2009 May | How to Build Muscle, Gain Strength & Become a Better Athlete

Archive | May, 2009

30 Questions

30. May, 2009 22 Comments How to Build Muscle, Strength & Conditioning, Training Music

Does anyone actually like doing front squats?

Why do so many people think that front squats are somehow magically more “sport specific” than back squats?

When did getting strong get so complicated?

Has anyone who weighs above 185 ever tried to wear a regular American Apparel t-shirt? The 50/50 blends and the 50/25/25 blends are good. But the regular cotton tee… Man, is that a funny look. The upper body is skin tight and then it flares out to a giant moo-moo dress at the bottom. Strange..

Is everyone in the fitness industry now [...]

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How to Build Muscle & Lose Fat for the Summer

27. May, 2009 11 Comments Fat Loss, How to Build Muscle, Motivation

Since Memorial Day Weekend, which is the unofficial start of summer, just passed, I have a question for you…

Did you meet all of your goals that you had set? Did you live up to those New Year’s resolutions? Did you gain all the size and strength that you vowed you would? Were you as lean as you hoped?

If the answer is no then you need to ask yourself why. And you need to step it up a notch. Where I’m from the beach season doesn’t really get into full swing [...]

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The Poor Man’s Evel Knievel

26. May, 2009 1 Comments How to Build Muscle, Strength & Conditioning

“Dude, I broke my fucking shoulder again.” I said, referring to the torn rotator cuff I have been rehabbing after surgery that resulted in me losing almost all size and strength after a very long layoff from the gym.

He’s heard this from me plenty of times before so it was no shocker.

“What’d you do now?”

“Went way too heavy on log clean and presses, which I know, are not the smartest exercise to be doing right now, but I can’t hold back anymore.

Anyway, that was about two weeks ago. So I [...]

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Tell Me What YOU Want

20. May, 2009 258 Comments Uncategorized

Today I need to ask a favor of all my readers. In an effort to serve you guys better I would like to get your feedback on what you want more of. I have a to-do-list a mile long, but before I start knocking items off the list I need to be sure I am giving you exactly what you want. Besides, of course, an hour alone with the Argentinean girls soccer team…

I have gotten a lot of requests for training DVD’s, advanced mass building guides for those who have [...]

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12 Simple Muscle Building Tips

18. May, 2009 38 Comments How to Build Muscle

Here’s a quick list of a dozen simple muscle building tips that you can start using immediately.

–If you are a beginner or intermediate do full body workouts.

–If you are advanced you have the choice between full body and upper/lower splits. It really depends on how strong you are, how beat up you are and what exercises you will be using. If you are including squats and deads you most likely need an upper/lower split. If not you could probably do full body.

–When in doubt do more chin ups, dips and [...]

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When to do Conditioning For Fast Fat Loss

14. May, 2009 20 Comments Fat Loss, How to Build Muscle, Strength & Conditioning

With summer rapidly approaching I’ve been getting lots of questions about which conditioning methods will help you lose fat fast and get in playing shape without compromising your size or strength, and exactly when should you do them.

First of all, I recommend a strength training schedule of Monday, Wednesday and Friday. This leaves Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday or Sunday for conditioning and/or playing. To start you should be training on a four way upper/lower split. This means that you have two upper body days and two lower body days. You [...]

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How to Gain Muscle Fast with the Proper Rest Intervals

13. May, 2009 6 Comments How to Build Muscle

My Uncle Rory from Scotland was the only guy on either side of my family who could be considered big. Neither of my parents has ever weighed more than 140 pounds and nobody on either side, except me and my brother, ever even made it past 185. But Uncle Rory was different. He was not only big, he was massive. He also taught me quite a bit about how to gain muscle fast.

My family and I went to Uncle Rory’s house for a backyard barbecue one summer day, as we [...]

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I Recommend You Do WHAT?!

08. May, 2009 8 Comments How to Build Muscle

By now most of you who are familiar with my training know that I am a big fan of lifting heavy. There is simply no faster way to get big and strong. You go heavy on the big exercises like squats, chins and deadlifts, you eat like a man on a mission and you maximize your recovery ability by limiting stress, stretching, foam rolling and sleeping a lot. When you do that and make consistent increases in bar weight and scale weight you will end up a much larger version [...]

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Olive Oil, Supplements & Heavy Arm Work

07. May, 2009 19 Comments How to Build Muscle, Nutrition

Question: Hey dude…
read on ur blog and twitter about consuming olive oil for extra calories etc….is there a proper way to do it?
I tried one tsp today and came damn close to throwing up and gagging…lol!
Help a brother out…
Matthew Blacker

Answer: Matthew, you gotta man up. Olive oil really isn’t that disgusting. You could always mix it in a shake but the easiest and quickest way is to just take a tablespoon or two straight down the pie hole after each meal. There are other holes that it works in as [...]

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Roasted Chicken Breast with Spinach & Walnut Stuffing

06. May, 2009 0 Comments Recipes

By Dave “The Muscle Cook” Ruel

Makes 4 Servings

Ingredients
* – 4 large fresh chicken breasts, boneless and skinless (average 8oz per breast)
* – 4 cups fresh spinach
* – 2 Tbsp of garlic
* – 1/4 cup walnuts crushed
* – Salt
* – Fresh ground black pepper
* – Olive oil (not extra virgin)

Directions
* 1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Butterfly Chicken Breasts (cut along side and lay out flat leaving attached at one end like a book) and lay out flat on cutting board. You can pound it slightly to flatten a bit if [...]

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