsson.

A Fat Loss Program for Muscle Definition

2007-06-04T18:39:00.000+02:00

When referring to bodybuilding, most people have in mind muscle development. Of course, gaining muscle is extremely important, but most of the times losing fat is also required to achieve a balanced, muscular and defined body. Losing fat is only possible when combining proper nutrition, cardiovascular exercise and weight training. Find in this post the basic guidelines for developing your fat loss program.

Controlling your nutrition is mandatory for losing fat. You have to adjust your diet in order to consume fewer calories than needed, by creating a small deficit of at most 500 calories per day with respect to your daily maintenance caloric requirements. Don’t go beyond this since diets that severely restricts caloric intake promote loss of lean body weight as opposed to fat. When cutting down on calories, you should keep the protein intake up in order to avoid muscle breakdown (about 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight per day). Control the amount of fat you eat, but don’t eliminate it from your diet. Focus preferably on essential fatty acids and avoid saturated fats and junk food at all. The main reduction on calories should come from carbohydrates. Stick with low GI carbohydrates, especially those rich in fiber, and limit high GI ones (except immediately after training). In addition, drink plenty of water (3 or 4 liters of water per day).

You should eat several small meals throughout the day (every 2.5-3 hours) instead of 3 big meals. This prevents blood sugar level fluctuations, helps control hunger, ensures constant nutrients flow to your muscles, increases metabolism, and avoids excess calories that could be stored as fat. Each meal should include a serving of protein and just enough carbohydrates to replenish glycogen stores in the liver and the muscles. In addition, make the meals smaller as the evening approaches in order to accommodate to the reduction in energy usage that occurs as the day goes on.

In order to increase the amount of fat you burn, you should incorporate to your program some aerobic exercise like cycling, swimming, jogging, rowing, etc. Perform 3-4 cardiovascular sessions per week, lasting 30-40 minutes. Avoid sessions in excess of 1 hour since anything past this promotes muscle breakdown. If you really want to do more cardio, split it up into several shorter sessions. Preferably perform your cardiovascular sessions first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. In this way, you ensure that your insulin level is low. Remember that eating causes an insulin response which inhibits fat burning.

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%) burns more fat calories, but muscle protein wasted is also higher. Thus stay better in the 60-70% zone or 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.

Incorporating weight training to a fat loss program is indicated in order to maintain muscle while burning fat. Building muscle is important for giving a muscular and hard look to the body once definition is reached. In addition, muscle is an active tissue that consumes energy. Thus the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn. This does not apply to fat tissue, which does not consume energy at all. You can use your regular workout oriented to muscle growth, but being immersed in a low carbohydrates diet will decrease your performance in the gym. For this reason, probably this is a good chance to train with high reps (12 and above) and stimulate those forgotten slow-twitch muscle fibers, which are more involved in fat burning because they get their energy more from fatty acid oxidization. Training these muscle fibers also leads to development of more mitochondria, providing a greater ability to oxidize fat.

You can find further advice for designing your fat loss program in the article “How to Replace the Love Handles with a Rock-hard Washboard” by Matt Danielsson and in the “Losing Fat” section of Muscle 101.

Recovery Significance for Successful Bodybuilding

2007-05-24T12:40:00.000+02:00

Although one could think the opposite, muscle gains occur when you are outside the gym, provided that muscles receive adequate nutrients and enough rest. However, most bodybuilding programs focus only on training routines and overlook recuperation, which lead these programs to a probable failure. This post provides a basic understanding of the importance of rest for muscle grow, and some guidelines for allowing your muscles to recover adequately.

Sufficient rest and adequate nutrition are indispensable for bodybuilders in order to build muscle. No matter how hard you train if you don’t pay attention to these factors. In addition, skimping with recovery can lead to overtraining, which can compromise not only your muscle gains but even your health. Rest allows your body to recover after exercise, recuperating the nervous system from the accumulation of stress, as well as permitting muscles rebuild to make them stronger.

Maximizing recovery between training sessions requires a multi-dimensional approach. The first step is having enough quality rest. This includes two aspects. First, you should sleep at least 8 hours per night (preferably 9). This is when growth hormone is mostly released, and when most of the muscle repair and psychological restoration occurs. Try to maintain a regular sleep pattern to maximize recovery. That means not only getting the same amount of sleep every night, but also trying to go to sleep and wake up at the exact same time every day. In addition, a short nap (20-30 minutes) during the day can also contribute to better recovery. Second aspect related to rest includes having enough time to recover between workouts. Limit the number of workouts per week to 3-4, and the keep them short (preferably less than 1 hour). Don’t train again a muscle until it is fully recovered (this may require up to 7 days).

Additionally to rest, adequate nutrition plays a huge role in the recovery process, because it must supply the materials that the body needs to repair and restore the muscle fibers broken by training. Though enough rest and clean nutrition are required for proper recovery, the process can be accelerated using other techniques, such as ‘active rest’, which consists of performing some light activity during the rest periods. This technique includes several forms, ranging from the light aerobic activity and stretching that you can do as a cool-down for your training session, to intercalating periods of light training (high reps) between the heavy ones or performing some light activity during your rest days. Active rest has been demonstrated to support faster recovery than rest alone.

Other techniques such as massage, which contributes to reactivate the peripheral circulation and reduce muscular fatigue, thermotherapy (i.e. application of heat), which increases the blood flow to the targeted area, cryotherapy (i.e. application of cold), which contributes to localized pain relief by reducing spasms and increasing local blood flow, and contrast showers (i.e. changing between heat and cold), which create a rapid variation of vasoconstriction and vasodilatation helping in waste removal and nutrient delivery, can be also used to accelerate recovery. In addition, trying to minimize sudden changes in your life that can induce stress and using relaxation techniques to reduce this stress can also sum in the recovery process.

For more details about the importance of recovery in bodybuilding, check the article “Recuperation & Muscular Growth!” by Randy Herring and the article “Rest & Recovery: The Overlooked Aspect of Training Success” by ISSA.

Proper Warm-up for Gaining Muscle while Preventing Injury

2007-05-11T14:41:00.000+02:00

Probably almost everyone would agree that adequate warm-up is mandatory for having an injury-free workout while achieving maximum performance. In spite of this, a considerable amount of people go into their routines without warming up or with a deficient warm-up. This post reviews the importance of warm-up for bodybuilders, and provides some guidelines for warming up properly.

Warm-up plays an important role in bodybuilding. It prepares the body and the nervous system for physical activity. In addition, it increases muscles and joints lubrication and blood flow to the muscles, making them more suitable for weight training. More importantly, warm-up reduces the risk of injury by increasing muscles flexibility and gradually preparing them to the upcoming workout.

For accomplishing an adequate warm-up, the first stage, before any intensive training, must be a general low-intensity aerobic activity, such as light jogging, stationary cycling, jumping rope, or rowing machine, for about 5 minutes, just long enough to raise the body temperature, get the blood flowing and generally prepare the body for activity. After this aerobic activity, you can finish this phase of the warm-up with some light stretching.

At this point, you can move to the weight room. However, even though you have had a general body warm-up, you need additional warm-up for the muscle which you are about to train. Defining this specific warm-up can be tricky, because you must gradually prepare the muscle to handle heavy weights without injuring yourself, but at the same time you do not want to be fatigued when facing your working sets.

A good way for approaching this problem is as follows. Start by giving the muscle a light pump by completing one set of 10-12 reps with a very easy weight (e.g. 40-50% of the working sets weight). Then, in order to gradually habituate the muscle to the heavy weights it will have to handle during the working sets, perform 2-3 sets with low reps (2-5) in a pyramiding fashion, increasing progressively the weight until reaching the 80-90% of the working sets weight, while decreasing the reps. Do not rest too much between these sets (preferably less than 1 minute). Once you have finished all the warm-up sets, rest 2-3 minutes before starting the working sets.

Let’s see an example applied to bench press exercise. Assuming that working sets consist of 6 reps with 100kg (100x6), an adequate warm-up can be as follows: 40x10, 60x4, 75x2 and 85x1. Obviously, this is not a fixed scheme. The needed amount of warm-up sets will depend on the intensity of the exercise. The lower the reps you are performing on the working sets, the more warm-up sets you should do. The higher the reps, the fewer warm-up sets you may need.

This specific muscle warm-up is not necessary on every exercise in a workout. You have to do it only for the first exercise for each muscle group. Once the muscles are warm any further warm-up is just wasting energy. An exception can be made if the following exercise hits the muscle in a substantially different way with respect to the first.

Finally, in the same way that you warm up before starting the workout, it is also a good practice to do some cool down after training. A proper cool down usually consists of 5 minutes of walking or riding a stationary bike at a relatively slow pace, so that your breathing should be able to return to a relaxed pattern and your heart rate should slow. After that, you can follow with some stretching exercises.

Further information about warming up can be found in the article “Warming Up For Mass Gains!” by Shannon Pittman and the article “How Important Is Warming Up?”

Stretching for Safe and Successful Muscle Development

2007-04-28T16:30:00.000+02:00

Most bodybuilders neglect stretching in their training program, though a flexible body is an essential requirement for proper muscle development. This post reviews the importance of stretching for bodybuilders, and provides hints about how to incorporate stretching into your program.

Benefits of stretching are numerous. It contributes greatly in preventing muscle injuries (strains, sprains, and pulls) and in delivering blood into the muscle. For this reason, stretching after workout is highly recommended, since the nutrient rich blood can easily reach the fatigued muscle so it can recover and start growing as soon as possible. In addition, stretching makes you bigger and more powerful by lengthening your muscles, and at the same time contributes to give you a cut-look by emphasizing muscle separation. Finally, stretching reduces muscle and joint tensions and plays a role in the healing process of injured or over-trained muscles.

Stretching can be performed after warm-up, once you have finished your workout, or even between sets while training, but never when muscles are still cold. A good approach consists of performing some stretching between sets targeting the muscle that you are currently working. This allows more fresh blood to access the muscle, reducing the lactic acid buildup and giving you more power for the next set. Then, once you have finished working that muscle, you can perform a more thorough stretching, which acts as the "cool down" phase of your workout. This will help to increase muscle size and to reduce soreness.

Whenever you stretch, it is mandatory to do it properly, since stretching is a dangerous type of exercise if done incorrectly. Never force a stretch or go past the point of serious discomfort or pain. Do not bounce at all as this can cause muscle and tendon/ligament damage. You should start gently stretching as far as you can go, that is, until you hit a natural stop which does not hurt but will do so if you keep pushing beyond that point. Hold this position for about 20 seconds without bouncing. Then, contract the muscle statically for 8-10 seconds and gently stretch it again until it stops and maintain this position during 20 seconds more. When doing this second stretch, you will notice that the stopping point has moved, thus enabling you to safely stretch beyond what was previously possible. The reason behind this lies in the body's natural defense mechanism. During the first stretch, in order to prevent tearing a ligament, the muscle that connects to these ligaments tenses trying to resist the pull. By contracting the muscle, your defense mechanism gives out, and you can stretch into a further position.

You can find additional information about all the stretching issues for the bodybuilder in the article “Stretching and the Bodybuilder!”, the article “Contract-Release Stretch” by Matt Danielsson and the chapter “How to Become Flexible” of the book “The Insider’s Tell-All Handbook On Weight-Training Technique” by Stuart McRobert, which includes also a complete program for improving your flexibility. Additionally, you can find a great amount of stretching exercises for the different muscles in the “Exercise Instruction & Kinesiology” section of the ExRx.net site.

Important Amino Acids for Bodybuilders

2007-04-11T12:31:00.000+02:00

Protein is made up of structural units or chains called amino acids, which are involved in innumerable physiological processes in the body. Understanding the basics and providing a complete spectrum of them in the diet is basic for any bodybuilder. For supporting this task, this post reviews the primary amino acids for achieving success in bodybuilding.

There are 20 standard amino acids. Of those 20, 9 are considered essential, namely isoleucine, leucine, valine, histidine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, and tryptophan. Essential amino acids must be supplied entirely by diet, since body cannot manufacture them.

Isoleucine, leucine, and valine comprise the Branched Chain Amino Acids (BCAA). They are probably the most important amino acids in the growth, maintenance and repair of muscle tissue, exerting a strong synergistic effect among them. They contribute in preventing the breakdown of muscle tissue and in promoting muscle recovery. In addition, they also play a role in the regulation of blood-sugar levels and stimulate growth hormone release. Leucine is found in nearly all protein sources, especially whole grains and milk products, but also brown rice, beans, legumes, nuts, eggs, and meat. Major isoleucine sources are pork, chicken, cashews, fish, eggs, lentils, cottage cheese, milk, and cereal grains. Valine sources include dairy products, meat, poultry, fish, mushrooms, lentils, soy, and peanuts.

Lysine contributes to the maintenance and manufacture of muscle protein, playing additionally a role in revitalizing the body to combat fatigue and overtraining and maintaining a positive nitrogen balance. Lysine appears in fish, legumes, cheese, eggs, milk, meat, and potatoes. Methionine assists in the breakdown and use of fats. In addition, it is a precursor of creatine monohydrate within the body, an essential compound for energy production and muscle growth. Sources for this amino acid include meat, fish, beans, eggs, lentils, yogurt and seeds. Lysine, methionine and vitamin C together form L-carnitine, which is used for transport of long-chain fatty acids. For this reason, L-carnitine is commonly supplemented during fat loss periods.

Phenylalanine is a major precursor of tyrosine, which increases neurotransmitters levels (e.g dopamine). It's also one of the manufacturers of glutamine. Sources of this amino acid include dairy products, legumes, nuts, whole grains, poultry, fish, and seeds. Histidine is needed for the growth and repair of tissue of all kind, and it can be found in dairy products, bananas, grapes, meat, poultry, fish, rice and wheat. Threonine is used to form collagen and elastin and allows better absorption of other nutrients, so protein sources containing threonine are more bio-available than others. This amino acid can be found in poultry, fish, meat, lentils, dairy products, and eggs. Tryptophan is a major precursor of serotonin, which relieves insomnia and promotes restful sleep. Major sources are chocolate, oats, bananas, dairy products, red meat, eggs, fish, poultry, chickpeas, seeds, and peanuts.

Next to these essential amino acids, there are 11 non-essential amino acids (a.k.a. dispensable amino acids) which can be synthesized to a certain degree by the body. This category includes alanine, arginine, asparagine, aspartic acid (a.k.a. aspartate), cysteine, glutamic acid (a.k.a. glutamate), glutamine, glycine, proline, serine, and tyrosine.

Some of these non-essential amino acids have been demonstrated to be of great importance for the bodybuilder, especially glutamine and arginine. This has motivated these amino acids to be commonly supplemented. Glutamine is directly involved in the regulation of protein synthesis and breakdown and is a powerful anabolic stimulus. It regulates ammonium levels in the tissues, which can be toxic to the body's cells. In addition, glutamine can be used as an alternate energy source in glucose deprived conditions. This amino acid appears in large amounts in all high-protein foods. Arginine contributes to protein synthesis with its nitrogen retention ability. It also stimulates the GH release. In addition, it facilitates muscle mass gain while limiting fat storage. Arginine sources include whole-wheat, nuts, seeds, rice, chocolate, raisins and soy.

Further details can be found in the article “Amino Acids Guide!” by Big Cat and in the “Amino Acids” section of Gym Addiction site.

The Role of Hormones on Muscle Growth & Fat Loss

2007-04-02T14:12:00.000+02:00

There are plenty of hormones in the human body that regulate all sorts of physical development and metabolic processes. Some of them contribute in an important way to regulate the anabolic and the catabolic processes. This post reviews the main hormones involved in muscle growth and fat loss, namely testosterone, growth hormone, insulin, glucagon and cortisol, which are of primary interest for the bodybuilder.

We have already described insulin and glucagon role in a previous post dedicated to metabolism. Remember that these are antagonistic hormones responsible for regulating blood glucose levels. Insulin is an anabolic hormone which facilitates glucose and amino acid transport into muscle cells (stimulating protein synthesis and inhibiting protein breakdown), but also fatty acid transport into fat cells. Glucagon is a catabolic hormone which mobilizes glycogen stores to recuperate glucose levels as well as stimulates breakdown of body fat to be used for energy. Both hormones are controlled entirely by diet.

Testosterone is a steroid hormone which is the responsible for the development of male sex characteristics (e.g. body and facial hair, deep voice, etc.) and the maturation of sperm and male sexual organs. In addition, testosterone is probably the most important hormone for building muscle through the promotion of protein biosynthesis. This accelerates muscle buildup and regeneration, and increases your recovery capacity after exercise, injuries, and illness. In addition, protein biosynthesis also stimulates the metabolism and promotes the burning of fat. You can stimulate your testosterone production through intense exercise and adequate sleep and nutrition. In addition, some bodybuilders use natural boosters when testosterone levels begin to drop due to age.

Human growth hormone (GH), also known as somatotropin, is the primary hormone responsible for stimulating tissue repair, cell replacement, brain function, and enzyme production. GH is a highly anabolic hormone having profound effects on the growth of the skeleton and the muscles. You can naturally control your GH levels through exercise, rest and nutrition. First, intense and strenuous workouts stimulate GH release because these catabolic states require extra protein synthesis and in case of lack of energy, fat metabolization to make up for glycogen depletion. Second, most part of your total daily GH is released while sleeping, especially during REM phase. For this reason, having a good sleep is mandatory for building muscle. Finally, a high protein diet contributes also to raise your GH levels.

Cortisol is a catabolic hormone which reduces cellular synthesis, and carries out the gluconeogenesis process (conversion of amino acids from muscle tissue to glucose for energy), causing in this way muscle breakdown. On the other side, cortisol is also involved in fat mobilization. Cortisol levels are highest early in the morning and during periods of high stress (i.e. after training). In order to control your cortisol levels, you should eat first thing in the morning and right after your workout (since insulin nullifies the effects of cortisol), limit your workouts to no more of 1 hour and have a good sleep. In addition, some amino acids (e.g. glutamine) and vitamins (e.g. vitamin C) help also to control cortisol levels.

You can complement the hormones information in this post by reading the article “Nitrogen Balance, Hormone Manipulation and Recovery Critical Factors in Bodybuilding!” by Jim Brewster, the article “Hormones: How They Build Muscle and Burn Fat” by Eric Hesse or the “Hormones and Neurotransmitters” section of Muscle 101 site.

Importance of Micronutrients for Bodybuilders: Water, Vitamins & Minerals

2007-03-23T16:35:00.000+01:00

A common mistake in bodybuilders’ nutrition is neglecting those elements that do not provide calories. However, these elements, known as micronutrients, are indispensable for many physiological functions. This post reviews the importance of basic micronutrients (water, vitamins, and minerals) for achieving success in bodybuilding.

Water is one of the most important nutrients, as it has many health and performance benefits. It keeps your organs functioning properly, clears toxins from the body and regulates the body cooling system. In addition, it is essential for proper digestion, nutrient absorption and chemical reactions, and it contributes to muscle growth by favoring the transport of nutrients to the cells. It even increases the body's ability to metabolize stored fat. On the other side, water is also very important for the athletic performance, since improper hydration can result in muscle cramping, decreased strength and reduced endurance.

In general, people wait to be thirsty in order to drink. This is not a good idea, because when you are thirsty, your body is already dehydrated. You should drink on average 3 or 4 liters of water per day, distributed at regular intervals regardless if you are thirsty or not. Use water itself as you main water source. Soft drinks, alcohol or coffee should be better avoided as a water source because they are diuretic (they take away more water than they provide to the body). In addition, soft drinks and alcohol supply a great number of calories which can turn into body fat.

Vitamins are organic substances essential to the normal functioning of the body, as they help to catalyze biochemical reactions controlling metabolism, growth and maintenance. A deficiency in a single vitamin can have great effects in the athletic performance and even in the health. Vitamins must be obtained from food (fish, fruit and veggies are great vitamin sources) since, with few exceptions, the body cannot synthesize them. Vitamins can be divided into two categories: fat-soluble and water-soluble. Fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K) are stored in the body fatty tissue and for this reason they do not have to be replenished daily. Don’t overdose since this can lead to toxicity. The water-soluble vitamins (vitamin C and all the B complex vitamins, namely B1 (thiamine), B2 (riboflavin), B3 (niacin), B5 (pantothenic acid), B6 (pyridoxine), B12 (cobalamin), folic acid, and biotin (a.k.a. vitamin H)) are not stored in the body and excessive amounts are excreted in the urine. This means that toxicity is generally not a problem, but these vitamins must be continually replenished through the diet.

Minerals have also a great importance. They act as catalysts for many biological reactions within the body, including muscle response, the transmission of messages through the nervous system, the production of hormones, and the assimilation of nutrients in foods. In addition, all tissues and internal fluids of our body (e.g. bones, teeth, muscle, blood, and nerve cells) contain varying quantities of minerals. Since the body cannot manufacture any single mineral, your entire mineral intake must provide from food. The most important minerals for a bodybuilder include magnesium, calcium, zinc, chromium, sodium, phosphorous, iron, selenium, cooper, and potassium. Be aware of overdosing on any mineral, since this can cause a functional imbalance of another mineral or even toxicity.

I’ll provide a detailed description for each vitamin and mineral (importance, deficiency symptoms and food sources) in a later post, but in the meanwhile, you can find more information about the importance of micronutrients in the article “Understanding The Importance Of Proper Hydration For Maximum Gains In And Out Of The Gym!” by Jeff Behar or the article “Anabolic Nutrition!” included in the I.C.E. Training Program developed by Big Cat.

Proper Training for the Abdominals

2007-03-16T14:37:00.000+01:00

This post concludes (at last!) the series describing how to design adequate routines for training the different body-parts. This chapter provides you with the general guidelines for proper abdominal training.

Classical aim of bodybuilders has been achieving six-pack shaped abdominals. However, only training is unproductive to achieve this. Surely, you will not see your abdominals unless you eliminate the layer of fat covering them. Effective fat loss can only be accomplished with a proper clean diet in conjunction with cardiovascular exercise (I’ll go deeper on this in a future post). In spite of this, you must not neglect the abdominal work, because it can contribute to the whole picture providing muscle definition and thickening. And more importantly, abdominal work contributes also to prevent injury, since the abdominal muscles are heavily involved in maintaining the posture (along with the lower back), and they act as a stabilizer in almost every exercise.

What is commonly referred as the abdominal body-part is comprised of several muscles, namely the rectus abdominis, the obliques and the transversus abdominis. The rectus abdominis runs down the front of your stomach and its primary function is to flex the trunk. It is a single muscle and, as such, the whole muscle contracts when exercised. Because of this, we cannot really differentiate lower from upper abdominals, though some exercises can put slightly more emphasis in one area than in the other. The obliques, which run down the side of your stomach, have two heads, namely the external oblique and the internal oblique, and though these muscles contribute to abdominal flexion, they are mainly activated through rotation and lateral flexion (e.g. bending from side to side). The transversus abdominis lies underneath the rectus abdominis, and it is responsible for stabilizing the trunk during lifting movements and pulling your stomach flat. Finally, although they are not part of the abdominal core, the serratus anterior and the intercostals muscles, which lie just above the rib cage, contribute also to your abdominal look.

In the past, abdominal training relied on exercises such as sit-ups or straight-leg raises. However, these exercises are based on flexing the hip joint instead of flexing the trunk. For this reason, they primarily involve the iliopsoas muscle, contributing to increase your waist size, while the abdominals are not trained in a productive way, because they are merely exhausted in prolonged static work for preventing your spine from breaking off.

Proper way of training the rectus abdominis must involve decreasing the distance between the ribcage and the pelvis, for example, bringing the chest toward the hips, as occurs in crunches, or bringing the hips toward the chest, as occurs in reverse crunches and hip raises. Obliques training must be approached with caution, because too much oblique development will make you appear blocky, ruining your X-frame. Just in case you need some oblique definition, use exercises with a twisting motion, but with none or very little resistance, and aiming for a good stretch. Side bends can be another option, but also with extremely light weights. Training the transversus abdominis is important for avoiding that your abdominals begin to protrude and for improving your abdominal control. This muscle is engaged using bridges and vacuums. The serratus anterior and the intercostals work synergistically and are best trained using straight-arm pushdowns and pullovers.

Train your abdominals once, or at most twice a week, preferably after the other muscles. Use at least 2 or 3 exercises. People generally use none or low resistance, but you can occasionally experiment with more resistance for giving some relief to your abs (not with obliques!). Finally, perform all the exercises in controlled motion and hold the contractions for a count.

If you need more information for designing your abdominal workout, you can read the article “Atrocious Abs: A Guide to a Rock-Hard Midsection” by Matt Danielsson or the article “Intelligent Abdominal Training for Athletes and Bodybuilders!” by Ben Black.

Proper Training for the Calves

2007-03-07T12:49:00.000+01:00

This post follows the series describing how to design adequate routines for training the different body-parts. This chapter provides you with the general guidelines for proper calves training.

Calf muscles have been traditionally neglected arguing that they are very difficult to develop because progress in these muscles is heavily determined by genetics. Although is true that some people are genetically gifted with great calves, the rest of us can achieve good improvements in calves with adequate and intense training.

The calves body-part comprises mainly two muscles, namely the gastrocnemius, which is located at the top rear end of the lower leg, and the soleus, which lies underneath the gastrocnemius. The gastrocnemius is made up of two heads, the medial head (a.k.a. inner head) and the lateral head (a.k.a. outer head), and provides the major part of the mass of the lower leg. Usually, another muscle called tibialis anterior, which runs up the front of the lower leg, is considered within this body-part, since it has related functionality. In fact, all these muscles are the responsible of foot movement (flexion, extension and rotation).

Unlike is commonly believed, calves must be trained in the same way you train the other body-parts. Training them intensely does not mean to train them everyday. Train calves once a week, hitting them hard and then let them rest. Use at least 2 to 3 exercises for stimulating the different muscles that comprise this body-part. The gastrocnemius is worked with all standing calf raises versions (with a barbell, one leg version with a dumbbell in one hand, in a leg press machine or in a specialized machine) and with donkey calf raises, while the soleus is trained using seated calf raises. All these exercises are based on the same motion, that is pushing the body up on the toes and return to the original position, letting the heels drop down for having a deeper stretch. On the other side, the tibialis anterior is stimulated with the reverse version of all calf raises exercises.

Due to its fibers composition, optimal calf development occurs as a response to the combination of two training styles, namely heavy weight and low reps, and lighter weight for higher reps. Form is fundamental in calf training. The proper way is to perform the exercises slow and strict, using full range of motion, emphasizing the contraction in the top of the movement, and giving the muscle a deep stretch in the bottom. Some people claim that pointing the toes in different directions stimulates different areas of the calves. There are different opinions with respect to this issue. Try it, and check what works better for you. Finally, don't forget to fully stretch the calves at the end of your workout.

If you need more information for designing your calves workout, you can read the article “Killer Calf Training!” by Jim Brewster or the article “Training the Hamstrings and Calves!” included in the I.C.E. Training Program developed by Big Cat.

Proper Training for the Hamstrings

2007-02-28T12:22:00.000+01:00

This post follows the series describing how to design adequate routines for training the different body-parts. This chapter provides you with the general guidelines for proper hamstrings training.

In the quadriceps post, we already discussed the importance of training your legs for achieving a proportionate physique. However, some people tend to do only quadriceps dominant exercises when training legs, forgetting about the other muscles of the upper thigh. Of course, this is not recommended either, because you will ruin the muscular balance, which is not also an aesthetic problem, but also can lead you to injury.

The hamstring body-part comprises the major part of the back of the thigh and performs two major functions, namely hip extension and knee flexion, but also assists in knee rotation movements (medial and lateral rotation). The hamstring is made up of 4 different heads: the long head of the biceps femoris, the short head of the biceps femoris, the semimembranosus and the semitendinosus.

For proper development of the hamstrings, you'll need at least 2 or 3 exercises including movements for exercising the two major functions of the hamstrings: knee flexion and hip extension. The first is accomplished using leg curls, which is an analogous exercise to biceps curls. You can choose among seated, lying, or standing versions, though the one-legged versions have the added benefit of avoid muscle unbalances. Use always a full range of motion and squeeze your hamstrings at the top of the movement. You can vary your foot position (inward, neutral, or outward) to shift the focus among the different hamstrings heads.

The second is accomplished using stiff-leg deadlifts (or variations such as Romanian deadlifts). This is a power exercise that has demonstrated to be very effective for stimulating the hamstrings fibers, involving in addition other muscles such as the glutes or the lower back. This is an isometric exercise because the muscle contracts without significant movement (a.k.a. static tension). Proper form is essential when performing stiff-leg deadlifts, because bad form will put your lower back in a potentially injurious position. Bend at the hips while keeping your back straight and knees slightly bent during the whole movement. Do not fully stretch the legs at any point. As you descend, your butt should move back slightly and you should feel a stretch in your hamstrings. This form can be difficult to master, hence practice a lot and start using light weights.

Hamstrings are also involved to a certain extend when training other body-parts such as the quadriceps (e.g. when doing lunges) or the lower back (e.g. when doing hyperextensions or good mornings). For this reason, some typical workout splits place the hamstrings routine in the quadriceps day (for instance when these two parts are supersetted), while others advocate for splitting legs routine among several days and place hamstrings workout together with the lower back.

If you need more information for designing your hamstrings workout, you can read the article “Hamstring Paradigm!” by Charles Poliquin or the article “Training the Hamstrings and Calves!” included in the I.C.E. Training Program developed by Big Cat.

Proper Training for the Quadriceps

2007-02-22T12:22:00.000+01:00

This post follows the series describing how to design adequate routines for training the different body-parts. This chapter provides you with the general guidelines for proper quadriceps training.

Leg workout is certainly the most skipped, probably because while training legs you suffer as with no other body-part. However, leg muscles comprise about 50% of your body mass, thus their training is mandatory if you want to achieve a proportionate physique.

The quadriceps is the muscle that comprises the major part of the front of the thigh, and its main function is to extend and straighten the leg. As the name implies, the quadriceps is made up of 4 heads: the rectus femoris, the vastus intermedius, the vastus medialis (a.k.a. inner head), and the vastus lateralis (a.k.a. outer head). Despite this complexity, balanced quadriceps development is not difficult, since all the heads are involved in almost all quadriceps exercises. You can only shift the focus to inner or outer head to some extend by varying your feet stance in some exercises (e.g. squats).

An adequate quadriceps workout should consist of 3 o 4 exercises. The squat is a basic compound movement that builds overall power and strength and it is the most effective way for developing the quadriceps, hence it should be present in almost every quadriceps routine. The squat has the added value of all the exercises that move the body and not the weight, namely stimulating your hormonal release. This exercise is relatively safe if you use correct form, though it is not easy to master, so you have to practice a lot. Keep your back straight and the head fixed in a straight line looking ahead of you during the whole movement, while bending through your knees. Control the weight during all the exercise and use a full range of motion (but without locking out the knees at the top of the motion).

Although none of them can substitute squats, there other good exercises for completing your quadriceps routine. You can use leg presses and hack squats for introducing some variety or if you cannot perform squats with adequate form. Lunges (done with a barbell on your shoulders or a dumbbell in each hand) involve also the glutes to a great extend. Leg extensions are more an isolation exercise that can be used for finishing your routine, or as a pre-exhaustion exercise. Once in a while, try also other squat variations, such as dumbbell squat, front squat, sumo squat, or barbell hack squat.

Many people include exercises for other body-parts such as the glutes and the abductors/adductors in their quadriceps workout, since these muscles already receive a certain amount of work with quadriceps exercises. For the same reason, another popular approach is training these muscles along with the hamstrings. Though specialized machines exist to train the glutes (which can be used for some variety), the best way to work them is using a full range of motion when doing squats. Lunges hit also the glutes and the hamstrings to a great extend. For training the abductors/adductors you can also use specialized machines (which work by opening and closing the legs respectively). Other options are attaching an ankle handle to a low cable pulley or using some squat variation (i.e. sumo squat).

If you need more information for designing your quadriceps workout, you can read the article “Build Monster Quads!” by David Knowles or the article “Training the Quadriceps!” included in the I.C.E. Training Program developed by Big Cat.

Proper Training for the Forearms

2007-02-14T11:25:00.000+01:00

This post follows the series describing how to design adequate routines for training the different body-parts. This chapter provides you with the general guidelines for proper forearms training.

The forearm is a complex body-part, which is made up of a muscle located in the upper/outer portion called brachioradialis and two counteracting muscle-groups: the wrist flexors, which run the length of the inner forearm, and the wrist extensors, which run the length of the outer forearm. The wrist flexors are composed of six heads: flexor digitorum superficialis, flexor digitorum profundus, flexor carpi radialis, flexor carpi ulnaris, palmaris longus, and flexor pollicis longus. The wrist extensors are comprised of eight heads: the extensor digitorum, extensor carpi radialis longus, extensor carpi radialis brevis, extensor carpi ulnaris, extensor indicis, extensor digiti minimi, extensor pollicis longus, and the extensor pollicis brevis. All these muscles are in charge of controlling the movement of the hand and the fingers, and for this reason, the forearm is the main responsible of your grip strength.

The forearm is a commonly neglected body-part, but an adequate development is mandatory not only for strengthening your grip, but also for symmetry and aesthetic reasons. Good grip is necessary in almost every exercise, especially when training back and biceps. Hence, increasing your grip strength has an added benefit for the rest of exercises, allowing better returns for the target muscles of those exercises since your forearms are not the weak link anymore.

A few genetically blessed people have achieved great forearms only with the indirect stimulation provided in their general training, but the most with less favorable genetics will require 2 o 3 exercises of specialized forearm training. Typically, this training uses to be performed after the biceps routine. In any case, since forearms are used when training almost every body-part, save your forearm routine for last of your workout, in order to not compromise other body-parts training. This is also the reason for avoiding training back the day after the bicep/forearm workout.

As usual, for maximum results, it is best to include in your routine exercises for targeting each of forearm muscles. As commented in the biceps post, the brachioradialis is stimulated to a great extend with all the curl exercises that use a hammer grip or a reverse grip (refer to that post for the list of exercises). Wrist flexors can be stimulated using all versions of wrist curls (barbell, behind-the-back, cable or dumbbell). Wrist extensors are worked using a reverse grip on wrist curl exercises (barbell, cable or dumbbell).

In addition, forearms training should regularly include some specific exercises for improving grip strength. This includes developing the crushing grip strength (fingers work to close the hand against a resistance) and the pinch grip strength (the resistance is held just between the thumb and fingers). I’ll go into details of grip strength training in a future post dedicated to this.

If you need more information for designing your forearms workout, you can read the article “How To Develop Fantastic Forearms” by David Robson or the article “Training the Forearms!” included in the I.C.E. Training Program developed by Big Cat.

Proper Training for the Biceps

2007-02-07T11:46:00.000+01:00

This post follows the series describing how to design adequate routines for training the different body-parts. This chapter provides you with the general guidelines for proper biceps training.

When referring to biceps body-part, two different muscles are actually considered: the biceps brachii and the brachialis, which are responsible for elbow flexion (moving the hand toward the shoulder) and elbow supination (rotating the palm upwards). As the name suggests, the biceps have two heads, the short head (a.k.a. inner head) and the long head (a.k.a. outer head). The brachialis is a small muscle which lies just beneath the biceps.

In order to get a biceps body-part that looks both big and proportionate, your routine must include exercises for stimulating the two biceps heads and also the brachialis. Don’t use too much exercises (2 or 3 exercises will be enough), because the biceps receives already some work when working the back and, in the same way as the triceps, since it is an explosive and small muscle, it tires quickly.

When training biceps, it is very important to use a full range of motion in all curl exercises, lowering the arms until they are fully stretched. Using an incomplete range of motion will create a gap between the biceps and the elbow (a condition named ‘midgety biceps’). In addition, in single arm exercises you should start always with the weaker arm and perform the same number of reps with the stronger arm to prevent creating imbalances.

The main compound movement for training the biceps is the standing barbell curl. This is a vital exercise for building overall mass in the biceps. Use a shoulder-width grip and keep your elbows pinned to your sides and the back straight to avoid cheating. Using a straight bar involves more the short head, but you can use an EZ-curl bar to save the wrists by putting the hands into a more ergonomically correct position, hitting in this way both biceps heads more evenly.

Other exercises such as alternate dumbbell curls, standing cable curls (barbell and one arm versions) or incline dumbbell curls, which involve also mainly the short head, can be used as a complement/alternative to standing barbell curls. Cable exercises have the added benefit of constant tension, while incline curls allow a maximal stretch. On dumbbell exercises, remember to twist the inside of the dumbbell even further inward as you reach the shoulder in order to exercise the elbow supination movement.

Supinated versions of preacher curls (barbell, dumbbell and cable), spider curls and concentration curls work very well for isolation and peak development. These exercises focus also in the short head, providing in addition a great stimulation for the lower portion of the biceps. For this reason, they are recommended for fixing the ‘midgety biceps’ problem (together with full range of motion, of course).

For shifting the focus to the long head and additionally working the brachialis, you have to use a hammer grip (palms facing each other) or a reverse grip (palms facing down). Hammer grip is used in all hammer curl versions (dumbbell, rope, incline, alternate, cross-body), while reverse grip is used in reverse curl variations (barbell, cable, preacher and drag curls). These exercises (especially all the reverse curls) involve also some forearm muscles (particularly the brachioradialis) to a great extend. You can also focus in the long head of the biceps by using a close grip in some exercises such as standing barbell curls or barbell preacher curls.

If you need more information for designing your biceps workout, you can read the article “Want Big Biceps? Here’s How to Get Them!” by David Robson or the article “Training the Biceps!” included in the I.C.E. Training Program developed by Big Cat.

Proper Training for the Triceps

2007-01-29T15:04:00.000+01:00

This post follows the series describing how to design adequate routines for training the different body-parts. This chapter provides you with the general guidelines for proper triceps training.

The size of your arms is highly determined by your triceps, since it covers about 2/3 of the muscle mass while the biceps covers only the remaining 1/3. The triceps brachii consists of three heads: the long head (a.k.a. inner head), the lateral head (a.k.a. outer head) and the medial head. The main function of the triceps is to extend the elbow (straightening the arm). In addition, the long head of the muscle is also the responsible of bringing the arm down towards the body. For this reason, the medial and lateral heads are recruited only by movements at the elbow joint, while the long head can be recruited by movements occurring at both the elbow and shoulder joints.

Your triceps routine must include exercises for stimulating the three heads of the muscle, using both compound movements and isolation exercises. Don’t use too much exercises (2 or 3 exercises will be enough), because the triceps receives already some work when working the chest and the shoulders and since it is an explosive and small muscle, it tires quickly.

Compound exercises involving the triceps include the french press and its variations (e.g. skull crushers or lying triceps extension), the close-grip bench press (which involves also the chest and the anterior deltoid to a great extend) and parallel dips (keeping your body straight up for hitting more the triceps and less the chest). These exercises provide an overall stimulation for all the triceps heads. This also occurs with triceps pushdowns (using a straight bar, a v-bar for a more natural wrist position or a d-ring attachment for the one-arm version), but this is more an isolation exercise.

Although previous exercises stimulate the long head of the triceps to some extend, if you need additional work for this head, you can use exercises in which your arms are raised overhead, such as overhead triceps extensions (barbell, dumbbell or cable variations). Focusing on the medial head and the lateral head is probably trickier. However, you can target the medial head to some extent performing exercises that use a hammer grip, such as triceps kickbacks (one arm at a time or both arms at the same time), the dumbbell french press (one arm at a time or both arms at the same time) or rope pushdowns (pulling your hands to the side at the end of the movement for achieving a better contraction). For recruiting the lateral head you can perform exercises using a reverse grip (i.e. supinated grip, the same you use in biceps curls), such as reverse pushdowns, reverse cable overhead extensions, reverse one-arm pushdowns or the reverse french press.

Proper execution is very important when training your triceps. Perform strict movements, keeping your elbows as close together as you can, and maintaining constant tension on the muscle. In addition, use full range of motion, emphasizing the muscle contraction and achieving a good stretch during the negative part of the movement.

If you need more information for designing your triceps workout, you can read the article “Tri’d & True: Your Journey to Dubs…” by Mike Hajoway or the article “Training the Triceps!” included in the I.C.E. Training Program developed by Big Cat.

Proper Training for the Chest

2007-01-22T12:05:00.000+01:00

This post follows the series describing how to design adequate routines for training the different body-parts. This chapter provides you with the general guidelines for proper chest training.

The chest is made up of two main muscles, the pectoralis major and the pectoralis minor. The pectoralis major is the main visible part of the chest and allows bringing the arms in front of it in a hugging motion and it is also heavily involved in any pressing movement that happens in perpendicular form to the body. The pectoralis major consists of two separate heads: the sternal head (a.k.a. lower pecs) and the clavicular head (a.k.a. upper pecs). The pectoralis minor is directly under the pectoralis major and it helps pulling the shoulder blade down.

Training the chest requires 3 to 4 exercises. The base must be some kind of pressing movement. The barbell bench press in a flat bench is the most popular exercise. It provides general chest stimulation, with special attention to the sternal head. Alternate this exercise with the dumbbell version, which involves also the stabilizers and allows better stretch. Your chest routine must include also some exercise for stimulating the clavicular head. This can be accomplished with the incline versions of the bench press. If you have started with barbell flat bench press, then use dumbbells for the incline bench press, and vice versa.

Pressing exercises tend to involve the triceps and the deltoids (the anterior head) to some extend in addition to pectorals. When performing these exercises, try to place the stress on the chest. To do this roll your shoulders down and back into the bench (i.e. scapular retraction) and keep them in this way throughout the entire movement. In addition, use a grip on the bar/dumbbells that puts the forearms perpendicular to the floor when arms are in a 90 degree position and emphasize the contraction (without locking the elbows) at the top of the movement.

For completing your chest routine you can choose from a variety of exercises. Flat/incline/pec-deck flies isolate the pectoralis major, developing especially the outer part. Flies are commonly used as a pre-exhausting exercise for the chest. Parallel dips (leaning a bit forward for hitting more the chest and less the triceps) and decline variations of bench press and flies can be also part of your chest routine, especially for giving special attention to the lower and outer parts of the muscle. Dips have the added value of all the exercises that move the body and not the weight, namely stimulating your hormonal release.

Close grip bench press, apart from working the triceps, hits also the chest, focusing in the inner part. Grab the barbell using shoulder width and squeeze the chest at the top of the extension. Cable crossover is a good isolator for the chest. Use light weights and maintain always a strict position in this exercise. Finally, for training the pectoralis minor you can use pullovers. This exercise has the ability of stretching the ribcage out a little bit and it hits also the lats and the serratus. Raise only the weight to the point where the tension on the pectoralis minor begins to drop off.

If you need more information for designing your chest workout, you can read the article “Champion Chest Development” which describes the right exercises for achieving symmetry and balance in your chest or the article “Training the Chest!” included in the I.C.E. Training Program developed by Big Cat.

Proper Training for the Shoulders

2007-01-15T14:56:00.000+01:00

This post follows the series describing how to design adequate routines for training the different body-parts. This chapter provides you with the general guidelines for proper shoulders training.

The primary muscles in the shoulder are known as deltoids. The main function of these muscles is lifting and rotating the arms on the shoulder joint, and also assisting the triceps in pressing weights overhead and the pectorals in pressing weight to the front of the body. The deltoids are made up of three separate heads: the anterior (a.k.a. front) deltoid, the lateral (a.k.a. side) deltoid, and the posterior (a.k.a. rear) deltoid. The shoulder includes also a group of four muscles, called rotator cuff, that help to stabilize your arm during movements and allows the shoulder joint to move in multiple directions.

For training the shoulders adequately you have to combine a compound movement for building overall size and strength in the muscle, with some isolation work for each head to maximize muscle growth and striation. This leads to at least 4 exercises. If you have a specific head that is lagging behind, you can add an additional exercise for it, or change the order of the exercises to prioritize this head. Remember that your goal should be achieving a full and complete shoulder development with a good balance between the deltoid heads, and you must adapt your routine to accomplish this goal.

Your choice for the compound exercise should be a variation of the shoulder press, preferably the dumbbell press or the military press. Dumbbell version is more complete, because it uses more supportive muscles and allows deeper stretching. When doing this exercise, be sure to describe a wide motion (the forearms must be always in a 90 degree angle with the floor). For your compound exercise avoid the behind-the-neck press, since it increases the risk of rotator cuff injuries.

Stimulating the lateral deltoid is crucial for adding width to the shoulder. The best exercise for this is the lateral raise or any variation thereof, including the dumbbell lateral raise, the cable lateral raise, the one-arm lateral raise, the seated lateral raise, the lying lateral raise or the incline and decline one-arm lateral raise that stress the upper or lower portions of the deltoids. When doing this exercise, control the weight during the whole movement and avoid cheating. The lateral deltoid can be worked also using upright rows but, as I commented in the trapezius post, this exercise puts your shoulder joint in a position very prone to injury.

The posterior deltoid uses to be a commonly neglected shoulder part for most people, but it is essential for proper shoulder symmetry. Your options for training it include the rear lateral raise and its variations (e.g. dumbbell, cable, etc.) or a machine that simulates that effect. In addition, you can also perform rowing exercises, but maintaining your elbows up.

The anterior deltoid receives a certain amount of work when you are training your chest (with bench press, and especially with incline bench press), and for this reason, it is uncommon to have development problems with it. If you need to isolate the anterior deltoid, you can choose among barbell front raises, cable front raises and alternate dumbbell front raises.

Finally, it is a good practice adding to your routine some work for the rotator cuff in order to prevent injuries, for instance doing internal and external rotation exercises with cable or dumbbells.

If you need more information for designing your shoulders workout, you can read the article “Boulder Shoulders” by Jon Huston or the article “Training the Shoulders!” included in the I.C.E. Training Program developed by Big Cat.

Proper Training for the Trapezius

2007-01-08T12:58:00.000+01:00

This post follows the series describing how to design adequate routines for training the different body-parts. This chapter provides you with the general guidelines for proper trapezius training.

The trapezius is a large diamond shaped muscle placed on the upper back which is the responsible of retracting the shoulder blades and carrying or assisting in all lifts that go from a lower to a higher point. Two different portions can be differentiated in the trapezius: the lower trapezius, which consists of the middle and the lower fibers, and the upper trapezius, which consists of the upper fibers and the levator scapulae muscle.

The trapezius is a commonly neglected muscle, but it is mandatory to work it for a proper upper back development. This muscle is trained in a very simple manner and responds even to the shortest amount of exercise. You need to hit the trapezius from two main angles in order to develop the upper and lower portions. The upper trapezius is stimulated using a shrugging motion (i.e. shoulder blades moving upward) while the lower trapezius needs a backward shrugging (i.e. shoulder blades retraction).

The lower trapezius is already worked in back rowing exercises and for this reason you won’t probably need additional training for it. Anyway, if you require more training for this body-part, you can do seated cable shrugs. Use the same stance as you would use for seated cable rows, but keep your arms straight and simply retract the scapulae.

The upper trapezius has been traditionally trained with the back or with the shoulders, since both recruit it to a point. You can alternate both options when designing your programs. The best known exercise for developing the upper trapezius is the shrug. This exercise includes several variations such as barbell shrug, dumbbells shrug or gripless shrug in a standing calf-press machine. Free weights exercises are perhaps best for mass building, but gripless shrug is a good choice for people with weak or sensitive hands, since the arms are not involved in the exercise. Dumbbell shrug is preferred over barbell shrug because it allows a more natural grip (i.e. hammer grip). In addition, barbell shrug forces you to stand slightly unbalanced, as the bar is a couple of inches away from your center of gravity. Upright rows also work the upper trapezius, as well as hitting the shoulders. However, I don’t specially recommend this exercise since it puts your shoulder joint in a position very prone to injury.

For proper development of the upper trapezius, you'll need at least 1 to 2 exercises, including always at least one shrug-based exercise. Use weights as high as you can handle them with strict form and keep the movement simple (shrugging upwards). Never rotate your shoulders when doing shrugs, since this can lead you to a chronic rotator cuff injury.

If you need more information for designing your trapezius workout, you can read the article “Bull-headed? Build a Massive Neck” by Matt Danielsson or the article “Training the Trapezius!” included in the I.C.E. Training Program developed by Big Cat.

Proper Training for the Lower Back

2007-01-02T16:54:00.000+01:00

This post follows the series describing how to design adequate routines for training the different body-parts. This chapter provides you with the general guidelines for proper lower back training.

The lower back is made up of muscles called erector spinae, which are mainly responsible of maintaining the posture (along with the abdominals), and for this reason, they act as a stabilizer in almost every exercise. In addition, they protect and guard the nerve channels, and they are the primary muscle responsible for straightening the back from a bent position and for arching the spine.

Training the lower back requires 1 to 2 exercises. Deadlifts are probably the best option. This is a great exercise, because apart from working the lower back, it also provides a lot of overall strength, it accustoms you to handling heavy weights and it stimulates the release of anabolic hormones into your bloodstream. It is important that you dedicate some effort on getting the right form in this exercise, since bad form can lead you to injury. Remember to keep your back straight during the whole movement. Deadlift variations can be also used for training your lower back. For instance, although stiff-legged deadlifts hit mainly the hamstrings, they also involve the lower back to some extent.

You can alternate deadlifts with hyperextensions and good mornings, which work the lower back by bending it using a full range of motion. However, I don’t specially recommend these exercises (in particular good mornings) because you are in a very harmful position and using too much weight or a bad form can lead to a serious injury that could end your training days. Therefore, when doing these exercises, use light weights and maintain always a strict form.

As a final comment, I want to emphasize the need of training the lower back, which is probably one of the most neglected body-parts. As commented, the lower back acts a supportive muscle in a great amount of exercises, and ignoring it will decrease your performance in these exercises, and even worst, will increase your chance of getting injured. In addition, the lower back plays an important role in your overall back development.

If you need more information for designing your lower back workout, you can read the article “All Out Back Training” by John Giljum or the article “Training the Back!” included in the I.C.E. Training Program developed by Big Cat.

Proper Training for the Upper Back

2006-12-27T12:06:00.000+01:00

This post starts a series describing how to design adequate routines for training the different body-parts. This first chapter provides you with the general guidelines for proper upper back training.

The upper back is a complex body-part made up of several muscles. The largest visible muscle of the upper back is the latissimus dorsi (a.k.a. lats). Lats are very important, because they determine your upper body size, width, thickness, and V-shape. Lats are worked by every pulling movement that stays in one line with them, i.e. pulling front to back or downward. Another important muscle in the upper back is the trapezius. Since it is trained differently from lats, I will cover it in a future post. Finally, under the lats and the trapezius, there are some additional muscles (teres major, teres minor, infraspinatus and rhomboids) which contribute to upper back thickness. The same exercises used to train the lats hit these muscles too.

Training the back properly can be complicated. The main problem is that you cannot see your back while you are training it, and for this reason, you cannot see how you are performing, you cannot see the results. The key is to develop a mind-muscle connection. You must visualize the exercise, slowly execute the movement, and focus on the contraction, holding it for a second and feeling the burn in your back. In addition, you must always use weights that allow you maintaining proper form with a full range of motion. This is extremely important because bending your back when lifting heavy weights is one of the prime causes of injury. So be careful, and keep a straight back (slightly arched) during all back exercises.

For proper development of the upper back, you'll need at least 3 to 4 exercises. Your exercise selection must include adequate training for the two main features of the back: thickness and width. Thickness is developed with rowing exercises, such as barbell rows, one-arm dumbbell rows, T-bar rows or seated cable rows. Width is developed with exercises that pull downward, such as chin-ups/pull-ups or lat pull-downs. Chin-ups/pull-ups (especially when using wide-grip) are crucial for building a wide back. You can vary the grip and style of lift of your chin-ups/pull-ups for targeting different zones of the back.

Both width and thickness are essential for possessing a balanced back. If are lucky and your back is already balanced, then you can design 50/50 programs (50% exercises for width, 50% exercises for thickness) using some of the exercises introduced in the previous paragraph. You can also use 66/33 programs, but periodically switching the dominant feature between width and thickness. However, if you have one feature that is better than the other, your must design 66/33 programs that focus on the feature that is lagging behind.

If you need more information for designing your upper back workout, you can read the article “All Out Back Training” by John Giljum or the article “Training the Back!” included in the I.C.E. Training Program developed by Big Cat.

Planning: the Key to be Successful in Bodybuilding

2006-12-22T15:10:00.000+01:00

“Failing to plan is like planning to fail”. This statement, excerpted from Muscle 101 site, clearly summarizes the importance of planning for achieving success in bodybuilding. For this reason, this post introduces the planning actions you should incorporate into your training program for obtaining your desired results.

Your first step must be defining long-term goals and deadlines for accomplishing them. Write up a detailed plan of what you need to do to achieve these goals and design your program toward the realization of them. Since maintaining the right direction for achieving long-term goals can be difficult, in addition you have to define short-term goals connected to your long-term goals and focus your training to fulfill them. Use the accomplishment of both long and short-term goals to motivate yourself.

In order to check if you are achieving your goals, you have to write a training diary. This will let you evaluate your progress, identify stagnation, and look back to see what programs worked for you in the past or how many reps you did with a specific weight before. You have to write down in your diary accurate records of each workout (e.g. exercises, reps, sets, poundage, rest, tempo), detailed information about your nutrition (e.g. what you eat, number of calories, macronutrients intake) and any other information that can be relevant as for instance how much you sleep. Find a few minutes periodically to review your diary and evaluate if you’re accomplishing your goals in the established deadlines or not. If not, redesign your program as appropriate to overcome this situation.

Your training diary must include also some periodical tracking of your physical progress to determine in you are advancing toward your goals. You can use the scale as an indicator, but don’t focus only on this because it supplies partial information (e.g. you cannot distinguish if you’re gaining muscle or fat). Consider other methods such as taking before and after pictures or using a measuring tape for tracking the size of your key body-parts. In addition, you can also measure your body fat percentage by using calipers and body composition tests as explained in the article “Learn How To Measure Your Success” by Jeremy Likness.

You can find a detailed justification about the importance of planning in bodybuilding and the basic issues for planning your training in the chapter “How to Plan Your Growth” of the book “Beyond Brawn - The Insider's Encyclopedia on How to Build Muscle & Might” by Stuart McRobert, in the article “The Importance of a Training Log” by Matt Danielsson and also in the “Measuring Progress” section of Muscle 101 site.

Jump to the Next Training Level: Intermediate’s Program

2006-12-18T11:52:00.000+01:00

As a result of the beginner’s program that you have been using during the last months, your body has adapted to training and stress and you have mastered the groove of the movements. In addition, you have surely gained some muscle mass and strength. However, you feel that lately the progress seems to be slowing down a little. Now your muscles work more efficiently, so they can handle the workload easily than they used to be. This means that they are not stimulated enough, and for this reason, they grow slower, or perhaps they even stop growing altogether. To overcome this situation, now it is the time to jump to the next level of your bodybuilding training: the intermediate level. You can find in this post the basic guidelines that you must follow for designing your intermediate’s program.

As you’ve learned to use your muscles more efficiently, you require higher intensity for further progress, and consequently you will need more time to recover. Obviously, you cannot increase the intensity and train all your body-parts in the same day. For this reason, you probably will need to split your workouts so that you can focus more on specific muscle groups and train with the proper intensity all your body-parts. The obvious answer is to split the body into 3-4 different days, and extend the rest to allow for full recovery. A split option in a 3 day split workout can be, for example, push movements on day A, pull movements on day B and legs on day C. Train 3 days a week in non-consecutive days using, for example, the following pattern: ARBRCRR and give each body-part at least a full week of rest before training it again. Use three or four exercises per body-part, combining compound and isolation exercises for maintaining proportion and symmetry.

At this level it’s time for introducing periodization in your training. Combine heavy cycles (for strength training and muscle building) with light cycles (for endurance training). During heavy cycles focus on compound exercises and stay in the low rep range for hitting more fast-twitch fibers. During light cycles increase the isolation work for hitting the muscle from different angles and stay in the high rep range for hitting more slow-twitch fibers. In any case, maintain always perfect form and feel the contraction. Periodization will help you to avoid stagnation. In this sense, remember also varying your workouts every 4-6 weeks by altering one or more factors (i.e. number of reps, sets, tempo, exercise selection, etc.).

Of course, nutrition and rest are also very important in an intermediate program. Follow the general guidelines provided with the beginner’s program. Eat several small meals throughout the day (every 2.5-3 hours) including enough protein (1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight per day). In addition, drink plenty of water and sleep at least 8 hours per night.

Finally, keep in mind that you will probably never see the gains you got when you were a beginner. Although this may be slightly discouraging, you should mentally adjust to slower progress. With determination and consistency gains will still come, but slower than before.

These and other guidelines for developing your intermediate’s program can be found in the articles “Intermediate Training: You're not a ‘Newbie’ Anymore” and “Intermediate’s Bodybuilding Program” by Matt Danielsson and also in the article “Progression of Training” included in the I.C.E. Training Program developed by Big Cat.

Understand How Your Body Works: Metabolism

2006-12-04T12:39:00.000+01:00

Metabolism (i.e. the process in which food is converted to provide energy and to produce and maintain cells and tissues) is a key concept for achieving a full comprehension of body physiology and being able to improve your bodybuilding program with this knowledge. This post exposes the basic issues for understating your metabolism.

Metabolism is mainly controlled by two hormones: insulin and glucagon. The most important role of these hormones is to regulate blood glucose levels, but also the fat storing/releasing process into/from the adipose tissue. Both insulin and glucagon are produced by the pancreas, but they have opposite biological functions. If one is secreted, the opposite hormone secretion is inhibited and vice versa.

All of the carbohydrates you eat are converted to glucose by the liver before being released into the bloodstream. After a meal your blood glucose level rises as carbohydrates are absorbed. In order to avoid reaching dangerous glucose levels, this rise in blood glucose triggers a release of insulin. Insulin decreases blood sugar by moving glucose into the muscle cells to be used as an energy source or to be stored as glycogen and also by storing glycogen in the liver. When the muscles cells and the liver are full or when a great amount of insulin has been released (because blood sugar levels have risen too quickly), insulin converts and stores as fat some of the glucose instead of storing it as glycogen. This occurs because insulin shuts down your fat burn capacity and activates your fat storage capacity.

Moreover, if insulin levels get too high, this causes too much glucose to be moved into cells, producing hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). This occurs, for example, when eating high GI carbohydrates. Initially your blood sugar level spikes, and then paradoxically insulin decreases it to a lower level than before. Normally, the body would compensate this by mobilizing some stored fat, but since insulin has switched off your fat burning capacity, this is not possible. Body solves this by breaking down muscle protein for energy, because it is the tissue that consumes more calories. In addition, maintaining high insulin levels over a long period of time (e.g. eating too many carbohydrates) reduces insulin sensitivity. This motivates releasing more insulin to reinforce the reduction of blood glucose level. This is very dangerous, since keeping in this state can lead to diabetes.

You can prevent muscle breakdown and increase your insulin sensitivity by limiting high GI carbohydrates from your diet (except just after your workout) and by training, because training depletes the stored glycogen in the muscle, so when glucose enters the bloodstream, you're not force-feeding the muscles, you're just feeding them something they want and need. This also justifies why it is good to eat high GI carbohydrates just after training.

Insulin is highly anabolic. It facilitates amino acid transport into muscle cells, and also blocks many catabolic processes and due to this it is one of the key factors determining your muscle growth. Hence it is advisable to create an insulin spike just after training in order to gain mass.

Glucagon is released when blood glucose levels become too low. This hormone aims to raise the glucose levels back to normal by preparing glycogen stores to be used for energy. In addition, glucagon has the effect of stimulating breakdown of body fat to be used for energy. Glucagon also shifts the metabolism from carbohydrate burning to fat burning.

You can complement the metabolism information in this post by reading the article “Blood Sugar & Insulin” by Matt Danielsson, the article “The Blood Sugar Hormones” by Derek Charlebois and the “Metabolism” section of Muscle 101 site.

Macronutrients Guide: Fat

2006-11-27T12:03:00.001+01:00

This post concludes the macronutrients series with a commonly demonized macronutrient: fat. Although everybody knows the dangerous effects of eating excess fat, eliminating it from your diet can be also extremely harmful for your health, since fat is essential in many body functions.

Fat roles are manifold. 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, and it increases 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).

Fat can be separated in two categories: good fat (monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats) and bad fat (trans fatty acids and saturated fats). Good fats are preferred in your diet because they have benefits for your health (e.g. increase the good (HDL) cholesterol and lower the bad (LDL) cholesterol). They are found in fish, nuts and vegetable oils (flaxseed oil, canola oil, safflower oil, sunflower seed oil and olive oil). Good fats include what is known as Essential Fatty Acids (EFA’s). There are two types of EFA’s: Linoleic Acid (Omega-6) and Linolenic Acid (Omega-3). The body can synthesize many of the fatty acids it needs, but it cannot synthesize EFA’s, hence they must be ingested in the diet.

Your bad fats intake should be limited because they raise bad (LDL) cholesterol and increase chances of coronary diseases. Bad fats are mainly found in processed foods and in animal sources (beef, pork, lamb, egg yolks, milk or cheese). However, these animal sources contain not only saturated fats, but also valuable nutrients for bodybuilders such as protein. For this reason, you should include them in your diet occasionally, but controlling your global fat levels.

You should keep fat intake in the range of 15-25% of your total calories. Don’t go below that to avoid health problems. Don’t go above that because excess fatty acids will be stored as adipose tissue and you are also exposed to health problems. Focus on good fats and distribute your fat intake through all your meals. Don’t combine fat with high GI carbohydrates in the same meal, because fat storage in the adipose tissue is greatly enhanced by the presence of insulin.

As usual, you can find more information on fat macronutrient in the article “The Big Picture: Are Fats Evil?” by Matt Danielsson, in the article “Fatten Up Your Total!” by Anthony Ricciuto, and in the article “Good And Bad Fats: How Do We Balance Their Intake For Optimal Health!” by David Robson.

Macronutrients Guide: Protein

2006-11-20T12:18:00.000+01:00

This post presents the next chapter in the macronutrients series. It covers protein, which is an essential macronutrient for bodybuilding, since it is indispensable for building muscle.

Protein is made up of structural units or chains called amino acids (I’ll go deeper on different amino acids on a future post). The main role of protein is to contribute to the repair and growth of muscle tissues. In fact, proteins are needed for the body to manufacture and repair most body structures and to synthesize neurotransmitters, hormones, enzymes or antibodies. In addition, protein can also be used as an energy source for the body (via gluconeogenesis) when the supply of carbohydrates is not adequate. Protein yields 4 calories per gram.

It's extremely important to maintain always a positive nitrogen balance, because this is required for new tissue to be synthesized and in a negative nitrogen balance state, the protein needed by your body is supplied via muscle breakdown. In order to accomplish this, you have to spread your protein intake over the entire day, feeding yourself every three hours with some protein source (e.g. chicken, meat, fish, eggs, milk, etc.) combined with carbohydrates, since they facilitate the absorption of protein.

Weight training increases your daily protein requirement. As a general rule, you should have 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight per day. However, be careful of having too much protein, because it can be converted to fat and stored in adipose tissue. In addition, diversity on your sources of protein is important in order get a complete essential amino acid profile.

Proteins can be classified according to their Biological Value (BV), which measures how easily a protein source is assimilated and utilized by the body. The higher the number ranking, the quicker the protein is absorbed but also the faster it's rendered useless within the body. That means that taking in large doses of a high BV protein makes little or no sense. Proteins can also be classified depending on their Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acids Score (PDCAAS). The PDCAAS examines the essential amino acid content of the protein and compares it against the human requirement for essential amino acids. Proteins with great diversity of amino acids will have higher PDCAAS. Typically, animal products score better than vegetal on both the BV and PCDAAS scales.

Your breakfast should include a high BV protein source, since you have being without food for over 8 hours, so you are in a muscle wasting state. The same applies to the post-workout meal, because after training your body needs nutrients for rapid recovering. On the other side, before you go to bed you should consume protein that is digested slowly (low BV), to delay entering in a catabolic state.

You can find further details on protein in the article “The Protein Bible” by John Berardi and in the “Macronutrients” section of Muscle 101 site. The article “All About Protein” by Big Cat describes the properties of most popular protein sources.

Macronutrients Guide: Carbohydrates

2006-11-13T16:25:00.000+01:00

As commented before, food provides you with three different macronutrients: carbohydrates, protein and fat. Your diet must have an adequate balance of these macronutrients. This post initiates a series describing the particularities and the importance of each macronutrient, starting with carbohydrates.

The main role of carbohydrates is to serve as the preferred source of energy for muscles, yielding 4 calories per gram. Other roles of carbohydrates include the control of blood sugar levels to prevent hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), be the primary fuel for the central nervous system, help in the recovery process and actuate as catalyst in burning fat process. In addition, carbohydrates protect protein from gluconeogenesis (i.e. from being converted to glucose to serve as an energy source) when glucose levels decrease.

Traditional carbohydrates classification distinguishes simple and complex carbohydrates. Simple carbohydrates provide you with quick energy. Complex carbohydrates are used for timed-released and sustained energy. Simple carbohydrates include monosaccharides (glucose, galactose, fructose) and disaccharides (sucrose, lactose, maltose) while complex carbohydrates include polysaccharides (glycogen, starch and fiber). Glycogen is the form used to store glucose in the liver and in the muscles cells. It is broken down for energy when training. Starch can be found in foods such as bread, grains, pasta, rice, cereal, potatoes and legumes. Fiber is found in fruits, vegetables, legumes, grains and nuts and helps to prevent several diseases and to lower bad LDL cholesterol. The two main types of fiber are insoluble and soluble.

More recently, carbohydrates have been classified depending on their Glycemic Index (GI), which measures the effect that carbohydrates have on blood sugar levels. The GI refers to how quickly carbohydrates turn to blood sugar. The higher the number ranking, the quicker the carbohydrate will turn to blood sugar and the more effect it has on the release of insulin. You can consult the GI of different foods here.

Your carbohydrates intake should be distributed throughout all your meals, but concentrated especially in your breakfast and your post-workout meal. Low GI carbohydrates should represent the majority of the carbohydrates in your diet. The exception to this rule is the post-workout meal. At this time, training has depleted your muscle glycogen stores, thus your muscles are very receptive to carbohydrates. High GI carbohydrates will spike your insulin levels, helping to rapidly refill the glycogen stores and promoting your recovery.

You can look for more information on these and other carbohydrates issues in the article “The Carbohydrate Manifesto” by Anthony Ricciuto. Further details on the different carbohydrates can be found in the “Carbohydrates” section of Gym Addiction site.

Nutritional Guidelines for Building Muscle

2006-11-06T16:20:00.000+01:00

As I have already stated in previous posts, intense training must be combined with proper nutrition and adequate rest for achieving good results in bodybuilding. Nutrition is especially important (some people say it constitutes the 80% of bodybuilding success), since it supplies the foundations for building muscle and helps to maximize your recovery. This post provides the basic nutritional guidelines that must be respected for gaining lean body mass (i.e. building muscle).

For building mass you must eat more calories than you burn. Try adding 500 calories to your maintenance daily caloric intake. This value depends on your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), which is the amount of calories you burn in a day just to survive, and the amount of calories you burn due to your activity level. Check these calculators (ISSA, ExRx.net) for determining your BMR and your maintenance daily caloric intake.

You must distribute your total ingestion of calories through several small meals throughout the day (every 2.5-3 hours). Eating in this way allows maintaining a positive nitrogen balance, which is the physiological state in which muscular growth is possible. Use protein supplements in the form of a meal replacement or protein shake if you need help for eating so frequently.

All your meals must have an adequate nutrients balance. A rule of thumb for this can be: 55% calories from carbohydrates, 30% from protein and 15% from fat. You must consume enough protein (1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight per day), since it is the macronutrient used to build muscle. Look for sources of lean protein (i.e. low fat sources), such as skinless chicken, turkey, fish, skim milk, egg whites or lean meat. Consume also plenty of quality carbohydrates. Focus on starches (e.g. cereals, pasta, potatoes, rice) but also on fibrous carbohydrates (e.g. salads and vegetables), since fiber is very important in the digestion process and eliminating toxins from the body. Don’t eliminate fat from your diet. Avoid saturated fats that raise bad (LDL) cholesterol and focus on polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats (Essential Fatty Acids) found in fish and in certain oils (flaxseed, olive).

Next to that you also need your daily requirements of vitamins, minerals and water. Water is very important in many physiological processes. You should drink on average 3 or 4 liters of water per day. In addition, you should avoid alcohol, or at least control your alcohol intake. Alcohol supplies you empty calories with absolutely no nutritional value and hurts muscle growth by lowering protein synthesis by 20%. A final advice is not to substitute a balanced diet with supplements. Supplements are only effective as a complement to proper training and nutrition.

To conclude, you can go deeper in the basics of bodybuilding nutrition in the article “The Top 25 Ways to Pack on Serious Mass” by Anthony Ricciuto, in the article “Gaining Weight for the Bodybuilder” by Matt Danielsson and in the article “Anabolic Nutrition” included in the I.C.E. Training Program developed by Big Cat.

Bodybuilding Links

2006-10-31T15:22:00.001+01:00

As you have probably noticed in my previous posts, I like to add to the text some links where you can find detailed information on the post topic. This post is intended to be a repository with links to the sites that are commonly referred in the posts, and which contain a lot of bodybuilding information that you can use as a reference when designing your training program.

Bodybuilding.com - The largest and most complete bodybuilding site online!
Bodybuilding Supplements, Exercise and Workout - Provides valuable information on bodybuilding supplements, exercise, workout, equipment, fat burning food, diet, weight gaining and much more...
Drug Free Bodybuilding - Learn more about the tested bodybuilding from a top five natural competitor
DrugFreeBodyBuilding.com - Natural Bodybuilding - Build Muscle Mass - Are You Ready To Learn The Training, Diet And Supplementation Secrets That Can Help You Build Your Body As Quickly As Genetically Possible?
ExRx.net (Exercise Prescription on the Net)
IronMagazine.com - Bodybuilding & Fitness Magazine!
Lift for Life - Natural Bodybuilding at it's Finest, Lift for Life.com. Over 200 pages of bodybuilding articles and information for the Natural Bodybuilder
Muscle 101 - Everything you need to know to achieve all your goals
Natural Bodybuilder - Expert advice and information to help you reach your bodybuilding and fitness goals

Exercise Selection for a Complete Muscle Development

2006-10-30T15:55:00.000+01:00

When designing your training program, you are faced with the decision of choosing a set of exercises for properly training each muscle group. There are a great amount of different exercises (probably several hundred), thus complicating this selection. This post presents some issues you must take into account for performing an adequate exercise selection.

Exercises can be classified depending of the type of movement performed. On one side, compound exercises involve two or more joint movements and thus stress several muscle groups. On the other side, isolation exercises involve only one joint movement at a time, stressing only one specific muscle. Compound exercises are superior to isolation in building muscle mass. However, although you can build plenty of mass using only compound exercises, isolation work is mandatory for a complete muscle development, because it allows emphasizing on every muscle striation. Your routine for a given muscle should include movements that hit that muscle in different ways and from different angles using both compound and isolation movements. That is why you should include 2-3 exercises when you work each muscle.

Some movements offer the possibility of being performed using free weights (barbell and dumbbells) or machines. Free weights provide a more complete work and are better at preventing muscle imbalances, since they involve stabilizer muscles more than machines. Therefore, the basis of your routine should be using free weights. Machines have to be minimized except of some exceptions like the cable station and the leg extension, but don't look down on machines because they can be used to introduce some variety occasionally.

Your selection should avoid dangerous exercises that can lead you to injury. There are some popular exercises (e.g. behind-the-neck pulldown or behind-the-neck shoulder press) that involve movements with wrong biomechanics, being a chance to injury yourself. In a future post, I’ll go deeper in the trouble with these exercises.

However, your exercise selection should not be immovable. The muscles grow because they accustom themselves to the stress being put onto them. If you train a muscle always in the same way, your progress will slow, and possibly even halt because your body adapts to the motion, and no longer needs to build new muscle to do that motion. The key is varying your workouts every 4-6 weeks by altering one or more factors (i.e. number of reps, sets, tempo, exercise selection, etc.).

For supporting your exercise selection process, you can find a comprehensive exercise directory in the “Exercise Instruction & Kinesiology” section of ExRx.net site. Each exercise description contains the preparation and execution instructions (demonstrated with an animated gif), the involved muscles and the exercise classification (compound/isolation, push/pull, etc.). The Bodybuilding.com site provides another complete exercise directory in its “Exercise Guides” section, including video guides for describing the exercises correct execution.

Designing a Beginner’s Program

2006-10-23T12:15:00.000+02:00

This post is intended to provide advice to those just arrived to bodybuilding when they have to design their first weight training programs. Unlike is commonly believed, beginners need special training. It makes no sense to start with complicated programs used by people who have been training for years. Beginners must stick with simple programs with the basic exercises.

The main goal of beginner’s training, lasting approximately 3-4 months, must be adapting your body to training and stress. In this training stage, it is important that you spend the time in learning the groove of the movements, because at this stage you are building the mind-muscle connection, which, if wrong, can let you to injury in the future. Good news are that during this stage you will progress easily and your muscles will grow rapidly (perhaps the more rapidly that they ever will).

When designing your program, avoid typical beginner’s mistakes, such as focusing only on the muscles you like, e.g. chest and biceps. You have to give attention to all body-parts and focus on learning the basic exercises, such as deadlifts, squats or bench press. Start out light, use proper form, and practice until you've got the hang of each specific movement. Then, and only then, you should start adding on more weight.

Beginners can use a full body workout, training each muscle every workout. Train 3 days a week in non-consecutive days using, for example, the following pattern (W means workout and R means Rest): WRWRWRR. Beginners can also benefit from a 2 day split workout. Split options can be, for example, upper body on day A and lower body on day B or push movements on day A and pull movements on day B. Train 3 days a week in non-consecutive days using, for example, the following pattern: ARBRARR-BRARBRR. Use two, maximum three, exercises per body-part at three sets each. Pick a basic exercise for each muscle and build your workout around them. Stay initially in the 12-15 rep range without failure until you’re familiarized with training and the exercises.

Training is important, but don’t forget that adequate nutrition and rest is mandatory for achieving results. Eat several small meals throughout the day (every 2.5-3 hours) including enough protein (1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight per day). In addition, drink plenty of water and sleep at least 8 hours per night.

These and other guidelines for developing your beginner's program can be found in the article “Laying the Right Foundation” by Matt Danielsson and also in the article “Progression of Training” included in the I.C.E. Training Program developed by Big Cat.

Workout Details: Sets, Reps, Rest, Duration and Frequency

2006-10-17T14:27:00.000+02:00

When designing your weight training program, you are faced with questions about how many reps/sets to perform, how long to rest between sets or how long/how often to train. There is not a unique answer to these questions, but there are some basic guidelines that must be respected. This post intends to provide you with these basic guidelines in order to properly decide your workout details.

The number of reps is usually a cause of concern. As a general guide, the 1-5 rep range is more appropriated for strength training, the 6-12 rep range for hypertrophy training (i.e. muscle growth) and above 12 reps for endurance training. However, optimal training combines cycles of different rep ranges, stimulating in this way both fast-twitch and slow-twitch fibers. In any case, always perform a strict movement (mastering the weight during the whole rep and using a full range of motion) with a prolonged contraction (feeling the pump and the burn in the muscle).

The number of sets can also vary greatly. On one side, it depends on your recuperation. Doing more sets than you can recuperate from is a shortcut to overtraining. On the other side, the amount of sets should stimulate as much fiber as possible and should be enough to train the muscle consistently (using different exercises to target all muscle sections). Depending on the muscle, the number of working sets per muscle (excluding warm-up) can stay between 3 and 10. When deciding this value, don’t forget that you have to keep your workouts short (preferably less than 1 hour) because after that time cortisol secretion will inhibit GH/testosterone output, causing muscle breakdown and limiting your gains. Your goal should be intensity. Focus on each set and give always 100% (don't save yourself for the next set).

Rest between sets determines also the intensity of your workout. As a rule, take the time your muscles and your nervous system need to recover. Attempt to keep the time as short as possible. Nevertheless, take into account that the time needed for recovering when training with heavy weights and lower reps can be longer than the time needed when using light weights and higher reps. Similarly, big muscles recover slower than small muscles. Finally, take care to do some flexing and stretching between sets to keep the muscle warm and avoid injury.

Workout frequency is another important decision. A muscle grows only when recovering from intense training. Don’t train again a muscle until it is fully recovered (this can take several days). Go to the gym 3 o 4 times per week and train each muscle once a week. Going more often stresses the body, impedes recovery, and can lead to overtraining.

To conclude, I want to provide you with some links where you can find additional advice on how to decide the appropriate values for the workout details discussed in this post. Check the article “The Sets and Reps of It” included in the I.C.E. Training Program developed by Big Cat, the article “The Complete Guide to Beginning Bodybuilding” by Bill Geiger & Larry Shackelford, and finally the “Workout Details” section of Muscle 101 site.

Understand How Your Body Works: Muscle Physiology

2006-10-08T17:31:00.000+02:00

Alike anatomy, knowledge about body physiology constitutes an important basis for developing better training programs. This post summarizes the basic concepts about muscle physiology covered by Mark Strasser in his article “Muscle Types, Strength Gains, and Energy Systems used in Various Sports”. This article focuses in two aspects of muscle physiology: muscle energy systems & muscle fibers.

Muscle Energy Systems. Energy is supplied to your muscles from the food you eat, which is broken down into usable blocks of energy called ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate). ATP is the primary source of energy for muscle contraction. The energy is derived from removing a phosphate ion from ATP, resulting in ADP (Adenosine Diphosphate). Your body makes ATP available for muscle contraction through three main energy systems:

Phosphocreatine system: This system comes into play mostly during very intense workloads lasting up to 20-30 seconds. It is very fast, and can supply ATP for more muscular contractions in milliseconds by combining ADP with the phosphate ion from the phosphocreatine molecule.

Glycolytic system: This system is the primary energy source in activities lasting between 30 seconds and 3 minutes by breaking down muscle and liver glycogen stores. The waste product is lactic acid, which leads to muscular fatigue. This system is anaerobic, as no oxygen is immediately necessary for energy production. However, from the 3rd minute of exercise this system becomes aerobic, since energy production occurs in the presence of oxygen.

Oxidative system: This system provides the body with energy during exercise of long duration and moderate to low intensity by breaking down the body's fat stores. It is known as the aerobic system, as oxygen is necessary for energy production.

Muscle Fibers. There are two different types of muscle fibers: slow-twitch and fast-twitch muscle fibers. Slow-twitch fibers are predominately used in endurance activities. They are not likely to grow in size as much when trained and rely mainly on the oxidative system (aerobic metabolism) to obtain energy. Fast-twitch fibers are especially activated in explosive movements. They have great potential for growing in size when trained and rely mainly on the glycolytic system (anaerobic metabolism) to obtain energy.

When training with high number of reps you activate mainly slow-twitch fibers, while with low number of reps you activate mainly fast-twitch fibers. However, sets in the 1-5 rep range don't activate as many fast-twitch fibers as sets in the 6-12 rep range. The 1-5 rep range is more appropriated for strength training without increment on size.

You can also find some additional information on muscle energy systems and muscle fibers in the “Anatomy and Physiology” section of Muscle 101 site. Moreover, Derek Charlebois provides a detailed description of the chemical reactions occurred during energy generation in his article “Bioenergetics & Energy Release”.

Mental Skills for Successful Bodybuilding

2006-10-02T16:09:00.000+02:00

Believe or not, your mental condition plays a fundamental role for achieving your goals in bodybuilding. Results will only come if you are strongly convinced about your implication in bodybuilding and fully involved in your weight training program. This post summarizes the basic skills needed for developing an appropriate attitude for achieving success in bodybuilding.

Compromise. Evaluate if bodybuilding agrees with your goals. Bodybuilding is not about lifting heavy weights. Bodybuilding aims for a complete physical and mental development. The work that you do in the gym is as important as your work outside. Training is a key concept, but it is almost useless without proper nutrition and adequate rest. If you are not ready to assume this fact and its implications, perhaps bodybuilding is not your sport.

Motivation. Bodybuilding is hard: intense training sessions, diet, days when you are not so keen on going to the gym… You have to be fully motivated to face with that. Visualize your success. Establish long-term as well as short-term goals, and stay focused on them. Use the accomplishment of these goals to motivate yourself.

Consistency & Patience. Training only occasionally will not involve any muscle improvement. Unless you are sick, there is no excuse not to go to the gym. Don’t miss workouts, follow your schedule to the letter and do your best every single workout in order to achieve your goals. But you must have patience. Muscle will not grow out of proportion overnight. Persevere with your work and stay motivated and results will come.

Positive thinking. “I can’t” is a phrase you should ban from your vocabulary. If your mind can't visualize success, your body sure will not do the job for you.

To conclude, I want to recommend you the “Desire & Attitude” section of Muscle 101 site about the importance of staying motivated and positive attitude to achieve your goals in bodybuilding.

Anatomy & Kinesiology Lessons

2006-09-26T15:10:00.000+02:00

Developing a successful training program is easier if you have an appropriate knowledge on the human body. It makes no sense that your main goal is to build muscle and at the same time you hardly know part of the muscles in your body. If you know how the body works, you can design compensated training programs without neglecting muscles, you can detect problems on your program easily and, especially, you can reduce the risk of injury yourself with inappropriate exercises.

Some anatomy and kinesiology lessons are the first step for acquiring this knowledge about your body. With anatomy and kinesiology, you can know all the relevant muscles and their biomechanics. A good place for finding all this information is ExRx.net (Exercise Prescription on the Net) site. ExRx is a huge site with many sections related to weight training. Sure I’m going to refer to it many times in later posts. But now we’re only interested in the “Exercise Instruction & Kinesiology” section. Here you can find:

A graphical muscle body map with links to each muscle information.

A muscle directory with detailed information about all the muscles. This information includes the other names used to refer to this muscle, the different heads that compose this muscle, the movements performed by this muscle (e.g. flexion, extension, abduction, adduction, rotation, etc.) with links to the involved articulations, the attachments of this muscle with the bones, the related muscles, the location of this muscle in a graphical muscle map and optionally, some additional comments about particularities of this muscle.

An articulation directory with detailed information about all the articulations, including the movements performed by this articulation and with links to the involved muscles.

As you can see, anatomy and kinesiology information is extensive and thorough. Of course, it is not necessary to know every detail, but a general knowledge on which muscles compose our body and some notions on their biomechanics will enrich your training routines by considering often neglected (but important) muscles and will help you to prevent injuries.

Welcome & Motivation

2006-09-20T12:23:00.000+02:00

Hi, my name is George and I’m an amateur bodybuilder. I’m one of those who find something fascinating in bodybuilding. Based on my own experience (I started bodybuilding 6.5 years ago), I can assure that bodybuilding can change your life. It allows a complete development of not only your physique, but also of your mind. In fact, all your way of life will be altered. I think that is why bodybuilding is likely the greatest sport.

Proper training and nutrition are key concepts to reach success in bodybuilding. Of course, I think it’s needless to say that steroids and other drugs don’t fit in my training philosophy (and should not fit in any). But what is then the “proper” way to achieve your goals in weight training? Well, it depends. Bodybuilding is not an exact science, and different people can make pretty gains using different types of training, but in the same way there are some common practices and beliefs in bodybuilding that are completely useless and even harmful.

Knowledge is the key to develop a successful training program and the web has become a great support to acquire this knowledge. However, sometimes it is awkward to find what you are looking for within this huge information and, in addition, sometimes different sites defend contradictory facts. For these reasons, “Natural Bodybuilding Principles” blog sees the light with the goal of providing you with the appropriate links where finding useful information for developing an effective weight training routine. My aim is to share with you my own training experience and my conclusions about weight training information available in the web.

I’ve decided to organize the posts in this blog in mainly 3 categories: training, nutrition and rest/recuperation, which correspond to the fundamental concepts for achieving success in bodybuilding. In fact, a good training program must consider in a proper way all these factors in order to obtain proper results.

I hope you find the “Natural Bodybuilding Principles” blog interesting and that you participate by commenting your own training experiences, thus the blog can become a bodybuilding fans meeting point.