Fitness

Ever since I first discussed the importance of “the power look” and how important it is to earn respect and separate you from the pencil necks, I am repeatedly asked about how to build big traps. The best trap building exercise is the deadlift. One need look no further than the massive trap development of elite powerliters to see how effective this exercise is at building these intimidating muscles. Pussyfooting around with light weights will never get the job done. You need to deadlift heavy weights (with picture perfect form) for sets of 3-6 reps. A good goal for most… continue reading.

By Alwyn Cosgrove I presented on Real World Fat Loss at the 2007 Perform Better event in Rhode Island and the 2008 NSCA conference. As part of my presentation I talked about my “story” – why I became fascinated with fat loss and effective fat loss training — and the need to destroy the myths that surround the topic — and why it keeps me up at night scouring journals for new information. I believe that behind every person who is trying to change something — or present something new… continue reading.

Question: I have a question about how to build big calves. Mine are like string beans and I can’t get them to grow. Got any good suggestions? Answer: Whenever people ask me how to build big calves, I immediately check their training volume. High volume works best for calves. They are probably the hardest muscle to build, and if you chose the wrong parents getting them to grow is gonna be a bitch. continue reading.

Although the majority of people continue to rely on exercises like sit ups and crunches when it comes to training the abdominals, research has proven that these movements place excessive loads on the lower back, leading to a lot of pain for a lot of people. Repeated, loaded spinal flexion is one of the leading causes for disc herniation. In fact, the traditional old school, slow speed sit up has been shown to place 730 pounds of compression on the spine! Other commonly used ab exercises place over 1,000 pounds of compression on the spine!… continue reading.

Question: Coach Ferruggia, I just wanted to let you know I have been a big fan of your stuff for years and appreciate what you do. I had a quick question about football. What do you do for conditioning with your football players? When do you do it in the weekly schedule? How often? Thanks a lot man, Jared Austin Answer: Jared,… continue reading.

Question: Coach, can you give me a quick overview of how you implement plyos, speed and agility work with your athletes? Answer: Ok, just so everyone is on the same page here, plyos consist of jumping, bounding and hopping exercises. These can be done off of one or two legs. Some of the simplest and most effective plyos are vertical jumps for height, box jumps, hurdle jumps, and broad jumps. Speed work consists of short sprints from 10-50… 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… continue reading.

By Patrick Beith & Latif Thomas On a daily basis I receive emails from newsletter subscribers asking variations of the very same question: What is ‘step over drive down?’ How do you ‘step over drive down?’ What does ‘step over drive down’ actually do? I think you understand what I mean. And this is a great question that clearly needs some further explanation. The only way to get faster is to learn to apply more force to the ground. Simple Physics state that every action has an equalAnd opposite reaction. So it stands to reason that the more… continue reading.

Here are 5 random muscle building tips that may make a big difference in your training. – Don’t exceed 5-6 reps on most of your warm up sets. Your first set could consist of a very light weight for 10-20 reps just to get loosened up and get the blood flowing but beyond that you want to keep the reps low. The reason for this is that you don’t want to build up too much lactic acid or accumulate too much fatigue with your warm ups. – Don’t stretch before your workout in the hopes of preventing… continue reading.

You want to know how to gain muscle? Sick of being skinny and weak? Then start eliminating these five mistakes and you’ll be on your way. 1) Training Too Often In order to grow you must provide your body with the optimal stimulus and then back off and allow it time to rest and recover. Without ample rest time you will never grow to your maximal potential. For this reason I recommend that most average, busy, drug-free guys don’t do more than three big weight-training workouts per week. You can do some easier stuff on the other days, but three… continue reading.

I’m taking off for my birthday today and have handed the keys over to my buddy, and someone I admire and respect greatly,  Jon Hinds of Monkey Bar Gym. Enjoy… What does it mean to be truly physically fit? Feeling physically fit is definitely different for each individual. Some people feel physical fitness is the ability to bench press 300 lbs, other people say it’s making it through a full hour aerobics class, or completing a 5k run. To me, true physical fitness is the ability to do all of these things and more, at any… continue reading.

In part one of this series we discussed how to build muscle like the always-jacked-big-biceps-and-triceps sporting male gymnasts. In part two we are going to address the other most muscular athletes at the summer Olympics, the sprinters. If you took a survey of most average guys I am willing to bet that 99.9% of them would choose to look like an Olympic sprinter over just about any other physique option you gave them. Lean muscular and athletic looking; what could be better than that? I would even go so far as to argue that guys like Maurice… continue reading.

Let’s face it; nobody wants to be skinny and weak. Deep down everybody desires the ripped, muscular physique of a UFC fighter or an NFL running back. But the question that perplexes many of you is “how do I get that look?” Well search no more because I am about to teach you how to gain weight and build muscle at break neck speeds and finally achieve the head turning physique you have always dreamed of. Most skinny guys and wannabe mass monsters make numerous mistakes in their training programs and naming them all here would… continue reading.

While watching the summer Olympics the last few days you would be hard pressed not to notice the great physiques possessed by many of the athletes. But by far and away the most muscular bodies always belong to the gymnasts and the sprinters. These guys certainly know how to build muscle more effectively than most average gym rats. For years now I have been extolling the virtues of moving your body through space when you train, as opposed to simply moving your limbs around a fixed object. When you move your body through space, as the Olympic… continue reading.

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… continue reading.