Jane Ross, a 42-year-old Boston area gym buff, is honest about it: When exercising, she sometimes grunts. "I think it's part of going to a gym -- I grunt during a workout, and I think that most people do," said the mom and former personal trainer. "When you are exerting yourself, it's a release." But not everyone is so accepting of those loud fitness club exhalations. A real good story.... Complete Story
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Saturday, October 20, 2007
10 Things To Make Note Of Before Your Next Step Into Gym
10 Things To Make Note Of Before Your Next Step Into Gym
Most of the people go for their workouts as if they are going out for a stroll along the road to relax themselves. The commitment is entirely missing. Entering your gym is only the first step to muscle building, it is not enough to go to gym daily to get a godlike physique, you need much more desire and commitment than that. What you do before, during, after your workout all contribute to the success or failure of your muscle building quest.
Your muscle building success is defined by a lot of factors inside and outside your gym. Your selection of exercises may be taking away your muscle growth instead of contributing to them. Similarly, your food habits or personal social life may be effecting it in more of a negative way than helping you with it. Combine, all these together and you may will get to know why your muscle building program has not yielded the way it has for some other people.
Out here we are going to take five of the factors that make some contribution in some way to your muscle building success and at the same time try to identify the possible problems and their solution.
This article will come up as a series of five articles with two points to consider in each article. The objective is that one should compare his current routine with the points mentioned in particular article and if there are faults they should be rectified upon immediately before jumping to next step. So follow the series closely and eliminate each fault as you start identifying it.
1) Jumping To The Podium Without Proper Practice Or Rehearsal
This is a mistake that most amateur bodybuilders do. They hear about an exercise and watch someone do it and they feel they are all ready for it. Next day you see them doing the same exercise with utmost intensity but with poor form. Remember, doing an exercise without proper form or doing it too quickly either can increase your chances of injury. Also, exercises not done properly don't really add up to muscle gain. Injuries bring a break in your workout program and may force you to break in between or push you out of the rhythm.
So, don't jump to stage directly, take your time. Before you start doing an exercise learn it properly from a trainer and perfect its form. Ask someone to watch you do it and tell you if you are not doing it in the proper manner. If you are following an online muscle building program than most of them come with proper instructions on each exercises, so make sure you do follow them in a proper manner. Don't do an exercise if you are not confident about it. It will save you from injuries and you can direct those efforts somewhere else.
2) Digging Up Roads That Lead To Nowhere.
Another common trait of newbies and unsuccessful bodybuilders. They are just about doing everything. I see most of the newbies come to gym without any proper plan or exercise. Most of them are there just to throw weights and go home contended that they are building up muscles. Nothing more than a waste of time. If you regard muscle building as a hobby, I seriously advise you to stop doing that. It is something that demands commitment and planning. If you have not done it already then develop a proper workout plan.
Although, I will advise you to get a good trainer or at least a good professional muscle building program but some of you may not be interested in spending any bucks, so spend some time and develop a good workout plan. Assess where you are right now and determine what you want to achieve by next month. If you can't imagine your growth or if you can't figure out where you will like to see yourself in next 30 days, then stop going to gym, you will not build any muscles if your mind is not ready for it. Get down to the basics again, do everything in writing - from where you are in terms of body measurements and photographs, to where you want to go, again in terms of body measurements, to how you are going to achieve that - your workout schedule and plan. Don't just fidget around in the gym, go there like a pro, a man on mission and do it accordingly.
Recommended Muscle Building Programs
I recommend following two muscle building programs to all the readers. You can find in depth review of these programs at given link.
Muscle Gain Truth
The Musclehead
Additionally if you need a software to track your growth or come up with a plan then you can use this free bodybuilding software.
Friday, October 12, 2007
One Common Theme Across All BodyBuilding Programs : Perform To Your Maximum To Build Muscles
This is one concept that gets emphasized in most of the Weight Training Programs & BodyBuilding Programs but is ignored by most of the trainers most of the time. The idea is in fact quite simple - train your body to a point where it can take no more. This concept is often referred to as High Intensity Training. In simple terms it means that you should push your muscles to the point where they really cannot take anymore of the stress. It is at this point that you achieve that phenomenal growth.
This idea is vital and perhaps the biggest barrier between those who are successful in building muscles against those whose efforts go in vain and they do not achieve the maximum output of their workouts. More than often the difference is a result of something very minor and negligible. More than often the difference comes up because of that last 1% of effort that is neglected. Having said that let me elaborate on idea a little more. The main mantra of bodybuilding success that is highlighted in most Weight Training Programs & BodyBuilding Programs is intensity and progression. It is just about how much intensity you are ready to put into your workouts. In simple terms it turns out how much effort do you put in your each workout, each set, each rep. This is going to determine wether you are going to trigger that adaptive muscle response or not. Remember your first few sets are just to warm up those muscles and bring you to that state where your muscles become fatigued and every extra rep that you do demand a lot more effort from them.
The second mantra in most Weight Training Programs & BodyBuilding Programs is progression, explaining in simple terms it is continuously increasing the load that you can take. After sometimes your muscles get accustomed to the weight, performing 20 push ups daily for a year will not help you really gain a lot of muscle mass. You need to make a progress by gradually increasing the weights or stress that you are putting on your body muscles.
Most of the people miss out on these two by a small margin. The most common cause is that little lazy attitude where they walk into a gym as if they are out to stroll and relax. They will do few push ups and then look around and then do the rest of them or they will just throw around a few weights and think they are done. It is this approach that lets them down. When one enters the gym the focus should be on putting your hundred percent. When you are doing push ups try to do them in the fastest time with maximum effort. Try to minimize your gym time accordingly by focussing only on your workouts and giving them your hundred percent attention.
Most of the Weight Training Programs & BodyBuilding Programs focus on the same idea only. Sean Nalewanyj's Truth About Building Muscle, is one such program that pus the maximum emphasis on this kind of intensity training. It is one of the top BodyBuilding Program and bodybuilding program. Here is an in depth sean nalewanyj program. Other really good BodyBuilding Program is The Musclehead. You can read complete review of The Musclehead for more details.
If you are looking for a Weight Training Programs & BodyBuilding Programs for building up muscle I suggest you to read this detailed article on Weight Training Programs & BodyBuilding Programs . It gives you a much better idea on how to choose a BodyBuilding Program that completely meets your needs.
The Basics of Muscle Building
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Thomas_Sinfield]Thomas Sinfield
Let's start with the basics of muscle building, because with a little knowledge on the science of building muscle, you will be stimulate your own muscles into growth better.
Firstly you need to realize that you body really doesn't want to gain muscle. The bigger you are the more nutrients that your body needs to consume to maintain these muscles, which means you will have to eat more. Everything inside of you is going against you with your muscle building goals. Obviously even though I have just said that your body doesn't want you to build muscle it is still very possible to do so. What you need to do is something called progressive overload. What this is, is where you continue work your muscles to overload, stress them to a new level, and do this progressively. So add more weight on each workout.
When you body is under stress your muscle fibers will break down, and with rest and the correct nutrients will build back stronger than ever before. With each workout your muscles will break and tear, which explains the soreness, and then rebuilds themselves stronger and more efficient than before. Of course this means that you have to always be increasing the weight applied to your muscles.
Rest is so important in muscle building, as it is in the time of rest that you allow your body the chance to rebuild and repair all the tears that you inflicted upon it in your last workout. So make sure that you are giving your muscles adequate time to recover.
Want to learn more about gaining weight and building muscle? Visit: http://www.gain-weight.info
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Thomas_Sinfield http://EzineArticles.com/?The-Basics-of-Muscle-Building&id=771012
Does Muscle Memory Occur?
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Sandra_Prior]Sandra Prior
The concept of muscle memory is controversial. Most bodybuilders have experienced this phenomenon, yet virtually no discussions of this topic have appeared in scientific and athletic publications. Although there is some speculation herein, these ideas are sure to help you better understand your body’s response to training after a layoff.
Before you know it, a month has gone by. Two months. Six months. I’ll get back to it sometime soon, you keep saying. You’re finally ready – a year later.
Don’t worry. Life can get in the way of even the most dedicated bodybuilder’s workouts. Be glad that you’re ready to commit to consistent training again. For those of you who haven’t attempted a small comeback before, here’s good news.
Gaining muscle size seems to be easier the second time around – even if you starting from the same place. That’s right. It appears that your muscles can reach their former size (their size when you stopped working out) in a much shorter time than it took to achieve that size that first time you trained.
If you’re an experienced bodybuilder who has returned to square one more times than you wish to remember, you probably know exactly what I mean. In fact, even many scientists and coaches are convinced this phenomenon occurs – having witnessed first hand. No one has a clue how this happens. Why should you pack on muscle size quicker when ‘retraining?’ It just doesn’t make sense.
With so many athletes and others observing this mystery of the iron game, some plausible explanation must exist. I’ll describe some possible reasons why your muscle may appear to have a memory. While understanding that the following ideas might help you make a comeback, keep in mind that these are just good guesses – not dogma.
Mind Games
Certainly, we can’t overlook the possibility that muscle memory doesn’t really occur at all. In other words, it’s completely possible that these changes have nothing to do with muscular adaptation. Then why do muscles seem to progress faster during a comeback? Well, it could all be in your head. Here’s what I mean.
The first time you trained consistently, you were probably a bit hesitant with the weights. You weren’t too sure how your muscles would respond and most importantly, you didn’t have a good idea how much weight you could lift. So you were cautious when it came to big weight increases – at least until you felt you could handle the heavier weight safely.
When making a comeback, that initial fear is gone. You know you can handle heavier and heavier weights because you’ve done it before. You probably expect to attain your former strength soon, anyway. For these reasons, you are more likely to add weight to the bar at a faster rate – pushing yourself as never before. Of course, this progressive overload will lead to quicker gains in strength and size.
The Nerve of those Muscle Cells
Perhaps the most likely explanation of muscle memory involves the neurons (nerve cells) that stimulate your muscles. These neurons tell all the muscle fibers (muscle cells) they innervate to contract. But, depending on the amount of weight being lifted, only a small percentage of neurons innervating a particular muscle may be recruited to stimulate their fibers. More weight on the bar – more neurons involved and more fibers stimulated. Simple enough, right?
Here’s something really interesting. Even during maximal voluntary contraction (attempting your max on any lift), you’re still not recruiting all the muscle fibers in your working muscles. In fact, it is this discrepancy between the percentage of fibers we normally recruit and what we theoretically can recruit (100%) that may account for those rare, but documented feats of superhuman strength.
What has that got to do with muscle memory? Well, one way your muscles may adapt to the stresses of consistent training is to increase over the long run the total percentage of fibers recruited during maximal and near-maximal lifts. Here’s the possible scenario:
The first time you trained, you recruited a certain percentage of muscle fibers during maximal lifts. As you trained more and more, this percentage increased. Then you stopped working out. When making a comeback, this ability to recruit a greater percentage of muscle fibers remains intact. Therefore, you’re starting with a capacity to develop more force within a muscle (since more fibers can be activated). Compared to the first time you trained, you’re one step ahead.
If you can develop more maximal force, then you can lift more weight – you’re a bit stronger. Although you may think you’re starting from the same place, this greater strength will enable you to progress faster, resulting in an ability to regain muscle size at a quicker pace.
The second way that neurons may be involved in muscle memory deals with skill development. When you start working out, your muscles interpret most of the lifts as new movements. So your neurons must develop the appropriate pattern of stimulation to get the weight up. Remember how shaky the bar was the first time you tried the bench press?
Fibers must be activated in just the right sequence to perform complex movements like the bench or the squat. And learning a new skill (just like trying to swing a golf club, etc.) may take quite a long time. The first time around, it may have taken you weeks to feel steady on the bench. Now those neural patterns have been developed and though they may be rusty, they can return very quickly after a layoff. What may be happening here is that after you stop working out you lose some of those neural patterns. When you work out again the neurological changes come faster. This accelerated restoration of neurological control will enable you to stimulate your muscles more efficiently, eventually causing the leveling off you reach in muscle strength and hypertrophy to be higher. You may be stronger and bigger when the neural patterning is done the second time around.
Muscular Adaptations
Another possible explanation of muscle memory concerns certain changes in your muscles that regular training may produce. Your muscles may adapt in two ways that could translate into faster gains during retraining. First, you may be able to increase the capillary bed surrounding muscle cells, creating a greater blood supply to the working muscle. If this happens, and many scientists believe it does, you would then be able to enhance the nutrient (glucose, branch-chain amino acids, etc.) availability to the muscle cell. Also, you might remove the waste products of repeated muscular work and energy production (lactic acid, heat hydrogen ions, etc.) at a faster rate. Since these waste products can limit performance, with the increased capillary bed, you would be in a position to train harder and longer.
Either or both of these situations would probably enable you to create a more effective muscular stimulus. This is the key in terms of muscle memory. These positive changes from an enhanced blood supply would be restored soon after a comeback since the capillary beds would quickly reopen. Thus you would have the advantage of a greater muscular stimulus from the start of retraining. This would lead to a greater adaptation – stronger and bigger muscles – and give the illusion of muscle memory.
Second, the enzymes that are involved in important bio-chemical reactions may be responsible for muscle memory. For example, we know that enzymes in reactions leading to the storage of glycogen (your energy source during anaerobic work) can be enhanced with training. It is plausible that enzymes involved in protein synthesis may increase in concentration and activity following repeated muscular stimuli and damage. It may actually be those enzymes that have a memory, quickly returning to their former increased concentrations and turning on these processes earlier. If this occurred, you’d be able to work out harder, possibly recover faster, and gained muscle mass more quickly than when you first trained.
Sandra Prior runs her own bodybuilding website. http://bodybuild.rr.nu
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sandra_Prior http://EzineArticles.com/?Does-Muscle-Memory-Occur?&id=759493
How To Gain Weight Fast!
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Thomas_Sinfield]Thomas Sinfield
You have to understand the process of building muscle if you looking to gain weight fast. A lot of people really struggle to put on weight, but once you understand how the body works you will start to understand how easy it is to gain weight quickly.
I have created a simple 3 step process that will be the cornerstone of your success. Once you understand how these three components work together you will be on your way to gaining weight and bulking up quickly.
Here’s the process:
1) Train hard and heavy.
You need to continually be pushing your body. Your muscles will only build if you give them a reason too. Your body adapts to your training and starts to get comfortable if you stay at the one intensity. So keep adding extra weights and pushing your body to the max.
2) Get the right quantity of nutrients into your system.
You need to feed your body with the right amount of nutrients to allow your body to rebuild after a hard and heavy training session. The work out will tear your body down, you the nutrients act as a fuel to keep your body going, and rebuild. So plenty of good quality nutrients.
3) Make sure you get plenty of rest.
After you have trained your body it is in a state of chaos, and pretty much broken down. You need to give your body the chance to use the nutrients and rebuild the muscle before you go and do it all over again.
The relationship of the nutrients only works when your body is resting, and it is essential if you are wanting to gain weight.
Want to learn more about gaining weight and building muscle? Visit http://www.gain-weight.info
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Thomas_Sinfield [http://ezinearticles.com/?How-To-Gain-Weight-Fast!&id=770359 ]http://EzineArticles.com/?How-To-Gain-Weight-Fast!&id=770359
One Little Secret About Muscle Building That BodyBuilding Programs Don't Mention
One Little Secret About Muscle Building That BodyBuilding Programs Don't Mention
By Nick K
I know even before you read this article you would be more than willing to jump in to find out what that muscle building secret actually is and why after all it is not mentioned in bodybuilding programs. The truth is that, that secret is no secret. Almost everybody knows it but does not really captures its importance. Not to test your limits of patience, I will mention it straight - Water. Cool, isn't it.
I don't need to mention that water is important, you won't be living without it any ways. Each of your body part will needs it and so each function of your body depends on water for one or the other reasons. And, it is a hundred percent true case where more is better. Still it is hard to comprehend who do people neglect it all together.
So the million dollar question is why don't you drink more water? My question is specially for those people who do regular workouts and are trying to build muscles faster especially the beginners.
If you are still not into habit of drinking water while you workout than it is a habit that you should get into. Keep a water bottle with you and make sure it is never empty while you are doing your workouts. Take a sip or two between workouts when you rest. This is one healthy habit in the process of muscle building that will take you a long way towards owning a good physique. Water provides immense benefits to your body and is one of the most important ingredients of your body (think blood). Don't keep your body in a dehydrated state when you are going for workouts. Your muscles won't like it and are less likely to respond in a positive manner.
Water is one important thing to add to your workout checklist.
I recommend muscle building programs like The Musclehead or Truth About Building Muscles. If you need you can go through this musclehead review. Similarly you can read this review of truth about building muscle. Another good program that has a lot of fitness related stuff is the no-nonsense muscle building
Nick Clipton
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nick_K
http://EzineArticles.com/?One-Little-Secret-About-Muscle-Building-That-BodyBuilding-Programs-Dont-Mention&id=769733