3 Steps for Building Muscle and Strength
If you are looking to add on some real muscle for power results, I have included three steps below about doing so. These steps will help you build serious strength and power. These are the basics for serious strength training and should not be taken lightly. If you train and eat right, the world and beyond can be yours. With that said, your lifts are what you make of it.
Progressive Overload: When it comes to building strength, this is a pretty much basic principle to follow. This is where you start with a certain resistance or weight that you can handle with good form and slowly increase the weight and resistance over time. As time passes, your strength gradually goes up as you start to increase the load to lift more heavier weight. As an example: If you rep out 200lbs on deadlifts for a set of a set of five, add 5 more pounds each week to gradually lift heavier weight. So if you’re repping out 200 one week, rep out 205 next week, and build up from there. See where I’m getting at? Don’t try to overdo it and add 30-40 pounds each week. By overdoing it and pushing yourself beyond what your joints can handle, you’ll up with more injuries than anything else. Remember, the keyword here is progressive. So just keep that in mind.
Maximizing Body Tension: One of the keys to successful strength building is maximizing tension during your lifts. Your body’s production of tension is the definition of strength. Muscular tension equals force and force equals tension. Maximizing tension during your lifts adds more strength and force. When it comes to body weight training, you might be good at doing 50 pushups, but try doing 5 one arm pushups. It might be less reps, but more tension for your body to output more force. The more force your body creates, the more strength you’ll gain. This is one of the reasons why powerlifters and strongman competitors are so strong. This is the basis of strength training.
Compound Movements: When you want to build muscular power, doing compound exercises is a definite rule for sure. Don’t waste your time with those single isolated lifts like dumbbell curls or tricep extensions. That’s for bodybuilders. Instead of just doing dumbbell curls, try doing pullups instead. Not only do your biceps get worked, but your lats, traps, shoulders are getting worked out as well. By working out multi-joint type exercises, you trigger the natural growth of anabolic hormones and well as stimulate the nervous system.
Kickboxing to Lose Weight
If you’re looking to get in shape and lose weight, you should look into kickboxing. I have listed 5 reasons below why you should start kicking around them feet of yours!
1. For one thing, it’s fun and a big stress reliever. One of the most important aspects of training whether if you’re trying to lose weight or increase your endurance is that it’s got to be fun. If it’s not fun, you’re not training. And if you’re not having fun, the workout routine isn’t probably going to last long. If you find jogging on the treadmill or being on the stationary bicycle to be boring (which it is if you don’t have a sexy lady right next to you) then you should try kickboxing.
2. Ever heard of Billy Blanks? He has produced one of the best workout DVD series you can find, and not to mention it’s fun and intense. If the name doesn’t ring a bell, maybe “Tae-bo” does. You can do kickboxing at the comfort of your own home or even at a local martial arts studio. Doesn’t matter which as long as you’re comfortable with the surrounding environment. Being able to find kickboxing workout sessions with other groups of people might not be an easy task to find, but if you do, the benefits are well worth it.
3. If you train right, one kickboxing workout session can burn an astonishing 400-500 calories per hour. If you’re looking to lose weight, kickboxing is what you’re looking for to burn those extra calories and fat off your belly. Kickboxing also keeps your heart rate up and going at about 75% which is efficient for burning calories and stimulating exercise for your body. And it can be so much fun that you probably won’t even notice all those calories you’re burning. But not only are you burning fat and calories like a heat wave, you’re also building powerful muscle and working those fast and slow twitch muscle fibers. The more muscle you develop, the higher your metabolism will be. The higher your metabolism, the more calories you’ll burn while you are resting.
4. If you got serious about it, you could even enter a couple kickboxing competitions for the heck of it if you’re daring enough. Although, I would only consider that if you are being trained under a supervised instructor and know what they’re doing. But if not, you can still use kickboxing for your workouts at home or even at the gym.
5. Unlike running or jogging in place, kickboxing has the ability to actually add more definition to your body with all the calories you burn per workout. The results you get over time are astounding, and not only will you look great, but you’ll FEEL great as well!
Using kickboxing for your cardio workouts can be an amazing way to get stronger, lose extra poundage, look great and make new friends as well. If there’s a perfect way to exercise when it comes to intense cardio, kickboxing is definitely on top of the list.
How to Build Great Abs
For the majority of men, getting a six pack is an ultimate dream for them. And due to statistics, many females consider cut abs as one of the main attractions of a male’s body. Also having a six pack and signify that you are generally fit and a well disciplined person since getting abs is not an easy task. It’s far from an easy task and takes a lot of exercising and diet dedication.
As said already, getting a six pack let alone a four pack is not going to be easy. A lot of people fail at their goals because they don’t have a clear picture of how to get there. Some of these people spend hours in the gym overtraining and not eating correctly in the kitchen. In order to be successful in building a six pack is you also have to educate yourself on dieting. Here are four tips on how to obtain abs the quickest and most efficient way possible.
Full body and compound exercises are key – In order to get a six pack, you need to work your whole body as a whole. You won’t get the results you want by only working out your abdominal section. You would be surprised to find out how many compound exercises actually work your abdominal section to a great extent. Exercises include power cleans, deadlifts, bench press, and squats. Because in order to do these exercises efficiently, you need to have a strong core and abdominal section. By doing compound exercises, you will also trigger a higher burning caloric output. Burning more fat and calories will result in greater abs. Get my drift? You should be doing full body and compound exercise workouts at least three times a week.
Cardio training – The next tip after compound exercises is you need to implement cardio sessions to your workout schedule. By implementing cardio into your workout schedule, your body will burn more calories and fat. As mentioned, the more calories and fat you burn off, the greater your results will be as far as the visual of your abs. If you can, try to get 2-3 cardio sessions a week. Your cardio workout should last about 20-30 minutes at least. Cardio exercises include running, power walking, biking, stair climbing, swimming, jump rope, mostly anything that gets the heart rate going.
You are what you eat. When it comes to getting great abs, this part of the journey is where most people fail towards their goals. You need to get your body fat percentage down so that you can see your abs. There’s a saying that great abs are made in the kitchen, and for the most part it’s not far from the truth at all. Without eating a well balanced and healthy diet, your efforts in the gym will most likely be wasted. Don’t waste your efforts by indulging yourself by eating junk and fast food. Keep the junk food to a minimum. Best way about eating healthy is limit yourself a cheat day once a week. By allowing yourself a cheat day, you’ll be able to most likely succeed your goals and also keep your sanity. You should try to include a high protein diet and enough carbohydrates from vegetables and fruits to supply your workouts with energy.
Progression is key – The last tip I’m going to discuss is keep track of your goals and keep track of the progress you make. Doing so will allow you to make any changes to your workout routine or diet if you aren’t making your deadlines or results you are seeking. Keep notes of everything you eat and drink, and what exercises you do during your workout sessions. Also keep track of any noticeable improvements. Taking progression pictures would also probably help a great deal as well.
Fitness Over 40
Your workouts and dieting habits back when you were younger around the age of 18 were probably much different than they are today. With aging, the body goes under many physically and hormonal changes. You can’t indulge yourself into heavy weight lifting as much because of brittle joints and weaker connective tissues. The durations of your workouts are reduced because of lower energy and endurance levels. Joint pains right now are probably the least of your problems at the moment considering other health variables. These issues prevent you from working out as much when you pass the age of 40. But you don’t have to suffer the consequences of aging if only you train the right way. Here are some tips for those middle age guys that are still wanting to train like a bodybuilder:
-Muscle development should occur with proper dieting and a well planned and progressive workout routine. The use of supplements such as creatine, multi-vitamins, and protein could also help you maintain muscularity with your workouts. Also, there’s another supplement you can take called L-Arginine. It’s an amino acid that helps the production of nitric oxide, which in turns helps more blood flow throughout the circulatory system. And not to mention it also helps the production of growth hormone. Growth hormone is what keeps us younger and adaptive.
• If you’ve been away from the weights for some time now (a couple years) then body weight calisthenics and cardiovascular exercise should be the primary outlook of your workout routine. Body weight exercises include push-ups, pull-ups, dips, and squats. With your cardio workouts, you could include power walking, jogging, swimming, hiking, bicycle riding, anything that gets the heart going. As far as the duration of the exercise, you should be working out for at least 30-40 minutes per session.
• After you have adapted yourself to body weight training and you are conditioned to move up to the next step, you can move on to the wonderful world of weight lifting. Depending on your physical condition, you should start out at 4 exercises per workout with 3-4 sets of each. Within each set of an exercise, you should be able to do reps of 8-10 for muscular development. Be careful as not to over train, and keep strict form throughout all of your exercises. Being sloppy with your workouts will only induce more injuries. And as you’re getting older, you should keep in mind that recovering from injuries is not what it was like when you were 20 years younger. No offense. So let’s try to keep injuries to a minimum as much as possible.
Cross Training for Ultimate Gains in Size and Power
Cross training is the term where bodybuilders, power lifters and athletes blend different types of workout styles all into one workout routine. If you do the same workout routine over and over, your gains will start to plateau and you also start to get bored which takes the fun out of training. After all, if you’re not having fun while you’re training, what’s point at all right? So to increase the amount of fun in your workouts, you should try cross training. I for one cross train my workouts, and gains never cease to stop. They keep on coming one after another. Cross training helps increase your endurance and boosts your performance levels.
Prime examples of cross training can include other sports as well and not just weight lifting. For example, rugby players might try mixed martial arts, swimmers might try long distance bike riding, or even sprinters might try weight lifting for a change. To enhance your performance and endurance levels, you should try blending all forms of exercise into your routines. Cross training helps you to develop all aspects of the human body and not just a single point. So the best way to be all around is to train all around.
Choose exercises that boost overall muscle and power development. Bicycling and running can be good for cardio, but don’t choose exercises that just work the same group of muscles. On the other hand for full bodily development, you could try swimming instead.
In order for fast recovery and muscle fatigue, adequate rest each night is a major must. If you’re not getting enough rest, you’re not going to grow in terms of performance and muscularity. Eight to nine hours of sleep per night is a must if you plan on staying fresh both physically and mentally. Also, what you eat determines how your body develops as well. It’s recommended to eat 6-7 small meals a day, with 2-3 hours apart for each meal. By doing this, you’ll boost your body’s metabolism and fat burning properties. You should have a healthy diet that includes lots of protein, vegetables, and fruits.
That said, cross training can be beneficial for nearly anyone. Even if you train to be a bodybuilder, power lifter, or just a normal average joe to lift weights, cross training will boost your performance levels. Even just changing up your workout routine for a week or so will reap many benefits.
