It’s week three, and you’ve already learned the importance of drinking plenty of water, and by now, are seeing and feeling the countless benefits of cardiovascular exercise, or walking. So, it’s time to turn it up a notch. Let’s add weights to our weekly program, to reshape your body, and your mind!

Weight training is one of the most important parts of your life-long exercise program. In fact, the American College of Sports Medicine now recommends weight training for every adult. The sooner you start weight training, the more muscle you’ll keep. It’s a use-it-or-lose-it phenomenon.

Weight training is also a great area in which to practice mental imagery. You can imagine your muscles getting firmer and bigger as you perform your weight training exercises. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at how this simple tool will help keep you motivated, and will help yield a higher return on your exercise investment!

Keep in mind, building muscles by lifting weights does more than make you look and feel better. It speeds up your metabolism! Which is great news to anyone trying to lose weight or get fit. Lifting weights also gives you more energy, allows you to eat more food, and recaptures lost youth.

Weight training also increases bone density more than activities like swimming or even running. By stressing the major bones in the body, weight training offers tremendous protection against the thinning of bones, or osteoporosis. And, by building more muscle, you protect your joints as well. For instance, squats strengthen the knee joint by building stronger, firmer ligaments and muscles.

For a weight training program to be effective, you will need to exercise between three and five days per week. You will need to exercise each muscle group with weights, at least once a week, or preferably twice. For example…arms twice, shoulders twice, legs twice, chest twice, etc. Abdominal muscles will be exercised two to three times a week.

I know the rest of this newsletter may be a bit confusing, but to really get detailed and explain exactly how to target your particular goal with weight lifting is beyond the scope and space allocated for this Special Report, so to assure the safety and effectiveness of your workout, you may want to consider using a personal trainer at least once to help you design the proper exercise routine and sequence for your body type. A personal trainer will show you the proper way to do each and every exercise, and help you get things done effectively.

Here a few tips of how to put together a great muscle-toning, fat-burning workout:

• Each upper body muscle gets 2-3 sets, 12-14 repetitions per set. (Twice weekly, but not on consecutive days).

• Each lower body muscle gets 3-4 sets, 12-14 repetitions per set. (Twice weekly, but not on consecutive days).

• Woman should lift a weight that is approximately 60% of the absolute maximum they could handle for this number of repetitions. Men should do at least 75% of their maximum.

• Move from one muscle group to another without rest. When you have worked all the upper body muscles, take 30 seconds of rest. With lower body muscles, you will need 60 seconds of rest. This is known as a circuit. Repeat circuit 3-4 times.

• Abdominal muscles should be worked three times per week. Various crunching exercises are used to best work the abdominal muscles. Do four sets for the abdominal muscles, 20-40 repetitions per set. It is more important to focus on the intensity of the exercise than the number of repetitions or sets. You should achieve a significant “burn” in the abdominal muscles on each set. You should not feel pain, especially not in your neck or back.

• After each of your resistance training or weight-lifting workouts, you should stretch. Some stretching should always be done at the end of a weight-lifting workout because this is when you need to elongate and relax the muscles.

The following are suggestions for easy-to-perform exercises that can be used in your weight-lifting routine, you can choose 2 from each list and put your workout puzzle together with them as your foundation…

(((Upper Body)))

Chest/Shoulders: Lateral Raise, Dumbbell Shrug, Upright Row, Bench Press, Fly’s, Incline Press, Parallel Dip, Bent-Forward Cable Crossover

Back: Chin-Up, Lat Pull Down, T-Bar Row, Decline Seated Cable Row

Arms: Triceps Dip, Triceps Press-down, Overhead Triceps Press, Seated Triceps Press, Biceps Curl, Preacher Curl, Machine Preacher Curl, Cable Curl

(((Lower Body)))

Legs/Buttocks: Squats, Lunges (side-to-side and/or front-to-back),
Leg Press, Leg Lifts, Leg Curls, Calf Raises

Abdominals: Abdominal Crunch, Rotary Torso, Ab Flexor Machine, Leg
Lifts from Roman Chair, Leg Lifts (while flat on back), Leg
Scissors (while flat on back)

Change these exercises around, trying different ones each time you exercise a muscle group. This will yield quicker results, while providing many additional benefits. Also, the exercises listed above include exercises that can easily be done at home with dumbbells or a weight bar and weights, as well as exercises that are specific to the gym.

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© 2002-2005 Wisdom Books, LLC & Christopher Guerriero WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this blurb with it: Christopher Guerriero, is the founder of the National Metabolic & Longevity Research Center and a best-selling author, speaker, and coach to millions. He is creator of the award-winning ‘Maximize Your Metabolism’ system. To learn more about this step-by-step program, and to sign up for FR*EE how-to articles and F.REE teleseminars, visit http://www.MaximizeYourMetabolism.com

After a thorough physical examination, including x-rays, my Doctor diagnosed my arm and shoulder pain as a rotator cuff tear and naturally suggested immediate surgery. “The Ultimate Rotator Cuff Training Guide” by Physical Therapist Brian Schiff has so far saved me from having to go through that surgery.

After I heard the Doctor’s diagnosis and suggestion, I searched the library and the internet for non-surgical solutions. I may have found a possible answer. I started using Brian Schiff’s Training Guide and followed his very explicit directions for the stretching, range of motion moves and exercises. I am in week 2 of a 4-6 week regime and have noticed a marked improvement.

In this article I am attempting to explain how this Training Guide has worked for me and would suggest that you to try this method before considering surgery.

Brian Schiff graduated from The Ohio State University in 1996 with a Bachelor of Science degree of Physical Therapy in Allied Health Professions. Since then, he has practiced as a licensed physical therapist specializing in sports medicine.  Through the National Strength and Conditioning Association, Brian became a certified strength and conditioning specialist (CSCS) in 1998.

By doing the exercises in “The Ultimate Rotator Cuff Training Guide”, I came to understand that it was a highly efficient system for relieving pain in the shoulder. Brian Schiff put together the guide for people with frozen shoulder, osteoarthritis, Rotator Cuff tendonitis, Rotator Cuff tears, impingement or bursitis.

Don’t be intimidated by the fancy words, Brian explains what they all mean and how to use the exercises to alleviate pain. He goes into a detailed description of each particular problem and how to best use the different exercises to your greatest advantage.

There is one disadvantage. It is recommended that the stretching and range of motion moves be done everyday. To some this may seem daunting, but it is definitely worth it to work this into your daily schedule. This is not a magic pill; it will take at least 4-6 weeks to start feeling the relief from your regular routine.

In the Ultimate Rotator Guide one of its most valued points is that Brain doesn’t just write out how to do each motion, he has pictures of him actually performing each move. This is extremely helpful in showing you the right form for each exercise. The right form is essential in making the motions work for you. So, not only does he outline how to do the moves in the eBook, he has added pictures in all aspects of each move. In the very beginning of the eBook he answers frequently asked questions that he knows from experience.

Another invaluable part of getting his eBook is that if you have any other questions you can email him. I did, and he always got back to me on the same day.

The Ultimate Rotator Guide is a truly concise map to overcoming shoulder pain. The eBook logically and easily pulls you through the process of using these exercises to eliminate pain in an attempt to avoid shoulder surgery.

Do not think this will instantly heal you, it will take practice. You must do the exercises on a consistent basis. It is critical that you follow the directions to achieve your goal of a pain free shoulder.

When I first started the program I thought that it was impossible to take this much time everyday. However, after the first week when I had practiced the moves it didn’t take nearly as much time as in the beginning. I was able to smoothly do all the moves in less than thirty minutes.

Normally there are always some weaknesses in eBooks but I couldn’t find any in the Ultimate Rotator Guide. My experience is that it is taking away most of my Rotator Cuff pain and is keeping me away from Rotator Cuff surgery. Remember, I am in week two and much has been accomplished.

Wouldn’t you use a program that would take away most, if not all of your shoulder pain? If you want to learn how to strengthen your shoulder and relieve your aching I would highly recommend “The Ultimate Rotator Training Guide”. In fact, I give it 9 out of 10. I can’t thank Brian enough for supplying this valuable information and hopefully saving me from surgery.

Visit Mary Hanna’s websites at: Web Marketing Reviews Cruise Travel and Review of the Rotator Cuff Guide

Nitric Oxide supplements are probably the most popular supplements on the fitness market today. Walk into any health food store that caters to bodybuilders, and you’ll see names of products such as NO2, Nitrix, NOxplode, SuperPump 250, NOX, TracNO and many others.

I’m a strong supporter in nitric oxide products to build muscle and there’s been some double-blind studies that support the effectiveness of nitric oxide supplements. But with so many Nitric Oxide products on the market, how do you know which one works the best for you.

To answer the question of which one would be best for you, let’s look at what nitric oxide is. Nitric oxide is a colorless gas that’s found in the tissues of all mammals. It’s actually a natural vasodilator of smooth muscle (but not skeletal muscle). Nitric oxide also performs cell-to-cell communication for some metabolic functions and this is how it is used by the body to communicate with other body cells.

Natural nitric oxide on its own just lasts briefly in the body. But there is an analog to produce this gas, as it occurs when enzymes in the body break down the amino acid called Arginine (l-arginine).

Nitric Oxide has been determined to control the circulation of blood and may actually increase blood flow. It also sends signals between nerve cells, and can serve to deliver more nutrients to muscle cells, helping the muscles to increase in size when subjected to stress (that “pumped” feeling from working out).

It is these large, full pumps that bodybuilders seek when lifting weights. As a side note: Erectile Dysfunction (ED) prescriptions work in a similar way to increase blood flow (just that ED prescriptions focus on controlling blood flow in a different area).

The MRI company defined this industry when they came out with the first nitric oxide supplement. I believe it is still the best nitric oxide on the market, but usually it’s also the most expensive. BSN and MHP and Pinnacle and Gaspari also make good nitric oxide supplements, but to me, they don’t seem to be as effective as the MRI NO2, although I believe different people will have varying results until they find the one that works best for them.

The way to tell which nitric oxide supplement will work best for you is to try one for 6 weeks. In about 2 weeks of using a nitric oxide supplement, you should be able to feel a “pump” after your workout and you’ll be reminded of this feeling throughout the day as you continue to feel “pumped.” It’s kind of like that “tight” feeling you might feel the first five minutes in the morning upon arising, before your muscles have had a chance to stretch.

If you don’t feel “pumped” and have a renewed desire to head back to the gym each morning after 6 weeks of trying a nitric oxide supplement, try a different one. If the first supplement you try doesn’t get you to that “pump,” you’ll probably only need to try one or two others until you get that “good” feeling. Then you can stick to your chosen nitric oxide generator for a long time.

I should also mention possible side effects of nitric oxide. While I haven’t heard or seen any serious health side effects, it’s possible to have dizziness, some fatigue, headaches or diarrhea, as these would be symptoms of too much arginine and they’ll go away upon reducing the amount of arginine taken.

There’s also been some recent reports stating that certain ED prescriptions may cause a sudden blindness, and seeing that some of the process of vasodilation could be similar to nitric oxide, I researched to see if nitric oxide could cause a sudden blindness similar to the ED prescriptions. What I found is that nitric oxide works with a different receptor and it appears that this would not be a problem. I still take NO2 and I really like it.

This information is not meant to replace medical advice. If you need medical help, seek a qualified physician and explore all your options together.

Copyright (c) 2006.

Jessica Deets has been researching information on the internet for over 4 years. She also interviews experts in different areas to bring you helpful information. For more information about effective muscle-building alternatives to steroids, see the website at http://www.legalsteroidalternative.com

The main shoulder muscles that concern bodybuilders are the deltoids and although they work closely with the arms and chest muscles, it is possible to isolate the delts in a training session. Unlike other body parts though, the shoulder is not designed for heavy lifting in all directions so beginners need to take care and use lighter weights than usual for shoulder-isolating exercises.

The deltoid covers the shoulder and consists of three distinct segments:

1. The anterior or front deltoid allows you to raise your arm to the front.

2. The medial or middle deltoid allows you to raise your arm to the side.

3. The posterior or rear deltoid allows you to draw your arm backwards when it is perpendicular to the torso.

The front delt usually receives plenty of work with chest exercises such as the bench press and pushup, so you’ll need to use common sense and listen to your body when performing exercises that specifically target this muscle. The recommended shoulder exercises for beginners are as follows:

1. Seated dumbbell press - 3 sets of 10-15 reps. This exercise places the emphasis on the medial head.

2. Front lateral raise - 3 sets of 10-15 reps. This exercise emphasises the front delt.

3. Rear lateral flyes - 3 sets of 10-15 reps. This exercise targets the rear delt.

As with all exercises you need to take care in scheduling specific body parts. To begin with you should incorporate your shoulder exercises into a program similar to the one suggested below:

Day 1: Biceps, Back, Abs

Day 2: Hamstrings, Shoulders, Abs

Day 3: Quads, Forearms, Calves

Day 4: Triceps, Chest, Abs

For the first couple of weeks complete one set but then add one set each week to a maximum of three. At the end of three months you will be ready to move on to more intensive intermediate level exercises.

Rick Mitchell has written numerous articles aimed at helping athletes, from beginners to advanced, understand how to build muscle and increase strength. He has also developed several supporting web resources including Fitness Gear Online

Welcome to article number 2 in our series “Bodybuilding Sins That Cause Back Pain and Missed Workouts”. In this article we are going to talk about how bodybuilders tend to create massive muscle imbalances and what you can do to not be one of them.

If you missed the first article, you can read it by clicking on the link below.

Here’s a breakdown of the articles to look for:

1. Article #1 - Choosing The WRONG Exercises

2. Article #2 - Training Variations for Pain Relief and Maximum Results

3. Article #3 - Targeted Stretching

4. Article #4 - Targeted Exercises

5. Article #5 - Rest, Recovery, and Injury Prevention

Article #2 - Training Variations for Pain Relief and Maximum Results

Bodybuilders are a stubborn bunch… almost as bad as runners! And they tend to follow the “HERD” doing whatever exercises and routines the “pros” are doing…

Now, if your goal is to be as big as possible and you are not at all concerned with your health and fitness, don’t even bother this article… this article is for bodybuilders who ARE concerned about their health and want to be big, strong, powerful, and agile… if that’s you, read on…

The reason so many bodybuilders suffer from so many different injuries is because there are several things the “pros” don’t tell you…

First off, the articles that you see in all the muscle mags aren’t even written by the “pros”… and the workout routines they recommend are always extreme and often not even used by the “pro” who supposedly wrote because their main goal is to sell magazines… not give you the real deal on bodybuilding.

If you are serious about bodybuilding and want to achieve your true peak, you need to stay injury free… and that’s just about impossible if you train they way most bodybuilders do.

There are several key strategies that you can use right now to not only eliminate any aches, pains and injuries you currently have, but also keep from creating more muscle imbalances in the future.

Strategy #1 - Target the Weaklings!

No, we don’t mean the exercises you think your weak at, or even the muscles you think are underdeveloped… what we mean is the muscles that are weak in relation to the opposing muscle group.

For example, in the first article we talked about why the Leg Extension is not a great exercise and why it’s responsible for so many cases of knee, hip, and back pain… and the reason is, most people, especially bodybuilders, are already over developed and stronger in the quadriceps… and usually have a significant imbalance between the quadriceps and hamstrings.

Another reason bodybuilders tend to develop so many severe muscle imbalances is because they emphasize the front of the body more than the back… a great example of this is what we call “The T-shirt Muscle Workout” and it usually consists of dozens of sets of chest and biceps…

you know what we mean… in just one workout you do flat bench, incline, decline, pec deck, dumbbell fly, cable cross overs… and then for biceps you’ve got barbell curls, dumbbell curls, preacher curls, cable curls, machine curls, and the list goes on…

So instead of emphasizing the muscles that are already strong, why not really hit those weak and under worked muscles like: neck, upper back, shoulder rotators, hamstrings, glutes, hip rotators, lower abs, and shins.

These areas tend to be weak, tight, out of balance with their opposing muscles, prone to muscle strains and pulls and most importantly, these imbalances lead to major injuries and conditions like back pain, knee pain, rotator cuff tears, tendonitis and others.

All of these conditions are caused by muscle imbalances and will NOT go away unless you work towards correcting the imbalances… and the only way to know for sure which imbalances are causing your pain or injury is to do a series of physical assessments like the ones covered in our “Lose the Back Pain Video”.

Strategy #2 - Experiment!

Here’s a personal challenge for you: Replace at least 1 of your normal weekly workouts with something totally different like combat martial arts, kettle bell training, functional training, or even strongman style exercises.

For example, instead of doing your super heavy, 3 inch partial rep leg presses, try a single leg squat… and if that’s easy, try adding weight! Or instead dozens of sets of shoulder presses and lateral raises, see if you can do 1 handstand push-up.

Those are just a few examples… do yourself a favor and experiment with other types of exercises. You can find hundreds of different types of training styles by taking classes, reading books, watching videos, surfing the web, hire a personal trainer, etc.

We aren’t asking you to give up your traditional workouts… but just cross-train a bit so you not only work towards a balanced body but also towards a stronger, more powerful and usable strength. Again, what good is muscle if you can’t use it!

Strategy #3 - Switch It Up!

Another great way to minimize the number of missed workouts due to injuries is to vary the exercises that you do for each muscle group. For example, if you always do barbell squats try rotating in other exercises like single-leg leg presses, trap-bar dead-lifts, d-bell squats, etc.

Conclusion

Remember, the key to eliminating injuries and preventing future ones is to identify what areas you need to target. In the next two articles we’ll be discussing in detail, how to address various injuries like back, hip, knee, and shoulder pain with targeted exercises and stretches. In the meantime, be sure to read thru all of our detailed articles and if you have questions, please post them in our discussion forum.

Article by Jesse Cannone, CFT, CPRS, CSPN and Steve Hefferon, CMT, CPRS of http://www.losethebackpain.com. If you’ve got back pain or sciatic pain, you’ve gotta check out their video.

To supplement or not to supplement – that is the question on more bodybuilder’s lips than ever before. Are they safe? What works and what doesn’t?

Lets have a look at the basics.

There are various reasons why athletes may be interested in supplementation.

 Concern about getting adequate nutrients from our food supply.

 Suspicion of pharmaceuticals.

 Belief that diet alone will not achieve optimal nutrition

Supplements include the following:

 Vitamins
 Minerals
 Amino Acids
 Herbs

The concerning thing about supplements is that anything classified as a dietary supplement is not required to meet any FDA or other standards! Think about that! there are no regulations in place that guarantee the safety or purity of something sold as a supplement.

They are also not made to meet the similar safety requirements as prescription drugs or any other manufacturing standards. They are not required to meet product potency or purity ratings and are not required to prove the effectiveness of any health claim that is made.

Studies suggest that a number of supplements may deliver on advertising claims. However, trainees are spending large sums of money on products that have little or no proven usefulness.

Personally I find the use of supplements over rated and as with strength training, supplementation asks the same question “if a little is good then maybe more has to be better”

Supplementation and steroids started to proliferate when volume strength training became the training system of the day. Young strength trainees slaving in the gym for five to six days a week was seen as normal. All this without making any progress or putting on any size whatsoever.

They then turned to the latest supplement or steroid thinking that this is the magic bullet to put on that added muscle when all the time they were just plain “overtraining”

The cold hard facts are that the majority of the regular trainees in your gym are overtraining. The sad reality is that the type of training that you find in bodybuilding books and magazines (and used by the stars) are irrelevant to the majority of
the population and has a high failure rate.

If more bodybuilders started using more infrequent, short, high intensity weight training sessions, followed by the required amount of time to recover and become stronger…

MOST OF THE WEIGHT GAIN SUPPLEMENTS AND STERIODS AVAILABLE TODAY WOULD NOT BE NEEDED.

The bottom line on weight gain supplements

 Before taking a supplement try to make modifications to your diet that might achieve the same goals.

 Only choose products that show the amount of active ingredients on the label that are required.

 Be aware that “natural” does not mean ‘safe’

 Some herbal supplements may have unpleasant side effects.

Listed below are some popular bodybuilding supplements available on the market today:

Creatine monohydrate

Creatine was first introduced to the market place some eight years ago and has since become the most popular bodybuilding supplement of all time.

Creatine is said to significantly increase lean muscle mass,
improve performance, increase energy levels and speed
up recovery rates. Creatine also stimulates the uptake
of amino acids in the proteins, which means that the
more that it’s used the more muscle that may be grown.

Dosage: A loading phase of 20grams a day for the first five days then a
maintenance phase of 5grams a day from then on.

Whey Protein isolate

The highest yield of protein currently available
and is extracted from milk. This is another popular supplement
for athletes and bodybuilders because of its high proportion of
amino acids. It is supposed to be high in potassium, which is essential
for muscle growth and is an antioxidant and a good
immune system builder.

Dosage: 20gms - 100gms a day.

Tibulus Terrestris

Tribulus terrestris is a plant that grows in many
tropical and moderate areas of the world and is
very rich in chemical compounds such as saponins,
flavonoids and alkaloids.

Tribulus terrestris is supposedly a testosterone enhancer.
and increases sex drives in both men and women.

Dosage as per bottle.

Glutamine

Is a non-essential amino acid, which makes up to 60% of the amino acids in the bodies muscles. Glutamine containing products are protein
shakes and good quality protein powders; it can also
be added to protein shakes for added potency.

Dosage: 5grams to 15 grams per day.

So please remember a supplement is something added to the diet to make up for a nutritional deficiency or imbalance they are not intended to substitute for eating a balanced diet. If they are to be taken at all they should only be used to supplement the diet and not replace it.

Gary is the author of several ebooks, including “Maximum Weight Loss in Ten Weeks” - the complete ebook and time-saving solution for burning away unwanted fat, and “Maximum Weight Gain in Ten Weeks” - easy-to-use and follow techniques that serve as a guide to muscle growth without having to “live in the gym”.

Visit Gary’s website at www.maximumfitness.com/

You can put in an aerobic workout in almost any everyday activity. Aerobic exercise is good for your heart and it doesn’t need to be boring at all. Here are just a few activities you can do.

Dancing is Fun

Dancing is so much fun and whether you enjoy a slow, ballroom dance or a nightclub packed with people all moving to heart-pumping techno, as long as you are moving, it really does not matter what type of dance or music. The whole idea is to move your body. Dancing has long been recommended as an avenue to fitness. And it’s fun and enjoyable as well

Workout Tapes

If you have a VCR or DVD, rather than just using it for your favorite comedy or action-packed movie, try sticking in some good workout tapes. Even taking 15 minutes or so every day to workout will get you started. Try that for two weeks and you will be surprised at the results. Once you see that 15 minutes a day makes a difference, you will be encouraged to increase the time spent.

Running in the Sand

If you live in a geographical area, where you have the luxury of sandy beaches, why not take a walk or a running session along the beach. Is feels great to run or walk where the waves of the ocean and the beach meets. The sound of the waves against the shore will make you feel even better.

Walk Your Dog

Instead of just opening the back door to let your dog out, put it on a leash and go for a nice walk. Your dog will appreciate the new scenery and you are doing yourself a great justice.

Have You ever tried Bowling?

Get some exercise by joining a bowling league. You can find a league for just about every level of bowler as well as any day and time of the week. This is a great way to get out and have some fun while also exercising. Yes, bowling does count as exercising, no doubt about that.

Terje Brooks Ellingsen is an internet publisher. His website nv-Fitness4Life.com offers valuable free information for all who are interested in fitness issues, for example life fitness and workout . Check out Fitness4Life now.

The number one thing you need to get from this article is this. Significant increases in the muscular size of any particular muscle group, can not be achieved without similar increases throughout the entire body. Any and all exercise performed has an indirect effect on all the body’s subsystems and muscular structures.

An exercise which primarily involves the legs, produces to varying degrees, muscle growth in all other muscles throughout the body. The relative size of the muscles involved largely determines how great the indirect effect will be. The larger the muscle group, the greater the overall indirect effect on other body parts. Got it. Good

This indirect effect is the result of intensity of effort. If the intensity is low, indirect muscle growth is minimal. If the intensity is high, indirect muscle growth is absolutely incredible. But remember, these muscle gains are not stimulated through the quantity of exercise performed, but from the overall intensity of effort.

Maximizing intensity of effort requires the same style of training for absolutely everyone. That mean you and me. However, individual performance is relative. For example. while the performance of a 100 pound bench press may involve a high level of intensity for one person, a considerably stronger trainee could perform the same exercise with a much lower intensity. But as we now know beyond a shadow of doubt. High levels of intensity must be reached, before an increase in muscle size will be produced. If you train below that particular level, your muscle gains will be practically non-existent.

Although the level of intensity required to produce maximum muscle gains may actually be below maximum intensity, determining exactly when that point has been reached during your workouts is near impossible. Even if the required intensity for maximum muscle gains could be converted into a percentage, you wouldn’t be unable to determine accurately when that exact level is reached during an exercise. Working at one hundred percent, maximum intensity of effort guarantees that this level is always achieved, regardless of whether it is an actual requirement or not. Are you following me?

Look. If maximum muscle gains is your goal, working out with anything less than one hundred percent intensity of effort is not going to cut it. In fact, it’s almost a complete waste of time. Regardless of the actual intensity of effort required, working the largest of muscle groups will produce incredible muscle growth all over the entire body.

Although we may not be entirely sure why, we do know that without a doubt, it does happen. For the best possible muscular gains, the major muscular structures should be trained intensely. If the exercise is intense, brief and infrequent, maximum gains will be achieved. As no muscle can be truly isolated from the body’s subsystems and all exercises have some degree of overall effect on the body, for the best possible muscle gains, only full body workouts should be performed.

As I has explained to you here. Split-routines are in fact physiologically impossible. A training program which ‘splits’ the body into muscle groups, doesn’t permit sufficient recovery time for the body overall. As a result, split training programs do not produce maximum possible muscle gains. In almost all cases, they actually prevent them. No exceptions.

Trent Brook is the Author of “Huge Gains Fast - How to Get More Rock-Hard Muscle Mass In A Month Than You Now Get All Year. His “Huge Gains Fast” muscle building program is an easy-to-follow system so simple and understandable it’s fully explained to you in just 4 easy steps! The Revised Edition is now available online at his website, http://www.hugegainsfast.com

Many people these days take antioxidants to counter the detrimental effect of free radicals. Antioxidants mopped up free radicals and convert them into harmless substances. Free radicals are known to cause body cell decomposition and therefore are the main culprit in our aging process. Free radicals are linked to aging diseases such as cancer and heart problems besides making us age more quickly. Since free radicals cause our cells to decompose, then free radicals will also degenerate our muscle cells.

Staying clear of situations that cause a surge of free radicals to surge is one way of prevention and taking antioxidants as a supplementation is another. There are many situations that will increase free radical activities such as sun burn, stress, smoking, alcohol consumption, pollution, exercise workout amongst others. Yes, we get a surge of free radicals when we exercise especially intensive exercises because we are putting our bodies under tremendous stress when we exercise. These muscle destroying activities will continue for hours and even days depending how intensive your exercises are.

This is where antioxidants supplementing comes in. Since antioxidants neutralize free radicals, it helps your muscles to recover faster and stop the ravaging effects of free radicals on your muscle and thus allowing better muscle growth.

So if you want your muscles to recover faster and want to grow bigger muscles after your workouts, supplementation with antioxidants may help. There are many antioxidants supplements in the market. Vitamin A, C and E are perhaps the better known free radical fighters out there. Some other excellent free radical scavengers are Green Tea extract, Alpha Lipoic Acid, Beta Carotene etc

So our mums although may not have known about antioxidants and its effect of free radicals on our body was right when they insisted that we take our vitamins. Do protect your muscles and general health with antioxidants.

Chris Chew is fitness personal trainer of fashion models, actors and male pageant winners. More of his free health and fitness articles here :- Fitness Tips Personal trainer certification

You can only build muscle if your body is in the correct anabolic balance to allow growth to take place. Intensive exercise is clearly an important part of the muscle building process but achieving the maximum muscle mass depends on putting the building blocks in place. This is achieved through sound nutritional practices so you need to be aware of the following anabolic enhancing principles:

1. Protein is the basic raw material needed to build muscle. Protein supplies the amino acids that the body uses to repair and build muscle following intensive exercise. Aim to consume 1 to 1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight each day from food like beef, fish, poultry, eggs, milk and whey. Spread the load over at least six meals to derive the optimum benefit and avoid overloading the liver.

2. Carbohydrates are needed to energize the muscle building process. Carbohydrates stimulate the release of insulin which pushes the amino acids into muscle cells to begin the process of repair. The body uses carbohydrates as a source of energy - consume too little and the body will steal protein that would otherwise be used for repairing and building muscle. Aim to consume 1.5 to 2 grams of carbohydrate per pound of body weight each day from foods like potatoes, pasta, rice, vegetables and whole wheat bread.

3. Boost your calories. Unless your main aim is to reduce fat you need a positive caloric balance if you want to build muscle. Make sure that your daily calorie intake is 10% higher than your energy expenditure for daily maintenance and that the calories are acquired from a diet characterized by a ratio of 50% carbohydrates, 40% proteins and 10% fat.

4. Get plenty of rest both in terms of adequate rest days between training sessions and sufficient sleep. Your muscles won’t grow if you don’t build adequate recovery time into your training program. Similarly, you can only optimize your body’s levels of testosterone and growth hormone if you spend enough time sleeping.

5. Consume quality supplements to support a sound nutritious diet. For most people it should be enough to add whey protein, creatine and l-glutamine to your daily diet.

6. Don’t overdo the aerobic exercise. Your aim is to increase muscle mass therefore you don’t want to burn excessive calories that could be utilized for bulking up.

7. Drink plenty of water. Failure to drink sufficient quantities of water will lead to dehydration and adversely affect your muscle mass. Don’t forget that muscle is 70% water so a generous intake will maintain muscle volume and help growth.

You can find out more about building muscle by visiting the site listed below.

Richard Mitchell is the creator of the bodybuildingadvisor.com website that provides guidance and information to athletes at all levels of bodybuilding experience. Go to Bodybuilding Advice to learn more about the issues covered in this article.