– Avoid plastics as much as possible. Drinking out of plastic bottles and eating out of tupperware containers has been shown to increase your estrogen. More estrogen equals less muscle and more fat.
– If you drink protein or meal replacement shakes be sure not to blend them up too thin. Ideally you want them to be thick enough that you have to chew them. Chewing stimulates the production of certain digestive enzymes which are released in your saliva and help you breakdown and process food more efficiently. If one twin drank ten cans of soda per day and then other had an equal amount of sugar from fat free cake, the twin who drank the soda would be fatter at the end of 12 weeks. Chewing your food is that important. Not to mention the fact that your body doesn’t burn as many calories during the digestion process when you consume fluids because they are so easily digested. So to at least try to combat this, make your shakes a bit on the thicker side or at the very least “chew” them down.
– Hold the bottom stretched position on calf raises for at least two seconds on every… …continue reading.
It never fails to make me laugh when I see 136 pound guys in the gym training their rear delts. Does anyone know how ridiculous this? If you have been training for a number of years and have gained at least 40-50lbs of muscle and added at least 200+ lbs to your deadlift then you can start to think about to add in some rear delt training on occasion. Maybe not do it, but think about it.
Here is the real secret rear delt/ rhomboid/ upper back exercise that will pack more meat on those muscles than any other…
The deadlift.
If you start with a 225 pound deadlift today and increase that over the next few years to a 500 pound deadlift I can guarantee you that your rear delts, rhomboids, lower and upper traps will be enormous… or at least far bigger than they are right now.
Do you really think a bent over lateral raise with 20lb dumbbells is going to do more than a 500 pound deadlift? Not a shot in hell.
So until you have met the qualifications I listed above (or are injured), I suggest that you ditch the bent over laterals, the… …continue reading.
Question: I’ve read that stretching before your workout lowers your power for about
15mins after the stretch, which is the bulk of the lifting session. Is that
true? If so, should I be stretching at all before my workouts? Thanks!
-SSgt Carol L. Miller Jr.
Answer: Carol, it is debatable how long this negative effect lasts. I don’t recommend stretching statically before training unless you absolutely need to in order for you to get into certain positions. This means that if you have chronically tight hips and can’t squat properly without hitting a few static stretches before then by all means do so. If you do this, try not to hold the stretches for longer than ten seconds and then repeat as many times as needed. Also, after holding the static stretch be sure to briefly contract the muscle for a second or two. Doing this seems to prevent some of the negative effects. A better option would be dynamic or PNF stretching where you stretch the muscle against resistance. PNF stretching is also known as the contract/relax method.
If you don’t need to stretch before training then definitely don’t. It does nothing to improve performance… …continue reading.
Today’s post is stolen from my good friend Keith Scott of KeithScottTraining.com.
I agree 100% with what he said and wanted to share it with you in case you have been living under a rock and haven’t started taking fish oil yet.
*******
The INCREDIBLE Benefits of Fish Oil
By Keith Scott
If you don’t supplement with fish oil then you are missing out on one of the best researched, most effective and important supplements on the market. Before I start with the benefits, a quick explanation of what fish oil is might help to start this off in the right direction.
Fish oil is derived mostly from the fatty tissues of cold water, fatty fish such as mackerel, herring, trout, sardines, and albacore tuna. Fish oil is considered an essential fatty acid (EFA) and contains mostly the omega 3 fatty acid.
With each day that goes by, there seems to be more and more research out there claiming another great benefit of supplementing with fish oil. To summarize the gist of what has been written and research in a few words; this stuff is pretty amazing!
Reported Benefits of Supplementing with Fish Oil:
• Fat… …continue reading.
Drink more water. Not only is it healthy and not only does it keep all systems running effectively but it also helps store carbohydrates more efficiently. A lack of water can also decrease performance. If you are slightly dehydrated you will automatically be weaker.
Dehdration can also lead to catabolism.
Whoa!
Say what?
That’s right, my friends, dehydration can lead to muscle catabolism (muscle loss). More people are dehydrated than know it. If your urine isn’t clear there is a good chance that you are not optimally hyrated. And if you are not hydrated then you could be getting smaller and weaker.
Now stop staring at Jessica Biel’s ass and go drink some water.
Question: I have heard that the bench press is a crappy chest exercise. Is this true? If it sucks, what’s better?
Answer: The bench press is a great exercise. If you bench properly, there will be minimal pectoral involvement, however. The triceps and front delts will do most of the work. This is individual and is based on your strengths and weaknesses, but for the most part, your chest will not be doing the majority of the work when you bench press.
Trying to make the bench press target the pecs more by bringing your elbows out wide and lowering the bar up higher on your chest (the way that bodybuilding magazines typically show you how to do it) is a shoulder injury waiting to happen, so that’s not an option to even consider. I did these many years ago for a few months before I knew any better and my shoulder has never been the same since. Don’t make the same mistakes that I did.
Even though the pecs do not do the majority of work during the bench press I still think it’s is a tremendous, if somewhat overused, mass builder for the whole upper body.… …continue reading.
I just wanted to take a second to wish everyone a very happy & healthy holiday season. Thanks for all your support this year, I really appreciate it. I hope you have a great one.
Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays,
Jay
I was asked recently about some of the biggest misconceptions and excuses that exist when it comes to muscle building. Read on for my answers…
Question: There is a lot of conflicting training advice out there online, in books, on TV and especially in magazines. What do you think the top myths or misconceptions regarding weight training are?
Answer: That you need a high volume of training. This is a myth that has been passed down from one generation to the next and people continue to blindly follow this protocol without thinking rationally. There is no hard evidence anywhere that you need to use high volume training to get bigger and stronger. Sure lots of guys with great genetics and/or a great pharmacist make progress on high volume training but that doesn’t mean it’s the right way to train.
That you need to hit muscles from a multitude of angles for full development.
That you need a full dynamic warm up before weight training. You don’t. Before sprinting, yes; before lifting, no.
That bodypart splits are the most effective way to train.
Another misconception is that you need a boatload of supplements to make great progress. The bottom line… …continue reading.
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