Building Muscle 5 Training Techniques

The 5 Most Effective Exercises and Training Techniques That Will Get You Kicked Out Of A “Normal” Gym! By Nick Nilsson of Better U Fitness For building maximum muscle and ripping the fat off your body, conventional training is NOT where it’s at. I’m going to teach you 5 of THE most effective exercises and techniques that will have “management” pulling their hair out!

 

The most effective exercises and training techniques are the ones that push your body to the limit…they activate more muscle fibers, challenge your balance and determination, and push your strength to the limit! Oddly enough, they can also get you kicked out some gyms! (Not that I know this from personal experience or anything…) These top 5 techniques are among THE very best for achieving the goals they’re targeted for. Use them wisely! 1. Lockout Partial Squats This exercise will draw the ire of any self-respecting gym owner, especially one that hasn’t invested in good-quality, high weight-rated Olympic bars. Why? Because, when you do this exercise with REALLY heavy weight (as you should for maximum effectiveness), your standard “el-cheapo” Olympic bar is going to BEND and bend PERMANENTLY. If and when the gym management sees bent bars and you’re the only one using really substantial weight on them…well, you get my drift. So how do you do Lockout Partial Squats? They’re quite simple – basically, you set the safety rails in the power rack to just below the very top position of your squat. Then you set a bar on those rails. Then you pile a LOT of weight on (you can warm-up with what you would normally do for a one-rep max). When the bar is set up, step underneath, get it set on your back then finish the lockout. Simple as that! You can see this technique in action here (I’ve also got a picture below): In this example, I’m using the lockout squat as a static hold, standing up with it then just supporting the weight at the top – I’m using 950 lbs on the bar (10 plates on either side) using a bar rated to 1500 lbs. As you can tell, I’ve learned my bar-bending lesson!   2. Fat-Loss Circuit Training This is a training technique that is downright AMAZING for fat loss. It’ll kick your metabolism into overdrive like nothing else. So why will it get you kicked out of a gym? Let me tell you how it works first… At its simplest, you’re doing a regular weight workout, but instead of taking complete rest in between sets (e.g. do a set of 8 reps than sit on the bench for a minute doing nothing), you’ll be doing 30 to 40 seconds of moderate intensity cardio training. Here’s what it would look like: 1 set of 8 reps bench press 40 seconds jogging on the treadmill 1 set of 8 reps bench press 40 seconds jogging on the treadmill 1 set of 8 reps bench press 40 seconds jogging on the treadmill 1 set of 8 reps bench press 40 seconds jogging on the treadmill And so on, for the rest of the workout… It is actually deceptively simple and seems relatively easy…but let me tell you, when you do this in a regular workout, it will AMAZE you with how strongly it revs up your metabolism. You can read a more in-depth description of this technique in this article: Fat-Loss Circuit Training – a revolutionary fat-burning, metabolism-boosting training technique It’s a technique I use in my “Metabolic Surge – Rapid Fat Loss” program So why will this technique get you kicked out of the gym? Well, as great as this technique is, it DOES require you to go back and forth between weights and cardio equipment. To do this (and this is normally only a problem if you train at a busy gym) you have to claim both a weight training area and a cardio machine. Most gyms frown on this type of thing, especially at a busy time. Chances are, your stations will be gone the moment you step away from them. Fortunately, it’s easy to remedy with a simple modification! Instead of using a machine for cardio, you can skip rope, step up and down on a bench or on stairs, or you can jog in place. 3. Power Cleans or Any Olympic Lifting In General If you go to a Bally’s, or another similar type of machine-oriented commercial gym, and start doing Power Cleans (or any Olympic lifts) in eyeshot of any of the “supervisors” or trainers, chances are good that you will be asked to stop (been there!). Why? Liability. You see, if YOU know what you’re doing and you know how to perform the exercise safely, that’s one thing. But the other person WATCHING you do that exercise (who is probably not experienced enough to perform it safely) might just decide to try it out and hurt themselves. And, of course, when that person does drop that barbell on their foot or wrench their back, they’ll sue Bally’s, which is what Bally’s is REALLY worried about here. The thing is, Power Cleans and Olympic lifts are GREAT for building explosive power. They’re NOT dangerous at all when taught correctly and under knowledgeable supervision. In fact, injury rates in competitive weightlifting are actually much LESS than even something as simple as running! It’s all in proper instruction. 4. Backwards Treadmill Running And Walking For TORCHING The Quads You may now know this but the treadmill can actually be a GREAT muscle-building tool…it’s just not immediately obvious HOW. You see, if you’ve got stubborn quads, part of the problem is probably blood supply. Most lagging muscle groups correlate with poor blood supply. Think of it this way…which of your bodyparts pump up most easily? Which ones are the hardest to pump up? Now which ones develop the most easily? I can tell you with near certainty, your muscles that pump most easily also develop most easily. Back to the treadmill. Most people face forwards when using the treadmill, which is fine…even encouraged, if you will. But turn yourself around and run or walk on the treamill facing BACKWARDS (and set the machine to a high incline) and you’ve got yourself an exercise that will quite simply TORCH the quads more than you will believe. And in the process of this torching, you are going RAM more blood into your quads than you can with pretty much any other exercise. This dramatic increase in blood flow will actually help improve overall circulation to the quads, which will help with future muscle growth. Very effective stuff…you can read more about it and see it on video here:   So why could this training technique get you kicked out of a gym? Well, standing backwards on a treadmill does increase the overall general risk of even using a treadmill in the first place. This is why you MUST hold solidly onto the rails as you’re running or walking on it. You should, at any given moment, be able to instantly support yourself on the rails and step off the belt. But most gyms don’t have this level of trust in their members. Even a perfectly safe and effective technique like this may fall within the reasoning of “different = bad.” Here’s the thing…when you hold the rails solidly while using this technique (and you can step off at any given moment), I think it’s actually SAFER than running FORWARDS on the treadmill! 5. Deadlifts The deadlift is one of my favorite exercises…there’s just something so satisfying about grabbing a really heavy bar and lifting it off the ground. There’s no middle ground…you either lift it or you don’t. And the crazy thing is, I HAVE almost gotten kicked out of more than one gym for doing plain old deadlifts! The first time was at a gym in Ft. Lauderdale. I was doing deadlifts, minding my own business, not slamming the bar to the ground or dropping it or anything like that, when the attendant came over and said: “I’m sorry. We don’t allow deadlifts in this gym. They make too much noise.” And I actually felt sorry for the poor guy who had to come up and tell me this…I could tell by the look in his face he knew what a stupid rule and stupid reason it was but he had no choice but to enforce it. (Apparently the coffee shop on the first floor below didn’t realize there was a GYM upstairs when they opened up and would complain constantly about noise…) So I asked him “How about if I just do deadlifts but don’t set the weight on the ground in between reps AND I’ll be very gentle when I DO set it down at the end of the set. You won’t hear a peep.” I demonstrated a set of continuous-tension deadlifts (which are a GREAT variation of the deadlift, by the way…you do the exercise but never let the weight plates touch the ground between reps…VERY tough to do with heavy weight). He looked suspicious but said that was okay and I was able to finish my training for the day without getting tossed out. The second time was at Gold’s Gym in Nassau, Bahamas. On this occasion, I was doing heavy singles – still not slamming the weight down or dropping it. Then, in between sets over the loudspeaker, I hear… “Please do not drop weights on the floor…it distracts other gym members.“ So I keep going thinking, hey, I’m not dropping weights on the floor. I’m just setting the bar down doing heavy singles. So I keep going and AGAIN over the loudspeaker I hear (in an EXTREMELY snotty voice now)… “Gym users who drop weights on the floor will be asked to leave the premises.” Disgusted, I unloaded the bar, set the safety rails on the nearest rack to just below lockout position, put 10 plates on either side then proceeded to bend the ever-lovin’ CR@P out of that bar with the lockout partial squats from example #1 in this article… I’m just kidding! I really only used 9 plates… Nick Nilsson been weight training for 17 years, been a personal trainer for 10 years, a professional fitness writer for 7 years (published in Men’s Fitness, Reps Magazine, Muscle & Fitness and on hundreds of websites) and I’ve got a degree in Physical Education, covering advanced biomechanics, physiology and kinesiology. Nick has published 7 weight training books: “The Best Abdominal Exercises You’ve Never Heard Of” “The Best Exercises You’ve Never Heard Of” “Metabolic Surge – Rapid Fat Loss” “Muscle Explosion – 28 Days to Maximum Mass” “Gluteus to the Maximus – Build a Bigger Butt NOW!” “Specialization Training” “Hybrid Training” Nick is in my opinion is one of the most innovative trainers around today. if you read my blogs and articles you know I like variety in my workouts. When it comes to taking an exercise and making it better Nick is the man. Check out Nick’s site at Better U fitness

Done For You Fat Loss Meal Plans PT 3

Hi,  just wanted to give you a quick reminder about the Done For You Fat Loss Meal Plan. The price will be going up so if you think it will work for you get in before the increase.

Here is some info I took of Vince’s site.

Nutrition Reality #1 You Can’t Out Train A Bad Diet

You could run two marathons a day and still get fat.

Even if you resorted to a bodybuilders diet of chicken, broccoli and brown rice six-times a day, you can still get fat.

How?

Eat too much of it.  The excess has to get stored somewhere and unfortunately that is known as your belly-bulge.

It doesn’t matter how many hours a day you workout, what kind of supplements you take or how “healthy” you eat if you consumed too much of it.

You probably learned that back in high school science class.

It’s amazing how marketing geniuses can get us to underestimate this simple nutrition fact.

Nutrition Reality #2 Diet Is 90% of the Equation

Think about it.

It takes about 3-minutes to consume a delicious muffin or donut and wash it down with a glass of juice or your favorite mocha drink.  3-minutes later you’ve consumed almost 1000 calories, 50 grams of fat and 120 grams of sugar.

Bam!  So much for that flat stomach…

You just cancelled out 2 days worth of working out! That’s called one step forward, two steps back.  I don’t’ have to tell you how hard you have to work your butt off to burn those 1000 calories, right?

You got to bust your ass sprinting up some stairs for an hour just to cancel out the damage you inflicted on your belly.

So it takes 3-minutes of mouth-watering delight to lose your six pack and it takes 60-minutes of heart-pounding, muscle-screaming workouts to get your six-pack.

Now you see why all the cover-models and bodybuilders say, “It’s all diet, diet, diet…”

Nutrition Reality #3 “Eating healthy” Without a Plan Is Guaranteed Failure

My clients protested, “But I eat healthy…” or “I don’t eat bad though…” while I confronted them with this truth.

 “Eating healthy” is a relative phrase.  You may be in fact eating “the top super foods” every day or a “variety” of proteins and fats or avoiding the “bad carbs” but still crippling your success.

Why?

How do you know if you’ve eaten too much or too little?

What do you modify at the end of the week when you jump on the scale and nothing has changed? What do you do?

Eat “healthier?”

Done For You Fat Loss Meal Plans

I bet you can relate to the three C’s…

Confusing, Challenging and Consuming

#1 Diets are CONFUSING

Just like you, I agree that nutrition advice has become overwhelmingly confusing.  One best-selling book says no carbs, another book says no fat.  This expert says to skip the protein and the other expert says to ignore that advice.

Maybe I should eat according to my ancestors or my blood type?  Maybe I should go with the instinct diet?  That one sounds interesting…

It’s at the point now that every single food is on some guru’s “bad list.”

If I followed all of their advice, my plate would be empty every meal!

Bottom line, it’s impossible to escape the confusion, especially since every diet promises to be better than the last.

Aren’t you dreaming of the day you can stroll into a grocery store and not be terrified or torture yourself with guilt, no matter what you eat?
#2 Diets are CHALLENGING

Just like you, I can’t possibly keep up with all the “breakthrough” diets that rain in from the sky each-and-every-day.

It doesn’t help when at least 10 of these diets get national publicity and make the best-sellers list.  What if the next one is actually the real thing?

You would be making a horrible mistake passing up this new diet opportunity even though the diet will force you to shell-out more money, make you feel miserable, overanalyze, is outrageously unpractical, and impossible to follow long term.

Bottom line, the diet mafia is seducing you, again, to abandon your better judgment and eat like you’ve never eaten before.

#3 Diets are CONSUMING

Did you ever realize that the countries (a.k.a. United States and Canada) that are most obsessed about nutrition, dieting and diet foods are the fattest and most out of shape?

Go figure.

Being consumed with food is affecting your mood and self-worth!

It’s one thing to be a little upset because you over ate in a meal, it’s another thing to be downright depressed because you ate some garlic toast for lunch!

Our society has never been so consumed with diet and nutrition as it has in the past 50 years and yet our physiques and health are going right down the tubes.

If food is consuming your life and leaving you emotionally drained, guilt-stricken, literally afraid of eating and straining your personal relationships, then keep reading to discover a simple-fix that defies common sense!

It’s the exact simple-fix that will help you lose the last 10 pounds or the first 100 pounds like a bad habit and obliterate even the most stubborn fat from any body part.

Fact: More than ANYTHING else, you’re diet is holding you back and here is what you can do to fix it, once and for all…

Done For You Fat Loss Meal Plans

Get lean, or stay fat.  It’s your decision.

Why do I say that?  Because this is your absolute LAST chance to get the program that is going to put your results over the edge, while being
maintainable and livable, and DOABLE, before the price DOUBLES Friday night.

You want to talk about why people fail?  It’s because 99% of the diet programs out there aren’t realistic.  They aren’t practical, and believe me, I feel your pain.

But that’s NOT this program, This one is special.  This one is going to be a GAME CHANGER for you–and I guarantee it–because it’s just so incredibly livable.

Not only that, but you get to EAT NORMALLY to get you the head-turning physique you’ve always wanted–FASTER.

Done For You Fat Loss Meal Plan

7 Tips To Speed Up Your Metabolism

Seven Quick Tips To Speed Up Your Metabolism and Burn Fat Faster

By Nick Nilsson

The speed of your metabolism is the real key to burning
fat quickly and efficiently. Here are seven easy tips
for boosting your metabolic rate.

Your metabolism or metabolic rate can determine exactly how quickly you gain or lose fat. Here are some quick tips you can put to use immediately to help crank up your metabolism and increase your fat burning.

1. Eat Breakfast

It’s no myth that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. If you skip breakfast thinking you are saving calories or time, consider this…

Your body has been in a fasting state for 8 hours or more. When you wake up and don’t give it any food, its natural reaction is self-defense. It thinks “famine” and automatically slows your metabolism to a crawl to conserve calories. Not only does everything you eat for the rest of the day have a far greater chance of being stored as fat, your chances of burning any fat off that day are low.

And here’s the whammy… you’re going to get really hungry later and will probably want to eat something that’s not so good for you. With your now-slower metabolism (because you skipped breakfast), you’re going to store a lot more of that “not-so-great” meal than usual.

2. Eat Frequently

Besides skipping breakfast, the next biggest metabolism-killer is long waits between meals. Every time you eat something, your metabolism ramps up to process the food. The more frequently you eat, the more frequently your metabolism will get a boost.

The real key, however, is to be sure you’re eating smaller meals (eating 5 big meals instead of 3 big meals isn’t good for losing fat!). Try to eat 5 or more times per day, even if it’s just healthy snacks between meals.

3. Exercise With Intensity

Your metabolic rate is directly related to the intensity of the exercise you perform. Walking will burn calories while you’re doing it and give your metabolism a small boost for a little while after but it doesn’t compare to high-intensity interval training. That type of training can boost your metabolism for a full 24 hours or more after.

Even if you can’t handle high-intensity training, you can always find ways to make the easier exercises such as walking more intense, e.g. walk faster, walk up hills, wear a weighted back-pack, etc.

4. Train With Weights

Weight training builds muscle and muscle is a huge factor in determining your metabolic rate. Muscle tissue is very metabolically active. Your body burns a lot of calories just to maintain it.

Weight training gives your metabolism a triple-shot. Not only do you burn calories during the exercise, you also increase your metabolic rate long after the exercise (provided the training you are doing is intense). Add to that the extra muscle you build from the training and you can see how effective weights can be for boosting your metabolism.

5. Eat More Protein

Of the three major macronutrients (protein, carbohydrates and fats), protein requires the most energy to digest. Protein is also less likely to be stored as fat because of this. Protein will also help you to build up your muscle.

I don’t recommend that you overload on protein, however, focusing on getting plenty of good-quality protein from a variety of sources (e.g. lean meats, chicken, fish, eggs, soy, etc.) can help keep your metabolic rate high.

6. Take Your Vitamins

Your metabolic rate basically boils down to chemical reactions in your body. Vitamins and minerals (and water) are important parts of these chemical reactions. If you don’t have enough of these components available for your body to use when it needs them, your body will have to limit itself to what you’ve got.

Think of your metabolism as a car assembly line. You can’t build a complete car until you have all the parts available. If, for example, you only have enough doors available to build 100 cars but you have 200 doorless cars on the line, you’re missing out on a lot of potential production.

By taking a multivitamin on a regular basis, you will not only support your metabolism but your health as well.

7. Reduce Your Fat Intake

Fatty foods take longer for your body to digest and they leave you feeling fuller longer. While not being hungry is certainly fine when trying to lose fat, eating meals that encourage you to wait longer periods between eating can slow your metabolism.

This goes back to the point about eating frequently. If you eat fatty foods for breakfast, you may not want to anything again until lunch, which could be 5 or more hours away. Ideally, you should eat approximately every 3 hours.

If you’re looking to give your metabolism a boost, give these tips a try. A faster metabolic rate can help you tremendously with fat loss.

——————

Nick Nilsson is Vice-President of the online personal training company BetterU, Inc. He has a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been inventing new training techniques for more than 16 years. Nick is the author of a number of bodybuilding eBooks including “Metabolic Surge – Rapid Fat Loss,” “The Best Exercises You’ve Never Heard Of,” “Gluteus to the Maximus – Build a Bigger Butt NOW!” and “The Best Abdominal Exercises You’ve Never Heard Of” all available at .

Fat Loss Circuit Training From Metabolism Surge

 

Fat Loss Circuit Training Sample Program

Bodypart Exercise Sets Reps Notes Back Barbell Bent-Over Rows or Seated Cable Rows 6 6-8 Be sure to keep your lower back arched and tight when performing either of these exercises. Chest Flat Barbell or Dumbell Bench Press 6 6-8 Don’t bounce the bar off your chest as you lower it down. As well, don’t bang the dumbells together at the top. Biceps Standing Barbell Curls or Dumbell Curls 4 6-8 Squeeze your biceps hard at the top and don’t swing the weight. Use a shoulder-width grip on the bar for best biceps contraction. Calves Standing Calf Raises or Seated Calf Raises 4 10-12 Perform this movement under control. Don’t bounce out of the bottom and be sure to give your calves a good squeeze at the top. Cardiovascular Training Activity Comments Fat Loss Circuit Training Take no rest as you move between 40 seconds of cardio work and your weight training sets. Have everything set up and ready to go with your exercises as much as possible. If you are in a crowded gym and must wait for equipment or are unable to pre-set, just do the best you can. General Comments: Choose a weight that allows you to hit the top of the listed rep range on the first set and keep to that weight. As you fatigue, your reps will drop. When two exercises are listed here, select from one or the other and do all your sets with it. Your Written Notes:

Copyright 2008 BetterU, Inc. ©

Click here to order Metabolic Surge now!

Remember, this amazing program is available
to you immediately for only $29.95!

If you’ve come to this page through a means other than the free “Metabolic Surge – Rapid Fat Loss” course, you
can read more about the program and sign up for the free course by clicking here

Corn Dogs, Cheeseburgers, Custard and Other Diet Foods

In my years as a trainer, I’ve found that it’s simply not fair that we should be limited and made to feel guilty about what what we eat by such horribly judgemental and negative-sounding terms like “junk food,” “sugary snack,” “quadruple bypass” or “colon cancer.”

This is especially true since I’ve also found that a person can lose as much fat as they want eating foods that most “experts” (like doctors, physicians, cardiologists, podiatrists, dieticians and sometimes even nutritionists) would consider a heart attack on a plate. My theories will prove that these colon-stoppers can be instantly transformed into health foods!

In this article, I delve deep into the theories that can take the greasiest pile of food and make it into fat-shredding diet fodder.

1. Eat foods that are so greasy that they are constantly slipping out of your hands or out of the back of the bread.

The simple act of picking your food up after it’s slid out of your hands burns a tremendous amount of calories both in activity and in frustration. The greasier it is, the more often it’ll slip and the more calories you’ll burn. This espcially true of greasy hamburgers that have 3 or more patties stacked one on top of another (1 or 2 patties is not enough to get the greatest results so be sure to get the largest hamburger available – and no lettuce or tomato…they’ll just slow the meat down). When each bite slides half the sandwich out the back end, you know you’ve got prime diet food. Stuff it back in and feel the burn (from the hot grease, that is!).

2. Foods that are served on a stick are a good source of fiber

The humble corn dog is a prime example of a high fiber food because it’s usually served on a wooden stick. In theory, the fiber found in the wood makes its way into the mush of the dog inside the corn, dramatically increasing the useful splinter, I mean, fiber content of the dog. Even a Fudgesicle, following this to its logical conclusion, is packed with fiber. Chewing on the stick when you’re done is even MORE effective.

3. Do most of your grocery shopping in the “impulse buy” areas of the grocery store

These “impulse buy” areas are the racks by the register and the end-caps at the end of each aisle. Large grocery store chains have nothing but our best health in mind. They would NEVER put anything unhealthy for us on prominent display where we would be most likely to buy it. They simply don’t think that way. Profit is secondary to good health, therefore all foods that are on end-caps and set by the register are there to ensure that we have the best access to the healthiest foods possible. That’s why the fruits and vegetables are always tucked away against the wall in the back corner of the store. All those things do is fill you up and provide essential nutrients that can be better gotten as additives to low-carb chocolate puff cookies.

4. Our friend, the cheeseburger

The perfect diet food, the cheeseburger combines the slippage advantage that I mentioned above with the abundant calcium found in the cheese. Calcium has been shown to help increase fat loss, especially when served on white bread. The high fat content also helps keep you feeling full for long periods of time so you don’t feel hungry (or “regular”) for a long time after. When eaten at lunch, this saves precious calories that you might later in the day be tempted to throw away on fish or salad.

5. Whole grain kids cereals are a step in the wrong direction

No child has ever gotten fat from eating 6 bowls of Sugar Crisp with sugar scooped on top? I have yet to have somebody give me the gist of a study that says that sugary cereals will do anything but reduce attention span and cause diabetes and chronic hyperactivity. Whole grain kids cereal is just a tease.

Cap’n Crunch is crunchy. Vegetables are crunchy. I rest my case.

6. No-calorie custard is all in your mind

Custard rhymes with mustard. Mustard has no calories. When you eat custard, tell your body that you’re eating mustard. The calories will simply evaporate.

7. Preservatives and antibiotics in food are good for you

I would be remiss if I overlooked the amazing anti-aging properties of a good nitrate-filled package of mystery lunchmeat. Preservatives have been proven in several studies that I forget the names of to prolong life and increase health and prevent some other stuff. Heck, I wipe my counter with a handful of baloney – the antibiotics in the meat kill everything on it better than Lysol!

In conclusion, let me just finish by saying “don’t believe a word I just said.”

 

Author Resource:

Nick Nilsson is Vice-President of BetterU, Inc. and has been inventing new training techniques and exercises for 17+ years. Nick has written many training books including “Muscle Explosion! 28 Days To Maximum Mass” & “Metabolic Surge – Rapid Fat Loss”

For Fat Loss Follow The Path Of Most Resistance

Follow the Path of MOST Resistance!

By Nick Nilsson

Why weight training is the fast track to sculpting your body.

Resistance is NOT futile! When it comes to changing your body for the better quickly and permanently, nothing comes close to good old-fashioned weight training.

The shape of your body is determined by three things: muscle, bone and fat. While there’s really nothing you can do about changing your bone structure, there is a whole lot you can do about muscle and fat. This ratio of muscle to fat is commonly known as your body composition.

And what is the fastest way to change your body composition? Weight training. Why is it so effective? Because it builds muscle.

Muscle is the key to changing your body. While fat certainly gives your body shape, muscle is what gives you the shape you actually WANT!

One of the greatest things about muscle is that it burns calories all day long, even when you’re lying on the couch. What this means is that the more muscle you have, the more calories you’ll burn during the day and the more you’ll be able to eat without gaining weight. Sound interesting? There’s more.

Weight training stimulates your metabolism more than aerobic training such as cycling or walking. This means that you’ll continue to burn calories long AFTER you’ve completed your weight training session. The calorie-burning effect of aerobic training generally declines rapidly once you stop the exercise.

Beginning trainers, who are just starting with exercise, are often under the impression that they should stay away from weight training because they might gain weight before they start losing it.

I like to use a car as an analogy. Imagine your body is a car, your muscles are the cylinders in the engine, and your bodyfat is the gas.

With a four-cylinder car, you only burn a minimum amount of gas/fat. Weight training and building more muscle is the equivalent of putting more cylinders into your engine. As you can imagine, you’ll burn a whole lot more gas even while idling! And, just like a car with more cylinders, you’ll be a lot more powerful too!

The bottom line to you is this…with more muscle, you’ll get greater fat loss with less effort.

While it certainly is a possibility that you could gain weight before losing it, if you gauge your success solely by numbers on a scale then you’re not getting an accurate picture of yourself. Measure your progress by how you feel, how you look and how well your clothes are fitting, not by which direction the needle on a measuring device is moving.

At the end of the day, I’m not suggesting for a moment that you should eliminate cardiovascular training from your exercise routine, but, if you are struggling to lose fat and keep it off, weight training may be just the thing you need to lose that fat and keep it off for good!

For more information on resistance exercises you can do at home, go to:

Metabolism Surge

The One Arm Dumbbell Row To The Max

Learn how a simple change in body position can INSTANTLY increase the amount of weight you can use for this exercise AND make it safer. You’ll never go back to the old way again!

The One-Arm Dumbell Row is one of the best lat-building exercises you can do. If you knew of a way to be able to not only perform it with heavier weight but in a far safer manner for your lower back, would you be interested?

I have just what you’re looking for: a simple body-positioning trick that will INSTANTLY allow you to use much heavier weight with good form without compromising the health of your lower back.

The typical one-arm dumbell row is done on a bench with one knee placed on the end, one hand set forward on the bench to brace the upper body and the other foot planted solidly beside the bench. The lower back should be arched and tight and the head should be looking somewhat up and forward.

This position is absolutely fine for the back and body when you are in it without weight. Now let’s add a dumbell and see what happens.

Generally, you are taught to hold the dumbell in your hand, let it stretch forward a little then bring it up along the outside of your thigh and up towards your hip. Nothing wrong with that, right?

Wrong! Bringing the dumbell up along the outside of your thigh can not only greatly limit the amount of weight you’re able to use safely for this exercise, it can also compromise the safety of your lower back. The technique I’m about to show you will TOTALLY eliminate these problems, making the exercise safer and making your immediately stronger in it.

How can I go against the teachings of decades of exercise instruction? Easy, I do it every day. Quite often, it actually ends up being a lot better for you!

What’s the technique? Instead of placing your foot beside the bench and bringing the dumbell up along the outside of your thigh, set your foot out wide to the side and bring the dumbell up along the INSIDE of your thigh (your knee should be slightly bent when you do this).

It doesn’t sound earthshattering but you’ll notice an IMMEDIATE difference in how the exercise feels. You will feel stronger and more stable right away.

When you examine the standard performance of this exercise, you’ll see one glaring problem: the resistance is placed entirely OUTSIDE of your base of support during the movement. Your base of support is formed by your legs and your arm on the bench. When the resistance is outside of your base of support, i.e. the dumbell coming up the outside of your thigh, your body must attempt to counterbalance this torque with your lower back.

When you’re using lighter weights, it doesn’t matter so much as the resistance is not enough to really cause problems. Imagine, however, trying to do a one-arm dumbell row with a dumbell that weighs almost as much as you do. Think you’ll be able to hold that outside your thigh and not fall over or severely injure your back?

By setting your foot out wide (like an angled brace holding up a retaining wall), you immediately widen your base of support, making yourself far more stable and increasing your power. Bringing the resistance up INSIDE of your base of support allows you to instantly use much heavier weight without the dangerous, unbalanced torque on your lower back and body.

Using this technique allowed me to perform 3 reps (with good form) with a home-made 210 pound dumbell. This dumbell weighed 20 pounds more than I did at the time.

When you try this technique and are able to starting moving heavier weights, be absolutely sure you keep a tight arch in your lower back. DO NOT allow it to round over at all. Rounding your lower back not only decreases the effect of the exercise on the lats, it also immediately relaxes the muscles of the spine that work to stabilize the spine. The result: possible immediate injury. Keep it arched and keep it tight.

Give this positioning technique a try in your next back workout. You will notice an immediate difference in how the exercise feels and realize an immediate increase in the amount of weight you are able to handle with it.

Thanks to Nick Nilsson for this article

Jag252 click to return

A Quick, “No B.S.” Guide To Muscle-Building and Fat-Loss Supplementation

In black and white…what you need, what you don’t and why. If you take supplements or even want to take supplements, this information is going save you PILES of money AND help you get the results you deserve.
 
One of the single most frequent questions I hear is “what supplements should I take to build muscle/burn fat?” To that question I always answer with a question: “what does your training and nutrition look like?”

The blank looks I often receive in response tell me all I need to know. Many people view supplementation as the sole key to results…the golden ticket, magically unlocking the door to the body they want. They feel without supplements, that door just won’t open!

My view is different…

I use training and nutrition to rip open the door and supplements to help me step through it AFTER it’s open. Because the bottom line is, without proper training and nutrition to start with, the door to results WON’T be open and using supplements to try and get through it is going to be like pushing on a door marked “Pull.” Not going to happen.

I’m not writing this to bash supplements, believe me. I use supplements every single day and always will. I just want to be sure that YOU are getting only the supplements you need and NOT getting stuck with the supplements that you don’t.

*** That being said, I want to be clear that I am NOT a doctor or nutritionist – this is NOT medical advice and DO NOT go against what your doctor or nutritionist has recommended to you! ***

So here’s my common-sense, totally unglamorous approach to effective supplementation…
1. Start with the basics, no matter what your goal

If want to build muscle and you weigh 147 lbs soaking wet, you don’t need some ground-up reindeer toenail fungus from Siberia or some chemical that was discovered 15 minutes ago and has 7 consonants in a row in its name. You need to get yourself under the squat bar and pile some weight on it. Then you need to feed your body NUTRIENTS.

And if you want to lose fat, let me put it this way…if the soundtrack of your life sounds like “Flight of the Bumblebee” because you’re so hopped up on herbal stimulants, you’re NOT going to get the results you want. But a completely shot nervous system, yes.

So let’s boil it right down. You need to start with a good multivitamin. Cripes, even take a Flintstone multivitamin if that’s all you can get your hands on! If you’re not taking a multi, you are NOT giving your body what it needs for health, muscle growth OR fat loss.

Here’s something to chew on…most obese people are actually very malnourished! Sounds strange but it’s true. They’re not lacking in calories…what they’re lacking in is nutrients (like vitamins and minerals). But the foods they eat don’t contain the nutrients that they need so their bodies tell them they need more food. And they eat more food. And they get fat.

If you want muscle, your body NEEDS those nutrients to even build muscle in the first place! Set the protein aside for a minute. Your body needs vitamins and minerals to actually USE that protein to build muscle.

Give your body a decent amount of nutrients in the form of a multivitamin and it’ll pay off. And don’t give me that garbage about having “expensive urine.” I think my urine is worth it. I’d rather have “expensive urine” now than have “astronomically expensive urine” later caused by the drugs needed to make up for the textbooks full of disorders caused by chronic malnutrition.

I ask you, what’s more expensive…a $10 bottle of Flintstone vitamins now or a $90 pill to make up for bone loss later.

In this category, I would also include a “greens” supplement. These are available at all health food and supplement stores. Basically, they take healthy foods (like barley and wheat grass) and turn them into a powder so you get all the nutrients without having to eat the food itself. This is concentrated nutrition and VERY good to take.
2. Protein is key but don’t get nuts about it

You need protein to build muscle. It’s just that simple. Protein is the basic building block of muscle tissue. I supplement with protein every day. But what I DON’T do is buy protein that’s full of isolated fractions of this and “enhanced” with micrograms of that.

Sure, those fancy protein powders are backed by research and all that, but in the real world, it comes back to training and nutrition. The people I see buying those expensive proteins are often the ones stopping off at McDonald’s on the way to supplement store or repping out on the pec deck machine for countless sets!

In order for your body to really make use of the extra protein you’re giving it, you have to give it a reason. And that reason is hard, effective training. Next, you give your body quality nutrition to fuel those workouts and help recovery. THEN you give it the extra protein.

I can promise, if you’re not training hard, it won’t matter a bit if you give your body $40 a pound whey protein isolate or a bag of powdered skim milk. You won’t get results.
3. Take your minerals

Here’s a newsflash…there is no such thing as a Nitric Oxide deficiency. But calcium, magnesium, zinc, etc.? You bet. By sheer weight alone, minerals account for a fair percentage of your bodyweight (your bones are made of minerals). They’re also absolutely CRITICAL for so many bodily functions and processes (including muscle building and fat loss), I can’t even begin to name them all.

Without minerals, you would die. And without adequate mineral intake, you won’t maximize your muscle gain OR your fat loss.

Taking that multivitamin I mentioned above is a great place to start. But even multivitamins don’t have enough of the “big” minerals to maximize your results. Calcium, for example, is a mineral you should get 1200 mg of per day. That makes for a BIG pill and it’s just not practical to put that much in a multivitamin. The same goes for magnesium.

My recommendation…take at least 1200 mg of calcium per day in supplemental form (citrate is well absorbed – don’t go higher than 2000 mg per day) and 600 mg per day of magnesium (again, citrate is good as is glycinate or aspartate).

** For zinc, the amount in a multivitamin may be enough for you but you can supplement with 15 to 50 mg per day (don’t go over 150 mg per day and be sure to take a day or two off of extra zinc at least once a week to avoid taking too much).

Just adding these three minerals to your supplement regimen will pay off with increased results and better overall health.
4. Protect your joints

Want to build huge muscles and maximum strength? You need to lift heavy weights. Makes sense, right? But what parts of your body take the brunt of all that pounding? Your joints!

And if you went to a gym and asked, by show of hands, how many people take joint-protective nutrients, I have a feeling there wouldn’t be many people reaching for the sky.

Joint-protective nutrients include glucosamine, chondroitin, MSM, collagen, and Vitamin C. They are EXTREMELY important if you’re lifting heavy and want to keep your knees and shoulders for later in life.

The example I use for this category is myself. When I first started training, I didn’t have any idea that joint-protection was even necessary. As the years went by, I noticed whenever I lifted heavy for long stretches, my shoulders, knees and elbows would start to hurt and wouldn’t ease up until I stopped lifting heavy for awhile.

After a little research, I began using a lot of joint-protective nutrients like glucosamine and Vitamin C. Now I can do extremely heavy partial training (often with 2 to 4 times the amount of weight I could use for a full range of motion) and never have joint pain.

Sure, it doesn’t sound glamorous, but if joint pain stops you from lifting heavy, you’re not going to build maximum muscle and strength. And all the pickled jellyfish tentacle extract in the world isn’t going change that.
5. Take your fats

I’m talking about Essential Fatty Acids here (Omega 3 and Omega 6). Our food is notoriously low in essential fats yet they are critical for good health, muscle-building hormone production, and immune system function (among many other functions).

Flax oil, fish oil, krill oil, borage oil, olive oil…these are all good sources of Essential Fatty Acids. Taking these regularly can yield great benefits in your training – even 5 grams a day of any of those I mentioned will help.
6. Go with the research

Creatine has a TON of research proving its effectiveness. Glutamine also has plenty of research backing its use. But you can’t show me a scientific, peer-reviewed study published in a major journal that demonstrates the muscle-building properties of NO2 supplementation. The research just isn’t there, even though all the glossy pictures and fancy graphics plastered in the all the magazines claim otherwise.

So once you’ve got your training, nutrition and your basic supplementation in order (multivitamins, protein, minerals and joint protection), THEN you can start adding in the “fun” stuff. Creatine and glutamine are the best places to start.

And if you’ve still got money left over, definitely give some new stuff a try! I do the same thing myself on a regular basis. Do some research before buying and give some new supplements a try from time to time.

But here’s the key…don’t try everything at once. Rotate a new “treat” supplement in every month or so. See how your body responds. If you get greater results, you’ll know it’s a good one for you.

Stacking supplements (using a number of supplements in combination with each other) is often recommended and this can be a good way to go, especially because some supplements can be more effective when combined with others. But with all new supplements and with stacking, be absolutely sure you’re not compromising on your basic supplements and make sure you are careful about researching how different supplements interact with each other!

—

The Bottom Line:

Supplements are a tool in your toolbox. If you can’t get results WITHOUT supplements, i.e. your training and nutrition aren’t effective, adding exotic supplements is NOT going to fix a broken program.

So before you ask “what supplements should I take to build muscle or burn fat,” pick up the basics and get your training and eating sorted out.

Only THEN should you worry about what supplements will give you that extra 5% of results!

Thanks to Nick Nilsson for this article.

Nick has been weight training for 17 years, been a personal trainer for 10 years, a professional fitness writer for 6 years (published in Men’s Fitness, Reps Magazine, Muscle & Fitness and on hundreds of websites) and He’s got a degree in Physical Education, covering advanced biomechanics, physiology and kinesiology.

Is Calorie-Counting Truly Necessary For Fat Loss?

Is Calorie-Counting Truly Necessary For Fat Loss?
By Nick Nilsson Fitness-e books.com

This is the million-dollar question…do you REALLY have to
count calories to lose fat? It’s something very few people
LIKE to do but is it something that everybody SHOULD
be doing to maximize fat-loss results?
And without further ado, the answer is yes…and no!

Allow me to explain…

Calorie-counting is one of those things that you either love or hate. You either feel like you HAVE to do it in order to get results or you feel like there’s NO WAY you’ll ever be caught dead doing it. It’s rare you find somebody who sits on the middle ground in this one.

As most people know, in order to lose fat, you’ve got to have a caloric deficit, taking in fewer calories than you burn on a daily basis. No surprises there.

Now here’s the thing…in order to consistently achieve that caloric deficit and lose fat, you must be AWARE of your calorie intake.

I believe the REAL question we should be asking here should not be “Is calorie-COUNTING necessary?” but “Is calorie-AWARENESS necessary?”
So if, in order to be aware of how many calories you’re taking in, you need to specifically COUNT them (by weighing food and referencing food charts), then THAT will be what you have to do to get results.

And that is totally fine!

But if you’ve already GOT a good awareness of how many calories you’re eating in a day and you know what you need to eat (or not eat) in order to achieve that caloric deficit, then calorie counting is NOT necessary for you.

The key here, again, is awareness.

You see, the big problem with not counting calories arises when a person THINKS they’re aware of their caloric intake but they really are NOT.

It’s a fact that most people dramatically under-report their caloric intake when they are asked to estimate how much they eat in a day. When they keep a food diary and have to write down every little thing that goes in their mouth, in some cases their TRUE caloric intake nearly DOUBLES.

So even if you don’t want to count calories, it may be time for a quick compromise. It’s a temporary calorie count/reality check!

If you’re not losing fat right now and you feel like you’re not really eating much, here’s something you can try in order to test your “caloric awareness”:

First, write down how many calories you THINK you’re eating every day.

Now for the next full week, write down everything you eat. And I do mean EVERYTHING. Every little taste and every little snack. EVERYTHING. Just write down foods and portion sizes – don’t try and look up how many calories each thing has and don’t suddenly change your diet because you want to make yourself look good – just keep doing what you’ve been doing.

At the end of the week, go to a food chart and research everything you ate. Add it up and divide by 7. This will give you your average daily caloric intake.

If you’re within a few hundred calories of your original estimation, congratulations! You’ve got good “calorie awareness!”

But if you’re off by a significant margin, this will give you some VERY useful feedback on what you need to do to get fat loss rolling again.

So there’s a vote FOR calorie counting…let’s look at the other side of the coin.

And I’ll be blunt here…calorie counting, no matter how careful you are, is simply NOT all that accurate.

Think of it this way…no two pieces of food are alike. When you buy a steak at the grocery store, they don’t charge you per steak, they charge by the pound. And even when they charge by the pound, two steaks of the same cut can have DRAMATICALLY different composition – one could be lean and one could be fatty!

But if you look at a calorie chart, you’ll see “3 oz sirloin steak – 100 calories”…or something to that effect.

So even if you weigh and chart every single piece of food you put in your mouth, you’re STILL going to be off by a fair margin. That’s just a fact.

And while how MUCH you eat has an impact on fat loss, WHEN you eat it and what foods you eat together makes a HUGE impact on your results. “Calories are calories” is true only up to a point.

For example, if you eat a big meal after a workout, most of that will get used for recovery purposes. But if you eat that same big meal late at night, nowhere near a workout, a good portion of that will just be stored as fat.

Another example is eating sugary carbs with fatty foods – the insulin response you get from sugary foods will jam that fat right into your fat cells with very little trouble!

So now that you have absolutely no idea WHAT the heck to do now, here’s my step-by-step solution…

1. If you like to count calories and it gets you results…keep it up!

2. If you like to count calories but you’re NOT getting results, either eat less or make sure you’re writing down EVERYTHING you’re eating AND are being as accurate as possible with your charting.

3. If you DON’T like to count calories and you ARE getting results…keep it up! Calorie counting is NOT necessary if you’re aware of how many you’re taking in AND you’re getting results.

4. If you DON’T like to count calories and you’re NOT getting results, it’s time to take one week to count your calories and improve your caloric awareness. It’s only a week and it’ll give you a MUCH better idea of what you’re actually taking in. This will pay off BIG in the long run because once you get a feel for your TRUE intake, you can very easily keep yourself honest and ADJUST on the fly.
To my mind, the bottom line is results. If you’re NOT losing fat, then you’re not getting the results you want…simple as that. Your approach should be focused on doing what you need to do to get those results.

Developing your caloric awareness is the key to long-term success with fat loss. And if you have to count calories to do it, then that’s what you’ve gotta do!
FAT LOSS BOOKS
“Metabolic Surge – Rapid Fat Loss” – By Nick Nilsson

“Burn The Fat – Feed The Muscle” – By Tom Venuto

Nick Nilsson is Vice-President of the online personal training company BetterU, Inc. He has a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been inventing new training techniques for more than 17 years. Nick is the author of a number of bodybuilding eBooks including “Muscle Explosion! 28 Days To Maximum Mass”, “Metabolic Surge – Rapid Fat Loss,” “The Best Exercises You’ve Never Heard Of,” “Gluteus to the Maximus – Build a Bigger Butt NOW!” and “The Best Abdominal Exercises You’ve Never Heard Of” all available at (http://www.fitness-ebooks.com). He can be contacted at betteru@fitstep.com.

How Fat Loss Pills Can Make You Fatter

How Fat Loss Pills Can Make You Fatter

By Nick Nilsson

What the diet industry doesn’t want you to know can have
serious long-term effects on your health and bodyfat
levels.

There are many good supplements on the market today that are extremely effective for fat loss. Fat loss is big business and this has fueled tremendous developments in technology. There are more high-quality fat burning products out there now than ever before.

Properly used, these supplements can make a big difference in your fat loss efforts, helping you reach your goals far quicker.

Improperly used, however, fat burning supplements can actually make you fatter, no matter how effective they are! In fact, the more effective a supplement is, the worse off you could be!!

To be clear, there is absolutely nothing wrong with using supplements to help lose fat. I’m all for it. The main problem with fat loss supplements lies with how people use them (and how they are told and encouraged to use them).

Armed with the knowledge in this article, you will learn exactly what you can do to break the diet pill cycle and keep the fat off for good.

The Big Secret

The diet pill and fat loss drug industry is built on ignorance: not theirs, yours.

Many of these companies bank on that fact that people generally don’t know a whole lot about fat loss or supplements. They are in the business of selling shortcuts to you so that you don’t have to know anything about fat loss. The reason for this is simple: if people knew a lot about fat loss, they wouldn’t need fat loss products anymore and the companies would go out of business.

As backwards as it seems, the diet industry can only stay profitable by keeping people fat.

Look at the typical business. They do their best to keep customers coming back to them. That’s how they make money. Why would the diet industry be any different? If you lose fat and maintain that fat loss you won’t need to lose fat anymore. You won’t be their customer anymore!

As little business sense as it makes, the ideal situation would be to have companies that are dedicated to the goal of losing customers. If they do their job, you will lose fat and keep it off and never need them again! As a personal trainer, my goal has always been to train people so thoroughly that they don’t need me anymore.

Is this sort of reform going to happen in the diet industry? Not likely. But there is something you can do to stop the cycle (you are doing it right now): LEARN!

How Fat Loss Pills Can Make You Fatter

The bottom line is…fat loss pills work. This is both the best thing about them and the worst thing about them.

When you take a good fat burning supplement, you lose a lot of fat, you feel better about yourself and you are happy, right? This is the best thing about fat loss supplements.

The worst thing about these supplements is that because they work so well, you don’t have to change your eating or exercise habits to accomplish your goals. You get results simply by taking a little pill.

Does this phrase sound familiar: “Eat whatever you want and still lose weight!”

Here’s the scenario: you take the pills and you lose all the weight you want. What happens when you stop taking the supplement once you’ve reached your goals? Since you haven’t had to change your eating or exercise habits, you regain the weight. Then you buy their pills again and start the same cycle again! It is very similar to the yo-yo diet syndrome of weight loss and regain.

How do you break this cycle? The solution is very simple though it may not be glamorous or easy: you learn to eat properly and you exercise regularly.

When you remove your dependence on fat loss pills to lose fat (through education, nutrition and exercise), you free yourself to use them to enhance your efforts, not anchor them. You will be able to lose your extra fat and keep it off without having to depend on fat loss pills to make it happen.

 

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Nick Nilsson is Vice-President of the online personal training company BetterU, Inc. He has a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been inventing new training techniques for more than 16 years. Nick is the author of a number of bodybuilding eBooks including “Metabolic Surge – Rapid Fat Loss,” “The Best Exercises You’ve Never Heard Of,” “Gluteus to the Maximus – Build a Bigger Butt NOW!” and “The Best Abdominal Exercises You’ve Never Heard Of” He can be contacted at betteru@fitstep.com.