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6 Sports For A World Class Physique

Hockey

If you rather spend time in Riker’s Island than your local gym, you may want to consider taking up a sport to get your fitness fix. However, most sports do little to get your body ready for the beach. Stick with these sports that are not only fun, but build a muscular, lean physique.

Swimming

The era of the “skinny swimmer” has come to an end. Michael Phelps has redefined not only what a swimmer does, but what he looks like. Swimming with modern day training techniques, including underwater resistance training and sprinting, can give you jacked triceps and an 8-pack to show off poolside.

Soccer

If you want tree trunk legs and a lean frame, pick up a soccer ball and hit the field! Not only is soccer a blast to play, but studies show that it burns fat better than traditional workouts. Best of all, you don’t need a ton of equipment to play. Just look up your local league or pick-up group on craigslist or Meetup.com and have some fun while crafting a killer bod.

Rock Climbing/Bouldering

Most sports are cardio focused. This makes them great for burning fat, but not so hot in the muscle-building department. That’s why rock climbing is a great way to have fun and get ripped at the same time. It’s a true total body workout. With rock gyms popping up everywhere you can now rock climb no matter what it’s like outside.

Mixed Martial Arts

Possibly the fastest growing sport in the world, MMA is one of the best ways to reshape your body (and possibly your face). MMA training is an incredibly intense workout that hits your body from a variety of angles.

Just look at top MMA fighters like George St. Pierre and you’ll see why lots of people are putting down their weights and picking up a set of gloves.

Rugby

If rugby players didn’t drink their weight in beer every week, more of them might have a body worth bragging about. On the other hand, the ones that don’t drink are a hearty combination of big, strong, and fast.

Hockey

Ever see a scrawny hockey player? Me neither. Hockey works your body from head to toe, giving you a body so hot it may melt the ice.

February 15, 2010 - by brian · Filed Under Fitness | Comments Off 

5 Old School Exercises That Build Mass

There’s a classic montage n Rocky IV that contrasts the training styles of Rocky and his Russian opponent, Drago. While Drago is using sophisticated equipment (at least by 1985 standards) to train for the brawl, Rocky is outside running in the snow, chopping wood, and carrying boulders. I’m sure you know by now who came out on top.

Although advances in exercise science has created a new generation of top-performing athletes, the vast majority of new “advances” that come to the market are essentially useless. Do you think Arnold or Lou Farrago ever used an elliptical trainer or a BoFlex?

Go back in time and forward with your results with these retro exercises for packing on muscle:

Pull-Ups

Do you spend more time on the lat pull down bar than you’d like to admit? If you want lats like a flying squirrel, man-up and start doing pull ups. Not only do pull-ups utilize more muscle fibers than machines, but the act of lifting your body weight actually releases growth hormone.

Sprinting

Running can be anabolic if done the right way. Studies show that high-intensity interval training can actually stimulate muscle growth. Unlike machines like exercise bikes, sprinting works your muscles and cardiovascular system at an extremely high intensity.

Kettlebells

Now we’re really talking old school! The kettlebell has been a Russian fitness mainstay for centuries. In recent years, its popularly has taken off in the US because kettlebells can purportedly increase functional strength better than standard weight lifting.

Push Ups

Drop and give yourself 20! Push ups are a fantastic upper body exercise that gets very little love in the bodybuilding community because it’s supposedly only used for high reps. By mixing up grips and adding weight, it’s possible to fully fatigue your muscles using pushups in the 4-8 rep range.

Power Cleans

Cleans have been part of NFL player’s training regimen for years –with eye popping results. However, most lifters eschew the clean because it doesn’t “fit” in with their training split.

To work in power cleans, take a rest from your typical routine and incorporate some of these old school exercises into your regimen. You’ll probably find that these blasts from the past help you bust through plateaus and stimulate stagnant muscle groups.

February 9, 2010 - by brian · Filed Under Build Muscle | Comments Off 

Escape the 8-12 Rep Range and Grow

Muscle Reps

Does your rep range of 8-12 feel like a 9-5? If you’re bored with your workouts (and your results), then it’s time to leave the 8-12 rep comfort zone for a bit. Most hardcore bodybuilders feel that mixing up rep ranges is one of the best ways to blast through plateaus and re-stimulate muscle growth.

However, heading into the gym and doing reps of 23, 79, and 2 just because it’s different isn’t going to do you much good either.

Here’s how to change reps to get results:

Up With Weight, Down With Reps

After hearing “go heavy or go home” do you go home? Don’t fear lifting massive weights. Although a 2-6 rep range may lead to injuries in the long term, it’s a fantastic way to get muscles growing again.

3 tips for success:

Warm up…really: If you’re going to start lifting serious weight, warming up becomes even more important. Before you start piling on the plates, do 5-7 minutes of light cardio and 4-6 warm up sets.

Do fewer sets: Most people do 10-12 sets per muscle group. This is just way too much when lifting heavy. A common approach is called 5×5: 5 reps for 5 sets.

Rest longer between sets: It may seem counterintuitive, but you should actually rest at least 2 minutes between bouts of low-rep lifting.

Less Weight, More Reps

High reps get a bad rep because it forces you to grab weights that you’re probably embarrassed about. However, don’t let pride get in the way of crafting your perfect physique.

3 tips for success:

Be creative: Remember, the idea behind mixing up reps is to shock your body into growth. That isn’t going to happen if you do 13 reps instead of 12. Go for 30, 40, or even 50 reps. Get ready to feel the burn!

Breathe: Because a higher rep range involves more aerobic capacity than most, it’s important to focus on your breathing and not hold your breathe during the set.

Stretch between sets: All those reps equal a tremendous release of lactic acid. To offset some of the soreness, stretch the muscles you just worked after your workout. This will help flush out the waste products that you’ve built up.

February 6, 2010 - by brian · Filed Under Build Muscle | Comments Off 

Fight Overtraining With These 4 Supplements

Have your gains over the last few months taken more of a dive than  Obama’s approval rating? Before you try doing more, it may be time to actually do less. That’s because overtraining, a clinical condition that causes fatigue, poor performance, and even depression may be what’s ailing you.

While rest will always be step numero uno to get part a bout of overtraining, a number of supplements can help your body rest, recover, and get back into the gym faster.

Multivitamin: Bodybuilding magazines may have you believe that the only nutrients the human body needs to function is protein and creatine, but that’s far from reality. For muscles to contract and recover, they need no less than two dozen nutrients. While it’s challenging to get all of these nutrients from diet alone, a standard multivitamin will have you easily covered.

Taking a multivitamin when in an over trained state is especially important because you’re providing your tired body the building blocks it needs to bounce back.

Melatonin: One of the most noted symptoms of overtraining is disturbed sleep patterns. Poor sleep actually results in a vicious cycle as it worsens overtraining, which in turn worsens sleep etc.

Metlatonin is a naturally occurring hormone that’s available in supplement form. A 2003 study in the Journal Psychiatry Neuroscience found that melatonin helped people get to sleep easier. Other studies suggest that melatonin can help promote deeper, more restful sleep.

BCAAs: BCAAs, consisting of leucine, isoleucine, and valine are used up big-time during long periods of exercise without rest. Over the long term, these BCAAs are used up for energy. Unfortunately, unless you supplement, your body takes these amino acids from your precious muscles.

However, taking BCAAs everyday can help preserve muscle and promote new muscle synthesis –just what the doctor ordered for the over trained lifter.

Fish Oil: When the body is stressed, inflammation skyrockets. While a little inflammation is actually helpful, if it gets out of control, it can actually impair recovery and damage cells.

There’s no better supplement out there for decreasing inflammation than fish oil. The omega-3s in fish oil will fight inflammation while you rest, which may accelerate the recovery process.

While you’re vegging out on the couch counting the days until you can hit the weights again, make sure you’re properly supplementing with the aids mentioned above, getting plenty of sleep, and eating well.

February 3, 2010 - by brian · Filed Under Built Fit | 1 Comment 

5 Supplements For Getting Back In Shape

So you’re ready to dust off the bench press in the basement and get your college body back? Wonderful. Getting in shape again an excellent decision for your health. Before you do, check out these 5 supplements that will help you rediscover those building biceps and 6-pack abs even faster.

Whey Protein

It may not be the “sexiest” supplement on the market today, but by God, it works! Whey protein will help your weak muscles recover and repair faster than they would on their own. Not only will whey boost your strength, but may actually prevent injuries like muscle tears.

It’s important to take whey within 20-30 minutes after your lifting session. Studies show that this “window” is best for stimulating muscle growth.

Glucosamine

All those nights spent on the couch watching Seinfeld reruns didn’t prepare your joints for the onslaught their about to receive in the form of squats, bench presses, and sprints. Luckily glucosamine is a clinically supported supplement for strengthening joints and reducing damage to supportive tissue.

Take 1,500mg per day of a glucosamine supplement with chondroitin.

Flaxseeds

Flaxseeds will help craft your new body in two ways: giving you antioxidants you now need more of and omega-3s to reduce newfound inflammation. Ideally, take 2-4 tbsp per day mixed into oatmeal, cereal, or your protein shake.

It’s best to take the flaxseed itself and not just the oil. The seed is where many of its beneficial compounds are found.

L-Glutamine

Glutamine is an amino acid that’s a mainstay for most weight lifters. That’s because glutamine is a scientifically supported way to promote new muscle growth. Glutamine is a great way to get your stagnant muscles to start growing again!

Along with your post-workout whey, take 5g of glutamine.

Caffeine

Caffeine is perfect for gym-going newbie’s because it can help burn fat, and when taken before a lifting session, build more muscle.

If it’s been a while since you’ve hit the gym, that killer instinct may be lacking. Caffeine will give you intensity and an increase in performance that you would otherwise lack. Take approximately 250mg of caffeine within 30 minutes of your workout to take it to the next level.

January 31, 2010 - by brian · Filed Under Supplementation | 1 Comment 

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