Tag Archives: muscles

Express workout

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It’s a busy old world and time is of the essence. Here’s how to make every second count.

Spare minutes (let alone hours) are hard to come by in these helter skelter times. When they can be found, the majority of us want to put them to good use by doing such productive things as watching tv, chatting or simply staring at the ceiling relishing in our good fortune. But the fact is you can do all of the above and still have enough time to squeeze in an effective workout.

Don’t believe us? Then take it from the experts. Dean Piazza, personal trainer and head of www.getfit.com.au, says that if we choose the right moves and perform them in the correct way, we can achieve amazing things in short periods of time.

“Express workouts are a great way to increase your fitness level and drop a few kilograms along the way,” says Piazza. “Because they’re shorter you can push yourself harder. Sometimes that increase in intensity is the difference between excellent results or just maintaining your current fitness level and weight.”

Today many health clubs offer express classes for members who are pressed for time. There’s Spinning Express, Step Express and even Yoga Express. Express classes tend to be extremely popular, particularly with stressed out city workers. The reason?

They provide maximum results in minimum time.

“They’re time efficient so you won’t be running late for work or your next appointment,” says Piazza.

“It’s easier to stay focused and motivated for 30 minutes. It’s always the first half of a regular hour long workout that flies by, the second half can drag on.”

If classes aren’t your thing, you can adapt an express-style workout for the lounge room or the local park. As long as you keep up the pace you won’t shortchange your results.

This comes as good news to Melanie Symons, 28, from Channel Seven’s backyard makeover series Ground Force and Great Summer Ideas, a one-off special jam-packed with tips on how to enjoy summer. Shooting Ground Force takes a full two days a week, then there are the planning days and days spent sourcing materials. Symons also has to record voice-overs and attend press appearances and launches. Accordingly, there’s not much workout time left over.

“My schedule is chockablock,” she says. “It’s easy to think, `Oh, I can’t work out because I only have half an hour’.”

We explained that 30 minutes is plenty of time and Symons now plans to follow our Express plan from here on in.

And if Symons can find enough time to follow our super speedy fitness program, then so can you. Here’s how.

need for speed
To get the maximum amount out of this program, your best bet is to perform it at least three times a week. You should spend roughly three minutes on each move. Between moves you need to skip for three minutes. There are five moves so, all up, this workout will take about half an hour. If 30 minutes is too much for you, then cut the skipping sessions back to one minute only.

If you’re already pretty fit, you can increase weights or repetitions and give yourself that extra push. The ultra-fit can increase the skipping sessions. Finally, for those who aren’t coordinated enough for skipping, such as myself, try power walking, jogging or cycling. Whatever floats your boat.

bicep curls
Stand with feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent. Hold a dumb-bell in your hand. Slowly curl your hand up towards your shoulder and then slowly lower towards your hip. Each move should be performed to a count of two. Use a weight that is heavy enough for you to perform two sets of 15, but not a single repetition more.

push-ups
Lie face down with hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Raise your lower body onto your toes and then, using your upper body, push up. Slowly lower your upper body towards the floor, keeping your body in a straight line and repeat. Aim for as many as you can within a three minute period. Not strong enough? Try modified push-ups (from your knees rather than your toes) instead.

the bicycle
Lie on your back, bend and raise knees so they’re in line with hips. Keeping your left leg in position, extend your right leg. As you do so, bring your right elbow towards your left knee. Then, pull your right knee back in towards you and repeat on the other side. Keep elbows wide and hands at the sides of your head

squats
Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent. Sit down as though into a seat, ensuring knees don’t shoot over toes. Lower as far as you can without allowing your upper body to lean more than 10cm forward, then push back to a standing position.

lunges
Stand with feet slightly wider than hip-width apart, hands on hips. Square shoulders and then step forward with your right leg. Let your left knee drop towards the floor until your shin is parallel to the ground. Push back to starting position and repeat. To increase intensity, hold dumb-bells in your hands or a weighted bar-bell across your shoulders.

no pain, major gain
Ground Force star Melanie Symons has been following the same workout for close to six years! This is very naughty because her body would have adjusted to it long ago, meaning her workout is no longer as effective as it should be. You need to shock your body by chopping and changing your workouts.

Most exercise physiologists agree you need to change your workout program at least every six weeks. Challenge yourself with new exercises or entirely new workouts such as salsa dancing, Yogalates or tai chi.

You never know – you might stumble across a new passion.

For every express workout you sweat through, you’ll need to do two longer workouts of about 45 to 60 minutes. But don’t panic – you won’t be working at the same intensity. If the express workout calls on you to work at a Rate of Perceived Exertion of about eight or nine out of 10, your longer workouts should be performed at an RPE of about six out of 10.

Real Muscle – Real Fast

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Adding muscle seems to be a mystery to most, yet if you pick up a copy of any fitness or bodybuilding magazine and you’ll almost always see a headline like this: “Gain 15 Pounds of Muscle in 6 Weeks.”

If it were so easy you’d have millions of muscle-heads running around. Even though building muscle tissue can be a challenge, I’m going to outline some very specific principles that can pack on the muscle faster than you can throw away that copy of “Muscle and Fiction”!

Before we get started though I want to clarify a few points.

The ridiculous claims made by most fitness and bodybuilding magazines are only there to get you to buy that issue – nothing more!
If you are serious about strength training you need to be reading books and NOT cheesy fitness magazines
Ok… here we go.

In order to add muscle tissue you must force the body to add it. Your body won’t just add a pound of muscle just because you followed a 3-set workout that you read about in Muscle + Fitness. You need to give the body a reason to make improvements – in this case add muscle tissue.

You have to provide what I call a “stimulus”. This can be done in many ways and I’ll address a few in just a moment. Basically, you need to force the body to add muscle by subjecting it to levels of stress it is not used to. Some methods are more obvious than others but all can work. Here are a few examples of how this can be done effectively.

First, the basic and common methods:

Increase weight or resistance
Perform more repetitions
Perform more sets
Move the resistance slower
Rest less between sets and exercises
Now for the more advanced methods:

Pre-exhaust (perform an isolation exercise first and immediately continue with no rest on a compound movement. ex. chest flye and then chest press)
Static holds (hold the resistance in the hardest position of the range of motion. ex. the top position during a leg extension)
Partial reps in weak range (perform a portion of the rep where you are weakest. ex. the top half of a rep of leg extensions)
Strip-set (after a warm-up set, perform 3 sets back to back with no rest while starting with the heaviest weight possible and each time strip off some weight to allow you to continue)
1 ½ reps (perform one full rep and then on the second rep only perform half the normal range of motion and then return to starting position to begin the next rep. ex. one full rep of lat pulldowns, pull second rep all the way down, resist weight back up but only half way and then pull back down)
These are just a few examples of methods of increasing intensity to ensure progress. The key point to remember is that whatever you do it must be progressive in order for it to elicit a physical change. This is even more critical for those looking to add muscle size.

Although this article is geared towards individuals who are interested in gaining muscle size, the principles can also be used for individuals who want to build strength, increase metabolism, or tighten and tone muscles.

Here are some general recommendations for different goals…

If your goal is to tighten and tone muscles:

  • Focus on increasing reps, decreasing rest, and changing exercises frequently.
  • Train each muscle group twice per week.
  • Perform fewer sets of many different exercises (1-2 sets per exercise)

If your goal is to increase strength and power:

  • Focus on increasing weight
  • Train each muscle group once every 7-10 days
  • Perform multiple sets of each exercise (2-5 sets per exercise)

If your goal is to increase muscle size:

  • Focus on shocking muscles by changing variables frequently (exercises, set and rep schemes, rest time, etc)
  • Train each muscle group on a variable schedule (experiment by training a muscle group 3 times a week and then once every ten days)
  • Perform multiple sets for a while and the perform single sets for a week or two

Some final reminders:

The recommendations above are general and of course would need to be adapted and adjusted for your personal goals and experience. For those of you who are advanced and may be thinking there’s no way you can build strength by training once every 10 days I challenge you to try it for at least 4 weeks, or those of you who think that you need to stick to the same basic movements like bench to build size I challenge you to try shocking the muscles by changing the exercises you perform each week for 4 weeks, and those of you with little experience I hope that you’ll throw away the fitness magazines and learn what really works.

by Jesse Cannone

Four Keys to Successful Bodybuilding

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Mental Attitude

As long as you have the desire to physically develop your body — that’s half the battle! How you feel about yourself is extremely important. Ask yourself how much bigger you’d like to be, then go after that goal! DO NOT let anything get in your way. Gaining muscular weight is very personal. Only you can put out the effort — and only you will get the rewarding results!

Your mental attitude is the first thing you should deal with — you not only have to prepare your body but, your mind too. Believe in yourself! There will be many times when a strong mental attitude towards yourself is just what you need to get you through a difficult day of training or perhaps keep you on that diet. Nothing at all will stop you from being successful. You are at the wheel — think positive — and follow this program and you’ll be amazed at the muscular weight you will see in a matter of weeks.Diet

You might think that gaining weight is now problem — you simply overeat! Right? WRONG! To increase your body weight as a bodybuilder means to increase your muscular weight. This makes a special nutritional diet extremely necessary. A DIET THAT IS BOTH HIGH IN CALORIES AND HIGH IN PROTEIN IS THE ONLY WAY TO GAIN SOLID BODYWEIGHT!

Many people who have failed in building their bodies properly were just not eating enough of the right foods. You can exercise, train night and day, but, if you are not supplying your body with proper building materials (nutritional food), then you are wasting your time.

The number one rule for your diet is to completely avoid “JUNK FOOD”. What makes a certain type of food junk? The fact that the nutritional value of its contents is ZERO!! In other words, it’s like eating dead food. It does absolutely nothing to increase the quality of your blood, heart, lungs and mind. Modern technology has promoted such food by demineralising, devitaminising, and bleaching food to the extent that by the time it’s available to the consumer — it’s absolutely USELESS!! In fact it does us more harm than good. The ice cream, cakes, candy, soft drinks, tea and coffee filled with refined white sugar decays in your body and clogs your vital organs with slimy, sticky poisons until those parts of your body can no longer function. Now, is this any way to build muscular weight?

Start your day off to a super start with a good breakfast. It should consist of eggs, and bacon, plus a protein drink made with milk. Avoid dry cereals no matter what the advertising tell you. Confine you meals to wholesome foods that will benefit you health and help you build strong muscular weight. Supplements are also very helpful. Take vitamins in tablet form and include wheat germ in your meals whenever you can. When you plan and prepare a meal think of the nutritional value first. The most important basic food items are: milk, eggs, lean meats, fowl and fish. These foods should be consumed in large quantities. Other important foods include fruits, vegetables, nuts and soups. They will round out your diet along with your vitamin supplement. Rest & Relaxation

Rest and relaxation is also an essential part of your bodybuilding program. Studies have been conducted which have proven that a loss of sleep results in loss of accuracy in perception, memory and reasoning. A late evening on the town, or perhaps just a sleepless night usually results in a very disorganized day after. You find it difficult to perform many tasks that require physical and mental co-ordination, and your endurance is greatly weakened.

Relaxation is of utmost importance in the field of bodybuilding. When you train and exercise, your muscles get quite a workout. That is why it is extremely important to learn how to relax those muscles, so they can look forward to a night of complete rest, which is necessary for tissue repair and growth.

Just because you spend 8-10 hours in bed, does not mean that you have relaxed your muscles for that period of time. In fact, even when you are asleep you are not totally relaxed. Tensions have built up through-out the day, and remain in the muscular system and these tensions result in sleep that is not beneficial.

Perfect relaxation is vital to increase muscular growth, so, if your job causes you many tense moments through-out the day, then, you must try to relax as much as possible in the evening. A high protein meal after a heavy training program (described later), is the most effective way to achieve complete relaxation.

Eating too much food before you go to sleep will make it extremely difficult to sleep, however, going to bed on an empty stomach could be worse. Each individual is different What you have to remember is that YOU ARE IN CHARGE of your own body, so, it’s up to you to find out what works best for you.

Try to control those late nights and you’ll find that adequate rest is not only important, but tremendously rewarding. If you get to bed about the same time every night and get at least 8 hours of good sound sleep, then, your body will thank you by growing strong muscular weight. Complete 100% rest at night will prepare you for a successful and fruitful training session the next day.Exercise

EXERCISE FOR ADVANCED TRAINING YEARS — AND HELPFUL HINTS FOR EVERY BODYBUILDER!! In order to get the most out of your exercise routine, you must provide your body with complete muscle stimulation. For this, heavy weights are necessary. You will perform all the movements in 5 sets of 5 repetitions, using the most weight that you can handle. Begin with light weights the first two sets of each exercise, this will enable you to warm up. The remaining 3 sets should be done quite vigorously in order to attain the best results. Approach those weights as if you are going to destroy them. TAKE CHARGE!! You are in control!!

You have probably read about bodybuilders who spend numerous hors training 6-7 days a week. Experts now recommend shorter programs for only 3 times a week or more (if you are on a split schedule). If your muscles disappear when you shorten your program — then — they weren’t worth having to begin with. Muscles that are well nourished — will not disappear in a matter of days or because you’ve cut down on the training time. The gains you make from this system will be the most effective and will stay with you a long time!!

Quality, not quantity is important. many bodybuilders work out too long, instead of working out for shorter periods and making every short minute count. In other words give it all you’ve got!! total effort and a positive attitude is how you should approach every training session — and it’s with this enthusiastic disposition that your results will appear much faster.

Follow program 1 for 4 weeks (3 times a week), then go on to program number 2 for the next 4 weeks. REMEMBER: to add more strength and muscle to your body you must add more weight to your exercises, eat good nutritional foods, and get plenty of rest and relaxation and you’re on your way to a stronger and larger muscular shape.


PROGRAM NO. 1

PROGRAM NO. 2

SIT – UPS

As many as you can do

SIT – UPS

As many as you can do

LEG RAISES

As many as you can do

LEG RAISES

As many as you can do

STANDING DUMBBELL PRESSES

5×5

CHIN TO BACK OF NECK

6×5

SQUAT

5×5

SQUAT

6×5

DEAD LIFT

5×5

FRONT SQUAT

6×5

BENCH PRESS

5×5

DUMBBELL BENCH PRESS

6×5

BARBELL ROWING

5×5

SINGLE ARM

6×5

BARBELL CURL

5×5

DUMBBELL ROWING

6×5

SEATED DUMBBELL

6×5

CURL

6×5

Simple Proven Formula for Weight Gain

Get a physical check up before you begin a bodybuilding program. Make sure you have no internal problems or some type of physical flaw, that will prevent or delay you from satisfactory progress. It’s always wise to get advice fro a good medical doctor. If you are in good health, proceed to the next step.

Revise your diet so that it’s well-balanced — include 2 quarts of whole milk everyday as well as the necessary food supplements.

Get at least 8-9 hours of sleep per night.

Do not engage in any form of vigorous or competitive athletic activity.

Do everything to maintain a calm, pleasant mental outlook.

Train 3 times a week on alternate days, or use the ‘split routine’ — as suggested here.

A good pump achieves muscle growth

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For bodybuilding and physique athletes, the pump is of substantial importance and is something to be sought. For strength athletes, the pump is much less significant. If it’s experienced at all, it’s a by-product rather than something sought directly. Regardless of your reason for training, progressive overload, not pump, should be the primary factor used to judge the effectiveness of your workouts.

The pump is the short-term sensation you experience during training when your muscles fill up with blood faster than the blood can leave the area, making the muscles appear fuller and larger. It’s a tight, swelled feeling, often accompanied by an increase in vascularity. Pump workouts generally involve medium (8-12) or higher (13-20+) repetitions, supersets/trisets/giant sets, and/or brief rest intervals between sets.

You’ll hear some strength coaches and functional training experts knock pumping workouts because they claim pumping is cosmetic only and emphasizes “form over function.” That may be true, however, if you’re interested in bodybuilding or physique development, then maximum pump can be very beneficial.

Most bodybuilders and even most exercise physiologists would agree that workouts that produce maximum pump can provide up to 20-25% of the increase in muscle size. This comes from sarcoplasmic and mitochondrial hypertrophy and increased capillarization. However, the pump has virtually nothing to do with increased myofibrillar hypertrophy – the actual fiber growth that’s responsible for 75-80% of the increase in muscle size. That type of fiber growth comes only from heavy training, which produces little, if any pump. Sarcoplasmic hypertrophy looks good and is beneficial to bodybuilders, but you do tend to lose it more quickly with de-training.

In his book, The Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding, Arnold Schwarzenegger pointed out another benefit of the pump, the psychological effect. It feels good and is very satisfying to watch your muscles swell up and see the veins bulge right before your eyes in a matter of minutes. Arnold wrote, “When you are pumped up, you feel better and stronger, and it’s easier to motivate yourself to train hard and achieve a high level of intensity. Sometimes you will walk into the gym and feel tired and lazy but you will get a fantastic pump after a few minutes of work and suddenly feel strong and energetic.”

A good pump can be a good indicator of an effective workout from a bodybuilding standpoint. The late bodybuilding guru and trainer of the stars, Vince Gironda, taught that a workout taken to maximum pump and then stopped before the pump began to subside was the optimal volume, tempo and duration:

“My own method would be to exercise until I noticed a pump loss,” said Vince. “I would then check back the number of sets and reps required to achieve this effect (noting the tempo and the amount of rest between sets). In this way I was able to calculate my personal exercise level.”

As important the pump might be for bodybuilders, the criteria that’s MUCH, MUCH more important than pump is PROGRESSIVE OVERLOAD. Nothing is more important in bodybuilding or strength training than progressive overload. This means you must beat your previous workouts and increase the amount of weight you use in a slow, steady and systematic fashion.

Remember something, you can get a pump by dropping down on the floor and doing a few sets of push ups, but that doesn’t mean you are going to get permanent gains in muscle size.

Some of the best gains I have ever achieved came from combining heavy strength workouts using a 5-6 rep max on basic exercises, with maximum pumping methods such as supersets, short rest intervals and medium-high reps.
I also believe that pump workouts combined with strength workouts give the muscles a more “polished” look than low rep strength workouts alone. High rep workouts alone do little more than flush blood into the area worked and contrary to popular belief, high reps do NOT get you “ripped.”

The “ripped” look is mostly a matter of low body fat, but if body composition is equal, the trainee who has done both types of training will usually have a more “finished” look to his or her physique than the trainee who only does low reps with heavy weight. If you look at powerlifters and strongmen, you’ll notice that even the ones with low body fat lack the polished look that competitive bodybuilders possess.

So if you’re a strength athlete, then don’t measure your workout effectiveness based on pump. Focus on heavy weight and progressive overload. If, on the other hand, your goal is bodybuilding or physique development, then strive for BOTH pump and progressive overload for best results, but realize that pump alone is never going to cut it.

By Tom Venuto, CPT
GHF’s Fat Loss Expert

A mans workout

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If you’re a regular Aussie bloke looking to get in shape, we’ve got good news.

When it comes to shifting fat and gaining muscle, it seems men have won the lottery. Thanks to their physiological make-up, men (the lucky buggers) can do both quicker and with less effort than women.
This is largely due to the fact that women tend to store fat on their hips and thighs, while men more commonly put it on their middles.
A little padding around the butt and thigh area might not be the stuff dreams are made of, but it’s entirely natural. Women are designed (physically speaking) to bear children and that means they need to store a little excess fat to support a child if needed. Men have no physiological need to store excess fat. Accordingly they are able to shed it easier.
“It’s a scientific fact that a beer belly is easier to get rid of than thigh or bottom fat,” says Professor Stephan Rossner, director of the Obesity Research Program at Luddinge Hospital, Stockholm.
“A beer belly is easier to mobilise and responds more quickly. Women don’t have the ability to shift weight like men do. That’s just the way it is.”

thinking it through
Studies have also shown that men are one step ahead of women when it comes to sticking with a diet or exercise program. Why? Because once they decide to shed fat and gain muscle, they do it.
There’s also the fact that men have often been raised on exercise.
“Men are encouraged to get involved in sport when they’re young,” says Katy Try, head trainer at Golds Gym in Sydney.
“If people exercise when young it’s much easier to reactivate that when older. If you have had no exercise history it’s harder to get started.”
Unfortunately it seems that many Australian men (women too, but we’re not focusing on them today) are finding it very hard to get started. At this point in time about 65 per cent of men (and yes, 55 per cent of women) are considered overweight. If you’re a bloke, and you’re part of that group and would like not to be, don’t panic – there are ways and means. As we said earlier, being a man means losing weight and gaining muscle shouldn’t be that hard for you. If it does get tough you can comfort yourself with this thought – it’s harder for women!

making a move
Of course, even men need to do it right. That means watching what you eat and getting plenty of exercise. By exercise we mean cardiovascular workouts (think walking, jogging or playing footy) and resistance training such as lifting weights. If you can, you should get some cardiovascular exercise every day. Weights can be performed anywhere from three to five times a week.
But don’t get too caught up with exactly how much weight you’re lifting, says Try.
“Correct technique helps build the muscle, not just the actual weight,” she says. And for those blokes who worry only about the “mirror muscles” it’s time to rethink your workout. Your exercises should be more balanced. “Many men tend to worry about the muscles they can see and forget about the others, but that’s not a good idea,” says Try.
Kelly Baker is a fully qualified personal trainer.
hey fellas

10 reasons why men should be working out

  1. It will help lower your blood pressure.
  2. It will decrease your chances of coronary heart disease.
  3. Your energy levels will go through the roof.
  4. You can greatly ease lower back pain.
  5. Your body will be a lean, mean fighting machine (or closer to it anyway).
  6. Stress levels will drop.
  7. You’ll lose fat.
  8. You’ll build strong bones.
  9. You will rev up your metabolism, meaning you can get away with eating more.
  10. It’s fun. Really.

 

  1. Dumb-bell shoulder press.
    Hold a dumb-bell in each hand and sit on a fitball or bench. Plant your feet flat on the floor about hip-width apart. Once you’re comfortable, push your weights up over your head until they almost touch. Slowly lower to about ear level and then repeat. Ensure you don’t lock your elbows at the top of this movement and keep steady. Form counts! 
    Gives you: sensational shoulders.
  2. Triceps kickback 
    Rest your left lower leg on a weight bench. Grasp a dumb-bell in your right hand. Lean forward at the hips and place your left palm on the bench. Bend your right elbow so your upper arm is parallel to the floor, palm facing in. Straighten your arm out behind you. Slowly return to the starting position and then repeat. Don’t forget your left arm! 
    Gives you: buff backs of arms
  3. One-arm dumb-bell row 
    Stand with your right lower leg resting on a weight bench. Grasp a dumb-bell in your left hand. Lean forward at the hips and place your right palm on the bench. Drop your left hand down. Then pull your left arm up until your upper arm is parallel to the floor and your dumb-bell is near your waist. Gently lower and repeat. Both arms please!
    Gives you: Gorgeous upper back.
  4. Dumb-bell chest
    Press Lie on the bench with your feet flat. Push your weights up so that your arms are directly above your shoulders. Lower the dumb-bells until your elbows are just below your shoulders. Then, push the weights back up. Move with control and don’t allow your elbows to lock or your shoulder blades to come off the bench. 
    Gives you: an amazing chest.
  5. Ball crunch 
     To get in position, rest your back (all the way from shoulder blades to tail bone) on the round curve of the ball. Ensure your head, neck and also shoulders are above the ball. Your knees should be bent and feet flat on the floor, roughly hip-width apart. Once you’re ready to get going, cross your hands across your chest. Then, curl up and forward. Hold for a second at the top of the movement and then gently lower. 
    Gives you: killer abs.