Question: Coach, What is the difference between using chains around your neck on dips versus using a traditional dip belt? Thanks, Keith Connel Answer: Keith, chains around your neck will force your body forward. This will place more stress on the chest. Hanging weights from your waist on a dip belt will keep you more upright and thus put more stress on the triceps. Question: Hey, I’m finding it hard to get eight hours sleep, six if I’m lucky. With my job and my body clocks all over the place. I have’nt been able to progress these last… continue reading.

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 for another month. Make it… continue reading.

Here’s a quick list of a dozen simple muscle building tips that you can start using immediately. 1)  Do Full Body Workouts as a Newbie As a newbie you need frequent exposure to strength training for two reasons. The first is that you will be too weak to do any kind of damage that will demand longer recovery. The second is that you need to learn the lifts. When learning anything you want to do it more often than less. Three workouts per week consisting of a lower body compound movement, an upper body push and an upper body pull… continue reading.

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 train three days per week rotating through the… continue reading.

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… continue reading.

Today I’m going to show you a few cool exercises you can do with the TRX Straps. Everyone knows by now that I am a huge fan of heavy, traditional exercises like squats and deadlifts, but for years I have always preached the value of bodyweight exercises and moving your body through space. This elicits a higher level of neuromuscular activation than simply moving your limbs around a fixed object and helps you build muscle and develop strength faster. Most of my workouts include some kind of big heavy barbell or dumbbell lift for… continue reading.

By Dave Ruel, “The Muscle Cook” Makes 1 Serving (About 3 Muffins) Ingredients * – 3/4 cup oatmeal * – 1/4 cup Oat Bran * – 6 Egg Whites * – 1/2 scoop (15g) of Vanilla Protein Powder * – 1/4 teaspoon of Baking Soda * – 1/4 teaspoon stevia * – 1 tbsp of Flax Oil * – 1 diced Apple * – 2 Tbsp of Unsweetened Apple Sauce * – 1/2 teaspoon of Cinnamon * – 1/2 teaspoon of Vanilla Extracts Directions * 1. continue reading.

– Rebel Without A Pause- Public Enemy – We’re Back- Bobby Creekwater, Cashis, Eminem, Obie Trice & Stat Quo – Renegade- Hed PE – Bleed it Out- Linkin Park – PscyhoSocial- Slipknot – War Within a Breath- Rage Against The Machine – Fish Out of Water- Mudvayne – Davidian- Machinehead – Zero- Smashing Pumpkins… continue reading.

Barbell- Squat, Deadlift, Military press Dumbbell- 1 Arm Row, Flat Dumbbell Press, Dumbbell Military Press Bodyweight- Pistol Squat, Chin Up, Dip Kettlebell- Clean, Snatch, Swing Sandbag- Shouldering, Zercher Squat, Walking Lunge Keg- Clean, Overhead Press, Snatch Medicine Ball- Chest Pass, Soccer Throw, Rotational Throw Log- Clean, Clean and Press, Bench Press Suspension Straps- Pushups, Inverted Rows, Ab Fallouts Swiss Ball- Flat Dumbbell Presses, Flat to Incline Dumbbell Presses, Sledgehammer- Overhead Swing, Rotational Swing, Forearm Exercises Power Wheel- Handwalking, Alligator Pushup, Pike or Ab Roll Out Thick Ropes- Rows, Tug of War, Battling for Conditioning Fat… continue reading.

After what seems like a hundred years of training a million people I can unequivocally state that your results in the gym are directly proportional to your IQ. You either “get it,” or you don’t. The first time someone walks in the gym I usually have a pretty good idea of what their long term progress will be within thirty seconds of meeting them. If not, I know for sure by the end of their first workout. Their attitude, work ethic, and usually most importantly, intelligence are the telltale signs of where they will be… continue reading.

Guns, jacks, pipes, hooks, pythons… Whatever you call them, the fact remains that most guys want to know how to build bigger arms. While they are nowhere near as impressive, rarely seen and as intimidating as a big set of traps, you still don’t want to have and extra six inches of space in your shirt sleeves; that’s for sure. So the question is how do you go about building bigger arms? The answer is not as simple as you might assume. If it were easy, you would see tons of guys walking around with 18 inch… continue reading.

The late “Iron Guru,” Vince Gironda once said that 80% of building muscle is nutrition. While I don’t agree with that exact percentage, I will say that what you eat is just as important as how you train, if not more so, when you are trying to gain muscle. Many skinny guys often complain that they can’t eat enough or that they aren’t hungry. Other skinny guys come to the gym and tell me that they are eating a ton and wonder why they can’t gain weight. continue reading.

Today we are going to discuss how to improve on chin ups. Chin ups are one of the best overall muscle and strength building exercises around. The problem is that many beginners can’t do a single rep and many intermediate trainees can not seem to progress on them no matter what they do. One very simple solution is to get a big rubber band and loop it around the bar to assist you, as shown in the accompanying video. Start with a strong enough band that allows you to do 5 reps. When… continue reading.

Many people live in constant fear that too much cardio will cause them to lose muscular size and strength. Therefore they just decide to spend their lives fat, out of shape and unhealthy. They’d rather have one foot in the grave at all times than walk around any smaller or weaker. Growing up a skinny maggot I certainly understand this fear as it dominated many years of my life. These fears are not unfounded as too much cardio will, indeed, eat away muscle tissue and cause strength losses. But that’s traditional, steady state, outdated lame-o cardio done on a machine. continue reading.

Question: If you train four days a week using an upper/lower split, what is the optimal way to schedule the days? Should I do lower body first followed by an upper-body day, or vice versa? Does it matter? Answer: The traditional way of answering this question is that you should train whatever needs the greatest attention earlier in the week. Sometimes I follow these guidelines and sometimes I don’t. In most cases, I actually prefer to do an upper-body day first, followed by a… continue reading.