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Bodybuilding

For Great Big Biceps, Lift Great Big Weights

You want the secret to full bulging biceps eh? Well I bet you’ve already found that during an arm workout it’s usually pretty easy to get a great pump in the biceps. Just curl a light to moderate weight with strict form for high reps and your arms will swell up huge in a matter of minutes. In that moment your arms feel enormous and beautiful and you fantasize of them staying that large forever. Sadly, the pump is only a temporary pleasure and an hour after the workout your arms have shrunk back to their normal size. High volume workouts are great for increasing the sarcoplasmic fluid around your muscles, which is an integral part of reaching maximum muscle hypertrophy, but it seems that biceps in particular are unable to retain the extra sarcoplasm fluid for long. Thus, the best way to ensure more permanent bulging biceps is by increasing the myofibrillar muscle fibers themselves. And the way to do that is by lifting some dang heavy weights.

Chuck Sipes Proved Strength and Size Go Together

Chuck Sipes bicepsChuck Sipes was a bodybuilder during the 60s and was known for his impressive feats of strength. He was also known for his gigantic biceps. Sipes believed his great physique was a result of his power training styled workouts.

Sipes believed that continuous application of power over a long period of time, the prolonged holding of a contracted position, was critical to maximum hypertrophy and was the key element that set him apart from other bodybuilders. He explained that pausing after each rep dramatically lowers the effectiveness of an exercise. Constant tension on the muscle must be maintained during every second of an exercise, especially for the biceps.

Secondly, he believed lifting really heavy was the best way to force the biceps to grow. Myofibrillar growth is best stimulated by the intensity of lifting seriously heavy weights under prolonged tension. This extra myofibrillar muscle growth will give the arms a nice full, dense look.

I won’t get into Chuck’s exact arm routine right now, but the moral of the story is lift heavy. I mean HEAVY! While remembering to maintain constant tension. This is the secret to full bulging biceps.

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Bodybuilding

German Volume Training for Maximum Hypertrophy

Are you ready to pack on some serious muscle? I mean serious maximum muscle hypertrophy? Then prepare yourself for some pain that will guarantee you gain. It’s called German Volume Training (GVT), and it’s brutal.

german volume training

The idea is stupidly simple. For each workout you do two main compound exercises. For each of those exercises you do 10 sets of 10 reps with the same weight. Top off the workout with two supplemental exercises of 3 sets each and call it a day. Easy right?

Okay, not at easy as it sounds, but GVT is extremely effective. You will be incredibly sore for days afterward so be prepared not to walk for several days after your leg workout. You’ll be hobbling all about while your body recovers and forces itself to grow.

The program works by blasting the motor units with high volumes of extensive, repeated stress. This forces the body to adapt by hypertrophying the targeted muscle fibers. Many people see significant size gains of 8-15 pounds of lean mass in just 6-8 weeks!

History

The idea largely came from Germain weight lifters in the 70s who used this type of approach in the off season to pack on lean muscle. It was so effective that many of the athletes who used this training were able move up a full weight class within 12 weeks.

The routine shared here was refined, developed, and introduced by Charles Poliquin in the 90s. It immediately became one of the most popular routines ever produced.

Choosing the Weight

For each exercise, select a weight that would take you to failure at 20 reps. This weight will probably be about 60% of your one rep max. Use this weight for all 10 sets.

The first few sets will seem very easy, but soon the sets will get more difficult and you may struggle to complete all 10 reps. Don’t increase the weight until you can do all 10 reps of all 10 sets.

You may find that you get stronger again 8th or 9th set, this is because of a neurological response called post-tetanic facilitation. You can already see your amazing body trying to adjust to this stress with this short-term neural adaptation.

Tempo

Poliquin suggests making each set last between 40-70 seconds for maximum hypertrophy results. You can do this by lifting the weight smoothly with control over about 2 seconds and then lowering the weight much more slowly over about 4 seconds. I would recommend maintaining constant tension on the muscle throughout the entire set by never fully locking out or relaxing at the top or bottom of a movement. Remember to use perfect form at all times, don’t get sloppy now!

Process & Rest Intervals

Each daily routine will consist of two main compound exercises (A1 and A2) followed by two more supplemental exercises (B1 and B2). You can superset each group of exercises while resting 90 seconds between each set in group A and resting 60 seconds between exercises in group B. Time the rest intervals with a stopwatch and don’t fudge the time too much, you want to be able to properly track your progress. Here’s a quick example of what this looks like:

  1. A1 – Set 1
  2. Rest 90 seconds
  3. A2 – Set 1
  4. Rest 90 seconds
  5. A1 – Set 2
  6. Rest 90 seconds
  7. A2 – Set 2
  8. Rest 90 seconds
  9. .etc

Continue this pattern until you’ve complete all 10 sets for both A1 and A2 exercises. Repeat this pattern for the B1 and B2 exercises, but only resting 60 seconds between sets.

Supplementation

It will be vital to eat like a champion during this routine. It’s a ultra high volume workout so you may find you need to dramatically increase your calorie intake to keep up. One suggestion Poliquin gives for maximum muscle-mass gains is to consume a liquid branched chain amino acid (BCAA) shake during the workout. He recommends .44 grams per pound of body weight.

The Phase 1 Routine

The following is a sample routine suggested by Charles Poliquin. You will repeat this Phase 1 routine 6 times, after that you will move to a more intensive 3 week program.

Day 1 – Chest and Back

Exercise Sets Reps
A1 Decline Dumbbell Press with Semi-Supinated Grip (palms facing each other) 10 sets 10 reps
A2 Chin Ups (palms facing you) 10 sets 10 reps
B1 Incline Dumbbell Flyes 3 sets 10-12 reps
B2 One-Arm Dumbbell Rows 3 sets 10-12 reps

Day 2 – Legs and Abs

Exercise Sets Reps
A1 Back Squats 10 sets 10 reps
A2 Lying Leg Curls Feet Outward 10 sets 10 reps
B1 Low-Cable Pull-Ins 3 sets 15-20 reps
B2 Seated Calf Raises 3 sets 15-20 reps

Day 3 – Rest Day

Day 4 – Arms and Shoulders

Exercise Sets Reps
A1 Parallel Bar Dips 10 sets 10 reps
A2 Incline Hammer Curls 10 sets 10 reps
B1 Bent-Over Dumbbell Lateral Raises 3 sets 10-12 reps
B2 Seated Dumbbell Lateral Raises 3 sets 10-12 reps

Day 5 – Rest Day

The Phase 2 Routine

After completing the Phase 1 routine 6 times, you can switch to another routine of your choice for three weeks. Any workout split that suits your recovery pattern will do. Poliquin recommends hitting each body part over a five day cycle, averaging 4-6 sets per body part at 6-8 reps.

The Phase 3 Routine

After the three weeks of recovery routine, you can begin the next phase of GVT. This time you’ll again be doing 10 sets method, but this time of only 6 reps. This time choose a weight that you would typically fail at 12 reps, and use it for all 10 sets.

Day 1 – Chest and Back

Exercise Sets Reps
A1 Incline Dumbbell Press 10 sets 6 reps
A2 Wide Grip Pull Ups (palms facing away from you) 10 sets 6 reps
B1 Flat Dumbbell Flyes 3 sets 6 reps
B2 Bent Over Rows with EZ Bar 3 sets 6 reps

Day 2 – Legs and Abs

Exercise Sets Reps
A1 Bent-Knee Deadlifts 10 sets 6 reps
A2 Seated Leg Curls Feet Inward 10 sets 6 reps
B1 Twisting Crunches 3 sets 12-15 reps
B2 Standing Calf Raises 3 sets 12-15 reps

Day 3 – Rest Day

Day 4 – Arms and Shoulders

Exercise Sets Reps
A1 Close Bench Presses with Chains 10 sets 6 reps
A2 Scott Close Grip EZ Bar Curls 10 sets 6 reps
B1 One Arm Seated External Rotation 3 sets 3-12 reps
B2 Incline Prone Lateral Raises 3 sets 10-12 reps

Day 5 – Rest Day

Now Build Your Own Routine

German Volume Training is intense, but you’re sure to see results in no time. After you’ve given this sample routine a complete try, take some time to recover a bit and then create your GVT routine based on the principles you’ve seen here. Substitute some exercises with equivalent variations and find some ways to incorporate other body parts more directly such as shoulders and forearms. The method is brutal, but it will make you a beast!

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Uncategorized

Stop Hiccups Every Time

Like most people, I occasionally get the hiccups. But more than simply being annoying, hiccups bring me great pain. It doesn’t take long at all before I feel each hiccup draw stomach acid up into my esophagus, resulting in terribly painful heartburn. Furthermore, when I do get hiccups they will last all day long for a day or two. That makes for some seriously painful, long-lasting heartburn. The blasted bouts will keep me from sleeping and ultimately make me alarmingly irate over the whole ordeal. So I set out on a quest to find the end all cure all that will stop hiccups every time. And I am proud to say that after trying countless techniques that all did nothing for me, I finally found a solution I believe works every time. Before we get into the solution, it would be helpful to briefly understand why hiccups occur…

Why Hiccups Occur

Hiccups largely remain a medical mystery. They can happen for several reasons, but the most common and medically accepted reason is from simply swallowing too much air. This can happen while eating or drinking too fast. Having this excess air in the stomach can disrupt your body’s breathing rhythm as it tries to escape. Thus, to cure hiccups you need to try to both empty some air from the stomach and reset your body’s breathing cycle to a coordinated rhythm again.

The Stop Hiccups Solution

  • Step 1 – Inhale through your mouth until your lungs are COMPLETELY full and you are unable to take any more in.
  • Step 2 – Without releasing any air, swallow.
  • Step 3 – Still without releasing any air, continue to inhale through your mouth again as much as possible (it won’t be much this time).
  • Step 4 – Repeat steps 2 and 3 until you are unable to take any more air in.
  • Step 5 – Gently exhale.

If done correctly, this process should reset your breathing rhythm and make those nasty hiccups disappear. This method has never failed to cure me on the very first try. So please share in the comments if this solution also works for you!

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Body

Tan Naked – The Healing Power of Sunlight

Sunlight is one of the greatest of all healing agencies.

Pure air, sunlight, moderation, rest, exercise, proper diet, and water are the true remedies that every person should have a knowledge of. Proper application of these principles will cure and prevent nearly all disease. Nature’s process of healing and upbuilding is gradual, and seems slow to the impatient. But in the end, nature does her work wisely and well. Those who persevere in obedience to nature’s laws will reap the reward in health of body and health of mind.

Won’t the Sun Give Me Skin Cancer?

Many people stay from the sunlight from fear of developing skin cancer. This is terribly unfortunate since sunlight is one of the greatest healers. If your bloodstream is clean, alkaline, free-flowing, and plenty of oxygen is getting through to your tissues, you will have a healthy body, which includes healthy skin. Your tissues must have 45% oxygen at all times. But when people eat free fats, this can cut off 60-70% of the oxygen to the tissues. An individual living on a low fat diet, eating primarily only fat found in the natural cells of food, will not have to worry about oxygen being cut off to the tissues and especially to the skin. If you live on a low fat diet, you can get all the sunshine you want and it will do you good.

Sunlight Restores and Heals

The value of sunlight in maintenance and restoration of health, although well recognized, is seldom used practically in the treatment of disease. The important relation of sunlight to health is shown in the effects upon plants and animals in deprivation of its influence. In caves, mines, and other places excluded from sunlight, plants do not grow, or at best attain only a sickly development. The same is true in animals. In the deep valleys among the Alps in Switzerland the sun shines only a few hours each day; consequently the inhabitants suffer terribly from scrofula and other diseases indicative of poor nutrition and lack of sunlight. Higher up the mountain the inhabitants are remarkably hardy and well-developed physically and mentally. The only difference in the modes of life is the great amount of sunshine higher up the mountainside. When the sickly from below are carried up the mountainside, they rapidly improve.

The value of sunlight to the sick has been amply demonstrated by hospital experience, which shows a much larger percentage of recovery in rooms amply exposed to the sun than in those excluded from its rays. That the sun has a powerful influence upon the skin is shown by the great increase in pigment (known as a tan) which is produced by free exposure to the sun and air. This results from an increased activity of the cutaneous layer.

The sunbath consists of exposing as much of the body as possible to the direct rays of the sun. The length of time one should remain in the sunbath depends on the individual and the effect desired. Highly sensitive people, especially when first beginning to take sunbaths, should remain exposed to the rays of the sun for only a short time, ten to fifteen minutes maximum. Less sensitive people and those accustomed to the sun’s rays may remain in the sunbath for twenty to thirty minutes. The sunbath should be concluded by a shower or bath in order to wash off all the perspiration which the body has eliminated as toxic wastes. The effect of sunbathing followed by a bath or shower is very invigorating.

Solar rays consist of heat rays as well as ultraviolet rays. They also contain actinic or chemicals rays, and the therapeutic effects are doubtless due to the combined influence of these three potent forces. Solar rays have been used in the treatment of obstinate ulcers. Undoubtedly, the remedial power of the sun’s rays, properly applied, would be a valuable healing tool for many cases. Once lady had a very bad ulcer on her leg, about two inches in diameter, which doctors could not heal. Arrangements were being made for a skin graft, when one doctor decided to have her expose her ulcer to the sun for twenty minutes at the height of the day. After that the ulcer was carefully washed, and vitamin E and A applied. Within a short time, the entire ulcer had completely healed. Sunlight plus one capsule of Vitamin A, 25,000 I.U. and one capsule of vitamin E, 400 I.U. mixed together and applied to an affected area is one of the greatest healers of skin ailments. This treatment is also effective in burn cases.

The Ancients Loved the Sun

There is much evidence that sun bath was known and employed among the ancients. Plutarch tells us that Diogenes, the renowned Athenian cynic, in his old age was accustomed to lie in the sunshine for the purpose of recruiting his energies – a custom which, accord to Pliny, was common among old men in Greece. It is stated that Diogenes valued his sun bath so highly that when called upon by Alexander, who offered to render him any service in his power, he replied in answer to the kind offer, “Only stand a little out of my sunshine.” According to Pliny, the custom of the sun bath was common among the Romans too. Indeed, both the older and the younger Pliny were accustomed to spend an hour in the exposure to the sun daily after dinner. Hippocrates prescribed the sun bath for chills. Numerous other instances could be cited of the ancient use of the sun bath. One French physician once said to some people who had brought their children to him for treatment, “Take these children to the country; feed them as well as you can; but, above all, roast them – roast them in the sun.”

Vigor declines as we get older, leaving us with less vitality to resist illness. This makes it absolutely essential of the elderly to get plenty of sunlight and fresh, pure air. Get as much sunlight as possible!

Sunlight to the Rescue

After you are exposed to ultraviolet light, the neutrophils in your blood are stimulated to eat germs more rapidly. In some research, it was shown that they doubled their ability to engulf bacteria.

If the sun is able to eliminate bacteria from our air, water, and skin, and is able to strengthen the immune system of a host, it would naturally follow that a person regularly exposed to ultraviolet light would develop fewer illnesses. This is exactly the clinical result observed.

For 12 years, 4,000 male college students of Cornell University were observed, and it was found that there was a direct relationship between the temperature and days of sunshine and the frequency of colds. Smaller groups of patients who considered themselves susceptible to colds were studied. It was found that a 10-minute irradiation with ultraviolet light one to three times a week throughout the winter months resulted in a reduction in the frequent of colds from 27.9% to 40.3%.

The results of another study studying the effects of ultraviolet light in the classroom indicated that children would have less respiratory infections if ultraviolet lights were to be substituted for the standard classroom lights.

Russian scientists have developed a test to check the ability of children’s bodies to build immunity and resist infections. The scientists have found that exposure to ultraviolet light, especially in the winter months, greatly increased the ability of the Russian children’s bodies to resist disease.

In a study involving over 800 children, it was discovered that the incidence of dental cavities was much higher during the winter and spring months than during the summer months. Another study using more than 94,000 boys 12 to 14 years of age, showed that the incidence of cavities was directly related to the amount of sunlight available in the area in which the boy lived; the more sunlight, the less cavities. The boys that lived in areas with over 3,000 hours of sunlight per year had 290 cavities per 100 boys while the group with less than 2,200 hours had 486 cavities. Since dental cavities are partly the result of bacterial invasion, and since exposure to sunlight builds up the immune system, it is not hard to see that exposure to sunlight could also encourage the reduction of the number of dental cavities which may occur.

Get a Tan, Get Healthy

The sun seems to be the mother of all nature’s processes, at the source of all energy, and necessary for all life and growth. Vitamins are the product of sunlight. Sunshine is antiseptic, and is an important factor in the treatment of many diseases. Scientific research and experiments have taught us wonderful lessons of the value of sunlight.

The conclusion is quite simple. Eliminate all free fats, get out in the sunshine, and improve your health and longevity.

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Video Weight Loss

Never, Ever Give Up – Arthur Boorman’s Inspirational Transformation

Arthur Boorman was a disabled veteran of the Gulf War for 15 years. He was told by his doctors that he would never again be able to walk on his own.

Arthur couldn’t do traditional, high impact exercise, so decided to try yoga after reading an article about WCW World Heavyweight Champion Diamond Dallas Page doing yoga.

When Dallas heard about Arthur’s story, he was so moved he began emailing and speaking on the phone with Arthur throughout his journey, encouraging Arthur to keep going and to believe that anything was possible. Despite doctors telling him walking would never happen, Arthur remained persistent. He fell many times, but kept going.

Arthur quickly grew stronger and began losing a tremendous amount of weight! Using DDP’s specialized workout, he greatly improved his balance and flexibility. This gave him hope that maybe someday, he would be able to walk again.

His story is proof that we should not place limits on what we are capable of doing, because we often do not know our own potential. Niether Arthur, nor Dallas knew what he would go on to accomplish, but this video speaks for itself. In less than a year, Arthur completely transformed his life. If only he had known what he was capable of 15 years earlier.

Take control of your life and pursue your dreams. Hopefully, this story can inspire you to follow your dreams, whatever they may be.

Anything is Possible!

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Nutrition

Understanding the Three Types of Carbohydrates and When to Eat Them

Carbohydrates are a main fuel source for the body and are one of the three central components of the human diet, along with fat and protein. Muscles rely heavily on the dependable supply of energy from carbohydrates and the brain is completely dependent on carbs and lives solely on blood sugar. Without sufficient blood glucose the brain is starved and any part of the nervous system can be affected.

Clearly, carbs are an integral part of a balanced diet. Any fad diets that suggest completely eliminating carbs are downright dangerous. The keyword, however, is balanced diet. While carbohydrates are a critical component to good health, it is very easy to overdo them. Improper carb consumption is perhaps the leading factor in fat gain.

Here’s how eating too many carbs can make you fat. After eating, enzymes in the digestive system break down carbohydrates into blood sugar, or glucose, which is used as energy for the body. This blood sugar is then stored as glycogen in the liver and muscles where it is used to maintain blood glucose availability to the body throughout the day. It also serves as an energy reservoir to provide emergency fuel during times of high energy demand.

This glycogen energy reserve is much like a cup. It can only hold so much. Any excess that overflows beyond the capacity of the cup gets promptly stored as fat. This is an important concept to grasp. After intense physical activity your glycogen reserves are most likely depleted so it is important to eat a healthy dose of carbs to restore your energy reserves. However, if you’ve been sitting on the couch all day watching TV, your glycogen reserves are probably filled to max capacity. Eating carbs now will be excess and thus stored as fat.

There are three different types of carbs and each provide energy in a different way. Let’s learn how to eat the right carbs at the right times to maintain high energy without fat gain.

Starchy Complex Carbohydrates

starchy complex carbohydratesWhole grain bread, oatmeal, grits, pasta, brown rice, beans, potatoes, yams, and corn are a few examples of starchy complex carbohydrates. These foods have complex chemical bonds that are slowly broken down by enzymes in the digestive system and gradually absorbed into the bloodstream bit by bit. For this reason, starchy carbs provide long lasting energy. These are the foods marathon runners rely on for sustained energy.

Because our bodies are restoring themselves during the night, our glycogen stores get burned up a bit for energy. Upon waking up in the morning it will be important to restore these energy reserves. Some complex starchy carbohydrates for breakfast will help restore our energy as well as provide sustained energy throughout the early day.

It is important to have starchy carbohydrates prior to physical activity. Ultimately, carb intake throughout the day will vary greatly from person to person based on their energy demands and body type. Some people will need to avoid carbs almost entirely, while other people will require some carbs at every meal. Carefully consider your activity level, for eating more carbs than you require will lead to fat gain. Some people will gain weight at only 100 grams a day, while other will require over 500 grams.

Fibrous Complex Carbohydrates

fibrous complex carbohydratesSome carbohydrates have chemical bonds that simply can’t be broken down by the enzymes in the body. These indigestible substances simply pass through the body and are known as fiber. Fibrous carbs provide virtually nothing for energy, but are very important to digestive health and the cleansing of the body.

Fibrous complex carbohydrates are very good not only for getting fiber into the body but also for weight loss. On a high-fiber diet you are much more likely to reach the point of satisfaction before eating too much. As these foods are chewed, large amounts of saliva and gastric juices are produced. This additional liquid mixes with the food in the stomach and causes swelling of the fibers in the food. This distends the stomach and gives prompt and lasting feeling of fullness. It’s even been well established that those who consume a high-fiber diet actually excrete more fat in each bowel movement than those on a low-fiber, low-roughage diet.

Fibrous complex carbohydrates can be eaten any time of day without limit. Because fiber cannot be digested, the body will burn lots of energy attempting to process it. This is a dieter’s dream come true. It is something that can be eaten without limit and without risk of gaining even an ounce of unwanted weight. A celery stick for example contains about 5 calories. The body will burn about 10 calories just breaking down, assimilating, and eliminating the celery stick. This is called negative calories. So for people dieting, use as much leafy green vegetables as possible.

High fibrous foods include vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts, and legumes. Whether you are seeking to lose weight, gain weight, or build muscle, eat lots of fibrous complex carbs for their fiber and nutrients.

Simple Carbohydrates

simple carbohydratesSimple carbohydrates are also known as simple sugars. They are easily digested and enter the blood stream almost immediately. These foods provide an instant burst of energy, also known as a “sugar rush”. These are also the foods that need to be used very sparingly. Used correctly, simple carbs serve a great purpose, but taken at a time when your body has no demand for high energy output, these simple sugars quickly overfill the glycogen energy reserves and get stored as fat.

Simple carbohydrates should only be eaten during and immediately after an intense workout. After intense physical activity, the body has burned through it’s glycogen energy reserve and is desperate to replenish it. Simple sugars are the best thing for quickly getting energy back into the body and back into the depleted muscles.

Even ladies trying to lose weight, this is the time to eat the sugar you want as it will replenish your glycogen. Immediately after an intense workout is the one time you can get away with it. Be wise though. Cookies would be fine, but cheesecake would be terrible as it is loaded with fat. Only sugars, not sugars and fat, should be eaten.

Some examples of simple carbs include milk, white bread, white pasta, table sugar, corn syrup, and most packaged cereal.

Evaluate Carbohydrate Intake Based on Your Energy Needs

You need to evaluate carb intake for yourself. Two weeks is a good time for testing this. Monitor your protein, carb, and fat intake over two weeks. If you gain fat, it means your energy intake is greater than your energy expenditure, so reduce your carb intake. Likewise, if you lack energy and are losing weight, up your carb intake.

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Bodybuilding Video

Free Online Documentary – World’s Strongest Man

This video features a fascinating look into the strong man competitions and the various competitors fighting for the title of strongest man in the world.

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Bodybuilding Video

Jim Cordova Explains the Importance of the Negative in Weight Training

The gym is one of the few places where focusing on the negative can make you twice as successful. To understand what I mean, you first need to know what lies behind every repetition that you perform.

Every repetition consists of three phases. The concentric phase which is lifting the weight to transition or peak contraction phase, which is the midpoint, and eccentric phase which is lowering the weight. In other words, each repetition consists of a positive, midpoint, and negative.

The positive portion is easy to identify as it’s what you’re most familiar with. It’s the primary action of the exercise that you perform. For example, during pulling movements the positive portion of the rep occurs when you pull the weight toward your body. The negative occurs when the weight moves away from and back to the starting point. During pushing movements, the positive portion of the rep occurs when you push the weight away from your body and the negative occurs when the weight moves towards you.

Most people tend to focus only on the positive portion and pay little mind to the negative. You want to do the complete opposite. Generally, the negative portion of every repetition should move slower than the positive. At the very least you should move at the same pace as the positive. Never should you move faster by allowing the weight to fall back to the starting position. Doing such is asking for an injury simply because you’re allowing the muscle to relax and then suddenly contracting it to catch the weight.

Whenever you perform an exercise you’re going to want to focus on the negative especially since it is just as beneficial as the positive. Arguably, even more so. You may have noticed that when you perform a slow controlled negative repetition it tends to burn more and is very intense. That should tell you something. It’s very effective in terms of stimulating muscle growth and development. In fact, the negative portion of a repetition has been shown to have a greater impact on the hormones that lead to muscle growth and development, even more so than the positive. The negative has been shown to produce more micro trauma in the muscle. In other words, it breaks the muscle down more. The whole objective of resistance training is to break down the muscles so that they grow back stronger and more developed.

Lastly, by focusing on the negative you become twice as efficient during your workout since you’re essentially doing twice the work. Focusing on the positive is only half the repetition. So focus on the negative and I guarantee it will have a positive impact on your results.

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Bodybuilding Video

Shoulder Training with Jim Cordova and Strengthening the Rotator Cuff

Jim Cordova is a world-ranked drug-free bodybuilder that demonstrates excellent intuitive wisdom in his workouts. In this video he details his secrets to massive delts and powerful healthy shoulders.

He sticks to the basic exercises when training shoulders and mixes a variety of factors, such as rep range, frequency, volume, and exercise order, just to subject the muscles to new forms of tension.

He starts most shoulder workouts with presses, though occasionally starts out with the side delts first. When performing presses, he sticks to the standard upright angle. High incline presses really hammer the delts as it’s a very natural movement. Generally, he does not lockout when performing presses but rather keeps the weight moving maintaining constant tension on the sweet spot of the muscle. This blasts the muscle and brings it to failure much earlier. He does this for many sets to failure. Keeping the weight moving subjects the muscle to even more stimulation than locking out or squeezing does and will cause you to fail much quicker.

Cordova might train his shoulders only once every two weeks during a power building phase. At other times when focused more on development and a good pump he will not go so heavy and workout shoulders twice a week.

A excellent overlooked exercise is the single armed upright row with a dumbbell. It’s an outstanding exercise for a great pump in the side delts. It’s also easier on the rotator cuff as there is less of a chance of shoulder impingement and is much more natural.

Jim Cordova claims that working the rotator cuffs has helped not only his shoulder training, but the training of every other part of his upper body as well. When using a lot of power and force in the major shoulder exercises, the major muscles tend to really assist in the functions that the rotator cuff would ordinarily perform. This in turn causes the rotator cuffs to weaken and atrophy. This puts you at jeopardy of tearing a rotator cuff muscle even during the most mundane tasks of daily life. To prevent this Cordova does 4 or 5 exercises for the rotator cuff muscles. He claims this has worked very well and that his shoulders feel much stronger then they did prior to rotator cuff training. Those tiny muscles need to be worked thoroughly just as the larger muscles do. Strengthening these tiny muscles will make you stronger in the all the core lifts which will allow you greater progress.

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Bodybuilding Video

Dorian Yates Blood and Guts Training Routine

Six time Mr. Olympia Dorian Yates shows us a real mass building training routine. This is high-intensity  training at its best. Typically, for each exercise there are two warm up sets to get the blood flowing and prevent injury, followed by one all out set at max intensity.

Nutritionally, Dorian recommends 1-1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight. Generally, you will need about twice the amount of carbohydrates as proteins to ensure that the body uses the carbs for energy and the protein for tissue repair. If you don’t have enough carbs, proteins will then be used for energy. This is not only a more inefficient form of energy, but it robs the proteins of doing their muscle building work. If, however, you start gaining too much body fat, back down on your carb intake.

Complex carbohydrates are always best, except after a workout. Following a workout, simple carbohydrates are best for quickly restoring your energy stores and promoting an insulin spike. Don’t forget you still need to consume fats as well. A good ratio for fats is approximately 30% of your daily protein intake.

Episode 1 – Chest and Biceps

Episode 2 – Back

Episode 3 – Dorians Tips

Episode 4 – Delts and Triceps

Episode 5 – Legs