All About Nutrition

Eat! Eat! Eat! Your weight lifting diet is vitally important to your pre and post exercise recovery and preparation, If you are a weight lifter you need to eat healthy nutritious foods to keep you energized, so that you can fuel your body for peak performance and increased recovery rate all because of a well balance weight lifting diet.

Now lets talk about food and your diet, try to cut down or stop eating junk to be able to lift heavier weights because when you eat right you are more powerful and stronger while weight lifting.

During your weight lifting diet you should be eating every 2 to 3 hours, totaling around 5 to 7 small meals per day, this will give your body enough fuel to stay in the zone of peak performance and recovery to grow and strengthen.

Notice how when you eat too much food you get tired and sleepy, well when this is happening to you it is because your hormones are not getting through your body as well and natural human growth hormone gets blocked, so try to avoid heavy meals before and after your weight lifting.

Each meal should consist of protein, carbohydrates and essential fats like omega 3 and omega 6. This will keep you strong mentally and physically to stay in the zone all day and night long. You will be preparing yourself to train hard and smart to increase your power to explode and put up some new records in your personal weight lifting efforts.

Some great foods to add to your diet are chicken, tuna, salad, turkey, salmon, peanuts, cheese, nuts are great for increasing testosterone, whole grain bread, and grapes.

Fruits and vegetables are great for you and are called wet carbohydrates because they are bonded together with water so they go straight into your blood stream; they are best before and after training to get all the nutrition back into your body from training, this will also help you recover faster and see results sooner.

Now you know should have a better idea of how to create a successful weight lifting diet by eating many times throughout the day. Consist your meals from proteins, carbohydrates and essential omega fats.

Do not over eat and become sleepy or tired before or right after training, stay in the zone with smaller meals. You will soon see that your power and strength will increase so you will be lifting major weight in the gym turning peoples heads and impressing even yourself. Go for it!

As someone who tries to stay in good shape year round, this time of year especially, I often get asked what I do and how I do it.  Though I could go on for hours about the subject, I know what they really mean is “what’s that Magic Bullet?”  The one thing that they may be missing or need to know to be successful.  You might be suprised to hear me say that there is one!

The whole idea of “getting in shape” can be confusing to most people because, on the surface it seems easy, when in reality there are literally hundreds of variables involved.  When you stop to consider things like your age, gender, current physical condition, genetics you realize that some of these variables are out of your control. 

Others like how many sets, how many reps, what kinds of exercises, should I do whole bofy at a time or split upper and lower, or push than pulls, are up to the user, but require a certain degree of knowledge.  You can also include diet, amount of rest and other things with this group.

And lastly you have to chose between cardio, weight lifting, cross training, stretching, yoga, pilates and on and on and on.  So as you can see, when you start taking all of these elements into consideration the task of developing a fitness routine to get in better shape or build bigger muscles can become very overwhelming to the person with little, or worse, some knowledge.  The workout possibilities are limitless.

You could sit down with the greatest fitness minds there is and after a few questions as to ascertain your goals they could develop for you a year long program, that encompassess every one of the above variables and makes your program custom for you and your needs.  But if they don’t explain to you what the “Magic Bullet” is your level of success will be limited.

I make it clear to the people that I help train that success in weight lifting and getting in better shape has one element to it that while training if incorporated will in fact help you attain your goals faster and more effeciently they they can imagine.  Visit  http://www.MuscleandHealth.orgto get the solution to your fitness riddle.

The fight over which lifting, free weight lifting and machine lifting, has be fought for years. I am not going to sit here and tell you which is better, they both have there benefits. Instead, I am going to tell you what each one is good for and let you decide which you prefer.

Free Weights

If you are a professional bodybuilder you should be doing free weight lifting. Free weights have be proven to be the best way to get muscle and power. The reasons that free weights are more effective in getting you more muscle is because they use much more muscle fibers than machines do. They are also better for working on your stabilizer muscles in order to keep control of the weights, something you do not have to do with machines.

When you are using a machine the focus is on an isolated muscle, so you are not working many muscle fibers at all. When you are lifting with free weights you are using many more muscle fibers, stabilizer muscles, and you are getting a much greater range of motion. All of those thing will help you to ultimately get bigger.

A great example for how free weight lifting is better than machines is the squat. If you were to do squats on a machine, such as the leg press, you are only working on your legs. If you were to do squats free weight style you are not only working on your legs but are also working on your lower back because it is needed to stabilize the weight. When any stabilizer muscle is used you are not only getting a stronger base but you are also making your muscles grow faster.

Machines

If you are a beginner bodybuilder, an old person, or a person recovering from an injury, you should probably use machines. Unlike free weights, machines use a strict range of motion, only working on one specific muscle per exercise, which helps to reduce injuries while lifting.

If you are an injured person you should do machines because they help you to isolate the muscle you injured and help it to gain back strength and flexibility. If you are a beginner you should also start with machines because you do not want to hop onto the free weight lifts because you are to eager and hurt yourself.

Well there you have it. Free weight lifting should be used by professionals because the greater range of motion and stabilizer muscles being used are better for gaining muscle. Machine lifting should be used by beginners, old people, and injured because there is a strict range of motion preventing injuries. Which one should you do? You decide.

If you have been lifting weights for sometime or have been reading bodybuilding magazines and journals, you would have probably heard of super setting. However, how often have you seen people super setting when weight lifting? If you did, did you notice those guys who were super setting were almost invariably the bigger boys. If you want to be big, then why didn’t you superset like them?

What is weight lifting superset? A superset is when you perform two exercises back to back with no rest in between the exercises. There are a few variations of superset such as, antagonistic muscle superset, pre-exhaustion superset and post exhaustion superset…..etc. We will discuss just these 3 of the more popular supersets in this article.

• Antagonistic Muscle Superset

An antagonistic super set is when you exercise opposite muscle group. Although they are opposite muscles, they actually support each muscle during your movements. For example, when you do dumb bell curls for your biceps, when you lower the dumb bells, your triceps are called into action as well. Similarly for the negative movement of a bench press, your back is working too like when you are doing the bent over row.

So for example of an antagonistic superset on your, say chest and back day, do a bench press routine then follow up with a bent over row or vice versa. That will be one superset. Rest for 2-3 minutes and then proceed with the second set and so on. This will work the muscles involved more deeply than mere straight sets.

• Pre-exhaustion Superset

In a pre-exhaustion superset, you work on the same muscle group with an isolation exercise and then follow up with a compound exercise without rest in between sets. For example, still on your chest and back day, you work out with dumb bell flyes (chest isolation exercise) then immediately thereafter with a bench press (chest compound exercise).

By performing with an isolation exercise first (flyes), you pre-exhuast the targeted muscles you are working on, which in this instance are your pectorals (pecs) and then hit your pecs hard again with a compound movement (bench press) that allows other muscles that are still fresh such as your deltoids and triceps to assist your pecs in the exercise.

• Post - Exhaustion Superset

Another version of super setting is the post-exhaustion method. It is the exact reverse of the pre-exhaustion. In other words, lift compound exercise first and then follow up with an isolation exercise for the same muscle group. It will allow you to lift heavier weight for the compound exercise because your targeted muscle group is not pre-exhausted yet.

Vary each of these various forms of superset every 2 - 3 months and watch your muscles explode with massive growth.

Many bodybuilders who wish to build significant levels of muscle mass aim to achieve a muscle pump or burn during their weight training workout sets, with the feeling that such a sensation is indicative of muscle fatigue and breakdown, therefore improving the chances for muscle gain. Bodybuilders will even specifically seek out the muscle pump or burn by modifying certain weight training workout factors in order to encourage such a feeling, and often tell other bodybuilders how their workout was extremely potent or describe a specific weight lifting exercise as feeling superior specifically due to the muscle pump or burn that accompanies each set.

But, is there a serious flaw with this bodybuilding concept? Certainly, any individual who has lifted weights is well aware of the muscle pump and burn fascination, as bodybuilders often speak of this phenomena, but how exactly is the muscle pump or burn achieved, and are the techniques that foster such a sensation actually conducive towards muscle gain?

The muscle pump and burn are a function of high rep ranges, where a bodybuilder uses less weight in order to fail using a much higher number of repetitions, which causes the muscles to fatigue in a far different way than higher weight and lower reps. Because a muscle is able to function for longer periods during a weight lifting set when using higher reps, there is a muscle pump and burn that accompanies the latter portion of a high rep range, as the muscle begins to approach failure, but by virtue of using less weight in order to achieve the muscle pump and burn rep range, muscle building is adversely impacted, and although the workout session may actually feel more intense and effective due to the muscle pump and burn, the type of fatigue, which is more endurance related than muscle building in nature, is not the most effective for those who wish to focus upon accumulating the greatest amount of muscle mass.

When using a lower rep range and higher weight, the workout set will usually not experience anywhere near the level of muscle pump or burn as compared with higher rep, lower weight workout sessions, but because the weight used is greater when reps are lower, the muscle receives a larger level of overload and shock, therefore causing superior bodybuilding results in most muscle groups. Therefore, although the muscle pump and burn is far less in heavier weight lifting sessions, since muscle growth is superior, there is no legitimate reason for a bodybuilder to aim for muscle pump or burn during a workout session that has as its primary intension muscle building.

Higher rep and lower weight workout sessions are helpful for muscle recovery, overtraining prevention, and joint recuperation, but are far less effective at building muscle mass in most areas as compared with heavier weight lifting workouts that do not offer any substantial muscle pump or burn. There are also certain exercises that tend to cause a greater sense of muscle pump or burn, especially those that stretch the muscle significantly (such as pec deck), but they also function in the same method just described, in that the muscle pump and burn will greatly increase with lower weight and higher reps, but, the most important point to remember is that the greatest level of muscle growth will not occur by aiming for a muscle pump or burn, but rather through structuring weight lifting workout sessions to function within a lower rep range where greater weight will be used to produce a higher level of workload.

If you enjoy a muscle pump or burn, then you can always perform one set at the very end of each weight lifting workout exercise that is comprised of higher reps and lower weight (a burn out set), as this will not interfere with muscle growth assuming that all prior workout sets are structured using a lower rep range and heavier weight, which is conducive towards maximum muscle gain. The goal is not to feel as if a muscle has grown in size during the actual weight lifting workout session, but rather to achieve weekly measurable muscle gains, so do not make the mistake of believing a muscle pump or burn during a workout will translate into any extra sustainable muscle growth unless you have structured your weight lifting session with heavier, lower rep workouts for maximum muscle stimulation.

There is little debate that weight lifting workouts can improve your lifestyle. There is a lot of literature both online and offline about how cardio-vascular exercises like running, aerobics, specialised classes can help you get a sweat and burn the calories. I will not disagree on the benefits of these exercises and how they can help to eliminate many health risks as well as burning alot of unnecessary body fat that keeps us from maintaining the figure of our dreams.

I would also have to raise my calloused hand, and say, that diet and aerobic exercise forms the better third of the big picture, of putting you on your way to an improved lifestyle. But then again, this is just part of the big picture, and a holistic approach is the only way you can truly achieve a healthy lifestyle and a healthy looking body.

This is where weight lifting comes in. Many fitness professionals, (especially female fitness experts), agree that weight lifting is just as important as running and grunting on the treadmill or in the class with some groovy music pumping in the background.

Muscle needs energy to survive on a daily basis. By building up muscle mass through weight lifting, you are basically helping yourself burn that extra little bit of fat daily. Now this is without running or any sort of aerobic exercise. Furthermore, a good 45 minute weight lifting session is considered an-aerobic workout, which also burns calories and fats, just in specific parts of the body. Resistance training also promotes that ‘lean and chiselled’ look that a lot of us are going for. Aerobics help to burn much of the surface fat that covers these muscles, and allow them to shine through, but without weight lifting, there is nothing to show for it.

Look at Usain Bolt or any of the other American sprinters. Their physiques are amazing, their musculature spectacular. Weigh lifting and resistance training gives you strength and power in your limbs, toughening them up and decreasing the likelihood of an injury.

Weight lifting also hides the effect of aging. Muscle atrophy and degradation can be slowed down and its physical and visible effects halted (for a time) with a toned physique achieved through weight lifting. It isn’t the fountain of youth, but it is a mechanism for you to stop that age old internal biological clock in your body.

There are many experts that can teach you how to effectively use weight training as a complement to your workouts. It is important to know exactly what your objectives are and how weight training can be used to improve your lifestyle. Authors from various sources can help you do this.

Weight lifting workouts have many benefits. They improve muscle mass and bone density while increasing your basal metabolic rate through increased muscle density. These benefits are extremely important in the anti aging process and are especially pertinent to women. This is because women lose calcium during pregnancy and are more at risk of osteoporosis. If you’re looking to shake up your work out, try lifting weights to unveil that **** body hidden inside you.

Many bodybuilders seem to focus upon developing two muscle groups beyond all others, with the abs and biceps becoming the sole goal of many weight lifting workout routines, often to the detriment of total body development. The biceps are an especially sought after muscle group due to becoming a de facto standard sign of strength and power, symbolizing bodybuilding superiority, with a large number of bodybuilders focusing on producing the largest, most visibly pleasing biceps pose. A great many weight lifters will even neglect the importance of triceps, a vital upper arm component, in favor of biceps development, not comprehending the importance of training complimentary muscle groups.

In the pursuit of the ideal biceps contour, bodybuilders experiment with many routines, and do so with the hopes of carving a certain biceps shape, usually patterning their goal after another’s success, and wanting to produce the same type of progress themselves. They, of course, will adopt an identical routine, with the feeling that by doing so, arm shape will mirror the bodybuilder they aspire to emulate, but after many weeks of effort, will find that the biceps do not respond quite as expected. They may grow in size, but the shape, which is what many bodybuilders wish to transform, stays identical, so they begin to sense that their body is becoming a larger version of what they noticed before beginning to train consistently with weights.

The reason this occurs is that unlike far too many are led to believe, biceps shape is not determined by weight lifting workout technique or due to consistency with an effective bodybuilding routine, but rather is controlled completely by genetics, which is why certain bodybuilders, even those who use massive amounts of dangerous and illegal steroids, have a biceps shape that is very flat, while others can display an elevated peak with very appealing, rounded appearance. Two bodybuilders could very easily follow identical weight lifting routines, and find themselves achieving far different results, all because genetics will dictate how a biceps ultimately develops.

Of course, this does not mean that the biceps muscle will not improve by way of consistent weight lifting effort, as adding size to any muscle group will enhance its aesthetic impressiveness, but many seek to reshape their biceps, transforming a flat, pancake shaped biceps muscle into a round, rock-like peak, and there is no weight lifting or bodybuilding diet routine that can help achieve such results. Those with a high, shapely biceps peak were born with the biceps muscle destined to appear in such a way, and if body fat level was low prior to beginning a weight lifting routine, the soon to be bodybuilder could easily tell that his or her biceps had such a natural contour just by flexing, even though no new muscle had yet to be built. The possibility of transforming biceps shape is one of the most widely held misconceptions, and frequently places bodybuilders in an endless loop as they search for the perfect bodybuilding program that will mold their biceps into the rounded appearance they seek.

In reality, all that any bodybuilder can focus upon is increasing muscle size and reducing body fat to low levels so that the muscle becomes more visible. For bodybuilders who have a high level of fat prior to beginning their weight lifting voyage, biceps shape can be difficult to determine, as fat obscures muscle definition, so he or she must wait until body fat reaches low levels before determining such a characteristic.

But do not become discouraged, as regardless where your biceps currently rank in terms of peak, following an effective bodybuilding diet and weight training routine will allow you to build significant size, which maximizes the genetic potential that you’ve been granted. In many cases, a bodybuilder who lacks biceps peak may have a shapely back, chest or legs, where others with more pleasing arms are deficient in these areas, so instead of focusing on producing what you have personally defined as the perfect bodybuilder’s physique, aim to grow muscles to your genetic limits, and reduce body fat as low as your metabolism will allow to bring about the best physique you personally are able to produce. In short, seeking a specific biceps shape is wasteful when this is an area beyond any bodybuilder’s scope of control.

I think it is safe to say that we all know that if we incorporate weight training as a method of fitness that women are going to gain muscle mass. But, this is only one benefit behind women’s weight lifting!

Let us call these benefits the magic 7! These are my top reasons for promoting strength training, aside from the given benefit of looking AMAZING.

1. Increase strength. If you gain muscle that obviously you are going to gain strength at the same time. This new found strength will make any women feel more independent and powerful! Just think you may no longer need your significant other to open the pickle jar.

2. Decrease Fat. Creating muscle takes a lot of work from your body. The body’s metabolism will increase so to compensate for the increase need of fuel. And the natural place for this fuel to come? Your fat. So you increase your lean muscle mass and wave good bye to the love handles that every girl despises.

3. Increase bone density. As women grow older their bodies start to make less estrogen. Estrogen is very helpful for keeping our bones strong and unbreakable. With this drop and the natural tendency to decrease activity with age osteoporosis is an almost guarantee these days. BUT with weight training this can be withheld. The strain that you place on the bones during weight baring exercise actual promotes bone strengthening and it is the actions of today that can help you out in the future. So by having a weight training routine women can decrease their risk of the curved poor posture and a broken hip!

4. Fight off the flu. Staying active promotes a healthy lifestyle all the way around, including the immune system. You immune system will stay strong and keep those nasty germs away! But also keep in mind there is too much of a good thing. Sure a balanced workout program will keep the bugs away but over training can actually lead to a decreased efficient immune system! Stay smart and keep workouts 3-5 times per week and never longer than 90 minutes.

5. Hello Dolly! The improvements to your body and the commitment that you put forward are going to make you look and feel better. Confidence in and out of the weight room will sky rocket. People will notice this increase in confidence and your popularity will sore! People will ask you for advice and listen because the aura you shine will have them looking up at you.

6. Never look a day older than 30! Exercise has been shown to slow the aging process. This is probably for a few reasons: 1. regular exercise keeps your body looking young and in shape. And 2. The majority of regular exercisers are also healthy in other aspects. Low levels of alcholism, smokers, heavy “fast food eaters”, and healthier lifestyles all together.etc.

And DRUM ROLL PLEASE

7. Improved life. This kinda goes on from above but fitness is a lifestyle not just a short term solution. Women that turn to strength training will be less likely to suffer from such terrible burdons such as depression, anxiety, diabetes, obesity, heart disease, cancers, boredom, etc. Weight training is a great exercise because it can be changed all the time. Tired of a certain exercise? Good, do something else!

So there you have it. The top 7 reasons why women should weight lift. If there is not enough here to persuade you then maybe you just do not want to be persuaded.

Olympic weight lifting technique is vital for proper form to achieve your full potential. There are two main Olympic lifts called the Clean and Jerk and the Snatch. For most people they will find the clean and jerk the easiest to learn out of the two, BUT the snatch is the most athletic movement in sports.

The Olympic weight lifting technique uses focus, speed, strength, stability, muscle, mental drive, and your Central Nervous System. The mental power of your mind will be the main force and success of your Olympic weight lifting technique.

Most Powerful Is He Who Has Himself In His Own Power!

Seneca (5 BC to 65 AD)

The power is in you to total master the Olympic weight lifting techniques, so start off with a small weight or just the bar until you are doing perfect repetitions. Even practice in your mind performing at your peak, think of how it feels, what you saw, your ****** expression and ask yourself how you are going to perform today, the answer is that you are power, and you were made to succeed and conquer.

The power clean is the first exercise you should learn to master out of the Olympic lifts, so lets go into detail on developing perfect technique to avoid injury and to help you lift even more weight.

The power clean starts from the mid-thigh up to resting on your shoulders. There are a few stages to the power clean that you need to practice to learn the whole movement.

First stand with the bar in front of your ankles and at a bit less than should width apart. Grab the bar with an over hand grip right beside you ankles. Lift the bar off the ground with you legs, keep your back straight. When the bar reaches your mid-thigh pull up on the bar with you traps and explode up on your calves, this is called triple extension.

Now quickly pull up on the bar with you shoulders and arms so the weight continues to raise up to your shoulders, stick you elbows in and out in front of you to finish the move. For heavier weight you can jump under the bar, but this is move advanced like the Snatch.

Now once you are in the position with the bar on your shoulders you can squat down and explode using your legs to jerk the weight over you head, you should be able to lift allot more than a standing military press with just your shoulders.

Now you have the choice to let the weight down in control, or learn to drop the weight only if you have access to a proper Olympic weight lifting platform.

Now you know how to perform a proper power clean and jerk, one of the most athletic movements in sports and weight lifting. Take the time learn the technique with light weights until you master it.

You will gain power, strength, muscle, speed, and stability all from doing the Olympic weight lifting; it’s great for regular people and highly conditioned professional and Olympic athletes.

A popular bodybuilding notion asserts the superiority of compound weight lifting exercises as compared with isolation movements; proponents claim that the most efficient method of training involves choosing weight lifting exercises that involve the greatest number of muscle groups. Moreover, supporters of this form of weight training believe that because the amount of weight used in compound weight lifting exercise is greater than isolation movements, overall muscle growth should also be far superior, and therefore a workout session should focus upon compound exercises as its foundation. But many take this idea one step further, eliminating isolation exercises altogether from their workout routine, focusing completely on compound weight lifting alone, with the idea that this will provide the most dramatic muscle size gains.

As usual with bodybuilding folklore, the truth is somewhat different from the popular claims, as although compound weight lifting exercises are in fact extremely effective, and should become the basis for any effective weight lifting workout routine, certain isolation exercises are also a necessity for any individual who wishes to produce the most dramatic muscle gains, and those who neglect isolation exercise can begin to develop a disproportional physique, with certain muscle groups, such as the arms, becoming far less impressive as the chest and back regions begin to burst with muscularity, all due to a lack of proper isolation workout efforts.

Arms are in fact one area where this is very common, with some saying that heavy compound back exercises are sufficient to promote complete biceps development, and consistent compound chest and shoulder movements will beef up the triceps with massive amounts of muscle, all without any isolation exercises to target these specific areas. Obviously, performing heavy compound weight lifting movements will no doubt allow the smaller muscles such as the biceps to improve, but the emphasis of the workout set when performing a compound weight training exercise such as seated rows is the back, with the biceps, in this example, used as a supporting muscle group in completing this exercise. The goal is to fatigue the back muscles during seated rows to the point of failure, and by this very definition, the arms will not receive sufficient overload, since the back muscles are to achieve maximum emphasis, therefore, the biceps are only trained to a certain percentage of their potential capacity. This same concept applies to triceps during bench press, where the goal is to fatigue the pecs, and the triceps are not to fail prior to the chest in order for the exercise to function as intended, therefore, the triceps only receive partial overload.

Because of this, isolation exercises targeting smaller, assisting muscle groups become necessary if those areas are to reach their genetic potential, meaning that isolation weight lifting exercises shunned by some bodybuilders, such as preacher curls, barbell curls, side laterals, and triceps pushdowns become critical in providing sufficient overload to reach failure for smaller muscle groups, as a bodybuilder, with these additional exercises, is then able to push those isolated muscles to complete failure, and therefore produce the greatest possible muscle growth.

There is no doubt that an effective weight training workout plan cannot be based upon isolation exercises, and some on the other extreme become obsessed with performing every possible weight lifting variation of a particular exercise, extending their workout length to a point of ineffectiveness. Therefore, the proper combination of compound and isolation exercise is necessary for those who wish to produce the most dramatic gains in muscle size, without neglecting any specific muscle group. The mistake many make is to either stuff their weight lifting workout routines with far too few isolation exercises, where they neglect providing sufficient overload to certain individual muscle groups, or they instead perform such a wide variety of isolation movements that their weight training workout sessions lack intensity, which destroys the potential for maximum muscle building.

Remember that the most effective bodybuilding technique involves a proper balance of both compound and isolation weight training exercises to avoid any of these potential pitfalls. If you currently find that smaller muscle groups such as the biceps, triceps, shoulders, forearms and lower back are lagging in size when compared with your larger muscles (chest, back, quads, etc), then you should strongly consider adopting some isolation exercises for these specific muscle groups so that they can grow to their maximum genetic potential.