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The Best Fat Loss Exercise?

June 23, 2008

010507 biel 200x400 The Best Fat Loss Exercise?Today I have a special guest post from my friend and colleague, John Alvino. Check it out…

I get asked all the time, “What is the best fat loss exercise?” In reality, there is no single “best fat loss exercise”. Instead, you must have a database full of several extremely effective fat loss exercises. When you have many great exercises to choose from, you will eliminate mental boredom and physical staleness, and you will always keep your body challenged. This helps ensure continued progress, prevents overuse injuries and keeps you excited to workout.

That being said, I do have some favorites. I will now share with you one fat loss exercise that consistently sits on the top of my list. This exercise is particularly effective and can be performed anywhere without any equipment whatsoever. Even better, it is one of the most time efficient exercises you can do. When done properly, just a few quick minutes of this exercise can burn as much fat as biking for an entire hour!

The exercise that I’m referring to is the Advanced Burpee. Since technique is of the utmost importance when performing this exercise, I will describe to you in detail how to properly execute the Advanced Burpee. Below, I will break down the movement into four simple steps:

1) Stand with a shoulder width stance. Squat down and put your hands on the ground in front of your feet.

2) Next, kick your feet back while lowering your chest to the ground. This step will essentially put you in the bottom position of a push up.

3) Then, push your chest away from the floor while simultaneously thrusting your legs back up into the squat position with the hands still on the floor.

4) Finish the movement by explosively jumping up in the air. Upon landing, quickly drop back down into the squat position and continue for the prescribed number of reps.

There are many ways to integrate this exercise into your routine. Explaining all of the options is beyond the scope of this article. I will, however, give you one simple yet effective option that you can begin utilizing immediately.

Set a timer for five minutes. Perform as many Advanced Burpees as possible during the five minute time period. Only good quality, explosive reps count. Pace yourself. Write down the number of reps performed. Then every time you repeat this workout, try to exceed the number of reps you performed during the previous workout.

Continue this pattern until no more progress can be made. Once this point is reached, it’s time to change your workout.

You now have an extremely effective fat burning routine that utilizes one of the best fat burning exercises. Even better, it takes only five minutes to perform. Work hard and challenge yourself! You’ll be rewarded greatly for it.

For detailed pics and more in depth descriptions of this and other outstanding fat burning exercises as well as the most effective fat burning workouts anywhere on the internet, click HERE now.

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Written by jasonferruggia · Filed Under Fat Loss | 1 Comment 

New Muscle Building Interview

June 17, 2008

rope row2 300x224 New Muscle Building InterviewI was interviewed recently by Truly Huge and thought I would share it here with everyone.

Q: What got you started with weight training?

JF: I was a painfully skinny kid and always hated that. It tortured me and really affected my self confidence. My cousin was dating a pro wrestler who was absolutely enormous and he was the one who got me really into it. I wanted to be just like him so I started hitting the iron. Unfortunately I was doing a lot of the wrong things and wasted a lot of years before I discovered the right way.

Q: What is it about weight training that you love so much?

JF: I love training hard, getting stronger and making progress. I love lifting heavy shit. I love doing what so many people don’t have the heart, dedication or balls to do. I love competing with myself and with my training partners. I love unleashing my pent up anger and aggression couple times a week at the gym. I love how it all makes me feel physically, mentally and emotionally.

Q: What adversities have you had to overcome?

JF: I have some of the worst muscle building genetics imaginable. Neither of my parents is over 140 pounds soaking wet. So I had that working against me from the get go. Then after I had gained my first fifty pounds of muscle I got really sick with tuberculosis and nearly died. I had to be rushed to the hospital to have my lungs drained and then was on bed rest for six months. I shriveled down to nothing and was even smaller than when I started. But I battled my way back, regained the fifty pounds and added another thirty plus on top of that. I just wanted it and nothing was going to stand in my way.

TH: What are your favorite and least favorite exercises?

JF: Deadlifts and clean and presses are my favorite exercises by far. Next would be a tie between squats, military presses, dips, weighted blast strap pushups and 1 arm rows. I also love strongman exercises like tire flips, car pushes, keg lifts, farmers walks and the like.

I hate most isolation exercises and machine exercises with a passion. I like heavy, compound free weight and odd object lifting. There is no torture that I could imagine that would be worse than being forced to go to the gym every day and do leg extensions, cable flyes, leg curls, concentration curls, and those types of exercises.

Q: What has been your favorite weight training or bodybuilding moment so far?

JF: Definitely getting all the great feedback from my book Muscle Gaining Secrets (http://www.MuscleGainingSecrets.com/ ) and hearing all of the stories from those that I helped. I know how frustrating it can be, not knowing who to listen to or what to believe so it really makes me happy to hear that people are getting mind blowing results with the program and are avoiding a lot of the pitfalls that I fell victim to. I got in this business to help people and did so with hundreds of people in my own gym but now with Muscle Gaining Secrets I am able to help thousands and it really makes me happy.

Q: What are your tips for the beginner, intermediate and advanced bodybuilders?

JF: Contrary to what most people say, beginners shouldn’t use high reps. They don’t have the control or stability to safely perform high reps. Also when you are trying to learn a new exercise you don’t want to be doing twenty reps where the possibility of form breaking down is much greater. You want to stick with five reps so that each rep will be done with perfect form. I don’t recommend that beginners go above eight reps for at least their first six months of training.

Beginners should do full body workouts three times per week.

I don’t believe that most people should do more than 16-24 sets per workout, train for longer than 45 minutes or lift weights more than four times per week; and three is usually better for the drug free lifter with average genetics and recovery ability.

I believe in using predominantly big, compound exercises like presses, chins, dips, rows, squats and deadlifts. I believe in lifting heavy and always following the progressive overload principle. I believe in keeping a training journal and always trying to beat your previous performance.

I believe in carb/ calorie cycling but I also believe that high protein intake is overrated for building muscle.

I believe that everyone should do some kind of cardio/ energy system work to keep lean and stay healthy and in shape. Cardio also increases your appetite and helps allow you to eat more muscle building calories without getting fat.

Advanced guys need to be more concerned about recovery than beginners and intermediates do, so I recommend that they do even fewer sets and take time off even more frequently. Also, contrary to what some coaches recommend, I think some advanced guys would be better served to do slightly higher reps than newbies and intermediates. Whereas newbies should stick with five’s and intermediates should focus mainly on sets of 5-8 reps, advanced guys might be better off lifting in the 8-12 range more frequently just to stay safe and injury free.

Thanks Jason.

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Written by jasonferruggia · Filed Under Muscle Building | 4 Comments 

The Power Look

June 13, 2008

BROC The Power LookNothing says power like a big set of traps and a thick neck. Think about it. When you’re out somewhere and you see a guy with massive traps and huge neck you automatically know he’s the last guy in the joint that you’d ever want to mess with. Maybe he’s an ex wrestler. Maybe he competes in MMA. Or maybe he played football. You don’t know but you definitely don’t want to find out.

No other muscle groups instill fear in and command respect from all those around you like the traps and neck do.

Plenty of pumped up pretty boys walk around with decent sized arms weighing all of 159 pounds. An equal amount of guys have built up a pretty good sized chest since it’s the only muscle they ever train. But big arms and a big set of pecs do nothing to command respect. In fact, if all you have going for you are big arms you are more likely to get laughed at then be looked at in fear.

“Look at the pencil neck pretty boy showing off his guns.”

If you really want to look powerful, athletic and intimidating you need to develop the traps and neck aka “the yoke.”

When it comes to achieving the power look the first exercise you need to be concerned with is the deadlift. The deadlift packs size on the traps like nothing else. You are going to want to deadlift at least once per week for 2-3 sets of 3-12 reps. Be sure to use the heaviest weights you can handle with good form and don’t be afraid to use straps if your grip is weak.

Next on the list come Olympic lifting variations such as hang cleans, power cleans, high pulls, and shrug pulls. These Olympic lifts build up huge traps and can be done more frequently than deadlifts. If you are really trying to build up the traps rapidly I recommend that you do some sort of Olympic lift variation at least once per week, if not three times for 3-5 sets of 1-6 reps.

Another great trap building exercise is the shrug. Shrugs can be done with barbells or dumbbells and with heavy weight for low reps and a partial range of motion or lighter reps for high reps with a full range of motion. I recommend that you use both approaches for full trap development once or twice a week after your deadlifts or Olympic lifts.

With the traps taken care of you need to move on to your neck. You simply can’t beat an old school neck harness with a plate attached to it for neck development. Other great neck exercises are manual resistance flexion and extension exercises with a partner or isometric supports against a stability ball. To do the partner resisted exercises simply lie down on a flat bench with your head hanging off and have a partner drape a towel over your head and provide resistance as you move up and down. Be sure not to use extreme ranges of motion on neck work or you could put yourself at risk for injury.

The neck should be trained two or three days per week for 2-3 sets of 10-25 reps. Personally I like to train flexion one day, extension another day and rotation or lateral flexion on the third day.

Stick with the yoke building plan for the next eight weeks and get ready for guys to start stepping aside when they see you coming.

For more great muscle building workouts go to MuscleGainingSecrets.com now.

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Written by jasonferruggia · Filed Under Muscle Building | 2 Comments 

Steer Clear of the Mansierre

June 4, 2008

seinfeld episode104 337x233 040420061512 Steer Clear of the MansierreSeinfeld fans will undoubtedly never forget the episode in which Frank Costanza and Kramer invented the mansierre, which was a bra for men with excessive breast development. While we all laughed hysterically some people were just the slightest bit uncomfortable because the reality is that an inordinate number of men have “moobs,” or man boobs.

This is often due to excessively high body fat levels. But it can also be due to high levels of estrogen. Having high estrogen can not only cause you to gain body fat in the chest and lower abdominal area but it can lead to numerous health issues and diseases. Unfortunately more and more males are suffering from increasingly high estrogen levels and this is leading to the continued feminization of the male species as we know it. Today, the average male has a testosterone level that is 15-50% (depending on the study you read) lower than it was 50 years ago. This is an epidemic, my friends.

It has to stop now before it’s too late.

How do you do that, you ask?

Simple. Follow my advice below and you will start to get your estrogen levels in check immediately and hopefully eliminate your need for ever having to call up Kramer and Frank for one of their prized inventions.

1) Don’t eat fake foods. This means most foods that come out of a box, bag or can should be off your list. The rare exceptions are oats, brown rice and legumes. If a cavemen couldn’t eat it, you shouldn’t eat. All the chemicals and artificial junk that they put in most foods these days can lead to increased estrogen levels and numerous other health problems.

2) Avoid eating and drinking out of plastic as much as possible. This has been linked with increased estrogen levels.

3) Eat only organic, pesticide and chemical free produce, preferably purchased from a local farmers market.

4) Avoid all meat and dairy unless you are 100% sure that it is drug free and organic. All of the drugs and hormones that go into most animal and dairy products will wreak havoc on your body, dramatically boost estrogen levels and lead to heart disease and cancer. Also be sure to eat only beef that is from grass fed and not grain fed cows.

5) Limit your consumption of fish and try to be sure that it is fresh catch and from clean water sources. Unfortunately we have destroyed and polluted many of the lakes, oceans, streams and rivers on the planet and because of that a lot of the fish we consume these days is loaded with PCB’s and dioxins that you should really avoid as much as possible. You should also support clean water laws and organizations like Waterkeeper.

6) Only drink purified water. Our water quality continues to worsen all the time and is filled with numerous toxins and estrogenic compounds. Surprisingly, NYC has great water quality. Other places are not so fortunate.

7) Consume citrus fruits regularly. These have been proven effective in the fight against estrogen.

8] Eat lots of cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli and cauliflower. These have also been shown to have anti estrogenic properties.

9) If you must drink alcohol try to avoid beer as much as you can because it is highly estrogenic; thus the acclimation of a beer belly. Red wine is a far better choice and may actually be anti estrogenic.

10) Eat a good amount of organic nuts and seeds. A high intake of organic nuts has been linked to increased virility in men.

11) And finally, be sure to only train with short, high intensity workouts that actually boost testosterone levels. This includes resistance training and energy system work. Unfortunately, the wrong training program can actually make things worse instead of better.

For more tips and tricks to skyrocket your testosterone levels and rid yourself of excessive estrogen for good, go to http://www.MuscleGainingSecrets.com/ now.

Be relentless,
Jason Ferruggia

Please leave your comments below.

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Written by jasonferruggia · Filed Under Nutrition | 8 Comments