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If you’re not gonna squat, get out of the squat rack!

Has this ever happened to you? You hit the gym early in the morning, all pumped up for a great session. It’s leg day and you know what that means, so you put your serious face on and trudge into the gym. Only to find that some 16 year old pipsqueak is standing in the squat rack doing bicep curls! I’ve got nothing against 16 year old kids in the gym, trying to improve their bodies. I used to be one of them myself, once upon a time. What I do hate is when those kids spend their time in the squat racks, doing bicep curls. They’re called squat racks for a reason people. And it’s not just the young guys, oh no, this is a far bigger problem. People of all ages think it’s fantastic to use the squat rack to do bicep curls. Is it because you can leave the barbell on the supports so you don’t have to actually bend down to pick the bar up? Probably. If you’re one of these people, stop doing it. This is what you need to be doing instead. Head into the squat rack and load up a bar with a good weight for you. Get under the bar and then start squatting. I guarantee if you only made this change to your workouts, you would see startling results. At my local gym, I love it that no one squats. Apart from those idiots who do their bicep curls in it, I pretty much have it all to myself. But when I’m trying to be nice (And that’s not very often) and actually help people out, I tell people squatting is a must. It’s such a powerful exercise, you would literally be a moron to not do it. The thing that holds people back is pain. I won’t sugar coat it. The squat, when done correctly, takes a lot of effort and a fair bit of discomfort. But it’s this pain and discomfort that forces your body to grow, so unless you can get out of your comfort zone and push through the pain barrier, you’re going to be in trouble. So I hope you now realize what you need to be doing. If you are one of those pesky guys doing bicep curls in the squat rack, stop immediately. Quite simply, if you don’t squat, you’re really holding yourself back. So go and do it! The Musclehead is a natural bodybuilder and the author of the brutally honest and revealing book "The Muscleheads Guide to a Godlike Physique". For more hard hitting information on how to get the body of your dreams, visit TheMusclehead.com

posted by musclehead on Oct 15, 2007 12:36 PM | 0 comments
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Are You A Bicep Warrior?

Of all the jokers that I see in the gym, the bicep warrior is one of my favorites. I’d pretty much guarantee you that you have a few of these guys at your gym. Heck, you’re probably one yourself.

For those of you who are unaware of what a bicep warrior is exactly, let me explain. They are usually motivated by ego, travel in packs and may even wear their best clothes to the gym. But the thing that makes a bicep warrior is the way he trains.
You see, a bicep warrior is at the gym so he can look good in front of the ladies. Nothing wrong with that. If you saw how much attention I get from the girls, you’d be at the gym too. But what is really wrong with how he goes about it.

This is how the bicep warrior thinks. “Ok, girls love big biceps, a nice chest and abs. So I’ll go to the gym every day and do the same workout. That will have me looking awesome in no time. 50 sets of bicep curls, followed by 20 sets of bench press, then I’ll finish up with 1000 crunches. Ooh yeh“

Let me tell you now, that is a dumbass way to think. Sure, girls might love biceps, but thinking like that is the wrong way to go about it. There are so many things that are wrong with that mindset and it will really kill your results if you go about it like that.

Instead, you need to realize that building muscle is more than just doing a few bicep curls and bench presses. For maximum results you need to take an intelligent approach. I know the word intelligent makes you cringe, but hold on a second, it doesn’t have to be scary.

You just need decent advice and that’s where I come in. Instead of just hitting your biceps and chest, start working out your entire body. I know the concept may seem foreign at first, but it’s a sure fire way to increase the level of results you’re having.
There are a few reasons why exercising your entire body will help you greatly, but they’re beyond the scope of this article. If you’re interested, go check out my package, if not, just listen up anyway. Doing exercises like squats will actually help you build bigger biceps. Don’t believe me? Try it for a few weeks and see if you notice any differences. What have you got to lose?

Of course there is more to this than just what’s written here, but if you have been a bicep warrior up until this point, now’s a good time to stop and learn the proper way to build some serious muscle.

The Musclehead is a natural bodybuilder and the author of the brutally honest and revealing book "The Muscleheads Guide to a Godlike Physique". For more hard hitting information on how to get the body of your dreams, visit TheMusclehead.com

posted by musclehead on Oct 15, 2007 12:31 PM | 0 comments
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Have you been training like a girl?

I’ve always found the fitness industry interesting. And spending a lot of time inside a gym like I have, meeting lots of fitness enthusiasts, you always get told lots of B.S. It’s amazing how little people actually understand about how to change their body.

Take “toning” for example. And yes, I did write it like that deliberately. You see, I don’t really consider “toning” a word that should ever be used by someone looking to get into shape. I’m sure you’ve heard it all before, probably even said it yourself.
It usually sounds something like this. “Oh, I don’t want to get really big, I just want to get a bit more toned…”. There’s nothing wrong with not wanting to look like Ronnie Coleman, I certainly don’t. But wanting to get “toned” is stupid, because there is no such thing as toning.

When people talk about getting toned, what they really want is to increase muscle and decrease fat. Simple isn’t it? Why can’t they just say this in the first place! If you want to increase your muscle mass and decrease your fat, you need to go about things in a systematic way.

Simply doing lots of repetitions with low weight will not make you “toned”. This is a huge myth and for good reason. I know gym instructors who tell clients to use higher reps and lower weights when looking to tone up. No wonder people are frustrated with their results! There are things you need to do in order to build muscle and there are things you need to do in order to burn fat. It’s as simple as that.

Unless you have superb genetics, chances are you’re going to find it hard to build muscle and burn fat at the same time. This is because to gain weight, you need to eat more than you burn and to lose weight, you need to burn more than you lose. Sure, at first, you may be able to gain some muscle as you lose fat, but eventually your body will adapt to its new situation and you’ll only be able to do one or the other at a time.

So I hope this has cleared up a couple of issues for you. If I hear you ever mutter the word “toned” inside a 5 mile radius of a gym, I’m going to bitchslap you. And I hope you also understand the difference between building muscle and losing fat.

The Musclehead is a natural bodybuilder and the author of the brutally honest and revealing book "The Muscleheads Guide to a Godlike Physique". For more hard hitting information on how to get the body of your dreams, visit TheMusclehead.com

posted by musclehead on Oct 15, 2007 12:21 PM | 0 comments
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Instantly Increase Your Strength On Every Back Exercise- Sea...

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Sean_Nalewanyj]Sean Nalewanyj Do you want a quick, simple and instant way to increase the amount of weight you can lift on virtually every back exercise you perform? Sound too good to be true? I speak the truth, my friend, and the reality is that if you aren’t utilizing this basic piece of gym equipment you’re missing out on some serious muscle size and strength gains. What tool am I talking about?
A pair of lifting straps!
This is such a basic and highly effective piece of equipment yet so many people neglect to use them. For those of you who are unaware, these are basically a set of thick straps made of extremely strong material that are placed around your wrists and then wrapped around the barbell, dumbbell or cable attachment. The purpose of lifting straps is to “eliminate” your grip from the equation by forming a secure connection between your wrist and the weight. If you use these straps properly you can basically hold onto the bar and perform your exercises while expending almost no energy from your forearms. Why is this so valuable? Picture this scenario…You’re performing a set of deadlifts (arguably the most powerful muscle-building exercise known to man) with the goal of performing 8 reps. You psych yourself up, grip the weight and clear the bar from the ground. The set is going well, but by the time you reach rep number 5, the strain on your grip is so great that you can no longer hold onto the bar. You’re forced to stop the set because your forearms reached muscular failure. What exactly happened here? Well, you gave yourself an amazing forearm workout! Congratulations! Unfortunately you severely limited the amount of muscle stimulation you could achieve on your back, shoulders, legs, and just about every other muscle in your body that the deadlift targets in the process. This is not a good thing! Lifting straps completely eliminate this problem by making sure that you reach muscular failure in the major muscle groups that you are intending to target rather than on your forearms and grip. They can be used effectively for almost every back exercise or any other lift where the grip is of concern. The main argument against lifting straps is the idea that they are a “crutch” and will negatively affect the development of grip strength and forearm size. Let’s get real here. What would you prefer, greater muscle mass and strength in your lats and upper back (and just about every other muscle group on your body) or greater ability to crack open a jar of pickles? Take your pick. The positive effect that lifting straps will have on your overall muscle mass and strength gains will far outweigh any negative effect that they have on your forearms and grip. Besides, you can easily incorporate specific forearm movements into your routine to develop your grip strength and forearm size. If you aren’t using lifting straps already, get on it! You can find them at almost any store that sells sports or fitness equipment or you can order them online. They sell for about 10 or 15 bucks and are well worth the price! Sean Nalewanyj is a bodybuilding expert, fitness author and writer of top-selling Internet Bodybuilding E-Book: The Truth About Building Muscle. You can learn more by visiting his website: http://www.MuscleGainTruth.com/ Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sean_Nalewanyj http://EzineArticles.com/?Instantly-Increase-Your-Strength-On-Every-Back-Exercise&id=209446

posted by musclehead on Oct 15, 2007 7:11 AM | 0 comments
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