There’s not a lot of debate in bodybuilding circles as to how many different training rotations or protocols should be employed during the course of a single year. Most experts would agree you should give a protocol at least 4 weeks to work, then move on to something else after 8 or 12 weeks. When you see the same guys in the gym using the same routines month after month, year after year, you will likely notice they look the same during this period as well. This is not to say you don’t need training consistency. You certainly do. This just means you need to apply various rep, set, and exercise selection variations as you train consistently throughout the year. It is very important, when selecting a training protocol, to keep your goals in mind. Differentiate ...

If you like this article, click here to share:

When it comes to gaining a great deal of power on all your major lifts, not just some, you can’t think in terms of isolation. When you want to improve your bench press, you might focus upon rotator cuff strength or lockout position with the triceps. If you’re looking to improve your deadlifting power, you may use various rack deadlifting, grip or rowing techniques. When you want to grow stronger on the squat you’ll use partial range movements. Many of these will involve compound lifts, but they are designed to specifically target individual lifts or muscle groups. If you are trying to being up a body part to fit into proportion with others, then these techniques will work wonders for you. If you are trying to grow stronger on a particular exercise for better numbers ...

If you like this article, click here to share:

Sweating is one of those unique aspects of bodybuilding that most people overlook. It can be a gauge of how you’re training, or simply of what genetics you have. It can cause problems for yourself and others, if precautions are not taken. Let’s further examine the phenomenon known as sweating in the gym.   The gauge Some trainers tend to assign value to a workout based upon how much sweating they did while training. While it’s often easy to see a guy soaked and say “that guy trains hard”, the amount a person sweats is usually determined mainly by room temperature, the amount of clothes worn, body fat percentage of the trainer, and genetics. Some people break a sweat climbing out of bed. Others, like the Fonz from the Happy Days series, can run 20 miles without breaking ...

If you like this article, click here to share:

Are you looking to instill some new biceps growth? Have you tried every other trick in the book, and you just can’t seem to add another quarter inch? Admittedly, the bigger the biceps become, the closer you move to your natural limits. When this happens, growth become harder to see and it does become frustrating for many trainers. The secret is to find new ways to hit the biceps that they haven’t seen before. Here are a few such ideas for doing so! Go heavier If you think you’re training heavy enough, you may be right. But if you haven’t been adding 1 to 2 pounds every few weeks to what you’re curling, you aren’t adding weight like you should be. Granted, it may be hard to add weight in those small intervals when using ...

If you like this article, click here to share:

Are you looking for a way to hit those quadriceps and hamstrings quickly, and then get the heck out of the gym? If so, then you have some to the right place. The following workout will allow you to target both sides of the upper thigh muscles, and do so in a manner which will stimulate both the fast and slow twitch muscle fibers. The next time you’re facing a time crunch and really want to hit the legs in a new way, give this routine a shot! It will deliver a full workout in minimal time.   Leg extensions, immediately followed with leg curls It’s time for a quick workout, and this includes a quick warm-up. You don’t need to utilize the treadmill or elliptical to warm up your legs today. Instead, you can use 1 ...

If you like this article, click here to share:

You train like a bodybuilder because you want to look like a bodybuilder, right? You would train like a powerlifter if your goals were numerical based and involved the major lifts. You would train like a ballerina if your goal was to be the best man in tights on his toes. Your training reflects your goals. It’s always been this way for good athletes. Sure, some beginner trainers may erroneously train like powerlifters when their goal is to gain muscle, but it’s a mistake that is usually quickly rectified.   Just as with weight training, the type of cardiovascular training you use should reflect the goals you have in the gym. If you are a powerlifter, then you will want to use cardiovascular training that would keep your body weight low (in order to make ...

If you like this article, click here to share:

If it’s time to grow, then it is time to eat! Here is a useful eating plan for bodybuilders looking for solid muscle size gains without gaining much fat. Breakfast Eggs are a favorite for bodybuilders in the morning. If you can tolerate them and have the time to make them, then you should use them every day. Mixed with oatmeal or grits, you can enjoy a very low-fat, high-protein food source with ketchup and start your bodybuilding day off right. If you don’t enjoy eggs in the morning, you can always opt for a meal that matches lunch or dinner. Mid-morning snack Make a pile of high protein, moderate carbohydrate snacks and keep them in the fridge. Grab a handful mid-morning and give yourself the clean energy you need to keep you going until lunch. ...

If you like this article, click here to share:

Many things in life come down to the luck of the draw. We all know of a healthy person who exercised regularly and ate clean who keeled over from a heart attack at the age of 50. We also all probably have a relative who smoke and drank every day of his life who is still alive and kickin’ well into his eighties. While we can eat healthy, train hard, and look both ways before we cross the street, we are all at the mercy of the genetics with which we are born. Here are a few areas of bodybuilding success which are blessed or limited based upon our genetics. Male pattern baldness Trey Brewer is one of the best amateur bodybuilders in the world. He carries well over 260 pounds of stage-ready muscle mass, and ...

If you like this article, click here to share:

Welcome to the world of intermediate bodybuilding. You’ve spent a year or three in the gym, and you finally have a handle on nutrition. You know what you should be eating, and you stick to a pretty good bodybuilding lifestyle all around. You’ve reached the point where you’re past trying to get ‘big arms’ and you have advanced to the point of a new goal – complete and balanced bodybuilding development.   Unless you have been blessed with superior genetics, you probably have noted your shoulders are one area which certainly could use a little bit of special attention. You train them weekly of course, but since they’re just not shining like some of your standout body parts do, you are aware of the fact you need to do more. Here are a few tips for better ...

If you like this article, click here to share:

Do you possess fairly solid back development, but lack biceps and forearm development of which to be proud? If this is the case, you may want to consider the use of back and biceps supersetting to help spurn new arm growth while keeping the back growth steady. Here is a sample workout.   Deadlifts Let’s start simple. Complete four sets of deadlifts, as you would start your workout. This is no time to get fancy. You will want to complete this heavy compound work as you normally would, nail down a solid compound movement for the back first. Aim for 8 to 12 repetitions for each set.   Barbell Rows, supersetted with barbell curls Complete a set of barbell curls using a range of 10 to 12 repetitions, then immediately drop the bar and pick up a pre-positioned barbell or EZ-curl ...

If you like this article, click here to share: