Bodybuilders may slather oil over the peaks and valleys of contest-ready muscle for maximum sheen, but it's the oil they gulp during the off season, and during pre-contest training, that matters the very most. But while fat is fat is fat when it comes to gaining, losing or shredding, and in terms of how the body sees all fats as mostly equal when it comes to weight gain and loss, fats are far from created equal. That's because some oils serve the body and metabolism much better than others in the long run. Health may be a six-letter word uttered often by Birkenstock-wearing hippies, but it's also important to your longevity as a bodybuilder. Types of fats found in oils: Monounsaturated fats help lower what health professionals call "bad" fats - those are the low-density lipoproteins known as "LDL" fats. They represent the ...

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There are so many variations of the mighty squat - the only true leg building mechanism around in old school opinion. Unlike many of the variations of exercises for other body parts, variations for squats never take the beneficial range of motion out of the exercise. With any type of squat, you'll always, well, squat. So box squats were invented by a guy called Louie Simmons - the only guy over the age of 50 to squat 920 pounds. He's also the head of an elite, hardcore lifting crew called Westside Barbell in Culver City. Lots of lifters at this hardcore emporium have squatted more than 900 pounds, in fact, and that's due to pure and simple technique and the support of a crew who want its members to achieve more and more in powerlifting. A couple of these guys have joined the 1000 ...

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Life unfolds around us all the time. We never quite know what tomorrow will bring, despite our best efforts to make plans for our week and month. Truth is, things happen that cause us to derail from our path and we have to have emergency plans to compensate for this. So if work keeps us busy until 10 o'clock at night, 5 days a week, or we work two jobs, or we are called to duty in Iraq and we're just trying to survive, it doesn't mean that our workout plans and goals have to go down the drain! First off, desire is everything. If you want something badly enough, nothing that happens can deter you from your goal and path. You may have to go to Plan B, and get creative in the way you stay focused on your goals, but ...

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The next time you walk through the gym, take a look at the plates sitting on the bars of the many people training. Notice something? They're all big plates. 45s. 25s. Maybe a few 10s sprinkled in. Think about that for a moment. That means that every time these lifters want to add more weight to a movement (increased strength requires increased muscle!) they have to make a jump in weight on that movement by TWENTY POUNDS! When is the last time you EVER added twenty pounds to any exercise when in the gym? It's rare. People train like this for years and never notice the cycle in which they are trapped. They might eke out an extra rep now and then, but for the most part, they stay at the ...

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Bodybuilder: "Eats tic-tacs, and sucks on a peanut all day." Power lifter: "See it, eat it." Okay, this isn't entirely true. But it does hit a little closer to home than some would like to admit. While they train side-by-side using the same exercises, bodybuilders and power lifters are quite different. Likewise, at the dinner table, there are many differences as well. Bodybuilders and power lifters have two very different goals. The goal of a bodybuilder is to put on a great deal of quality muscle while keeping a low level of body fat, and gaining/maintaining good symmetry between body parts. The goal of a power lifter, on the other hand is to lift the most weight, while weighing the least weight. Different goals require different methodologies. It goes without saying that their training is different. Power ...

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Sets and reps.. They are the mainstay of all workouts. After all, without their measure, no workout would have meaning and no body could be built. But are sets and reps more about creatively expressing a kind of bodybuilding license or personal philosophy, or are they truly scientific tools by which we build precise body parts of a certain size and shape? Art and science can converge, particularly in this case. That's because sets and reps and the results they bring in particular and specific combinations, deliver very definite things based on mathematics. The mathematics of training include sets and reps, training angles, and things such as time vs. intensity, etc.. The art of training includes how you utilize and direct those mathematics to create a result. Training is a lot like the practice of medicine - both have elements of the ...

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Protein pudding is a wonderful supplement that many bodybuilders have found to be a great way to knock back 25 grams of protein while enjoying a delicious snack. However the cost often makes enjoying it on a daily basis prohibitive. Here is a recipe or homemade protein pudding which will allow you to enjoy the same benefits of delicious protein, with complete control over protein content and flavor. You’ll need: 1 box (3.9 ounce) Jell-O Instant Pudding 2 scoops whey protein (any brand works) 1 cup skim milk 1 cup cold water Directions: First, mix milk and water into bowl Then, beat Pudding mix into water/milk mixture with wire wisk for two minutes Next, mix in whey protein until the consistency is of your liking. Typically, 2 scoops of whey will blend in nicely. You can use more or less protein to obtain the ...

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Want to lose ab fat and eliminate muffin top fast? If you are suffering from muffin top, the excess belly bulge that hangs over your pants and jeans, and your current diet and exercise plan aren't really helping, then maybe it's time to revamp your diet. Why do you have ab fat and “muffin top”? You eat too much sugar and processed food on a daily and weekly basis. You skip breakfast and lunch, rely on sugary caffeine drinks to get through the day, then pig out at dinner. You overeat starchy carbs but don't eat enough veggies and fruits throughout the day. You skimp on protein because you can't be bothered cooking it, buying it, or think it's unhealthy. You eat low-fat but don't bother to eat good fats that keep you feeling full. This also leads to overeating late at night. You're ...

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Q: If supersets are a good way to pack on mass and quality in leg training, can you use the superset with just about any body part and expect the same result? A: The answer is no. I would only really superset three body parts on a regular basis: The legs, the back and the abs. I might occasionally superset biceps with triceps and do that kind of superset, but doing pure supersets with only biceps exercises or only triceps exercises would severely overtrain these areas. The chest is another possibility, but only as you are getting ready to get up on stage. Light weights and maximum amounts of reps are a great tool for defining and brining out every bit of sinew. People really misunderstand supersets, however, and assume that you cannot gain size from them. In fact, that's not ...

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We know, we know... Most people will tell you that the bench press will solve all your chest problems and then some. But we don't exactly agree... While powerlifting exercises are, overall, a great choice if you had to choose just one exercise, the fact is, you don't! The most important part of mentioning this is that the upper and middle pecs get the lion's share of workout during a bench press, military press, incline dumbbell press and even cable cross over workout. But when do the lower pecs come into play, other than passively? And how crucial are your lower pecs to your appearance on the posing dais? In a word, they are EVERYTHING! Lower pecs can elude a lot of people, and therefore, make the entire chest look shallow. Bodybuilders overwork their upper pecs, because of the side ...

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