How To Lift Weights Effectively

There are times where every beginning weightlifter will wonder if he is wasting his time or living up to his potential in the gym. Everyone wants to build muscle, but those who build the most muscle are the ones who are knowledgeable on all the aspects of training. Any seasoned lifter will tell you that in order to build muscle and bulk up effectively you have to have good form in all of your exercises.

1. First off, it should be noted that compound exercises are the most effective routines for building mass and bulking up. They are also considered supreme for building overall strength. Compound exercises work the body so much that human growth hormone levels are elevated and thus bulk increased. Your body will stack on the pounds. Just make sure that you have a good routine and diet in place.

2. It is relatively simple to practice good form for many isolation exercises like lat pull downs and tricep extensions. However, once you enter the realm of compound lifts, it becomes increasingly difficult to manage great form. A precursor to good form is research, check out animations in magazines and watch videos on YouTube. Being educated is the most important step!

3. Always use warm-up sets to hammer out any weaknesses in your form. Make sure you are in front of a mirror and able to see yourself for the duration of the set. Do not let yourself lose concentration and go sloppy at the end of a heavy set, this is when it matters the most!

4. Focus more during the eccentric part of the rep. The eccentric phase of any lift is the phase when the weight is being lowered. Essentially, it is traditionally viewed as the easy part of a rep. This has been called the number one mistake beginning body builders make. Put just as much effort into lowering the weight with good form as you do lifting the weight! This can really make a difference in your bench press efficiency.

5. It's not a bad idea to record your lifts on video for later analysis.

If you are seeing lackluster or minimal gains, make sure your form is in check. Your goal here should be perfection in every compound exercise. Cleaning up your form will also ensure that your muscles grow in a balanced manner. Proper form can also lower your injury risk significantly, especially during dead lifts and squats.

Learn how to gain weight fast with a proper diet, workout routine, and cutting-edge supplements.

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Human Growth Hormone Releasers - How Do They Help Promote Muscle Development?

When you think of growth hormone releasers, the first thing that probably comes to mind is HGH pills like HyperGH 14x. These products are said to work by helping your body to grow its lean muscle mass quickly and efficiently. They are used as a supplement to your workouts and you will not gain muscle mass if you do not put the work into the process.

It doesn't matter how old you are when you begin using growth hormone releasers, as these products are known even to improve health of men later on in life. Remember that studies have shown certain pills can actually help improve your health, rather than hinder it -- these pills are not an allopathic medication; they are a nutritional supplement that promotes the release of Growth Hormone. In the end, you have the choice to select a growth hormone releaser to supplement your diet and help you tone your muscles without the use of any illegal products, as this will help your overall levels of fitness and health.

If you are looking to purchase any kind of HGH pills, you should first look at the benefits that these items will provide for you. Just like anything else, some of these products can harm you if not taken properly. And some of the better hormone releasers, such as HyperGH 14x, are said to work well because they help you reduce your body fat percentage and increase your muscle mass in a natural way.

These pills do not pump extra HGH into your system, but rather help your body to produce more naturally, leading to healthy muscle gains. It is dangerous to rely on synthetic HGH for muscle gain because it can cause health problems in the future. By getting your body to produce additional growth hormone, however, you do not have to worry about these drawbacks.

Supplements like HyperGH 14x can also help you to recover from a workout, as they allow your muscles to return to their previous state at a quicker pace. Whenever you workout heavily, you will end up with tiny tears in your muscle fibers from the weight that you have lifted.

In order for your body to grow, you must wait for those tears to heal. The tears heel by generating additional muscle fibers, which is why your muscles grow. HGH pills can help this muscle fiber regenerate at a faster pace, which means that you need less time in between your workouts. In the end, this can allow you to gain results in as little as six weeks, without taking any illegal supplements.

Exercise also causes your body to produce growth hormone, although people produce this at different rates. Those who find themselves producing the hormone at low rates often look to HGH pills to help them out. The problem is that synthetic HGH can be harmful and once you begin seeing the results, people often find it difficult to stop.

Products like HyperGH 14x, however, are not synthetic, as they simply help your body to produce more of the hormone on its own. This is perfect for those who are willing to put the work in, but simply want their bodies to respond and recover faster.

HyperGH 14x is safe for men of all ages and unlike anabolic steroids or synthetic HGH pills, it is completely legal. If you want to get better results when working out without taking drugs, a natural growth hormone releaser is probably right up your alley.

Christian Spears has written an excellent HyperGH 14x article. You can also read his HyperGH 14x Reviews post here.

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Build Bigger Biceps and Show Off Those Arms

Building bigger biceps is one of the more popular areas that bodybuilders like to concentrate on.

As with other areas of the body such as the abs, back, chest, and legs the abs have specific bodybuilding exercises to promote building muscle in the biceps.

Arm Exercises

There are three main parts of your arm:

*The biceps (often called "guns" by body builders).

*The triceps (which are on the opposite side of your biceps on your upper arms).

*Forearms and wrists.

Here are some arm exercises that will help you build muscle:

FOR THE TRICEPS:

*Tricep Dips - You will need a bench do this exercise. Stand in front of the bench lower your body and put your hands slightly more than shoulder width apart on the edge of bench behind you. Now straighten out your arms and keep a little bend in your elbows. Now slowly bend your elbows and lower your body down towards the floor until your arms are at about a 90° angle, be sure to keep your back close to the bench. Then slowly press off of your hands and push yourself straight back up to the starting position. Repeat

*Tricep Cable Push Downs - You will need a cable set up to do this exercise. Face the high pulley and grab the cable T-bar attachment with an overhand narrow grip. Extend your arms down and then return until your forearm is close to upper arm. Repeat

* Close Grip Bench Press - Lie down on a bench and grasp barbell from the rack with a shoulder with grip. Lower the weight to your chest with elbows close to body. Push the barbell back up until your arms are straight. Repeat. Note the grip can be slightly narrower than shoulder width but not too close.

FOR THE BICEPS:

*Dumbbell Curl - Grab the dumbbell on a preacher bench. With arm bent and palm facing shoulder, place back of arm down on pad. Lower dumbbell until arm is fully extended. Raise dumbbell until forearm is vertical. Repeat and continue with opposite arm

*Preacher Curl - again sit on the preacher bench, placing back of arms on pad. Grasp the curl bar with shoulder width underhand grip. Raise bar until your forearms are vertical. Lower barbel Angel arms are fully extended out. Repeat.

FOR FOREARMS AND WRISTS

*Farmers Carry - Start with a set of dumbbells placed on each side that are about 2/3 of your dead lift max. Reach down and with your chin up grip the barbells and raise them till you reach a standing position. You will now walk with the dumbbells about 100 feet to complete a rep

*Wrist curl - Sit on a bench and hold the dumbbell underhand grip and rest your forearm on your thigh beyond your knee. Let the dumbbell roll out of your hand down your fingers. Then raise the dumbbell up by gripping and pointing your knuckles up high as you can. Lower and repeat.

These exercises will not only shape your biceps but will also increase the strength of your grip. This will help you with your heavier exercises when you need that added grip.

For complete information on what diet aids help men lose weight and build muscle instead of flab I have created a seven day eCourse that will get you started at http://www.mensfitnessexercise.com/.

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10 Ways on How to Get Ripped Fast, Build Muscle, and Get Results

#1 30 Minutes Of Cardio Or Less#2 Drink protein supplements#3 Changes, changes, and more changes!#4 Complete full-body training#5 Tear / Repair#6 One Pound = One Gram of Protein#7 One word - stretch#8 Eat regularly#9 Less is more#10 Full Body or Split#11 (Bonus) 500 More Calories

You don't want to do too much cardio. Limit it. Keep it to two days of lighter jogging and no more than 30 minutes per session. Build your workout around a nutrition plan that involves a high-protein, high-carbohydrate meal about an hour beforehand and then a protein shake to follow that you can slowly sip throughout your workout. Post-workout, mix a new drink and throw it down quick. Alter, change, settle, refine, and repeat! You want to keep your body guessing. Every four-to-six weeks, change the number of reps, your rest time, the exercises you perform, your regular routine, etc. You want to keep your brain guessing. The more muscles involved = the greater the hormone release you'll get from training. These hormone releases is what's going to keep stimulating your muscle growth ALL DAY LONG.

Ensuring that your training is safe and balanced by hitting each muscle group with roughly the same volume also helps avoid serious injury. A regular person's ideal intake of sleep is anywhere from five to nine hours. You don't want to overdo it. Weightlifting, bodybuilding, etc. - it's all about tearing the muscle and repairing the muscle. Tear, repair. Tear, repair. That's how we get big. Keep training down to four sessions per week and give your body the time it needs to rebuild itself. You may use this time to mentally prepare yourself for your next session. Aim to take in one gram of protein per pound of body weight EVERY DAY.

Any kind of stretching will keep you feeling lose and flexible, prevent injury and aid in recovery. You should be scarfing down five to six small meals per day. Keep that fuel coming, particularly the carbs and the protein. These will keep the calorie intake up to help build that muscle AND it'll help keep your metabolism high to help you lose fat. Do no more than 20 sets per muscle group. As a matter of fact, try to keep it as close to 12 sets as you can. Limit reps to between 6 and 12 per set for the most growth. Limit your workouts to 45 minutes, keep those weights heavy and lift, lift, lift! The best results from your workout will come from training all your muscle groups in a single workout or by concentrating on the upper body in one session and then the lower body in another. Concentrate on lifts that use multiple muscle groups at once like squats, deadlifts, rows, and presses. You got to start reading the labels to get an idea of what your calorie intake is. Find that number and add 500 to it.

Another great resource: http://www.buildmusclesystem.com

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Discover How Oblique Exercises Compliment the Abdominal Muscles

Many people who start working out have delusions of instantly acquiring a chiseled body with incredible pectorals and an amazing six-pack. The truth is: it takes an enormous amount of time and effort with an unrelenting focus on every muscle group. One of the muscle groups that often gets overlooked are the obliques. These are located to the sides of the abdominals and are easily targeted by performing specific oblique exercises.

Due to the fact that the obliques are so close in proximity to the abdominals, they add a phenomenal visual appeal to the abs if properly trained. Individuals that execute oblique exercises and abdominal exercises regularly will see this aesthetic difference. Imagine the abs as a beautiful painting and the obliques are the frame around that painting. Sure the abdominals will look good but they will look ever better with a solid set of oblique muscles.

Properly executing oblique exercises also leads to muscle overlaying on the ribs giving a truly "ripped" look. These newly formed muscles will typically flow quite nicely into the abdominals by forming a very symmetrical and streamlined look.

Aside from the visual aspects, the oblique muscles work in conjunction with the abdominals and lower back muscles to properly support the upper body. The abdominals support the front, the lower back the rear, and the obliques are like two pillars on the side, forming a powerful combination that can greatly reduce the potential for injury while improving balance. This is especially helpful for the weekend warriors out there.

Another great way oblique exercises aid with abdominals is that typically, to perform any oblique exercise, one will engage part of the abdominal muscle sections. These will typically be the upper and outer regions of the abs. This is particularly useful for those looking to save time in their workouts by performing a single exercise that takes care of two muscle groups. Some examples of exercises that do this are bicycle kicks, side knee raises, and elbow-to-knee sit-ups.

As much as the obliques compliment the abs, this should not be one's only motivation for performing oblique specific exercises. Taking the time to focus on every muscle group in the body promotes uniformity. Uniformity leads to balance which is what the Ancient Greeks often defined as perfection relating to the human body. When formulating a workout routine, do not neglect the obliques for they are just as important as the abdominals, pectorals, or quadriceps muscles.

Mike has always found it particular frustrating to perform oblique exercises correctly. A resource he uses for visual confirmation is Chunk Fitness. They boast an excellent resource made for average people, not just bodybuilders. One can view the complete library of oblique exercises here: http://www.chunkfitness.com/exercises/ab-exercises/oblique-exercises. Remember to continuously mix up the workout routine to keep the body guessing for the best results.

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Increase Your Strength in Every Lift - The Basics

In this article I will explain the bare minimum keys of lifting that athletes and gym goers need to understand in order to consistently increase their strength, week after week, month after month, year after year. While these concepts are basic, I challenge everyone who reads this article to go through this checklist and see how many of these concepts you are employing on a daily basis. I have been in many gyms and I train clients 50 hours a week and I can tell you through personal experience that 99% of the people that I see working out, even those of you who are genetically gifted and naturally athletic, do not employ these simple guidelines and are therefore retarding your fitness level and keeping you self from becoming stronger. And yes, I am talking to all you big guys with the fake macho attitudes and the 500 pound "half bench press." Please read this article and employ these tactics before you hurt yourselves.

1. Reps, Range of motion and Bar speed.

Everyone loves to move heavy weight. Everyone loves to "max out." It gets their juices flowing and makes them feel like they are working hard. This is a common misconception. Maxing out is good because it pushes your body to the limit. However, it is extremely taxing on your central nervous system and if done too often will ultimately throw your body into a regression, or rather a catabolic state where your muscles and nerves cannot recover in a timely fashion. Your central nervous system sends the messages to your muscles to contract, so you can imagine if the CNS is extremely taxed you will not be able to send those messages efficiently to your muscles. This will result in reduced strength and fatigue. That being said, maxing out is important, but you must max out at the appropriate times. For a major lift like squat you should max out no more than every three weeks. And that is if you are on a very intense training regimen. I personally only max out 2 times per month but only on one major lift. For instance, this month is deadlift so I will max out on deadlift on the 1st week of training and the last week of training for the month. This allows me to see progression but at the same time keep my central nervous system functioning optimally. Keep in mind my program is quite a bit more intense than most of humanity. Two times a month for maxing for any lift may be too much for you.

Instead of trying to push up as much weight as possible or as many times as possible, try something a little different. Try lowering the reps of your set, decreasing the weight, and increasing the speed at which you move the weight or the bar. If it takes you 7 seconds to get your final bench press from your chest to the lock position, you are not performing the bench correctly and you are training to be slow and weak. The mathematical formula for power is work/time. This means you are producing more power and training your body to be more efficient by moving 225 pounds of weight through full range of motion in one second, than you are if you are trying to press 350 pounds and it takes you 5 seconds. So athletes, please increase your power. If you do this your maximal strength will increase naturally.

I referenced those bench press champs a minute ago...the ones who lower the bar 3 inches and then take ten seconds to move a huge amount of weight. What is the point of this? Just stop. It not only looks ridiculous but it's also extremely dangerous and pointless. TRAIN YOUR BODY THROUGH FULL RANGE OF MOTION. There is nothing more to say about this ridiculousness.

2. Stretch your opposing muscles and strengthen your secondary muscles with heavier weights.

When performing any lift it is always important to stretch your opposing muscles. These are the muscles that naturally counteract the movement that lift you are about to perform requires. For instance if you are about to perform a bench press...why the hell are you stretching your chest? Warm your shoulders up, warm your chest up. Get a couple of practice sets in but please stop stretching your chest. You can stretch it after the bench press but if you stretch it before you will lose the much needed cross tension in your muscles to perform an effective lift. Instead stretch your back. Stretch your rhomboids, stretch your biceps. These are muscles that oppose or counteract the contraction of the triceps, anterior deltoids of the shoulder, and the pectorals. THESE ARE THE PRIME MOVERS OF THE BENCH PRESS! If you stretch the opposing muscle groups you will have an easier time moving weight. Those muscles need to be loose and slightly deactivated so that they do not oppose the movement of the prime movers.

3. Strengthen your synergistic secondary muscles with heavy weights.

I will use the bench press once again as an example. If you want a huge bench you have to have a huge chest right? Wrong! While having efficient pectoral muscles is important, it is NOT the only thing you need to produce a large bench press. In order to increase the amount of weight you can move in any major lift, you must strengthen the synergist muscles - THE MUSCLES THAT ASSIST THE PRIME MOVERS! And notice that I said strength. Not power. While power is important in all movements, especially compound movements, it is essential that when isolating a muscle you push it to its maximum potential or close to it. For instance, being able to do a triceps kick back with 35 pounds for 15 reps really serves very little purpose when looked at from an athletic standpoint. Instead perform your isolated shoulder movements and triceps and lat movements for 8 reps and 5 sets. Or whatever is comfortable, but please work them heavy.

4. Breathing and core conditioning

One of the most essential things that almost everyone neglects to do is train their core properly. Your core has 3-4 times the nerve innervations as most muscles. Therefore your core was designed to perform more tasks in more directions and even move in multiple directions at one time. It is imperative that you focus on strengthening your entire core musculature from your neck to your lower abs (TVA) to the stabilizers in your lower back. If your core is weak how can you expect the rest of your body to function properly? I find it interesting that most people in the gym focus on their extremities so much more than their core and fail to remember that all of their extremities attach to the core. I'm sure that everyone has heard the saying one must build a house on a solid foundation. The same applies to your body. If you have strong arms and a weak core, YOU ARE WEAK! END OF STORY. If your core is weak you are not maximizing the potential of your body. Someone who has a weak core is unstable, not properly proportioned, and most definitely not as athletic or as explosive as they could be. Train your core properly and you will become stronger.

I recently read a study that showed that the average American breathes 18-22 times per minute. This is perfect representation of how humans have become so de-conditioned that they don't even know how to breathe properly. In order to maximize the amount of oxygen your body can intake and utilize we should all learn to breathe into our diaphragms rather than taking these short lung breaths that do nothing for increasing our vo2 maximum. Not only do we perform at higher levels with more oxygen in our body but we are also happier human beings when we slow our heart rates down by taking these larger deeper diaphragmatic breaths.

Breathing into your diaphragm also has a direct correlation to controlling your lift in any exercise. By "charging" the belly, or filling it with air before our lift. We increase the stability in our core and spine, resulting in a much more stable environment for our bodies to produce maximum force.

As I stated above these concepts are the basics of exercise. 99.9 percent of people I see everyday do not follow these basic principles. That means that 99.9 percent of people are either hurting themselves in the long run, or hindering their overall performance.

The staff and I at Primal Athletic Performance will be writing another article soon on the more advanced techniques to power production and athleticism. Please, if you choose to use the techniques that we employ on a day-to-day basis, start with basics and master them before you move onto the more difficult techniques.

David Gentile
Owner/ Head trainer
Primal Athletic Performance

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Gain Weight And Bulk Up By NOT Eating Fast Food!

When I was a teenager, I was so desperate to put on weight that I spent a ton of money eating fast food every other meal in a desperate attempt to put on weight. Little did I know, that doing bicep curls twice a week and eating Taco Bell and McDonald's daily weren't going to give me what I was looking for. You can't look good and eat fast food at the same time, it just doesn't work.

Fast food should be a cheat day joy-ride at most, you should never count on a fast food meal to provide you with any nutrition. I would go through and spend 6 bucks on tacos and then wonder why I felt like crap all the time. I looked like crap too, I was six feet tall and weighed in at a whopping 130 pounds. Not exactly what a person would call "healthy." The truth is, there are hardly any nutrients in fast food, and they are filled to the edge with preservatives. I wouldn't recommend eating fast food more than once a week. It can really hinder your bulking progress. Think of eating fast food to be on the same level of severity as skipping the gym.

So, if you have been eating fast food for a while and wonder why you aren't putting on weight, look no further. But, what food do we replace this with in our daily routines? The answer is whole foods. You should be eating whole foods every meal. What are whole foods? They foods that contain no preservatives and haven't been processed or refined. Think of them as "all-natural." These are the foods that contain the most nutrients and will do you the most good. Your entire life will change for the better by eating whole foods exclusively. Here are some examples of whole foods:

OatsChicken breast, steak, lean ground beefPastaFruitsVegetablesFishEggs

Start getting most of your calories from these whole food sources and you will start to see the muscle pile on. I would also recommend finding a good weight gainer recipe in order to provide yourself with a daily caloric surplus. You need to be calculating your caloric and macro nutrient intake every single day. Make sure you know how much you need to be eating by calculating your caloric needs and pair this information with a weight lifting routine designed for bulking and you will be brawny in no time.

Here is a link to a really good weight gainer shake recipe. It is comprised most of whole foods and contains over a thousand calories.

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