The Alternative Broadcasting Online News Station

Getting into contest shape is a challenge. Some find it difficult, and many find it impossible. Those who find it completely impossible are going about it the wrong way.

Too many people try to drop body fat in an all-or-nothing approach. You can’t carry all your eggs in one basket because if you stumble, you will crack them all. You should always have something to fall back on for the times you do encounter speed bumps.

Nutrition

The first step to getting lean and hard is quality nutrition. This does not mean your basic pasta, wheat bread, and skim milk. These products may be okay for general weight loss, but they won’t get you “cut”.

Quality nutrition is eating real food, such as fresh turkey, chicken, fish, eggs, beef, yams, sweet potatoes, potatoes, brown rice, oatmeal, as well as red, green, and yellow vegetables, various nuts, and flaxseed oil etc. The concept is to omit processed food and eat as close to Mother Nature as possible, even organic. These are the some of the ammunition to a lean, hard, “ripped” physique.

Not only is quality nutrition of up most importance, but also the macro nutrient combination. You can’t haphazardly eat meals without some sort of balance. Plan your meals so your end result is success.

Training

Just as quality nutrition is important for getting “cut”, so too is your training. Your training program need not be rigid. Just as intensity, form, and stimulation were needed to build your base, the same three factors are needed in order to keep your muscle mass while dieting down the excess body fat.

Intensity, form, and stimulation builds’ the foundation and dieting sheds the fat and creates the sculpture. Therefore, an array of various “shaping” exercises doesn’t necessarily shape the muscle since genetics have already created the shape of your structure. The idea is to keep your muscle and diet off the insulation.

Cardio

Another factor in “cutting” is cardio. This may be beneficial to some, and counter productive to others, it just depends on your body type and your body responds to dieting and training.

If cardio is on your prescribed training program, don’t begin full force and get burned out. All too many start their cardio at an advanced level, such as five days a week for 45 minutes to an hour. You are better off starting at the low end and working up in a progressive manner. The advantages of starting cardio on the lower end of the spectrum are:

1. You can always add days or minutes if needed
2. It keeps the body in shock

3. You won’t burn out

4. You will have that little bit of “extra” cardio saved if you are struggling with the last bit of fat that you can’t remove

Supplements

After you have established the above, you can invest in fat burning supplements, if you so desire. Please take note that supplements are not a magic pill, they are a plus when your nutrition, training, and cardio are all on track and in balance. Don’t rely solely on supplements; use them for an extra nudge in the right direction.

As a final note, the most important thing to prepare for “cutting” is your mind. Bodybuilding is 90% mental. It takes you mind to train and to diet. Keep your focus and see results!

Karen Sessions has been in the fitness industry since 1988. She embarked on weight training to overcome an eating disorder, Anorexia Nervosa in its early stages. She overcame the eating disorder, received her personal training certificate, competed in many local bodybuilding contests, and qualified for Nationals. Since then she’s went on to write six e-books (weight loss, female bodybuilding, contest preparation, leg training, figure/fitness secrets, and cellulite removal). She writes articles for several fitness websites, as well as her own, www.theelitephysique.com, and also distributes a monthly e-newsletter. She has a very active and lively forum, filled with positive and supportive people with informative content. Karen’s sole goal is to educate others and help them apply that knowledge.

Yep, there are more than ones body types. I’m sure you’ve noticed it too. The ones who, even if they eat whatever they want, never gain a pound, and others who exercise like there’s no tomorrow and STILL manage to gain weight. Well that’s a key thing when it comes to training your body. You have to train for your body type, or else your actions may not be doing anything good! There are 2 bodytypes: ectomorphic, mesomorphic & endomorphic. To find out what type of body you have, think back to your teen years and try to remember what your body looked like before age began rearing it’s ugly head. So let’s get to each body type shall we?!

The Ectomorph

The ectomorph is usually very thin. This person has a hard time gaining weight of any kind. So it takes longer for them and takes much more work to gain muscle. Most people with this body types are models or endurance athletes and such.

So what does an Ectomorph have to do to gain weight? Well the first thing is he has to start eating more calories. Not by eating larger meals, but by eating lots ( around 6 ) of smaller meals throughout the day. Look at the foods your eating now and add to them or seek foods wich have a higher number of calories.

Exercise wise, the Ectoporph needs to limit his activities outside of weight lifting. If your looking to build muscle, almost all your energy needs to be focused on weight lifting. Since you burn energy faster than others, using that energy for other activities will mean less for your muscles to grow. Use a low number of reps and heavy weights. You’ll probaly need to rest more too, Maybe every 48 hours. You should also be concentrating on doing compound exercises, like bench presses, deadlifts, exercises that target the most muscles at once.

The Mesomorph

These are what I’d call the “normal” physique. They’re average in weight and have the ability to either easily gain weight or loose it. They can mostly eat whatever they want without it affecting their appearance.

They should try and eat a healthy, balanced diet. But they should train regularly if they want to keep their physique. If they’re not carefull, they might gain unwanted fat. They should do weight training 2-3 times a week and aerobics either daily or on their off days, when they don’t weight train.

Mesomorphs are lucky, they have alot of freedom as to what they can get away with. But they should still be carefull.

The Endomorph

These people are rounder and “soft”. They have a hard time loosing weight but can gain muscle pretty easily. Diet and exercise are the 2 most important thing for this body type.

The first thing they should do is eat smaller meals, 6 times a day. By spacing your meals by 2-3 hours each, what you do is you speed up your metabolism. But never eat 2 carbohydrate snacks back to back, since this promotes the accumulation of fat. Because your body will become accustomed to carbohydrates and use them to burn energy, when your goal is to make it use up fat. One important part of your diet is to eat the major part of yoru calories, especially carbohydrates, in the morning and then eat your proteins during the rest of the day, that way, your body burns off the calories and keeps the proteins to build your muscles. A good rule is to decide when you’ll go to sleep and then count back 3-4 hours. This should be the time of your last meal. You do this to limit you intake of calories so you don’t gain fat. And also, drink water, and lots of it! You body will need it to get rid of the byproducts and waste toxins from the change your making. Your diet should have alot of fruits & whole grain. Eat foods you love though, or you’ll then be tempted to eat junk and thus making your efforts pretty useless. BE STRONG!!

Exercising is an important part of the plan. Endomorphs should start by incorporating some aerobics to their daily routine. Gradually step it up until you do at least 30 mins of aerobics 5-7 days a week. Yeah, that’s alot, but that’s a sacrifice your going to have to make if you want to look good. After that, the next step is to add some weight training to your routine. 2-3 days a week every 2 days should be enough. Start by doing the major compound exercises, like those suggested fro ectomorphs. You can add isolation exercises to tone parts of your body that you desire though. The aerobics will burn the calories and the weight training wil add the muscle and toning to your body.

So you see, what works for your buddy, might not necessarily work for you. So know what type of body you have and workout accordingly.

http://www.thebestmanyoucanbe.com

Want Your Back Thick And Wide To Complement Your Powerful Chest Muscles?

I believe that most of you who are reading this article are already working out in gyms and have already build awesome muscles especially on your chest and arms. However, I do note one discrepancy is that whenever I visit the gyms, for some reasons or another, people seem concentrate on building massive chest muscles but neglect their back muscles. Perhaps it is the out of mind out of site syndrome. You can’t see your back, so you do not develop it.

This neglect is dangerous because your if upper body muscle development is not balanced, it may lead to injuries and muscle tear not to talk about hitting a bodybuilder plateau. You will also look awkward because your body shape will not be symmetrical. Meaning, you are out of shape. I am sure you have seen these people and may have commented why they looked so odd.

So then, how to develop a great back which will also accentuate your V shape body to complement your powerful chest muscles?

Just include these 3 exercises into your back workout routine and lift them heavy. Yes. Heavy.

The dead lift - This move not only develop your lower body, it also target your entire back. It guarantees you fast overall explosive muscle mass gain.

Bent Over Barbell row - This exercise is best for thickening the upper and middle back area. It also adds density to your lower back muscles as well.

Chin Up - Do both versions. Palms facing you and palms facing out. This is best for developing your V shape upper body and an excellent bicep and tricep shaper too. Do the exercises slow and deliberate without swinging or using momentum to power your chin up. Pause for 2 seconds at the top and lower slowly. Real slooooooooow…… so that you are fighting gravity instead of letting gravity pull you down.

By incorporating these 3 excellent exercises into your back routine, you will see your upper body taking another different form in just weeks if you perform the exercises correctly. Remember to have enough sleep for your muscles to repair itself and grow big.

Chris Chew is a personal trainer and count actors, doctors, pageant winners, models and other celebrities as his clients. He runs a fitness school at Personal Trainers and is the author of Lose Fat Build Muscles!

I see it all the time. Guys in the gym doing set after set of
all these different exercises, and if you looked at these same
people 3 months from now they have not really changed physically
all that much, maybe a little more toned but nothing really
noticeable. And the elusive question “How do I build more muscle” is still the battlecry.

Well guys it is not adding more sets, or adding more reps,
it is not adding more time in the gym? All these isolated type
exercises, are really not going to give you the lasting muscle that you are looking for. Are you ready for the answer?

Intensity+2compound exercises+lots of rest=lots of muscle.

You only need (2) exercises to build muscle. SQUATS+DEADLIFTS.
And i mean all the muscle you want. The trick is if you put
all of your effort into just these 2 exercises I promise you
you will be amazingly surprised at how fast you will grow.

These 2 exercises have such an “anabolic effect” on the entire
body and nervous system it is hard to imagine. These are two
compound exercises that will effect just about every muscle in
your body. Plus the fact when you add in the chemical equation
“testosterone” and “Human Growth hormone” what it does for the
muscle building process no 2 exercise are better.

Too add more muscle you have to do Compound Exercises. This workout is not for the faint of heart. If done right it is a killer workout believe me when i tell you it will wipe you out.

You have to provide major muscle stimulus to the larger muscle groups in “short intense wokouts” with adequate nutrition and rest to override the “catabolic effect” that breaks down muscle
during these intense workouts.

An extra benefit to this workout is you get a great “cardio”
workout at the same time. Because your heart will be pumping
out of your chest and your breathing will be accelerated tremendously. No more riding the bike, or jogging.

Now everybody is different but I will give you a rough guideline to follow. 2-3 days a week, preferably 2 that’s it.
These are your workout days. I would say 48-72 hrs in between for adequate recovery. Now I did a total of (10) sets. I started
out doing 25 reps, 20, 15, 10, 5. On each of these 2 exercises.
Increasing the weight with each set. See what is right for you.
“The Key” is intensity and effort, push yourself to reasonable
limits. Your body will be spent. 2-3 minute rest periods.

Now you will have to spend a day or two to get the proper weight
for each set, because you want each set to take you to the max.
This type of program you will know if you have to drop weight
or add weight just by how you feel after you have completed a set. if you feel you could do more add weight to the set. If
less you will not be able to do the desired amount of reps.

A question I get is how does this build my upper body? I will tell you from personal experience my arms grew 2-3 inches without ever doing a bicep curl or a trcicep ext. or dip. Because again of the overall anabolic effect that it has on the total body. Think about it? What muscles are you using? Legs, arms, back, shoulders, arms, chest, (deep breathing).

Now i will tell you this. Most people who read this probably
won’t follow my advice. Why? Because this workout is too difficult for most people, and human nature being what it is
people tend to take the easy way out. I have just given you a shortcut to building muscle and it won’t take years. You will
see major results in “90″ days or sooner. It’s up to you!

Rest,Rest,Rest, and more rest. This is when your body builds
new tissue. This is when you reap the rewards of your hard labor
do not compromise this. Take naps during the day. 6-8 hours a
night if you can.

Diet? I was famished on this routine. To accelerate muscle growth I would say to get lots of protein. Ex. i gram per pound of bodyweight.If you weigh 220 take in 220 grams. For me I did
smoothies, and protein shakes, 2-3 times a day plus my regular
3-4 meals. Try to get a shake in within an hour after you workout. And right before you go to bed to slow down muscle wasting. Lots of Fibrous carbs, and baked potatoe, and yams.
I use to bring cans of tuna on the road with me.

Try to use “Whey” and Casein” protein. One is digested rather fast the other slowly. They compliment each other. Remember to build muscle you have to take in “extra calories” to build added muscle weight. And with this workout you will be burning
lots of calories. So pay attention to your diet. If you want
by adding “creatine” which is a supplement and in red meat, you
will add to the fullness of the muscle, and volume. But it is not neccesary for results.

So there you have it! Take 2 exercises and call me in the morning!

Who else? Wants to get in shape fast!
I need your advice! “FREE REPORT”
by visiting: http://AskYourFitnessQuestion.com

To lose weight and especially to influence your abs you need to perform cardio workout. Best cardio workout is a kind of sport that has logic, rules and engages you to achieve score.

For example squash is possible fun cardio workout. It practices in small court with two players, each using a racket. You have to hit a small ball to the wall in front and your opponent player has to hit it too.

During the game happen funny situations, you have to run all over the court from one side to the other. You don’t know where the ball is going and run to hit the ball.

You will laugh, run, burn fat and finally lose weight without doing uninteresting cardio routines.

Your whole body sweats – even hair, butt, arms – sweating is perfect sign that you burn fat.

Drink water in the breaks and don’t sit, walk slowly and breathe. It is very important to move, because sudden sit will make feel bad.

10 minutes after beginning of the game you will feel fatigue and wish to stop. That’s normal body reaction. Stop playing for a while, walk, drink water and don’t stop moving.

After 3 minutes you will feel sudden energy rush that means your body adapts to physical activity.

Play squash as long as you feel good. First time play 20 minutes (or less) and every time increase workout with 5 minutes until reach 1 hour.
How often to play squash?

3 times per week – it is enough to lose weight and tone your whole body muscles. If you like perform it every day but take 2 days rest per week.

To find out whether squash is best cardio Workout for you – try it. Try different sports and find out which best fit to you.

While playing sport activity monitor for weight lose symptom – sweating. To be sure you burn fat you have to sweat after 5-10 minutes after the beginning.

Rumiana Ilieva is author of web site for women’s’ issues http://www.women-workout-routines.com where women can train online watching her workouts recorded in her home. She is 30 years old and has experience with different workouts - aerobics, callanetics, yoga, Pilates, fitness. She is not professional trainer and share her experience about women’s issues related to different techniques for weight loss.