Question: What should hardgainers do for their abs?
Answer: Hardgainers do not need any direct ab training. If you are doing a lot of big exercises like squats, standing presses, deadlifts and chin ups, what is doing a few sets of stability-ball crunches going to accomplish that hasn’t already been done? All of those compound exercises involve the abs and all of the core musculature tremendously. For hardgainers, adding in more volume in the form of isolation movements like crunches, reverse crunches, and things like that is just going to cut into your recovery ability and make it harder to pack on a ton of size. And remember, to see your abs your bodyfat has to be very low. That is only accomplished through proper training and diet and has nothing to do with what ab exercises you do or how many sets and reps of them you do. Don’t waste your time with thousands of reps of back breaking ab exercises in the hopes of getting a ripped six pack because it’s never going to happen.
Train hard.
For more information on how to completely transform yourself in 12 weeks or less click HERE now.
A coach who I have always admired and respected for all of his contributions to the strength and conditioning industry is Charles Staley. For years Charles has always been one step ahead of the game, introducing cutting edge training concepts that never fail to produce big time results. He also has a gift for simplifying complex information that would confuse a rocket scientist and putting it in simple terms that everyone can easily understand and benefit from.
Recently, Charles released the brand new EDT Video Guide which I had the pleasure of reviewing. This is an outstanding, yet incredibly simple to follow training system that can be done by anyone, with limited equipment, at home or in the gym in as little as 15 minutes, three times per week.
Another great thing about this system is that it works for everyone from beginners to advanced lifters. Charles has laid everything out for you in an incredibly easy to follow format. It’s literally idiot proof and there is no confusion whatsoever about what he wants you to do. If you train at home, just pop in the DVD’s… …continue reading.
I’m sure by now that many of you are familiar with the word tempo when it comes to training for fast muscle gain…Right?
No? Well, I wouldn’t feel left out or get too worried about it because it is a fairly useless concept. Tempo, in the training world, is the speed at which you perform your reps in a given set. Therefore, the correct terminology should actually be rep speed. It is typically displayed in a three-digit code. The first number represents the eccentric or lowering (also called the “negative”) portion of the rep, the second number represents an isometric contraction or pause, if there is one, and the third number represents the concentric or lifting (“positive”) portion of the rep. For example, if you lowered the weight in three seconds, took a two-second pause, and then lifted it in one second, this would be represented by a 321 tempo. A 404 would mean that you lowered the weight in four seconds, did not pause, and then lifted it in four seconds.
The concept of “tempo” was first brought to light back in the early 90’s. Plenty of people got suckered and jumped… …continue reading.
When it comes to the question of how to gain muscle, there are many things you must know and do. But, often what is more important than what you should do is what you shouldn’t do. With that in mind here are five training mistakes you should avoid like the plague.
1) Training Too Often- In order to get big you must provide your body with the optimal stimulus and then back off and allow it time to rest and recover. Without adequate rest time you will never grow to your maximum potential. For this reason I recommend that you don’t train with weights more than 3-4 days per week.
2) Training Strictly For the Pump- Far too often I see skinny guys in the gym doing set after set of 10-15 reps with poundages my grandmother would use. Yes, high volume training leads to a great pump but a great pump does not always lead to muscle growth. You can get a pump doing high rep lateral raises with water bottles but everyone knows that won’t turn you into a monster any time soon. Chasing the pump should only be a small concern in your… …continue reading.
By John Alvino
When most people attempt to perform ab workouts at home, they usually just lie on the floor and engage in a marathon of crunch repetitions. This all too common approach will never lead to a well-balanced set of six pack abs.
First of all, the basic crunch will only provide a marginally positive training effect for beginners. Once you get strong enough to crank out sets of 50-100 or more, the resistance the crunch provides is simply too little to provide a training effect.
And secondly, the crunch only works the abs in one movement pattern: trunk flexion. Trunk flexion is just one of the many different abdominal functions that must be developed in a good ab routine. Therefore, you can’t achieve a complete ab workout by using a single exercise, like the crunch, in isolation.
Instead, you need to perform several different ab exercises, each targeting a different abdominal function and/or region. This may sound confusing, but once you understand the anatomy and function of your abdominals, designing an effective ab workout is quite simple.
Don’t worry, I’m not going to bore you with a lesson in anatomy. Instead, I’m going to… …continue reading.
As most of you who have followed my writing for a while know, I have never been a big fan of protein powders. That’s because most of the junk available on the market today is made from extremely low quality protein and contains cheap fillers, artificial sweeteners and other dangerous chemicals. I learned this first hand a few years ago when I paid a lab in New Jersey to test the top selling protein powders at the time. Most of these brands tested horribly and you wouldn’t believe the crap they had in them. I learned that some of the stuff you pay $40 a bottle for only costs the company $4 to make! And the chemist told me that he “wouldn’t let his dog eat this stuff.”
The good news, that I am incredibly excited to announce, is that there is finally a protein powder which is made with 100% high quality, raw, all natural ingredients, tastes incredible, mixes instantly and contains none of the dangerous disease causing chemicals that almost every other brand out there today does.
Sun Warrior Protein is a true advancement and is by far and away the best protein powder on… …continue reading.
One of the most frequent email requests I get is for a muscle building system that will produce a massive pair of guns. Bulging biceps and thick horseshoe triceps are a look that just about every guy wants or is envious of. Nobody wants to be walking around with a pair of pipe cleaners that barely fill out the sleeves on a size medium t-shirt. So once and for all, let’s set the record straight on what it really takes to build some huge arms.
First of all, you need to take note of the fact that the biceps get worked during all forms or deadlifts, rows and chin ups. They also come into play on wide grip bench presses and some forms of Olympic lifts. The triceps receive great stimulation from all forms of pressing. So right off the bat we have to be careful not to add in too much additional direct arm work or there is a great risk of overtraining which will, of course, lead to no gains in size or strength.
The ultimate muscle building system for the arms will focus on compound… …continue reading.
When I first started training, I didn’t know any better so I went to the gym and did all the machine exercises and isolation movements that I saw everyone else doing. I figured these would all lead to fast muscle gain and I would be huge in no time.
My dad knew a steroid-using Italian guy named Tony who owned a gym and competed in several bodybuilding shows. He asked Tony if he could write me a program and Tony obliged. I was bursting with excitement and thought this would be the difference maker in my training. I met with Tony at his office one day, and in a scene that could have been straight out of an episode of The Sopranos, he interrogated me about my muscle building program. I gave him a piece of paper with my workout on it and he took a long, hard look at it.
“Here’s whatcha gonna do. And I don’t wan any a’guments. You do dis and you’ll grow. Ya undastand me?”
“Yeah, definitely. No problem.”
He pulled out a legal pad and scrawled out my new training program. It was loaded with all of the exercises that all the top… …continue reading.
By John Alvino
During my entire 16 year career as a professional fitness coach, I have experimented with every imaginable exercise protocol on myself and my many clients. This tireless journey has helped me to perfect a fat loss system that delivers unparalleled results.
My fat loss subjects have included young and old, men and women, obese and those who just want to lose “the last 10 pounds”. Actually, the only group that I never worked with was identical twins. That is, until now.
Just recently, I had two twin brothers (Angelo and Phil) hire me to design training routines for them. They are both wrestlers and needed to lose body fat while simultaneously improving their conditioning. This is my specialty, and I was very excited to work with them.
I was tempted to give them two different exercise routines (to monitor the results of each). But instead, I gave them the exact same routine, since they had the exact same goals, similar injury histories, and they were going to be training together at school. Considering that all of the variables were identical, I was expecting comparable results for both of them.
The initial program I… …continue reading.
–I don’t squat because they’re bad for the knees.
–You’re not supposed to squat below parallel.
– I don’t need to do legs because I run and go on the stairclimber.
–I’m just getting back into it. (For two years?!)
–Today is my light day. (What about all the other days?)
–I don’t care about getting strong; I just want to be big.
–I don’t care about getting big; I just want to be strong.
–I don’t want to get too big. (As if that was possible)
–I didn’t eat enough today.
–I ate too much.
–My diet has sucked lately.
–I drank too much last night.
–I haven’t had enough water today.
–I didn’t get to have coffee before my workout.
–I don’t want to get calluses.
–I don’t want to get injured.
–I don’t have time to eat that much. (Yes you do)
–I can’t eat that much. (Yes you can)
–I don’t want to get fat.
–I have crappy genetics. (Join the club)
–I just injured my_____ last week.
–I can’t squat because I have bad knees.
–I can’t squat or dead lift because I have a bad back.
–I lifted a lot more than… …continue reading.
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