The Skinny Man’s Self Help Guide To Protein Powder

September 2, 2010 by Clinton Juergens  
Filed under Exercise

What exactly do you actually want to find out concerning protein powder? As a slim guy or newbie to the whole muscle mass building scene you only wish to know a few solutions. Does it definitely do the job? Is protein powder important? What style must I use? What’s the best? What amount do I require?

Simply How Much Protein Powder Must I Want?

Protein is an extremely important macro nutrient and should be eaten frequently throughout the day. I suggest no less than 1 to 1.5 grams of protein for every pound of lean muscle mass. This means that if you’re 170 lbs and 11% body fat (170 x .11 = 18.7 lbs of fat leaving 151 pounds of lean mass), you’ll need at least 151 to roughly 227 grams of protein per day.

I propose that protein powder be used mostly for ones pre workout, work out and post work out shake. This is when liquid food is more advantageous over whole food given that it provides a faster absorption rate.

What Sort Of Protein Powder Should I Employ?

CASEIN PROTEIN accounts for 80% of overall milk protein. Casein is known for it’s fantastic amino acid profile, slow digestive nature, and useful variety of peptides. Since casein is gradually digested into your bloodstream, don’t make use of it throughout physical exercises or soon after physical exercises – you will need a speedy absorbing protein at these periods. As a substitute, use a casein protein for all different situations outside the pre and post workout window.

WHEY PROTEIN comprises 20% of total milk protein. Whey is known for its interesting variety of peptides, rapid digestion, high cysteine content, and excellent amino acid profile. As it is rapidly broken down the best occasion to consume it is before your workout, in your exercise session or just after training session. These can be regarded as the periods in the day where you need energy the most and while your system is in an anabolic state.

Whey hydrolysates (also known as peptides, and are also acknowledged as hydrolyzed whey protein), are powerful proteins which are more quickly absorbed; more so than any other type, since your system favors peptides to whole proteins. Hydrolysates are usually most likely by far the most anabolic for temporary protein synthesis for example the pre and post workout time frame.

SOY PROTEIN is the most controversial of all protein forms. While the soy groupies have gone to great lengths to name soy to be a super food having marvelous effects, there is also a great degree of analysis that advises soy protein can be contraindicated in most situations. Mainly because of all of the confusion, inside my personal viewpoint, I would suggest avoiding soy protein altogether and adhering to the additional forms shown.

Protein Blends are generally a mixture of several kinds of protein blends including whey protein isolate, whey protein concentrate, casein protein, soy protein, and egg protein.

Exactly why could you desire a blend anyway? You can have the full spectrum of proteins and you will probably receive varying rates of absorption on the different types of protein. Having a blend can create an anabolic setting with the whey and an anti-catabolic setting from the casein – use this style at any time of the day however NOT before or after having a exercise session.

Whey Isolate Vs. Whey Protein:

Almost all whey protein powders that supply the nutritional supplement racks are composed of whey concentrate and mixed in with a modest percentage of whey isolate. Examining the two, whey protein isolate is a bit more more costly than whey protein concentrate for the reason that it provides a greater quality (more pure) and a greater biological value (BV). Whey protein isolate includes even more protein and less fat and lactose for each portion. Almost all whey concentrates consist of 70 – 85% protein whilst whey protein isolates consist of 90 – 98% protein.

Whey protein isolate will be the highest yield of protein currently available that derives from whole milk. Due to its chemical components it’s the easiest to digest within the body. Certainly using its higher content level, it appears that an isolate protein would be the evident alternative instead of a concentrate. Having said that, this is certainly an individual determination because the isolate is a bit more expensive, and merely because it is more pure does not promise that it can help create larger muscle mass. Its extra concentration might not exactly justify it’s expense.

So Which Must You Select?

For the Pre workout as well as Post workout stages, provided that whey hydrolysate is the 1st or 2nd element in the supplementation label then there’s most likely not enough inside the product to impact protein synthesis to reap the perfect advantages. As stated, whey isolates are also a really high quality whey and then for optimum anabolism, isolates must be joined with whey hydrolysates for precisely the pre workout and post workout phases of the method. The inclusion of small amounts of whey concentrates will not likely hurt you but this should not be the primary component on the tub of protein powder.

If you’re searching for the most effective protein powder to take advantage of your entire development potential through the expansion and recovery stages (whenever other than pre and post workout) then start using a blend. You may obtain the whole spectrum of proteins and you should get ranging rates of consumption through the various kinds of protein.

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Strength Training Guidelines For Thin Men

August 25, 2010 by Clinton Juergens  
Filed under Exercise

You awaken in the morning and look in the mirror. Happy about your overall look? In the event you more resemble a cross country marathon jogger compared to a top notch sprinter, don’t be concerned, you are not in isolation. You just need to start adhering to these resistance training laws.

You’ll find numerous guys who merely have issues loading on the lean muscle mass. Whether their hormone situation isn’t really quite as favorable or genetics has simply had it out for them at birth, something is definite and that is that they need to abide by a slightly alternative group of weight lifting strategies than those individuals who seem to develop muscle immediately.

Luckily for you, you are finding the time to seek information about bodybuilding so you won’t be locked into a existence where it looks like a strong breeze might topple you over.

To begin with, one of the main reasons that slim males must remember is that they must stay clear of volume work without exceptions.

Law #1:

Get in the gym and then leave! That should be your motto from here on out. Live it. Breathe it. Repeat it. Lifting weights is really a calorie expensive activity so you need as many of the calories you can find at this stage. In case you are ripping it up in the gym everyday, how will you expect to get bigger? You will not.

You gain muscle when you are resting and normally, the skinnier you are, the more relaxation you’ll have to have.

Now, it doesn’t suggest you must park it on the couch for a few days in the middle of your training. It only denotes that every lifting weights program shouldn’t include one set after another repeatedly. Accompanied by a time out to talk to that hot secretary and then time for an additional 20 sets.

No, your workouts need to consist of 10 to 12 or a lesser amount of sets where you are driving yourself to the MAX. There is no enough room for wimpy, light-weight work in your strength training program.

Which Leads Us To Rule #2:

Choose an adviser. You want someone that has had the experience. This person was previously a lanky geek just like you and they have been able to overcome the curse and today are utterly ripped and master the health club. This guy is going to do wonders for your motivational degrees. Don’t feel like weightlifting? Have a good glance at his muscle mass. You will want to pick that weight up from then on. Furthermore, they can clue you in to a few of his time tested strategies which could simply be crucial in your case also.

Principle # 3.

Procedure. Ever observed the guy in the gym that is hoisting a huge amount of weight for his barbell curls that it seems like he’s got more motion taking place than the Gravitron at the amusement park? He is more or less working every muscle complex in his body except his biceps. Not too advantageous. Not just that, offer him a couple weeks and also a 100 dollars says he’s afflicted with back pain.

You have to preserve appropriate form all through your weight lifting, not only to prevent injuries but also to get the muscular gains you want. In case you cheat form, that you are simply cheating your self. Unless you realize what suitable form is now, book a sitting having a personal trainer or find yourself a spotter that can help you.

This Leads To Law #4.

Rest! You’ve worked hard at the health club, provided your system by using some beneficial meals and now what? Wanting to venture out drinking all evening with all your friends? You might want to change that. Because you surely want to sustain your interpersonal life when trying to put on weight – and you should – it shouldn’t happen at the loss of going to bed.

Sleeping is the best time with regards to our body fixing itself and developing more powerful, consequently avoid uninterrupted sleep and you are ending your outcomes. Really don’t do it. Period. it’s that straightforward.

Time For Law #5.

I understand, you would like to be enormous, yet you don’t want to be fat. You should not concern yourself with that now, due to the fact we each know you’re a long ways from overweight.

Putting on unwanted weight weight will probably be more an idea of diet program compared to anything else so if you are now being smart with the cooking, it’s not necessary to perform hours of cardiovascular exercise to keep toned. Aerobic exercise is probably going to further burn up valuable calories which may have went to building your new muscular mass. On your behalf, calories are a hot asset and should not be invested on the cardio equipment.

In order to maintain some cardio for general health reasons, great, however control this to 2 or 3 twenty minute trainings each week – AND NO MORE. And stay it small to moderate intensity too. The only location you have to be rigorous is in the weight lifting.

And Now, Added Bonus Guideline #6

Pitch the isolated exercises. What person requires them? You definitely should not.

Should your exercises usually incorporate tricep kickbacks, then bicep curls, followed by chest flys followed by leg extensions, followed by… you get the idea, you need to modify this fast. Bear in mind, you’ve got only got so much time you are entitled to be in the health club for. Don’t you wish to receive the biggest bang for your buck? Probably you do, that implies focusing on compound lifts solely. This consists of lifting weights with physical exercises such as bench presses, dead-lifts, squats, military presses and rows.

Develop into good friends with those work outs and you will have new muscle mass in the picture in no time. Throw out the five day split system, start on a great lower/upper or full body workout system and then you’ve located the main element to unleashing new muscle tissue.

And so to conclude your latest method of your strength training sessions – go there, work intensely and with suitable technique, go home, consume and slumber. Continue doing this method during a month or two without getting sidetracked or growing to be too much of a party animal and you will settle on the idea that this is the best time for you improve your dreadful lanky image.

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How P90X Could Improve Your Weight Loss Efforts

August 16, 2010 by Ahmed Abdelaziz  
Filed under Exercise

P90X offers something a little different in the world of weight loss products. It is really a system to transform a body into a more lean and athletic version of itself. There is built in motivation because the changes just keep coming throughout the program. It never hits the wall that so many reach when trying to lose weight.

At the start of any program the results are what keeps a person moving from one week to the next. It is what makes any food sacrifices worth it. Just as any program starts out great, it inevitably will come to a time where it stops working. This is called the weight loss plateau. Cross training is suggested to keep it from happening but it is not enough.

The system was designed to combat that, so there is never a plateau. The creator calls it muscle confusion. The body usually gets used to a certain exercise and stops responding. With muscle confusion the muscles are consistently challenged. This system comes with 12 sets of exercises that keep the muscles working. These exercises are constantly changing never giving the muscles time to get used to them.

Of course the fact that boredom can never be a factor is a plus. Each workout targets different aspects of fitness and sometimes combining them. One may focus more on strength, another may be centered on flexibility, and still another on cardio. Yoga is part of the program and adds in balance which works that core. Some martial arts in the form of Kenpo is included in this program. It helps with coordination and endurance.

A full segment is devoted to stretching. The body is becoming more athletic with all the movement and to keep it from becoming injured the stretching is necessary. Explosive and controlled jumping in the use of plyometrics is one of the 12. In this, like all exercise, form is important. Proper form means more effective exercising and less waste of movement and effort. The muscles are used to explode into action but then also used to control the downward movement.

The workouts have more than one level to work at. There are modifications for all the exercises. A beginner will find a level that is challenging for them but not as difficult. This makes it easier to stay with the work if it does not feel impossible to do and at the same time there is something to work towards. There is a sense of accomplishment when the modified version may no longer be necessary.

The change is literally the replacement of fat with muscle. Muscle is the built in fat burner. If everything is followed as advised even the modified versions will yield results and 90 days is not a long time to make what amounts to a lifestyle change.

Along with the exercise DVDs there is a calendar showing what routines to do on what day and allowing progress tracking. A set of dumbbells will be needed as will a pull up bar. There is a nutrition guide included because the right fuel is needed for the new fitness level being gained. The guide has three steps. Each step matches a month of workouts. A well balanced diet and exercise are always the words used to describe how to lose weight. Both are included in the P90X.

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How To Build Beautiful Muscles

August 14, 2010 by Veronica Ray  
Filed under Exercise

If you intend to develop nice muscles, you should seek alternatives to supplements and steroids or only eating proteins. Decide your preferred body building exercises and plan on practicing a spot at all time. Taking supplements without practicing a sport will not enhance your muscles. Below you can read a few things about beautiful muscles and how to get them.

- Do not avoid using free weights. Use them each time you are working at a muscle group. The machines, no matter how sophisticated they seem, do not help as much as free weights.

- You should do more body wide movements. A training session that is wasted on a single muscle will be ineffective. Successful training session will try to regard as many muscles as possible

- Start to train focusing on the muscles that need the most work. Use free weights first because when you start you are rested and this equipment requires the most effort on your part.

- For an efficient development, ask for professional help. Not all exercises can have the same outcome for everyone. You should experiment and see what fits you best. This way you can find out which are the best exercise sets for you.

- Avoid accidents. Respect the execution indications; warm up accordingly before every session. Any injury can lead to an extended timeline for your muscles to reach the desired form and dimension. Each of us has an optimal number of exercises he can do. Do not go over it just because you want to feel important. Also avoid external accidents. Don’t show off in your Chrysler Concorde risking injuries.

- Don’t forget to eat proteins. Body builders say that red meat proteins are the best, but even milk proteins will do. Eat protein aliments or take protein pills, but don’t go over the indicated dosage.

- There is an optimal number of exercises each muscle group can stand. Smaller muscles will usually be able to sustain a certain weight for less time. Do not try to compare muscle activity. Each muscle will let you know in its discrete way how much it can bear and what its maximum tension is. Over time, these values will grow slowly, but will never be the same for all muscular pairs in your body.

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Types Of Fat Burning Exercises

July 27, 2010 by Dean Tate  
Filed under Exercise

Exercises that can be done slowly and stretched for long periods of time and involving the body’s major groups of muscles. Such exercises allow the body to burn through more calories that came from fat by doing even simple, low intensity cardio exercises. Such exercises would include jogging, walking, brisk walking. Swimming and cycling.

There are also sugar burning exercises that involve bursts of energy followed by rests which results in the body burning more sugar to be used as fuel instead of fat. These sugar burning exercises are tennis, sprinting, golf, basketball, baseball, etc.; these activities are great sugar burners of the body but they are not as effective in fat burning like the specific fat burning exercises are.

To efficiently burn excess fats, brush up on articles about how to burn the fat feed the muscle review so you can learn about proper dieting and the best fat burning exercise best fat burning exercise that you can do.

You can get more benefits and be able to burn fat more effectively by doing moderate exercises that you can stretch for longer periods of time. These kinds of exercises increase your metabolism so your body will be able to burn more calories long after you exercise. So people who are doing regular exercise are more successful at producing enzymes that burn fat as opposed to people who do not exercise regularly.

Twenty minutes of fat burning exercises will enable you to get your fat burning enzymes going which is a perfect time frame for those people who are just beginning to do their workout. If you are really intent on losing those unwanted fats around your abdominal area, make sure that you stick to a fat burning diet fat burning diet and if you are a smoker, to stop smoking and refrain from drinking alcoholic beverages; smoking and too much drinking have both been identified as causes of weight gain and should be avoided at all cost, if possible.

Investing in simple home gym equipment such as home treadmills and elliptical trainers can also be of great help in burning excess fat since these machines are great at providing you with aerobic exercises that you can do for long periods of time. These kinds of home gym equipment are particularly popular because they enable a person to do exercises regardless of the weather condition; and are cost efficient and very easy to use and the equipment would last for a long time.

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How Body Building Supplements Improve Your Health And Your Body?

July 13, 2010 by Brandi Rivera  
Filed under Exercise

Body building substances are the substance that brings body building program through muscles growth and loss in fat connected with weight training or any other physical training. The sportsman and other body builders take these supplements to regain lost energy. These supplements are essential for building muscles in symmetrical order.

Protein is the significant nutrients giving you more energy to work in effective manner. Whey protein is the source of protein that serves best for promoting your muscles growth. It has amino acid which is needed by your body. You have to take right dosage of Whey protein at right amount to get the best result of it. Whey protein isolates is the purest form of Whey protein. It is absorbed in the blood and results in rapid growth of your muscles.

Creatine acts as another supplement to recover loss of energy after strenuous exercise. Creatine is converted to Creatine phosphate and absorbed into the muscle cell. After doing heavy exercise the level of phosphate is diminished and Creatine phosphate helps to replenish the same. If you take in extra Creatine it will help to absorb more water into the muscle cell.

The supplement Glutamine is very effective and is converted into glucose in the liver. It helps to create immune system and enhance hormonal growth. It also helps to digest food properly and reduces muscle degradation. Multi vitamins are supplements contributing in boosting up energy.

Branched Chained Amino Acid is a supplement.It consists of important amino acids like leucine, isoleucine and valine which equally help in recovering the strain of heavy exercise. It also prevents catabolic hormones and cause protein synthesis. Essential Fatty acids are also needed by your body for building muscles. If you want to buy cytosport muscle milk, you should know that it is a supplement that assists in burning of fat, growth of muscles and getting back lost energy after a long exercise.

These supplements have made great success in outcome of best results. You have to be careful in choosing the right supplement giving you the required advantages.

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Compare The Three Kinds Of Home Gyms?

July 8, 2010 by Steven J. Bancroft  
Filed under Exercise

So you want a home gym? Chances are you might already have one if you go by my definition of “home gym.”

My definition of a home gym is “any dedicated space in your home dedicated to working out.” That said, generally, there are 4 types of home gyms you can have. They are as follows:

1. Home Studio Gym

A bare gym studio is nothing other than open floor space where you can work out and that you do work out not using any weight training equipment or cardio equipment. An example is a stretching space or a place you do what is all the rage – the workouts that solely use your body-weight.

2. Fitness Machine Home Gym

A fitness cardio home gym is a designated space where you use your cardio equipment – whether it’s an elliptical, treadmill, exercise bike, or any other kind of cardio machine. You don’t need a fleet of cardio equipment to have a gym; one item is sufficient.

3. Weight Resistance Training Gym

Here’s what I suspect you believed a home gym to be. Yes, it’s a home gym, but as set out above, it isn’t (in my view) the only kind of home gym. In fact, there are 3 kinds of weight resistance training gyms.

(a) Lever style weight training home gyms. Lever style weight training equipment use swivelling arms which you push, pull, lift, and squat as your workout movements. There aren’t pulleys or cables – just swivelling arms on which weight plates are placed.

(b) Pulley and Cable Home Gyms. Pulley and cable home gyms are generally called weight lifting machines. A lat pulldown is an example of a pulley and cable weight training item. Any type of apparatus that uses cables and/or pulleys that are attached to weights for resistance are pulley and cable home gyms.

(c) Free weights. Free weights are the old school home gyms. All you need is a barbell for a bare-bones free weight gym. Most free weight home gyms have a dumbbell set, a bench, and a barbell set. Of course you can add other items such as a squat rack and leg press to fill out your free weight home gym.

At the end of the day, many people build a combination of the above in their home.

If working out is your thing, then take advantage of all the great workout equipment you can get and work toward a combination of the above for a cross training gym that achieves all your cardio, resistance training, and stretching goals.

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Women And Their Desire For Six Pack Abs

June 30, 2010 by Jimmy Wychoff  
Filed under Exercise

Getting six-pack abdominal muscles has become one of the favorite choices amongst women to maintain a healthy body. This is since it doesn’t merely assure a speedy method of enhancing the muscles but the body’s stamina and strength as well.

A lot of specialists say that for a woman to build up six-pack abdominal muscles, she needs to go through a vigorous strength training program made to enhance the muscular tissues in her torso region. Now, the female’s muscles exert effort versus various types of resistance such as free weights, which incidentally significantly assist in the introduction of superb six-pack ab muscles.

Women who’re hunting for an attractive six-pack abs really need to experience resistance training in order that she can meet all the physical requirements of her goal. To start off, it truly is suitable to try and do strength training, twenty minutes a day, three times per week to prepare the muscles for additional rigorous physical routines.

Resistance training has a number of benefits. It prepares the body for more intense physical exercises in addition it gives you firm muscles for a great looking figure in the future. Research indicates that resistance training is really important to women that are gearing towards possessing six-pack abs mainly because it would most likely increase their stamina and strength which makes it simple to help them carry out jobs daily with less effort and effort. Working out will in addition improve their muscles’ working capacity and it will additionally assist your body’s balance, dexterity, the circulation of blood and also the potency in the ligaments, joints, and bones.

Many industry authorities will agree that in developing muscle tissue and obtain those six-pack abs through weight training, make it a point to stretch before beginning and just after the routine. This is to prep the joints for the impending motion throughout the weight training. Stretching is especially essential for newbies because it lowers pain following the exercises and help with preventing cramped muscles while increasing the range of motion.

Women who do exercise sessions in order to get six-pack abs can start with common stretching out workouts such as warm-ups that improves mobility and stretching out exercises which conserve the muscles flexibility, enhance the joints’ movement range, body temperature and pulse rate, and the flow of blood into the muscle tissue, and enhance flexibility. Stretching and slow walking alternatively will certainly calm the sore muscles in the course of and after the routines.

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Top Exercise For Muscle Building: The Squat

June 24, 2010 by Chris Hammel  
Filed under Exercise

Really, squats are the hardest, most painful, and intimidating exercise for muscle building you could ever imagine.

They need huge amounts of willpower and discipline in order to be performed properly.

The first time you perform a set of squats to failure, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.

Even from a technical viewpoint, this exercise for muscle building is difficult to master.

What can’t be overlooked is the potential of the squat as THE most effective exercise for muscle building that will help to induce rapid growth.

Due to their high level of difficulty, they force your body to release higher amounts of important anabolic hormones like testosterone and growth hormone, packing on more size and strength to your lower body than any other exercise for muscle building.

The increase in hormones secretion also helps to pack on more muscle on your upper body.

Not to mention that this exercise for muscle building also has a “spillover effect” that helps you to perform better in all your other exercises.

I’ve experienced this myself. When I first began squatting to failure, the poundage that I could bench was upped by 20 pounds almost instantaneously.

Now that you’re looking for an exercise for muscle building, you’d best get started with the squat.

In a nutshell-it works.

It’s critical to experience the benefits of heavy squatting if you are serious about lifting.

Too many bodybuilders will come up with practically a mountain of excuses to steer clear of the squat rack.

The old “Squats are too hard on my knees” or “I heard they stunt your growth” is an all too common excuse.

What is my answer to them?

That’s BS.

If you really want to maximize your total body muscle gains, exercise for muscle building is something you have to do.

Proper Squatting Technique

Stay safe by doing your squats in a cage or power rack.

That way, you are able to change the height at which you clear the bar, and you have the power to let go of the bar on the safety pins if you need to get out.

Set the safety pins right below the depth that you are squatting and the J Hooks around the level of your nipples.

You need to keep your head pulled back, your chest raised, and a slight arch in your lower back at all times.

When performing squats, keep your gaze straight ahead and never look up or down; plus, at no time should you be leaning too far forward.

At the bar, position your hands at about the same width as a bench press.

Before you start clearing the bar, you need to have it positioned evenly along your traps.

The bar should be balanced across your rear delts and on the lower part of your traps.

The bar should feel like it’s going to slide off.

After clearing the bar, you should only take as many steps back as is necessary.

Believe it or not, most squat injuries occur when backing up, so make sure that you only back up as far as is necessary.

Get your feet shoulder width apart and point them at a 45-degree angle.

With a deep breath, descend.

It’s almost as though there is a chair behind you that you’re moving to sit in.

Make sure your knees remain in line with your feet and don’t bow in.

During the squat, lower your body until your thighs are at least parallel to the ground.

As soon as you’ve reach this position, start ascending.

Relaxing in the bottom potion is a big no-no!

Straighten your back while driving your heels into the ground to return to the starting position as quickly as possible.

When you reach the upright position, take another deep breath and continue the exercise until you complete the required number of reps.

Closing Thoughts.

Get into the squat rack-it’s the best thing you can do for your body.

Treat squats with respect, and your muscle gains will amaze you.

Do squats once a week, in 2 sets of 5 to 7 reps.

Don’t take it easy with this exercise for muscle building; you should keep trying to increase the weights and/or reps.

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Body Building: Warming Up Doubles Effectiveness

June 16, 2010 by Don Demarco  
Filed under Exercise

Do you do one of the most important things before your work out? Do you warm up sufficiently before hitting the weights? While it is tempting to just start lifting, there is a scientific basis for the need to warm up before subjecting your body to a grueling work out.

In order for your workouts to be effective and to maximize muscle growth, you need to warm up properly before you start “pumping iron”. A good warm up has immense benefits the two most important of which are:

1. It enables you to lift much more weight. Lifting more weight progressively leads to greater strength and eventually muscle growth.

2. Reduces the risk of injury to your joints and muscles.

I recommend structuring your warm up into three mini-parts. Trust me, it is a lot less work than it sounds. First you should do a light cardio exercise on either the treadmill or any of the other cardio machines. Stairmaster and cycle machines are fine too. The cardio should be light so that you do not burn energy that is best used for making your workout as intense as possible. 5 minutes at 3.5 miles/hr works great.

This stimulates your heart and lungs and triggers the secretion of synovial fluid which lubricates your joints. Synovial fluid is a viscous egg-yolk-like fluid that sits between your joints. It helps reduce friction during moment.

The second mini-part of your exercise is stretching. Doing a whole body stretch not only makes you more flexible but it also eases any tension in your muscles and helps avoid muscle cramps. Some body building experts like the legendary Frank Zane (3 Time Mr Universe) estimate that stretching properly doubles the effectiveness of your workout.

The last part of the warm up phase is light exercise on the muscles that you will be working out that day. If it is a leg day, for example, do squats and dead lifts with a really light weight. Once this is done, the heavy lifting can commence.

Again, do a whole body stretch but warm up sets for just the muscle groups that you are targeting on that day. Ideally your work out should last no more than 15 minutes. Always try to maintain laser focus on what you have planned so that you minimize the time spent in the gym, spending no more than 75 — 90 minutes total for each training session. One way of enhancing this focus is to visualize powerfully during the cardio part of the workout.

Cardio is relatively less mind intensive than any of the other things you will ever do in the gym so use this time to do ‘theater of the mind’ exercises and imagine yourself already in possession of the body you want. This isn’t mumbo jumbo voodoo science by the way. Visualization is a proven powerful technique for attaining success of any kind.

To recap what I just said in one sentence: You ABSOLUTELY MUST warm up before working out if you want to maximize muscle gain and avoid injuries.

By Don Demarco. Don is a fitness enthusiast and writer. Enroll for a FREE muscle building course visit Ultimate Men’s Workout . Also see Men’s Workout Stretches . http://www.MensWorkoutHeaven.com

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