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But how can this possibly be? Everywhere you look, it’s always said that long-duration, low-intensity training is best for fat loss. All high-intensity work does is burn carbohydrates, right?

Wrong.

After reading this article, I guarantee you’ll develop a new respect for high-intensity cardio training for fat loss.

Low-intensity exercise is defined as working at a heart rate of about 60% to 65% of your maximum heart rate (which is equal to 220 - your age = maximum heart rate, thus if you are 20 years old, 220 - 20 = 200 max HR). High-intensity exercise is defined as working at about 75 to 85% or more of your maximum heart rate.

Using the previous example for maximum heart rate (max HR=200), working at 60% of your max HR would be 120 beats per minute and 80% of that would be 160 beats per minute.

There are several reasons low-intensity exercise is normally recommended for fat loss.

1. It’s easy - In many cases people who are trying to lose fat don’t always feel energetic enough to do hard training due to the caloric deficit (a.k.a. diet) that they are on. In these cases, just sticking to an exercise program can be hard enough, never mind making the exercise itself challenging.

2. It’s low risk - A personal trainer generally can’t go wrong by recommending low-intensity exercise to clients. Even the most out of shape person can usually do low-intensity cardio training safely. While this is certainly appropriate advice for novice trainers, it does not necessarily apply to the more experienced trainer when it comes to effective training.

3. It burns a higher percentage of calories from fat - this is very true: exercising at a lower intensity does burn a higher percentage of calories from fat than high-intensity exercise. But, as I will explain, this does not necessarily mean you’re going to burn more fat.

Let’s crunch some numbers to show you exactly what I mean when I say high-intensity exercise burns more fat.

Low-intensity training burns about 50% fat for energy while high-intensity training burns about 40% fat for energy. This is not a huge difference.

Say, for example, walking for 20 minutes burns 100 calories. Then 50% of 100 calories is 50 fat-calories burned.

Now say 10 minutes of interval training at a high intensity burns 160 calories. Well, 40% of 160 calories is 64 fat-calories burned.

By doing the high-intensity work, you’ve just burned 14 more fat calories in half the time. Starting to sound good? There’s more…

—

Low-intensity exercise only burns calories while you are actually exercising. That means the moment you stop exercising, your

caloric expenditure goes back down to nearly baseline levels. Within minutes, you’re not burning many more calories than if you hadn’t done anything at all.

High-intensity exercise, on the other hand, continues to boost your metabolism long after you’re done (often up to 24 hours after, depending on the length and intensity of the training session). This means you’re continuing to burn many more calories all day long!

—

Low-intensity exercise does nothing to build or support muscle mass. Maintaining muscle mass is critical to an effective fat-loss strategy as muscle burns fat just sitting there. Want to keep your metabolism working to burn fat? Do whatever you can to build or keep your muscle tissue.

High-intensity exercise has the potential to increase muscle mass. Compare the body of a top sprinter to a top marathon runner. The sprinter carries far more muscle mass. You won’t get big bulky muscles from high intensity training but you will get shapely and more defined muscles!

—

How To Do It

Now that you’ve seen how effective high intensity training can be for fat loss, how is it done?

The absolute easiest way to start this type of training is to get on a cardio machine at the gym and select the interval training program. As you’ll see, you’ll start off with a fairly light warm-up cycle, then quickly jump up to a high intensity level for a short burst. You will then drop back down to a low level for a period of time, then back up to a high level again, repeated several times and finishing with an appropriate cool-down period.

The repetition of these intervals is the nuts and bolts of high intensity interval training. You can also do it manually by adjusting your intensity level up and down over short periods of time.

For example, do 30 seconds at high power then 30 seconds at low power. Repeat. It’s very simple and very effective.

Another excellent method for doing high-intensity training is called aerobic interval training. It is essentially the same concept as the previously explained interval training but the work intervals are longer with the intensity level somewhat lower. A good example would be running at a pace that you can only keep up for about 5 minutes then walking for 2 minutes then running 5 more minutes, walking 2 minutes, etc.

High-intensity training can be applied to any form of cardiovascular exercise. Anything from walking/sprinting to swimming to bike riding will work perfectly. I would recommend doing his type of training 2 to 3 times per week for best results. As always, be sure to consult with your physician before starting any exercise program.

—

Remember, what you get out of exercise is directly proportional to what you put in. Work at high-intensity training for awhile and see just how much better your fat-loss efforts go.

For more information on cardiovascular training, including advice on activities you can do, reviews of different types of cardio machines, other forms of cardio training, and some well-explained, useful, basic physiology go to: http://www.fitstep.com/Library/Info/Info.htm?news

About The Author

Nick Nilsson is Vice President of BetterU, Inc., an online exercise, fitness, and personal training company. Check out his latest eBook “The Best Exercises You’ve Never Heard Of” at http://www.thebestexercises.com or visit http://www.fitstep.com. You can contact him at betteru@fitstep.com or subscribe to BetterU News, his fitness newsletter at betterunews@fitstep.com.

Given the safety and legal concerns with using anabolic steroids, it’s not surprising that bodybuilders and other athletes have turned to the supplement industry looking for alternatives. One of the most important discoveries in the past decade is the action in the human body of various plant compounds called sterols. There are a number of different sterols and one of the most powerful is called stigmasterol. Sterols are essential components of cell membranes and also play a major role in health and functioning of the immune system.

The best sources of sterols are seeds, but modern refinement processes destroy much of the sterols contained in the seeds. For muscle building purposes, sterols’ most important role is serving as a precursor for the anabolic hormones Dehdroepiandrosterone and ultimately, testosterone.

Dehdroepiandrosterone is the most abundant androgenic hormone produced by the adrenal glands and it’s essential to bodybuilders and athletes trying to build muscle because in men, around 50% of all testosterone is derived from it, while women derive over 75% of their estrogen from it (and nearly 100% after menopause). Levels of Dehdroepiandrosterone are high at birth, decline during childhood, peak during the late teens and early 20’s, and then start declining after the age of 30.

Given the relationship between Dehdroepiandrosterone and testosterone, it’s not surprising that products that contain stigmasterol are powerful muscle builders. Users report significant gains in muscle strength and size, while at the same time, vast decreases in body fat.

Besides increasing DHEA and testosterone levels, sterol products can also build muscle by decreasing cortisol production. Cortisol is what’s called a catabolic stress hormone. Unlike anabolic hormones that build muscle, cortisol actually tears down muscle. Cortisol levels are especially high in bodybuilders who overtrain. Excessive exercise is in fact a source of stress, and is just as detrimental to gaining muscle as skipping workouts.

Elevated cortisol levels also depress testosterone production and decrease insulin sensitivity. Reducing testosterone levels will decrease your body’s ability to build new muscle tissue while decreased insulin sensitivity has been linked to increased body fat percentages.

Now do you see why using sterol-containing products is so beneficial for bodybuilders. The key to continued growth is increasing testosterone and decreasing cortisol levels. Stigmasterol is currently one of the effective compounds for achieving this. What’s more, it’s both safe and legal – two characteristics not true about anabolic steroids.

Bob Howard expert on bodybuilding and steroids. Are you
looking for more of his stigmasterol articles? http://www.steroids-help.com/stigmasterol.html

© Bob Howard 4/7/2006

Us bodybuilders live a crazy lifestyle. Some call us crazy, narcistic, and even hermits, but I call it dedication. We even do things that we don`t realize we`re doing but when someone mentions it, we get a little humor out of it. I dedicate this article to the bodybuilding.com forum members for making a thread that gave me a little extra comic relief.

When thinking of food, we think of it in terms of functionality, practicality, and finally taste, not the other way around. We have to leave a party or social even because we have to go eat meal #7. Hell, most of us don`t even remember the fizz of soda, let alone what McDonald`s food tastes like. I`m even starting to appreciate the taste of water, no wonder my parents don`t understand why I won`t sit down and have a family dinner instead of making my own food. When looking at foods, we look at the protein content before anything else. We even know the difference between oatmeal, rolled oats, and steel oats.

Your family is at the gym and you know everyone by name. When you hear the word cutting, you think of cardio, not scissors. Do we miss a workout? Yeah right! We`ll skip that important business meeting or hot date so that we can go and train legs. Then there are the guys at the gym who train biceps and chest everyday and then you about kill them after they tell you that creatine is a sterioid. We don`t workout with friends because chances are good that we trained that muscle group the day before. Whenever we see two parallel tables, we start doing dips, just for the fun of it. Pain is our best friend, every morning we wake up hoping to be sore and if not, then we know that we need to train that muscle group harder next week.

In school, people give us strange looks because we get up three different times to take a leak. Sorry Mr. Biology Teacher, I`ve learned more about the human body from lifting than anything you`ve ever taught me. We have a whole cabinet or shelf just to hold our supplements because we take more pills than our grandma who has arthritis and high blood pressure. Our pecks are bigger than most of the freshman girls` and when we travel, we have to buy two plane tickets just to be able to fit into the seats.

This article may sound funny to some of you but it is what us bodybuilders face on a daily basis. Bodybuilding is a rough lifestyle and is not something everyone can do. My fellow bodybuilders understand where I`m speaking from. We are a breed apart from the rest of the bunch and live in our own little sub-culture where the outsiders can`t hurt us. We will rise!

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=
281000&highlight=you+know+you%60re+a+bodybuilder

My site: http://www.geocities.com/bashore69/bodybuildingarticles.html

Anabolic steroid use appears to be on the rise. With the great increase in modern recombinant DNA technology, steroids such as growth hormone, growth factors and testosterone-based analogs have become increasingly more available and affordable. Despite their renewed popularity however, anabolic steroids are illegal and have negative effects on health, reproductive status and even personality. In response, this article aims to provide some basic information on anabolic steroids and how to boost the body’s own production levels naturally, using exercise.

What is an anabolic hormone?

The definition of anabolic is “to build up”- therefore anabolic steroids are hormones that cause increases body and muscle size. Actually, not all “anabolic steroids” are steroids but they are all hormones. An example of an anabolic steroid hormone is testosterone and its analogs. An example of an anabolic polypeptide/non-steroid hormone is growth hormone. Basically, hormones are chemical messengers released from certain tissues into the blood in response to a stimulus. Their role is essentially to help the human body adapt and remain in a state of balance or “homeostasis”. While the body is quite efficient at regulating its anabolic state on its own – the temptation exists to use large quantities of anabolic hormones to magnify the results. As recently as 15-20 years ago, growth hormone had to be extracted form the pituitary glands of cadavers. Now however, modern science is able to manipulate the DNA of bacteria to produce large quantities of the hormone. Steroid use has always been rife in bodybuilding arena, but with peer pressure and ever-increasing expectations of sport performance, anabolic steroid use has become commonplace in sports too - even among high school age athletes.

How do I boost my levels of testosterone and growth hormone?

It is possible to increase anabolic hormone production naturally however - the simplest method of doing this is by regulating the intensity of the weightlifting session. This is achieved by manipulating volume (sets and reps), load (%1RM*) and rest periods. Evidence indicates that exercises that recruit large muscle groups (legs and back) in exercises such as squats and deadlifts and that are performed with high intensity and moderate volume boost serum testosterone concentrations. Therefore the exerciser should use heavy loads (85-95% 1 RM) and multiple sets/exercises separated by short rest periods (30 –60s). Testosterone, the male sex hormone is responsible for the increased muscle mass and strength observed in men. This steroid hormone operates both on a gene level to increase muscle protein production (increased gene transcription). It is also suspected to work on the central nervous system, allowing greater muscle activation by motor neurons, resulting in greater force production. (It is unlikely that herbal testosterone “precursors” such as tribulus terestris have a large impact on production - the exerciser should save his time and money and devote more effort into sensible eating and exercising according to these guidelines.)

Human growth hormone (HGH) is a polypeptide (non steroid) hormone released form the pituitary gland at the base of the brain, and its release similar to testosterone, is dependent on the level of “stress” experienced by the body. Its main functions are to increase the transport of amino acids over cell membranes and to increase the synthesis of muscle protein, connective tissue (e.g. collagen) bone and cartilage thus directly causing “growth”. It also is responsible for increasing the level of glucose and fatty acids in the blood, and therefore has a direct body-fat reducing quality. Studies involving the release of growth hormone during exercise indicate that a typical bodybuilding program of multiple sets (higher volumes) of moderate intensity (e.g. 10RM) separated by short (1 min.) rest periods produce the largest increases. Many of the actions of growth hormone are actually mediated by another hormone called IGF-1 (insulin-like growth factor-1) released by the liver and other organs in response to HGH. The release of this powerful stimulator of muscle growth has been shown to increase in response to the consumption of a carbohydrate and protein supplement before and immediately after a weightlifting workout.

In conclusion, it is hoped that this article has demonstrated that there are alternatives to using illegal and health threatening anabolic steroids. The human body is a marvel at adapting to stresses such as exercise and weightlifting without the need for external hormone administration. This article has highlighted that is in fact possible to manipulate the body’s own natural production of the same substances simply by regulating the intensity of the weightlifting session.

*1RM = the maximum amount of weight that can be lifted with good form for a single repetition.

David Petersen is a Personal Trainer/Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist and the owner and founder of B.O.S.S. Fitness Inc. based in Oldsmar, Florida. More articles and information can be found at http://www.bossfitness.com

NOTE: You’re free to republish this article on your website, in your newsletter, in your e-book or in other publications provided the article is reproduced in its entirety, including this note, author information and all LIVE website links as above.

One of the best pieces of exercise advice is to make sure you know that your muscles grow when your resting not training. That’s right, you don’t actually get bigger and stronger when you’re in the gym. It’s what you do after your workout that’s the real key to muscle growth. If you don’t let your muscles recover correctly, you’re body will become over trained and it will be in a state of constent “catch up”. This is far from the ideal state that you want your body in. What you want is to truly prime your body for your next workout and give it enough rest and recuperation to fully optimize your training.

The worst thing you can do is over train your body. This will lead to muscle atrophy (breaking down muscle) and you may experience the flu because of this. When you train, make sure to limit your resistance training sessions to 45 minutes max. Your body’s testosterone levels start decreasing after about 45 minutes, so anytime after this length and you’re really just wasting your time. Focus on hitting it with a high level of intensity for 45 minutes and get out of there. Take care of business and start your recuperation. When you get back from your workout, you might also try sitting in a jacuzzi or sauna to really relax and let your muscles recover. Rest is extremely important when training hard, so make sure to take the time to recover and grow from your training sessions.

Kris Bierek is a fitness specialist for the health and fitness site http://www.ShapeFit.com where you can find FREE fitness tools like fitness newsletters, dieting tips, weight loss help, exercise questions and a free fitness analysis to help you get into the best shape of your life!

Everyone will inadvertently hit a frustrating plateau in their training at one time or another. You’re cruising along for a while, gaining strength, losing fat, looking better, and then all of the sudden it hits. Suddenly, you find yourself even weaker than before on your lifts, or you find that you’ve gained back a couple of pounds. It happens to everyone. Most of the time, these plateaus occur because people rarely change their training variables over time. Many people stick to the same types of exercises for the same basic sets and reps and rest periods with the same boring cardio routine. Well, I hope to open your mind and bring some creativity to your workouts with this article!

There are many ways that you can strategically modify your training variables to assure that you maximize your fat loss and/or muscle building response to exercise. Most people only think about changing their sets and reps performed, if they even think about changing their routine at all. However, other variables that can dramatically affect your results are changing the order of exercises (sequence), exercise grouping (super-setting, circuit training, tri-sets, etc.), exercise type (multi-joint or single joint, free-weight or machine based), the number of exercises per workout, the amount of resistance, the time under tension, the base of stability (standing, seated, on stability ball, one-legged, etc.), the volume of work (sets x reps x distance moved), rest periods between sets, repetition speed, range of motion, exercise angle (inclined, flat, declined, bent over, upright, etc), training duration per workout, and training frequency per week. Sounds like a lot of different training aspects to consider in order to obtain the best results from your workouts, doesn’t it? Well, that’s where a knowledgeable personal trainer can make sense of all of this for you to make sure that your training doesn’t get stale. Below are a few examples to get your mind working to come up with more creative and result producing workouts.

Most people stick to workouts where they do something along the lines of 3 sets of 10-12 reps per exercise, with 2-3 minutes rest between sets. Booooorrrrring! Here are a few examples of different methods to spice up your routine.

•Try 10 sets of 3, with only 20 seconds rest between sets.

•Try using a heavier weight and complete 6 sets of 6 reps, doing a 3 minute treadmill sprint between each weight lifting set.

•Try using a near maximum weight and do 10 sets of 1 rep, with 30 seconds rest between sets.

•Try using a lighter than normal weight and do 1 set of 50 reps for each exercise

•Try a workout based on only one full body exercise, such as barbell clean & presses or dumbbell squat & presses, and do nothing but that exercise for an intense 20 minutes.

•Try a workout based on all bodyweight exercises such as pushups, pull-ups, chin-ups, dips, bodyweight squats, lunges, etc.

•Try a circuit of 12 different exercises covering the entire body without any rest between exercises.

•Try that same 12 exercise circuit on your subsequent workout, but do the entire circuit in the reverse order.

•Try your usual exercises at a faster repetition speed on one workout and then at a super-slow speed on your next workout.

•Try completing five 30 minute workouts one week, followed by three 1-hr workouts the next week.

•Try doing drop sets of all of your exercises, where you drop the weight between each set and keep doing repetitions without any rest until complete muscular fatigue (usually about 5-6 sets in a row).

There are many more ways to continue to change your training variables. I hope this article gave you some ideas on methods for you to take your body to the next level.

Visit http://truthaboutabs.com/Training-and-Nutrition-Articles.html to receive your own personalized metabolic rate calculator as well as 4 of my secret hard-body workout routines - both FREE, with no purchase necessary.

Michael Geary is a nationally dual certified personal trainer (NCSF-CPT, AFAA-CPT), and author of “The Truth about Six Pack Abs” ©2004-2005.

One of the most time consuming and frustrating parts of
bodybuilding is not building muscles, it’s removing unwanted
hair.

For any competing bodybuilder, hair removal is a must but
it’s also growing in popularity among casual bodybuilders.

Before looking at recommendations for specific body areas it
should be stated that laser hair removal or electrolysis
are
regarded as the only permanent hair removal methods.

Although the most effective, they are also the most
expensive! For full information on laser hair removal and
electrolysis, visit this Laser Research Library:
http://www.about-hair-removal.com/Laser-Library

Here is checklist of body areas and recommended hair removal
methods for each:

Upper Lip, Chin, Mustache and Beard -

Men: Shaving.

Women: Waxing or sugaring.

Back of Neck -

Men: Shaving, clipping.

Women: Waxing or sugaring

Chest -

Waxing, shaving, depilatories.

CAUTION: Some find the shaving option unacceptable due to
the irritation it causes when stubble reappears shortly
afterwards. There can also be an acute problem with ingrown
hairs in some cases. Once the shaving option is taken for
chest hair removal it will need to be done regularly.

Nipples -

Tweezing. Stretch the skin slightly, grip the hair close to
the root, and pull gently, firmly and evenly. Yanking the
hair may cause it to break off thus increasing the risk of
ingrown hair.

Shoulders, Back, Arms, Hands, Tummy -

Waxing, sugaring, depilatories. Waxing or Sugaring is the
best method for all these areas. Taking a shower directly
after waxing the back helps eliminate the possibility of
acne breakouts and skin redness.

Underarms -

Shaving is safe in this area. Hair under the arm grows in
all directions so a side to side stroke as well as up and
down strokes may be necessary to catch all the hairs. Do not
apply deodorants or antiperspirants right after shaving as
this can cause acute irritation and soreness.
Waxing or sugaring are also safe.

Do not use depilatories to avoid the risk of chemical burns
on the sensitive skin in this area.

After the skin in this area has become accustomed to
shaving, applying a thin layer of Vaseline petroleum jelly
instead of a shaving foam or gel will give a really close
shave.

Pubic Area and Bikini Line -
If the hair is long it can be cut down with scissors. Then
use a waxing or sugaring solution. Careful shaving is also
possible.

Genitals - Male -

Hair growing on the shaft of the penis and on the testicles
can be removed by shaving using a new wet razor. Great care
is needed to avoid cuts.

Genitals - Female -

Waxing or sugaring is generally best. Shaving will only
cause stubble to appear after a few days and it may cause
skin irritation and painful bumps.

Anus and Perineum -

The Perineum is the area of skin rich in nerve endings
located below the anus. In men it extends to the base of the
testicles, in women to the vaginal opening. The anus is a
mucous membrane. Depilatories should not be used as they can
result in serious damage. Shaving produces stubble which
may
cause irritation as the sides chafe and rub together. Waxing
or sugaring are the best methods.

Legs, Feet, Toes -

Shaving the legs is popular but the hair grows back after a
short time.
Waxing or sugaring are preferred although you have to wait
until there is about a quarter of an inch of growth.

Recommendation: Hair inhibitors can increase the
effectiveness of all the methods mentioned above (with the
exception of depilatories). By significantly reducing hair
growth hair removal sessions become less frequent. Click
here for details:
http://www.1bodycare.com/159490-kalo

Attention Ezine Editors: Click here to see how you could be
earning money with this article:
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Do you sometimes get bored with your
aerobic exercise? Do You sometimes
feel like you’re not getting the results
you should from your aerobic exercise?
If so, then aerobic cross-training is
for you.

Aerobic cross-training refers to using
two to three different types of aerobic
exercise during an exercise session. For
example, if you plan to exercise for 60
minutes, you might start with 20 minutes
of walking or jogging, followed by 20
minutes of biking, and finish with 20
minutes of rowing.

Now, please don’t get the impression that
you have to be in great shape to do this
or that it has to be 60 minutes long.
You can start with something as simple
as a ten minute walk followed by ten
minutes with an exercise video. This is
cross-training too. You can gradually
build up from there.

Here are some of the exercises you can
use in your cross-training program;
walking, jogging, biking, rowing, stair
climbing, swimming, exercise videos, etc.
Any combination of aerobic exercises
will do. You simply go from one to the
next with very little time between
them.

Aerobic cross-training is beneficial to
you in several ways:

1. It provides variety which eliminates
the monotony often associated with doing
the same exercise for a long period of
time.

2. If your exercise sessions are
less monotonous and more enjoyable, you
are much more likely to exercise more
often and for longer periods of time.

3. You are less prone to over-use
injuries that sometimes occur from
doing the same exercise movements over
and over again.

4. You tone more muscles because you are
using more muscles. For example, walking
tones mostly the lower body muscles and
rowing tones upper body muscles also. Even
exercises like walking and biking that
both tone lower body muscles, tone them
at different angles and each tones some
small muscles that the other doesn’t.

5. Aerobic conditioning is very specific
to the muscles being worked. For example,
you can walk ten miles a day and still be
somewhat breathless after climbing stairs
because you haven’t trained the muscles
for that specific movement. Aerobic
cross-training allows you to develop
more comprehensive aerobic training.

6. Aerobic cross-training is effective
for weight loss because your are toning
and training the fat-burning systems
of more of your muscles. It turns more
of your muscles into 24-hour fat-burning
machines! You are also more likely to
exercise on a regular basis and for longer
periods of time. this also promotes
weight loss and fitness.

Author and exercise physiologist, Greg Landry,
offers free weight loss and fitness success stories
and targeted, highly affective weight loss programs
for women, men, type 2 diabetics, and people with
slow metabolisms and hypothyroidism. http://www.Landry.com

There is always a lot of confusion over how to do a proper weight workout so I will try to explain what I think is important. There are five parts to your workout; the warm-up, stretching, weight workout, cool down, and post workout meal.

First when you walk into the gym or basement it is always important to warm up and then stretch. If you think about how you are doing a workout and what kind of stress you are putting on your muscles then you have to be aware of how if they are not warm they can stretch or rip…this is not a good thing.

To do a proper warm up you should probably use all of your muscle groups. Do not warm-up by doing hard cardio for a half hour as this will tire you out for your weight workout. For a warm-up the best machine I have found is an elliptical trainer. An elliptical trainer will allow you to use all of your muscles, is low impact and forces you to focus a little on your balance so you can get focused on what the workout will bring. Only do your muscle warm-up for about 5 to 10 minutes and not at a high intensity but rather medium intensity so you only break a little sweat and get your muscles warm.

Next get water and do some stretching. I am in favor of stretching all of my muscles before a workout not just the muscles that I will be training that day. Find some good stretches and spend another 5 to 10 minutes stretching and focusing on your breathing, you want to be sure to have good oxygen in your system during your weight workout so that you always feel that you energy is up.

Next get a drink again and the start your weight workout. I will not delve into the sets and reps as that can be covered better by itself. During your workout though make sure that you are waiting one to two minutes between sets and taking in water whenever necessary. Your weight lifting portion of your workout should take about 40-60 minutes. To short a workout and you will not have time to really hit your muscles hard enough but at the other extreme if you workout too long you will have to little energy at the end of your workout and you also risk not being able to recover between workouts.

After you finish your weight workout it is a good idea to stretch again as stretching will allow the muscles to stop cramping, increase blood flow throughout the muscle and relax you before you get back into the car. In the past I found that if I did not stretch after my workout then my arms would be shaking when I got behind the wheel of the car to go home (not much better when I got on a bike instead).

It is important to remember that you do not make your gains in the gym; you make strength and mass gains while your body recovers with proper rest and exercise. One of the critical things that you can do diet wise after your workout is to take in lots of carbohydrates to replenish the energy lost during the workout. Some people take Creatine or a Gatorade/sugar drink which can be expensive but if you are trying to replenish your carbs the best thing to take is some sugar in water. Kool aid would be good if you could drink enough but a potato or rice are not good as they will take to long for your body to be able to use the sugar.

About an hour after your workout you can take in some protein, some people try to get in the protein even earlier with some people trying to get in a double sized meal within an hour of the end of the workout. I on the other hand usually can not stomach a large heavy meal that quickly after a workout and am not rich enough to take in a $5 energy drink after every workout.

Follow these simple workouts and you will get better results, have better workouts, recover better, and have a better, healthier time in the gym.

Bill Nadraszky is a lifelong fitness nut. His fitness ramblings can be found at http://www.nadraszky.com/fitness and his fitness site is found at http://health-fitness.xptechsupport.com

Other articles in this series looked at a number of exercises, mainly from the perspective of developing a comprehensive muscle building program. Sometimes we take things for granted, especially when it comes to performing the basic exercises that constitute the core of most bodybuilders’ training regimes.

It is useful, therefore, to describe in detail the processes involved in actually doing these exercises. This will help beginners to start out using the correct techniques before moving on to potentially more dangerous heavy weights. If it also helps more experienced lifters to redress some of the little faults that have almost imperceptibly crept in over the years, all the better.

In this article we’ll take a close look at the flat dumbbell fly.

MUSCLES TARGETED: pectoralis major

STARTING POSITION

Grasp two dumbbells using a closed grip.
Assume a supine position on a bench.
Press the dumbbells to an extended elbow, parallel arm position above the chest.
Rotate the dumbbells to a neutral grip.
Slightly flex the elbows and point them out to the sides.
This is the starting point for all repetitions.

DOWNWARD MOVEMENT

Allow the dumbbells to lower in a wide arc until they are level with the shoulders or chest.
Keep the dumbbell bars parallel to each other as the elbows move downward.
Keep the wrists rigid and the elbows held in a slightly flexed position.
Keep the dumbbells in line with the elbows and shoulders.

UPWARD MOVEMENT

Pull the dumbbells up toward each other in a wide arc back to the starting position.
Keep the wrists rigid and the elbows held in a slightly flexed position.
Keep the dumbbells in line with the elbows and shoulders.
Repeat or finish set.

Richard Mitchell is the creator of the bodybuildingadvisor.com website that provides guidance and information to athletes at all levels of bodybuilding experience. Go to Bodybuilding Exercises to learn more about the issues covered in this article.