BodyBuilding In Your Home

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BodyBuilding Or Body Breaking?

Bodybuilding. It's only natural to think that the more you workout,the more weight you start lifting and the more supplements you take that the more muscle you will build and the faster it will happen. NOT TRUE!

As Featured On EzineArticles


As Featured On EzineArticles

Equipment You'll Need For Bodybuilding 

Here is the basic equipment that your home gym should contain:
1) Adjustable barbell with freeweight plates - A cast iron set is best, and you must also purchase enough weight so that you can progress from week to week.
2) Adjustable dumbbells - You should be able to buy the barbell and dumbbells together in a set.
3) A bench with incline adjustments - You should purchase a bench that has an incline setting and that also has safety catches if you plan on training alone.
4) A chin-up bar - Usually purchased for 15-20 dollars and can be situated inside of a door frame.
5) A squat rack - Squats are a valuable movement and should always be a part of your workout routine.

''MUST I Join a Gym In Order to Build a Strong Muscular Body?" 

Well, Actually No!

Using the correct equipment and planning you can have an equally, if not more effective bodybuilding fitness program from the comfort of your own home without ever having to go to a gym.
Perhaps you can't afford a gym membership. Perhaps you lead a busy lifestyle and would prefer to train at home.
Perhaps you're too embarrassed or uncomfortable to train in a gym at the moment.
Whatever the reason, don't worry!
I know a guy who currently works out at a gym but says that his years spent lifting at home were terrific!
He didn't have to worry about the commute time to and from the gym. He could easily slip downstairs whenever he felt like it and all of his equipment was there waiting for him.
He could listen to loud music if he wanted to, without having to worry about people around him.
He could grunt, and scream through his sets if he wanted to without disturbing anyone.
When the workout was over, he could sprawl flat out on the floor knowing that his post workout shakes weren't far away, and that he wouldn't have to spend time driving home.
He said it was fantastic!
Here Is The Best BodyBulding Program(If You're Serious!)

Must Have Info About Building Muscle 

Every Muscle Group Included

With so much hyped up information and bogus "breakthrough" exercise methods popping up all the time, most lifters seem to have lost sight of the basics.

While the basics may not be as flashy and exciting as what most of the "other guys" out there promote, they'll pack raw muscle size and strength on to your body faster than any other method you'll come across.

In this article I am simply going to list each major muscle group on the body, along with some basic tips for building that muscle as quickly and efficiently as possible. Nothing "revolutionary" or "innovative" here... Just the bare-bones truth about building muscle fast.

Let's get right to it

Chest

If you want to get the most bang for your buck and develop your chest as quickly as possible, then forget about flye movements such as the pec-deck, dumbbell flyes or cable crossovers. Instead, place all of your focus on the big basic pressing exercises such as barbell presses, dumbbell presses and wide-grip dips.

If you want to include a few flye movements here and there at the end of your chest workout then that's fine, but your primary focus should be on consistently increasing the poundage on all of your compound pressing exercises.

Back

Use bent-legged barbell deadlifts as your primary back-developing exercise. There is simply no other lift out there that will pack more raw muscle size and strength onto your back and your entire body than the basic barbell deadlift.

It is extremely challenging and uncomfortable to perform, but the rewards are well worth it. It will work you from finger to neck to toe, and if you haven't been deadlifting up to this point, be prepared for some serious gains once you start.

Shoulders

Laterals raises are fine to include to isolate the medial head of the shoulder, but the meat and potatoes of any effective shoulder training routine is based on a compound overhead press.

Either perform a standing or seated military press with a barbell, or an overhead press using dumbbells. This should be the first exercise in your shoulder routine, with side laterals being performed at the end.

The front and rear heads of the shoulder receive plenty of stimulation during your chest and back exercises and therefore do not need to be specifically isolated.

Biceps

Cut down on your training volume and understand that the majority of your bicep growth is actually a product of hard and intense back training. Heavy chin-ups, pulldowns and rows all provide plenty of stimulation for the biceps, and direct curling movements are far less important than most people think.

Including a few sets of direct bicep work is still recommended, but going too far overboard can easily over train them and will actually slow down your bicep growth rather than speed it up.

Triceps

The same thing goes for triceps as well. Any time you perform a compound chest pressing exercise or an overhead shoulder press, your triceps will be heavily stimulated. Because of this, performing direct tricep isolation exercises should be done so cautiously and with only a small number of sets to prevent over-working them.

Abs

Since spot reduction is impossible and you cannot target fat loss from specific areas of the body, stop placing so much emphasis on the idea of achieving "6-pack abs" through the use of direct abdominal exercises.Click Here!

Attaining defined and sculpted abs is mostly a product of your bottom line body fat percentage, and has very little to do with specific training techniques. Include a few sets of direct ab work for the sake of strengthening your core and building up the abdominal muscles themselves, but performing endless sets of situps and crunches is nothing more than a waste of time.

Quads

If you aren't performing a basic barbell squat as the cornerstone of your leg training routine, you're missing out big time!

Squats are by far the most effective lower body exercise in existence, and by a good margin. Not only do squats provide serious stimulation for the muscles of the legs, but because they force the body to secrete greater amounts of powerful anabolic hormones (such as testosterone and growth hormone) they will increase your upper body size as well.

As the saying goes, "you ain't squat 'till you squat!"Click Here!

Hamstrings

Leg curls should be included in your hamstring training routine, but the real secret to a massive set of "leg biceps" is the stiff-legged deadlift.

You can perform SLDL's using a barbell or dumbbells, and not only will they pack size onto your hamstrings faster than any other lift out there, but they will strengthen your lower back and add size to your upper back as well.

Calves

If you really want those stubborn calves to respond, then stop worrying so much about "feeling the burn", and instead focus on truly training your calves to the point of muscular failure.

Rather than slapping on an arbitrary amount of weight and pumping out 20-30 reps until it starts to hurt, load up as much weight as you can possibly handle for 8-12 high quality reps. Execute each rep in a slow and deliberate manner, squeezing at the top and using a full range of motion until you cannot perform another rep despite your best efforts to do so.

If you want to be successful at anything, discipline and consistency are mandatory.

You've got to be willing to work hard week in and week out, and put forth the effort even on those days when you'd rather stay at home, lie on the couch and relax.

The saying says that "80% of success is showing up", and for the most part I'd say that's true.

Building muscle is no different.

Yes, consistency is important. Yes, you should be sticking to your workout schedule the vast majority of the time. Yes, simply bailing on the gym out of pure laziness is not acceptable.

However, I would like to bring up a quote from the late Mike Mentzer when he said "Rituals have nothing to do with science".

What you need to keep in mind is that the human body is an extremely complex biological "machine", and that not every single workout and recovery period is identical.

In other words, just because your schedule states that you must train on days X, Y and Z doesn't necessarily mean that this will always be the optimal pattern every single week of the year.

If you wake up on a training day and your muscles still ache, you feel physically tired and your regular motivation to train just feels like it has been zapped... don't you think your body just might be trying to tell you something?

Why would you force yourself to train in a situation where more recovery time is clearly needed, and when you know that your training performance will be less than optimal? If your body, muscles and mind are clearly still reeling from the previous session, what sense does it make to force yourself to train despite this?

After all, we know that the recovery phase is the ultimate "muscle builder" (the actual process of adding new muscle tissue occurs out of the gym on resting days) and that intense weight training is extremely demanding on the body as a whole.

So why would you deliberately interfere with the very process that transforms your physique in the first place? Why not take an extra 24 hours off and re-enter the gym once you feel physically and mentally ready to do so?

What harm could there possibly be in that?

There is no threat of losing muscle size or strength, as these decreases require 2 or more weeks of inactivity to be set into motion. Yet, there is the perfectly likely reality of a positive gain in the form of proper recovery from the previous workout and improved performance on the following workout.

The underlying key is to listen to your body.

Rituals truly do not have anything to do with science, and if it feels obvious to you that additional rest is needed, take it.

Don't force your body into another battle with the weights if it clearly is not ready to do so. Don't let your ego get in the way; just because some muscle building guru told you to "never skip a workout" doesn't mean that it's always the best approach.

You do have to use this method with caution, though...

If you develop the mindset of only training when you "feel like it", then it's likely that you'll start delaying your workouts and convincing yourself that it's correct to do so when in fact it is not.

There are plenty of times when you won't feel like training purely for psychological reasons rather than concrete physical reasons, and that's not what I'm talking about here.

I'm simply talking about those days where you are able to sense that from a physical standpoint, taking an extra day of rest would be the better course of action.

Just remember... there is no long-term harm in taking an extra day of rest, but there IS the very real and immediate harm of training your body without being fully recovered first.

If you need a "highly" effective, step-by-step workout to follow, go ahead and Have A Look. This program can teach you exactly which exercises to do and the best number of workout days, sets and reps you should use to get optimum results from your effort and sweat.

Necessary Muscle-Building Supplements 

A Waste Of Cash?

Can bodybuilders benefit by supplementing with extra vitamins and minerals? Let's review some basic biology as well as the function of each specific vitamin in order to find the answer...

In the grand scheme of things, your body is basically one giant mass of chemical reactions. Each of these individual reactions is fueled by small proteins called enzymes, which work by lowering the amount of energy that is needed for a specific reaction to occur.

Enzymes require the use of a "co-enzyme" which alters its shape and allows it to perform its job properly. Co-enzymes are also referred to as vitamins.

So when it all comes down it, vitamins are needed to fuel the thousands of chemical reactions going on within your body at all times. Not only does this play an important role in overall metabolism and body health, but it also plays a vital part in the muscle-building process.

Here is a list of the major vitamins and the ways in which they will aid you both in and out of the gym...

Vitamin A - Is crucial to the process of protein synthesis where individual amino acids are combined to form new muscle tissue. It also helps the body to produce glycogen, the stored form of carbohydrates within the body.

Vitamin B1 - Also known as "thiamine" and is heavily involved in protein metabolism as well as the production of hemoglobin which helps to carry oxygen around the body.

Vitamin B2 - Also known as "riboflavin" and aids in the fat burning process as well as helping the body to produce energy from carbohydrates.

Vitamin B3 - Also known as "niacin" and increases vasodilation within the muscle tissue, helping you to appear fuller and more vascular.

Vitamin B6 - Also known as "pyridoxine" and is very important because of its effect on protein digestion. Muscle-building diets require larger than normal amounts of protein, and this means that your body needs a higher amount of vitamin B6 than the average Joe.

Vitamin B12 - Also known as "cobalamin", vitamin b12 ensures that the brain and muscle tissue are communicating efficiently and this has a direct effect on muscle growth and coordination.

Biotin - Helps the body metabolize amino acids and produce energy during workouts.

Vitamin C - Heavily involved in amino acid metabolism and the formation of collagen. Collagen is found in your connective tissue and keeps your joints strong and healthy. Vitamin C also plays a role in the production of steroid hormones in the body and also enhances the absorption of iron. On top of all of this, vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant which flushes out free radicals and prevents damage to your body cells.

Vitamin D - Helps the body to absorb calcium and phosphorus more efficiently. Calcium is very important during muscle contractions and also helps to maintain strong bones and joints. Phosphorus is involved in the synthesis of ATP, the usable form of energy within the body.

Vitamin E - A very powerful antioxidant which helps to hunt out and neutralize free radicals. This will help to flush out many of the natural metabolic waste products your body produces and maintain the health of your cell membranes.

As you can clearly see above, vitamins play a very important role when it comes to building muscle and gaining strength. Hard training bodybuilders certainly require higher amounts of these vitamins than the average sedentary Joe, as these vitamins are depleted during intense sessions in the gym.

In addition, a calorie-dense diet requires a higher intake of vitamins to aid in the digestion process. In fact, being deficient in just one vitamin can literally affect thousands of small process within the body.

So, are multivitamins necessary for bodybuilders?

Absolutely!

If you're serious about achieving the most significant muscle size and strength gains that you possibly can, then I definitely would recommend a basic and straightforward supplement plan to maximize your results.

Here are the 4 most basic supplements that I would recommend:

1) Whey Protein
2) Creatine
3) High-Potency Multivitamin
4) Essential Fatty Acids

This is a great place to start and will go a long way in increasing your lean muscle mass, strength and fat burning capabilities. There are definitely a lot of worthless, ineffective supplements out there, but these 4 basic products have been shown time and time again to be both effective and worth the cost.

If you're looking to gain an extra edge and are serious about reaching your muscle-building goals, they are definitely worth looking into. Click Here for more information!

Essential Supplements For Your Muscles 

A Few Home Gyms 

All You Need

Brian lifts some weights. by Andy on Flickr

I lift some weights. by Andy on Flickr

curated content from Flickr

Ego-Building Fat Loss For BodyBuilders 

3 Great Points

Ask any five people in the gym what their number one goal is their answer will inevitably have something to do with body composition. What it all comes down to is ego-everyone wants to lose fat and look better. Click Here! Unfortunately, there are road blocks in the way that seem to undermine everyone's progress. Misconceptions or not we need to set the record straight.

Most people can't tell the difference between their regular work-outs and their fat-loss training. I bet if you asked random people at your local gym-with both average and above-average bodies- how their training differs, you'd get some pretty funny looks. The sad truth is that most people don't change their training.Click Here! There are multiple reasons why we need to change our training - here are the main ones.

1) No Goals Equals No Results. The number one reason why very few people achieve their fat-loss dream is because they don't have set goals. Most people ask, "What's the best way to lose weight and gain muscle?" The truth is it's just not going to happen. It is like saying that you are going to prepare for bodybuilding contest and a marathon at the same time. This is known as the interference effect, our body is only able to focus on one thing (weight gain or loss) at a time.
Metabolically, it is completely different to build muscle and lose fat. One requires an increase in nitrogen retention caloric intake with an increased basal metabolic rate. That is why the first step in setting up a successful fat-loss program is to decide what you want your body to look like, when you want it to look that way and how you are going to get there.

2) Glycogen Usage. The centrepiece of most failed general public dieting campaigns centres on the word "low-fat." People assume that eating fat equals fat gain. While this is partially true with trans-fats, the real issue here is glycogen. It is also the main reason why you need a complete training overhaul when fat loss is your goal. Free fatty acid oxidation is decreased in the presence of an over saturation of glycogen in our muscle and liver. In the average person, the liver can hold 100 grams of glycogen, whereas your muscles can hold 300 grams.
With glycogen depletion, you'll never be able to tap into your fat stores and release them from adipose tissue, therefore liberating them to be burned up. Depending on your training, you can perform anywhere from 4-12 reps per exercise with a possible superset thrown in, but you'll never get close to drawing from your glycogen stores. This is why aerobic training is purported to be the way to burn fat and strength training the way to build muscle. However both extremes are false. To maximise fat loss you must make sure you are tapping into your glycogen stores every session.

3) Free Fatty Acid Oxidation. To make this happen, you must make sure that you first deplete the glycogen through high-intensity training. Without glycogen dips, your body will hold onto your fatty acids.
What about maintaining muscle mass? Take a look at traditional fat-loss training: It typically advocates higher rep ranges with circuit style training. While this type of training has its benefits, it also leads to the potential of decreased muscle mass. Training should change based on your goals, but the key determining factor is the optimal intensity threshold (OIT). The OIT states that in order to preserve or increase muscle mass or strength, we must make sure that we achieve a certain intensity threshold. More or less placing an increasing demand on our body. You should be ingesting high amounts of protein and "smart fats" but to also hold onto lean muscle tissue.

Remember to get shredded you have to do more than just wish for it. You must have a goal, and a specially designed plan and the will to make it happen.

Hit this link for a plan...MILITARY STYLE

Illustrated on a YouTube video 

curated content from YouTube

More Weight Over Time Equals More Muscle 

Add Weight Consistently

The simple fact of the matter is that consistently adding more weight to the bar over time REALLY IS the bottom line goal of any effective training routine.

Take all of the most basic compound exercises (such as squats, deadlifts, bench presses, rows, chin-ups, dips and overhead presses), focus on increasing your poundages as quickly as possible... and that ALONE will yield the greatest muscle building effect from your entire workout plan possible.

Add a good 150 pounds to your deadlift, 125 pounds to your squat and 100 pounds to your bench press, and I guarantee that as long as your nutrition plan is properly in place, you'll come back significantly bigger, thicker and more muscular than you've ever been in your entire life.

But "they" don't want to admit it.

All of the other "experts" out there don't want to tell you that lifting heavier weights is the key to dramatic progress. It's either because they simply don't know it themselves, or because they'd rather sell you some gimmicky approach based on a new "revolutionary discovery" to put more money in their pockets.

They'd rather have you prancing around the gym like a ballerina... carefully balancing yourself on a swiss ball... performing ridiculous "innovative" exercises... super-setting from lift to lift... "feeling the burn"... focusing on isolation movements... and making use of all kinds of other inefficient methods rather than simply having you place your focus on the core heartbeat that makes any intelligently structured bodybuilding program tick.

And that core heartbeat is consistent progression in weight and reps.

It always has been, and it always will be.

The bottom line is simple

1) Stimulate an adaptive response from the muscles by training intensely with basic compound exercises.

2) Recover.

3) Do it again, but with greater resistance or additional repetitions.

If you are able to do this week in and week out and are continually coming back to the gym stronger than you were before, you are on the right path. If your strength is stagnant and you aren't able to progress every single week, you are on the wrong path.

Let me ask you

How often do you see a guy with skinny legs squatting 400 pounds?

How often do you see a trainee with an unimpressive back and shoulders deadlifting 500 pounds?

What about a lifter with an under-developed chest and triceps cleanly bench pressing 300 pounds?

Almost never.

And why?

It's because size and strength ARE directly related, and because the bodybuilder who is moving the largest amounts of weight in proper form (and with an effective nutrition plan) will almost always be the biggest guy at the gym.

It's really that simple.

Yes, there are plenty of other details to implement into your plan if you want the greatest results possible... but when it comes to your workouts at the gym, consistently lifting heavier weights must always be your primary goal.

If you want hype, fluff and filler, then be my guest and follow some fancy "breakthrough" workout plan illogically slapped together by some no-name "expert" without a clue.

But if you want serious, explosive, no B.S muscle building results that will thicken up your entire body and turn you into a powerful mass of muscle as quickly and efficiently as possible, then get back to basics.

Begin performing all of the most basic and challenging compound exercises... execute them with a high level of intensity... write down what you do each week... and place 100% of your focus on "beating the logbook" from workout to workout by adding more weight to the bar and performing more reps.

If you're able to do this consistently from workout to workout, that powerful and muscular body will be yours before you know it.
Here Is The Best And Fastest Muscle Building Program


As Featured On EzineArticles

A Few Examples Of Equipment 

Dave Nathan - Freedom with Freeweights

Amazon Price: (as of 11/15/2009) Buy Now

Inflight Olympic Bench w/ Weight Horns

Amazon Price: $759.00 (as of 11/15/2009) Buy Now

Perfect Pushup - Original

Amazon Price: $23.98 (as of 11/15/2009) Buy Now

GoFit Chin-Up Bar

Amazon Price: $19.99 (as of 11/15/2009) Buy Now

Body-Solid® Leg Press & Hack Squat

Amazon Price: $889.51 (as of 11/15/2009) Buy Now

Let Me Know What You Think Of This Lens! 

PLEASE PUT A STAR RATING AT THE TOP OF THE PAGE. THANK YOU

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  • Reply
    FitSteph FitSteph Apr 22, 2009 @ 3:29 pm
    Wow what a great lens! If anyone is looking to chat about exercise, working out, health, fitness, or anything else, these fitness forums ?, are my favorite. It's absolutely one of the best websites if you are looking to track food, plan meals, build workouts, and count calories!
  • Reply
    FitSteph FitSteph Apr 9, 2009 @ 1:09 pm
    Wow what a great hub. If anyone is looking for a workout plan This is one of my favorite health & fitness sites. It lets you track food, workouts, and calories!
  • Reply
    Bob Bob Dec 6, 2008 @ 11:09 pm
    Excellent lens. Great Information and layout. Very impressive.
  • Reply
    jag252 jag252 Dec 5, 2008 @ 8:12 am
    Hi Chris79

    Very well done you are so right you don't need to join a gym. I workout at home and it works very well for me. 5*****

    Jag252

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