Should you do only free weights at the gym or use weight training machines? Something you need to keep in mind and never forget is that when you exercise, you are training for life. You still may spend an hour a day in the gym, although that will still leave another 23 hours or so for your muscles to function without using any fancy equipment. Whenever you do any type of exercise, the movement of your body during the exercise is known as the range of motion. The more Full the range of … [Read more...] about Free Weights or Weight Training Machines
Weight Training
Weight Lifting Schedule – How Often Should You Work Out?
What is your weight lifting schedule? I know that mine tends to vary a little bit but on a weekly basis I believe for me, the best weight lifting schedule is to workout three days a week, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and on each of these days I will do weights. As far as cardio is concerned I feel that I am ok these days with my bike partway into work and home and the only reason these days that I am hitting the gym is to do the training that I can not do otherwise. One Day Weight Lifting … [Read more...] about Weight Lifting Schedule – How Often Should You Work Out?
Sets, Reps, and Exercises for a Great Workout
Many people have questions about how many sets they should do for and exercise and how many reps as well as how many exercises for each muscle group. The question is very large and the answer is even larger as it depends on what your goals are. How many exercises per muscle group First of all we should look at the number of exercises that you are going to do per muscle group. There are nine muscle groups that we can distinguish just for simplicity; calves, quadriceps, hamstrings, … [Read more...] about Sets, Reps, and Exercises for a Great Workout
Home Fitness Equipment
I have written quite a bit over the last week about what you need as far as home fitness equipment goes but thought I would just round out this week with an overview of what you should have for equipment. So here is what I think that you should try to accumulate over the next while. Weightlifting Home Fitness Equipment Mats- The most basic piece of fitness equipment is an exercise mat. You need an exercise mat for doing stretching as well as for doing abs and an exercise mat is always good … [Read more...] about Home Fitness Equipment
Tips to get More Protein in Your Diet
It is important to get protein in your diet. I was looking around for some tips to offer about increasing protein in your diet when I ran across this article by David Monyer on increasing protein in your diet. As you should really be aware most people do not get enough protein in their diet and if you are doing any lifting (also known as resistance training) you need a little more protein in your diet anyway. Read through this and see just how much it helps you learn more about protein. One … [Read more...] about Tips to get More Protein in Your Diet
Bodybuilding Myths
There are a lot of myths in bodybuilding. When I was young, I took many things at face value. I just didn't think there was a whole lot of written material meant to entertain me at best or mislead me at worst. I eagerly perused bodybuilding periodicals from cover to cover in search of what would satiate my desire to obtain a muscular physique. I spent thousands of dollars on supplements that were probably all worthy of the fate that befell a bottle of colostrum I purchased in 1990. I chucked … [Read more...] about Bodybuilding Myths
Weight workouts at home part 2
Now that you have decided that you are going to start doing weights and doing them at home I am sure that you are starting to think of all of your options and when and how and how oftern. Well I can answer those for you. The best way to get started lifting weights is to setup a schedule. For most people starting to lift weights the best time to start lifting is Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings or mornings. Mornings have to be the best bet because as we all know the day seems to have it's … [Read more...] about Weight workouts at home part 2
Starting to lift weights – Part 1
Now that fall is in full swing and the baseball playoffs are winding down most of our exercise is going to need to take place indoors instead of the outdoors that it is so easy to do in the summertime. There are of course two kinds of exercise, weights and cardio. First I want to apologize in advance to any hardcore lifters here. Most of this stuff is a bit of a review for you. Sometimes I think that everyone of course lifts weights on at least a weekly basis. Of course this is not fair as … [Read more...] about Starting to lift weights – Part 1
Hardgainers guide to lifting weights
As a hardgainer you know how hard it is to put on muscle. The hours in the gym, the eating, the constant ing yourself on the scale, it is all very difficult to take but you keep trying to gain muscle anyway. There are a few things that you can do to try to gain more muscle and I believe that if you have a plan even the toughest of hardgainers can still gain a few pounds in a couple of months. As you know most bodybuilders not on roids can only gain about two pounds a month but if you make … [Read more...] about Hardgainers guide to lifting weights
Deltoid workouts
I have wanted to write about deltoid workouts for a while now but never quite get to it. Out of all of your muscles your deltoids may be the most obvious to work in your workout. The muscles are very easy to isolate. To work your shoulders you have to remember that your deltoids have three heads, one in the front or lateral deltoid, one on the side, medial deltoid and one in the back posterior deltoid. Any exercise where you are lifting in front of you works your front deltoid. This includes … [Read more...] about Deltoid workouts
The old can stay young with weightlifting – New study says
A new study was released over the last week showing what many older people already know, that training is a very important part of keeping you young. The study says resistance exercise for people 65 and older can actually reverse important aging effects on skeletal muscles, to the point where they work genetically like those found in people four decades younger. "We see big improvements ... after training," said Dr. Mark Tarnopolsky, an associate professor at the McMaster University Medical … [Read more...] about The old can stay young with weightlifting – New study says
Electrical Muscle Stimulators
Years ago I had a friend that was selling Electrical Muscle Stimulators for your abs or any other muscle group you wanted to use it on. The way that is worked was that you could put it across your stomach and it would send electric pulses through your muscles and help you lose or get a six pack or make you huge. The claims were not very well proven then and are still somewhat suspect. I do not think you are going to see a Mr Olympia from electocuting himself but anyway I ran into an FDA … [Read more...] about Electrical Muscle Stimulators
10 Tips to a Great Weight Workout
Great weight workouts can be tough and you may be wondering what you can do so that you can get the most out of your workouts. The last thing that you want after working so hard is to not get all of that last bit of muscle from the workout. When doing training it is very important to make sure you are doing the following 10 things to get the most out of your workout. Before Your Great Weight Workout 1. Eat a big meal 2-3 hours before your workout.. It is important for you to make sure that … [Read more...] about 10 Tips to a Great Weight Workout
How To Gain Weight Fast
I have been asked before how to gain fast. Most people that are lifting weights at one time or another, usually in the winter, try to bulk up and gain a lot of muscle for the summer, of course there is the diet down afterwards but we can deal with that later. How to gain fast is a question that many people that are dieting to lose weight think is insane but I know from personal experience that many people would like to gain but do not really know how. I have a former lifting partner who had a … [Read more...] about How To Gain Weight Fast
Fast Twitch and Slow Twitch Muscle Fibers
I have had a question that is interesting about the difference between different muscle fibers and tried to get a good answer. Here is the differences between fast twitch and slow twitch muscle fibers and the difference that they make to your workouts and fitness level. One slightly confusing area of exercise is the idea that a muscle can do both push a lot of once or move many times. Look at the difference between doing a set of squats compared to running or the difference in the leg muscles … [Read more...] about Fast Twitch and Slow Twitch Muscle Fibers
