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Improve Your Athletic Training 100% Just By Understanding How to Train for Your Body Type

August 26, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

Everyone’s body is different, I am sure you will agree. All bodies look different, smell different, work different, move different, etc… Why would you train like someone who is genetically gifted to be a bodybuilder, if you are genetically gifted to be a Kenyan endurance runner? It does not work. Let me explain how you can better target your daily routine to your body type.

What is a Body Type?

A body type describes how easily it is for you to gain and lose, fat and muscle. Some people are just predisposed to being large, like Ronnie Coleman for instance. While others tend to stay skinny no matter what they do. Let us get into the details. There are three kinds of body types; ectomorph, mesomorph, and endomorph.

Ectomorph Body Type

Ectomorphs usually refer to themselves as hard-gainers, which means that in order for Ectomorphs to gain muscle, it takes significant hard work, dedication, and lots of food. These folks usually carry very low levels of bodyfat, tend to have smaller muscles, and often have a smaller skeletal structure.

Training for Ectomorphic Body Type

Ectomorphs should be lifting heavy weights. That is all there is to it. These guys need to build a strong core, a strong foundation, upon which to build the physique they desire. Compound exercises with a rep range from 3-5 should be used to facilitate strength gains. After a stable base is built, Ectomorphs will want to incorporate hypertrophy training, which is about 8-10 reps of slightly more isolationist exercises, like seated dumbbell shoulder press, or dumbbell bench press, single arm triceps extensions, perhaps single-leg extensions, and maybe a few curls. Since maximal intensity is needed during sets, and since stored ATP should be replenished as much as possible, rest periods between exercises should last about 2 minutes.

Diet for Ectomorphic Body Type

You skinny bastards have metabolisms faster than a bullet. If you are not eating, you should be. When you are not hungry, eat. If you just ate and you are full, eat some more or drink some milk or a protein shake. Pick the high calorie, high protein, healthier foods, and constantly be eating. Foods that are highest in healthy fats should provide the biggest bang for the buck since the Omega 3’s and calories will go a long way to putting on some bulk. Try 95% fat free beef, chicken, turkey, fish, eggs, and all-natural peanut better. Keep milk, yogurt, kidney beans, and fruit on hand for snacks. Protein bars are good too, if you can stomach them. I prefer Pure-Protein bars and Chef Jay’s Trioplex.

Mesomorph Body Type

Mesomorph bodies are more inclined to gaining muscle mass quite easily. These folks are considered the ‘genetically gifted’ when it comes to bodybuilding. They are not necessarily easy gainers, but they are definitely not hardgainers either. Mesomorph body types are very athletic looking and are aesthetically pleasing to the eye. These are the guys that people refer to as jacked, ripped, and cut; and they usually walk with good posture. Mesomorphs can build muscle faster than Ectomorphs and can also lose fat much faster than Endomorphs, as long as they eat and train properly.

Training for the Mesomorphic Body Type

The best form of training for a Mesomorph would be heavy weight lifting utilizing maximal force. This would include the kind of explosive training found in powerlifting and Olympic lifting. Different exercises should be utilized in each and every training session targeting every muscle in the body with heavy weights to increase size and strength. Full body training probably works best for Mesomorphs since they can recover quickly and adapt to traditional training programs easily. Cardio should still be performed, but kept to a maximum of 2 sessions a week. This will keep the heart and lungs healthy, and the fat at bay, while not impeding muscle growth. 30-40 minutes for each cardio session is ideal. Intensity should be kept at a high intensity to focus more on the fat burning process rather than the chance of minimizing muscle mass. Interval sprints and other explosive exercises should be mandatory.

Diet for the Mesomorphic Body Type

For the mesomorph, a balanced diet should be maintained. A 30/30/40 balance of protein/fat/carbs should be utilized. This will give the trainee a full supply of nutrients and enough diverse calories to facilitate muscle growth and to maintain a lean physique.

Endomorph Body Type

‘Hey fatty, having trouble getting lean?’ You don’t want to say this to an endomorph because most likely he is stronger than you and will either crush you with his fist or sit on you. This body type is more likely to gain fat but is also more likely to be big, strong, and large boned. Endomorphs usually have a soft and squashy appearance, and they have much tougher time losing fat than the other two body types. The most can be made of this body type with a dedicated workout routine, and a dedicated nutrition plan. It is not that bad to be a big fat guy, as long as you know how to turn it into a jacked, ripped, son of a bitch through diet and exercise.

Training for the Endomorphic Body Type

Weight training should be kept to a higher rep range for most workouts. I recommend 1-2 complexes per week with several exercises strung together and little rest between sets. An example of a complex might be a deadlift into a hang clean into a push press into a back squat into a rear push press, and back to the floor. This will train for endurance, strength, and will keep the metabolism elevated. Endomorphs will still want to dedicate one day a week, one week a month, or two months a year, to serious strength training. The majority of the training though, should focus on the 8-12 rep range. Cardio is a big plus for endomorphs. 3-4 sessions of cardio per week is recommended, for 40-50 minutes at a time. At each cardio session, different types of cardio exercises should be utilized. Sprints, complexes, jumping rope, cycling, and kickboxing classes are all examples of decent cardio exercise.

Diet for the Endomorphic Body Type

It is best to eat about 7 or 8 small meals through the day. The key phrase here is SMALL MEALS. I am talking like 300-400 calorie meals. This type of eating increases your metabolism and your body burns additional calories when it is digesting food, so keeping your body in a constant state of digestion is a bonus. Concentrate more on protein and carbs, and keep fat to a bare minimum, especially saturated fats. Fats are the higher calorie nutrient and should be kept to only 20% of your overall diet.

Now that you know where you stand and have a better idea of how to train for your body type, I expect that you will examine your current diet and exercise plan. Make the changes that you need to make in order to maximize your efficiency, and get back in the gym! Be sure to contact me with any questions.

Steve Hanson has 10 years experience in the fields of exercise science and sports nutrition. He writes articles on all forms of athletic training and nutritional theories. View the blog to learn more about your favorite exercise and nutrition topics.

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All You Have to Lose is Your Excess Weight

August 23, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

If you want to lose weight and maintain good health, it’s beneficial to understand why body fat is an important factor for weight loss and health. Learning all about body fat is the first step to being successful at losing weight and toning up. Essential fat should account for at least 10 to 12 percent of a woman’s total weight. Body fat is a far greater measurement of health, fitness than fitness gains than a simple scale. Body fat is measured in terms of percentage, and you can get your body fat measured at your gym, for example, but what are you going to do with the number. Remember that having a certain amount of body fat is vital. The best method to go about burning body fat is using a complete exercise program which includes weight training and cardio exercise.

Weight loss by diet alone may result in a loss of muscle, and this will slow the metaboloic rate, making it more difficult to keep the weight off. Weight training is a cheaper, and arguably more effective, alternative to spending a lot of money on doctors. Weight lifting has been shown to be effective in lowering blood pressure, increasing bone strength, and regulating insulin and blood sugar levels. Weight training can be a good complement to aerobic exercise; however, do not lift heavy weights.

Measure Body-Fat

Measurements of skin-fold thickness (the amount of fat just under the skin) are taken at the upper-arm, upper-back, lower-back, stomach and upper thigh. Measure body-fat at the same time of day, and under the same conditions each time. The most important rules to observe in order to make a more accurate calculation of your body fat are: Don’t eat or drink for 4 hours before the body fat measurement test.

Body fat calipers do not measure your body fat percentage directly. Body fat calipers measure skinfolds to calculate how much subcutaneous fat (fat under the skin) a person has. Putting those measurements into a formula to calculate body fat percentage. If the skinfold measurements for a young and old person were exactly the same, their body fat percentage would still be considerably different.

Aerobic Exercises

Talk to any world renowned fitness expert or any recent contest winner they will come with the same answer, “Aerobic Exercises are the best Weight Loss Exercises there is”.

Aerobics and weight training works together helping you burn fat, preserve muscle and get tones. Aerobic exercises are those which demand large quantities of oxygen for prolonged periods and ultimately force the body to improve those systems which transport oxygen. Any Exercise that increases the heart rate into a target zone and maintains it for at least 20 minutes is considered Aerobic. For people with slow metabolisms its very essential to perform regular aerobics with high intensity. Treadmills, Bicycles and Step Aerobics provide these grading benefits and therefore are among the highest rated Weight Loss Exercises.

Heart Rate

The human body is constantly trying to perform activities with the least energy expenditure and your heart and lungs are no exception. Researchers have found that if individuals keep their heart rate within a certain range for 15 to 60 minutes, the exercise they do cancontribute to cardiovascular fitness. For an exercise to be aerobic, the heart rate must be at least 50 percent above the resting heart rate.

Your heart rate when exercising can determine whether you are doing aerobic or anaerobic exercise. Since aerobic exercises benefit the heart, it might be a good idea to experiment with varying your intensity and alternating between your heart’s rate low range and high range at different sessions. The machines you see in modern gyms these days produce a read-out of your intensity level, calories expended, distance, speed and heart rate.

Fat Binders

Many people think that their weight problem is caused by not knowing when to stop eating. They reason that if they dont feel hungry, they wont eat as much and will lose weight. Fewer calories, less fat intake leads to weight loss. When we think of eating several smaller meals instead of the normal three, we automatically think that it will make us gain weight. It is suggested that if you are trying to loose weight that you should eat six mini meals per day.

When you eat foods prior to complete digestion fats are broken down and they float at the surface of the stomach. When you have taken a supplement prior to or just after eating containing a fat binder, the lipids in the fats attract the molecular fat binders. The fat binders bind with the fats and effectively make them to large and insoluble to pass into the small intestine and be absorbed by the body.

Fat Binders are basically chemical fat magnets and can be a key to effective weight loss, by tying up fats before they are digested so they are never absorbed by your body. You do not have to worry about losing weight by dieting or exercising to reduce fat or calories that never entered your body in the first place that is the seeming magic of fat binders. Fat Binders have been proven in clinical trials to produce reduce obesity and the FDA has approved several of them for weight loss. You can use Proactol in combination with regular exercise and a smart diet to see a huge difference in your weight.

Fat Binders have been proven in clinical trials to produce reduce obesity and the FDA has approved several of them for weight loss. You can use Proactol in combination with regular exercise and a smart diet to see a huge difference in your weight. Find out more about Proactol – Fat Binder

Paul Rodgers specializes in marketing natural health and beauty products

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Get the Most Out of Your Strength Training Routine

August 23, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

Good for you, you joined a gym or committed to a new fitness routine. Chances are, you might not be able to afford your own personal trainer so you have to be your own cheerleader. It is best to have a goal in mind with a specified plan for all things in life, especially exercising. This article will introduce you to the fundamentals of a successful strength training routine.

Perform strength training exercises two times per week and incorporating every major muscle. In case you forgot, they include: buttocks, thighs, calves, abs, lower back, upper chest, shoulders, and arms. Always use the correct technique and if you are not sure, just ask a staff member or reference a web site. Make sure you give yourself one hour of rest in between workouts or alternate consecutive days with upper body one day and lower body the next. This will help eliminate possible injuries and soreness which will bring your routine to a halt until you feel better.

It is best to lift weights before aerobics to ensure you have enough energy left to finish your reps. Your routine should leave you feeling more energized and wanting more. Start a new one every 3-4 weeks to prevent your body from getting used to the same thing and work out different muscles. Also, resting for a week every month or so can actually make you feel stronger when you start up your fitness routine again. If you only workout twice a week then you should do strength training exercises each time.

There is a common myth that you have to lose weight before weight training, but it’s not true. Write down your exercises and goals on a piece of paper so you do not “forget” or drift away from your path to success! Work out with a friend or make friends at the gym to motivate you. Bring an Ipod or portable cd player with your favorite music to get you pumped up! Most important of all, try to have fun!

Lyla Feldman writes articles about striving towards a healthy lifestyle. Some of her favorite passions include writing about energy drinks and natural sleep aids.

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How Strict Should Your Exercise Form Be

August 22, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

When it comes to weight training there are generally 2 schools of thought when it comes to exercise form. 1) you have the typical personal trainers who say you should use slow and controlled movements. Then you have the power and strength athletes who like to use more explosive movements and looser training form. Which one is right and which one should you use in your training?

Well like a lot of things when it comes to working out there is no right or wrong answer. It all depends on the individual, the training situation, the level of training, and the fitness goals.

Obviously for beginners and people who are new to the gym, they need to learn how to perform the exercises with proper form using light weights. At this stage they need to get used to the whole working out process and learn how it feels to work their muscles with weight training.

But gradually as you get stronger and start lifting heavier weights in your workouts with the progressive overload principle. You’ll find that your technique will have to change as well. The technique needed to bench press 100 lbs. is totally different then the technique needed to bench press 300+ lbs. As you get stronger different muscles come into play, you need to pay a lot more attention to your set up, how you actually contract the muscles to lift, the mental preparation, etc.

If you have the opportunity to watch advanced lifters train you’ll notice that they are NOT going to be using an exaggerated slow and controlled type of exercise form. In fact lifting slow and controlled is not really natural. It doesn’t carry over into real world strength and it is not how our muscles are meant to work.

Now I realize what I’m saying here is going to piss some people off. There are those die hard “fitness experts” out there who insist that slow and controlled is the only way and that if you use any speed or momentum in your lifting that you are cheating and that you are going to hurt yourself. But the fact is our bodies are designed for fast and explosive movements.

Real World Strength

Before we move on let’s just look at some activities from real world examples. Things such as running, jumping, throwing, etc. all require speed, momentum, and explosiveness. To prove my point, just stand up right now and try to jump as high as you can, but do it in a slow and controlled fashion… you won’t even be able to lift off the ground.

And for a few examples from outside of sports, think of trying to pull start a lawn mower or kick start a dirt bike. You have to do both very fast and explosive or else the engine won’t get enough RPM’s to turn over and start. Bottom line is that real world stuff requires strength, speed, explosiveness, and even momentum. So why are so many people dead set against training this way in the gym?

Now I know some folks (usually young ego driven guys who are full of piss and vinegar) like to go overboard and use too much weight with absolutely crappy form. You can see examples of this when barbell curls become reverse grip power cleans. And bench presses become a team effort push / pull exercise as the lifter drops the bar to his chest and his trusty spotter deadlifts it back up.

But there is that grey zone in the middle of the 2 extremes whereby you are training on the edge, pushing it hard, and also keeping relatively good exercise form at the same time. To see some examples of this type of training just go to YouTube and watch some videos of top bodybuilders like Ronnie Coleman, Branch Warren, and Johnny Jackson.

In these videos you’ll see that the guys are powering up big weights and they are also using a bit of “Body English” to handle such poundages, but the form is still pretty good. Even through they are not lifting “slow and controlled”, they are certainly placing maximum workload on the targeted muscle groups. This type of training will stimulate muscle growth in ways that endless slow and controlled reps with the pink dumbbells will never achieve.

Even in the great Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Encyclopaedia Of Bodybuilding he refers to this as “Power Reps”. Joe Weider calls it the “cheating principle”. Basically it’s just using a bit of umph in your movements in order to handle maximum workloads.

Power Reps For More Muscle & Strength

The use of any weight training technique will depend on the level of the trainee. So to keep it simple I’m going to cover all levels from beginners to advanced and outline how you can incorporate “Power Reps” into your own workouts.

Beginners (less then a year of training)

Beginners should focus on simply learning proper exercise form. The easiest way to do this is to use light to moderate weights and really focus on feeling the muscles flexing and contracting with each rep. The best way to do this, especially at the beginner stage is by using slow and controlled form all the time.

Intermediates (more then a year of training)

As you progress with your training you will notice the naturally tendency to use more force and momentum to try and complete your reps as the weights get heavier. This is something you want to pay careful attention to. Used in the right way this can help you work the muscles harder. Used in the wrong way it will take stress off the targeted muscles.

My advice here is to start with a weight that allows you to maintain strict control for at least 6-8 reps Then you can use a bit of “Body English” to power out a few more reps at the end. This will allow you to perform extra reps that you normally wouldn’t have been able to do if you were “too strict” with your form.

Advanced (several years of progressive training)

Advanced lifters already know what works best for their body by the time they make it to this level of training. After all that’s what it means to be advanced. However for the purpose of this article I’ll outline some “Power Rep” guidelines here.

At the advanced stage you’ll have developed your own unique exercise groove from years of lifting. You’ll instinctively know if a little swing here, or a little leg drive there, will provide more muscle stimulation and deliver the maximum workload to the muscles. You’ll also know if you are over doing it and using too much momentum.

Some common things that advanced lifters do to handle maximum poundages include:

Bench Press: A slight bounce off the chest at the bottom to help rebound the weight up and not fully locking out the elbows at the top. This tends to allow for more weight and / or more reps to be lifted and also provide maximum muscle stimulation.

Squats: A slight rebound out of the bottom will help you get the weight back up. Again sometimes advanced lifters will not fully lock out the knees at the top and keep going, almost like a piston type of up and down motion.

Standing Presses: A slight leg drive will help move maximum poundages while actually cushioning the impact from the exercise. This absorbs some of the stress from the spine down through your legs.

Bent Over Rows: Like with the standing press a bit of leg drive will allow for heavier weights and can help move more weight and / or more reps.

Curls: A little swing at the start and even a slight back arch at the half way mark can help get past the sticky point in the middle of the exercise.

Lateral Raises: A little leg drive at the start and a slight swing in the middle will help you get more weight up. Also holding the dumbbells in the front vs. to the sides will help you lift more weight.

Lat Pull Downs: Arching your back will help you move more weight and actually help you fully contract your lats. Trying to keep your back totally flat when doing any pull down or rowing exercise actually prevents you from getting a peak contraction in the back muscles.

These are some common exercises that work well for “Power Reps”. However, your own discretion is advised. This isn’t a free for all to go out and use crappy form. It’s just another tool in your tool box that can help you take your strength and muscular development to a higher level.

If you are going to use “Power Reps” in your training save them for the final all out work sets. Do your warm up sets using perfect form. Then as you work up to your top weight for a particular exercise you can give it that extra push to maximize the weights lifted and the stimulation to the muscles.

Lee Hayward is a Physique Transformation Specialist who is committed to helping aspiring bodybuilders and fitness enthusiasts gain muscle, burn bodyfat, and develop the lean muscular body that they desire. Visit www.LeeHayward.com to download a F.R.E.E. copy of Lee’s 10-Part Muscle Building Tips e-Course.

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Here Is To Your New Body Weight Loss Cure

August 22, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

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Resistance Is Good Resistance Training Can Increase Your Weight Loss

August 22, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

Resistance training is a form of strength training in which exercises are performed against a specific opposing force. This helps define and build muscles and can contribute to weight loss.

There are two different types of exercise positions within the resistance-training realm. One type is the isotonic exercises, which are movements of a specific body part moving against a force, and isometric exercises are movements in which the body (or part of the body) is holding still against the force.

There are different ways in which resistance training can be performed for your overall health and well being. For instance, weight lifting, which is a large part of resistance training, can help you. These are the best type of resistance exercises, which help you build muscle. In fact, you can perform nearly your entire workout with a pair of adjustable dumbbells (the smaller ones that look like miniature barbells) and set of weight disks.

Many people start out using weight disks that are as light as five pounds each. You can also find some that are less than five pounds each, but these are usually ones that are not adjustable or interchangeable (There are two types of dumbbells, one is the fixed weight kind, and the other is the already mentioned adjustable kind). Both of these types have a specific purpose, which is to provide you with a force that you can work against to increase skeletal muscle strength and size.

Usually in order to lose weight while engaging in resistance training, it is recommended that you combine the weight training with certain aerobic exercises. Many times you can jog with weights, or complete certain step routines with them. In order to make it easier for you to use weights during high-impact exercise such as aerobic routines or jogging, it is usually easier to use weights, which you can fasten to your wrists and/or ankles.

Other types of resistance training include exercise machines, both those that have weights on them and those that do not. The ones with the weights on them add an extra force in which to help you work up a sweat quite a bit faster, depending upon the speed in which you do them. A unique type of device that is much like an exercise machine is the swimming machine, which is a small basin of water in which the user swims in place, similar to how someone would if that person was fighting for his or her life.

Other exercise devices that provide a degree of resistance are stair climbing machines and even treadmills. Any exercises where you are completing rapid motions within a confined area can not only help you with muscle formation but it can also help you burn excess calories. The degree of resistance of each type of exercise machine varies, and also depends upon how the user sets the resistance level on each machine.

Another type of resistance is the use of the humans own body weight. The most common example of this is when a person does push-ups. These can be the full push-ups in which the knees do not touch the ground, the half push-ups in which the knees touch the ground, and an alternative style pushup, in which a person starts out with their buttocks to the ground sitting up. These help build a persons arm muscles.

Sit-ups and crunches (like sit-ups but only lifting your head half way, often with your hands behind your back) often provide an amount of resistance to your abdominal area. Again, any type of resistance exercise can help you lose weight if you are performing them at a fast enough pace in which you will be able to burn calories and fat.

All of the above exercises should be performed at 60 percent of the persons maximum heart rate level. This is measured by taking your pulse and knowing what your pulse rate should be for someone your age, weight, and health. You can find free pulse rate calculators online, and you can find ways to figure out what your ideal pulse rate mathematically. You can also either check your pulse while you are exercising by hand or with the use of a pulse rate indicator.

You will benefit from any combination of the above exercises. If you are exercising for the first time in a long time you will need to take some precautions, however. Make sure that you start out slowly. This means you need to complete stretching exercises of all your major muscle groups (torso, legs, neck, arms, etc.) and then start your exercises at a walking pace, and gradually move faster and faster. Soon you will be working your body at a steady and moderate to brisk pace, and this is when you will burn the most calories.

If you follow all of the above tips while establishing a proper resistance training routine you will be able to lose weight before you know it. Furthermore, you will have a better quality of life.

For several years now, Jason has been reviewing hundreds of online products and services. Many consider his reviews to be very insightful and reliable. Visit his website dietandweightlossinfo.com

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Get Your Heart Pumping With The Right Aerobic Exercise Equipment

August 21, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

Aerobic exercise is a great way to keep fit and improve your overall health. This type of exercise effectively strengthens your heart and lungs, thus reducing your risk of suffering from cardiovascular disease. There are several ways for you to get aerobic exercise and various aerobic exercise equipment that you can use. The most common pieces of aerobic equipment are the treadmill, elliptical machine, and the exercise bike.

The treadmill is one of the most popular pieces of fitness equipment, as it allows exercisers to either walk or run without having to get outside and brave the elements. Elliptical machines, on the other hand, let you mimic walking and running motions without subjecting your joints to the usual stress brought on by the impact associated with these aerobic activities. Exercise bikes are also very popular because they give you intense aerobic workouts while remaining in a sitting position. Some models have even made exercise more interesting by allowing two users to ride side-by-side and simulate a bike race.

Aside from traditional aerobic exercises, water aerobics have also gained popularity as they evolved from simple swimming into group exercises like jumping jacks, jogging, and even cross-country skiing in shallow pools. These exercises also require the use of a few pieces of aerobic exercise equipment such as barbells and weights. Here are some tips on how to make water aerobics work for you.

Wear aqua shoes to protect your feet from the pool’s floor. This type of shoe is especially designed for high levels of water exercise. They are extremely durable and very easy to slip on or off. Water barbells can also be very useful in water fitness activities. They can be used in several exercises that are focused on strengthening the muscles of your back, abdomen, shoulders, and arms. Ankle weights are also useful for strength training in water. They are attached to the bottom of your legs with a Velcro snap, thus forcing your legs to work extra hard when you jog in water.

Jogging belts also help tone your abdominal muscles as you jog around the pool. It contours to the shape of your body and helps you to keep those stomach muscles in the proper position as you go through your exercise routine. You may also find much use for exercise noodles, especially if you want to experiment with flotation techniques that you haven’t tried before and practice synchronized swimming. Using noodles to float with your feet off the bottom of the pool and your body suspended in the air forces you to focus your muscles on the effort to keep afloat.

Though aerobic exercise – both on land and in the water – can definitely work wonders for your fitness level, it is still prudent to check with your doctor before starting on an aerobic exercise routine. You need to make sure that no medical condition precludes you from performing such exercises. Once you get the go signal from your doctor then there’s nothing to stop you from taking advantage of the above aerobic exercise equipment and getting your heart pumping!

Please visit if you would like to read more great writing. Currently, featured articles are about jogging, jogging accessories, and much more.

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Improve Your Life With a Folding Weight Bench

August 21, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

It seems that almost everywhere we go, people are concerned with getting their bodies in better shape, and rightly so. Health care professionals agree that a well-toned, fit body will improve your quality of life, and lessen the negative effects associated with aging. Weight bearing exercises are highly recommended for people of all ages. Accomplishing this at home is easier than ever when you own a folding weight bench.

Folding weight benches come in a variety of styles and price ranges, beginning at around two hundred dollars for a basic weight bench, with few attachments. They are an excellent addition to your home exercise program, because of their mobility and compact size when folded, providing easy and space-saving storage.

Before deciding on a purchase, you should determine what your exercise needs are now and what they might potentially be in the future. There are some things to consider as you shop for a weight bench. With proper care, a weight bench will last for decades. Would a basic model be sufficient for you? Are you a young person, who may graduate to a more stringent and complex training program as time goes by? Or are you an older adult, simply seeking to benefit from a medium but steady weight lifting program? If this is true, is it possible that you might pass your folding weight bench on to your children or grandchildren, who might benefit from a higher end model?

Once you make these initial decisions you will find that the internet is an excellent search tool. Simply type “folding weight bench” in your search box and you will be presented with many choices. If you live in a larger town, you may find it easy to locate sporting goods stores who carry this type of equipment. Your local retail super-center will likely have basic models in stock.

Once you have purchased your Folding Weight Bench and implemented a daily exercise regimen, you will begin to notice the difference almost immediately. Steady strength training exercises will tone and strengthen your muscles, making lifting easier and increasing range of motion. As with all exercise, weight bearing exercises lend to other health benefits as well. Exercise increases endorphins in the body. These are the feel-good hormones, which act as stress reducers and anti-depressants. You will find that a daily regimen of healthy diet and exercise can truly result in adding years to your life, and life to your years.

You can learn more about benches at http://www.benchappeal.com

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How to get the best out of your gym ampamp training

August 21, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

The other day I was speaking to Peter, a very good friend of mine. He was quite please with himself having recently bought one of these all in one machines for working out at home.

His machine enables him to do chins, pull ups, dips and leg raises. He had been using it for a good 2 months with little or no progress in strength or size. He was naturally baffled as to why, now that he has taken a “giant leap” towards the kingdom of muscle, he was no closer to it.

His problem is one that is all too familiar to 80% of home gym users with a very simple solution to it. Read on…

You can’t treat a home gym like a home gym!

A home gym may very well be a lot more accessible than your local gym but you cannot treat it as such. You must treat your home gym like any other gym – which means use it sparingly and use it wisely. This is the problem with home gyms. Most people end up not having a plan and most certainly do “something” on their home gym daily.

Working out every day is fine so long as you have a plan. You cannot work each body part every day. It just won’t give you results. This was the problem with Peter. He was using his chin up machine every day and trying to do more chin ups on a daily basis. He had started on 4 and after 2 months, was now doing 5!

The best way to use your home gym

You have to have a plan and a strategy. Ideally, you want to be training each body part once every 5-7 days EVEN on your home gym. So restrain yourself from chinning every day – you will reap the rewards in the long term.

Taking Peter’s home gym as an example, this is how he should really train:

Monday: 3-4 sets of Pull-ups (as many as you can)
3-4 sets of chin ups (as many as you can)
You can vary your grip here to target the different parts of your back. Wider grip for a wider back and narrower grip to work the inner back muscles.

Tuesday: You can do some knee-ups. Something like 2 x 30 reps (or as many as you can ) is sufficient.

Wednesday: 3-4 sets of Dips (as many as you can) – If you can do more than 20, you may want to consider buying a dipping belt and attaching some weights to it so you bring the reps down to 8-12 per set.

If you want, you can do 3 sets of as many push ups as you can on this day.

Thursday: You can do some knee-ups to the sides (rather than straight). You can do 2 x 30 reps.

Friday: Rest.

Saturday: 3-4 sets of Pull-ups (as many as you can)
3-4 sets of chin ups (as many as you can)
You will find that today, you WILL be able to do more chins and more pull-ups and THIS is what it’s about. Really blasting the body and letting it recover.

Sunday: Up to you. You can rest or do Dips again.

The equipment that Peter is using is quite simple in that it allows for very few exercises. If you have a proper home gym with bench, weights, squat rack and so on, you can obviously do more.

Stick to the split routine system for your home gym

It doesn’t matter whether you have a fancy home gym or a few dumbbells. Your aim should be to lift HARD and HEAVY and then just rest and eat. You will grow a lot more muscles this way, than doing the same weight and reps every day – that’s a promise.

If you find that your rep range at home is going over 15, then you are not using heavy enough weights and you need to either add more weight in the form of cast-iron weights to machines or dipping belts for added weight on free-standing exercises or you need to go to a proper gym.

There always comes a time when you may out-grow your home gym. If you can’t afford the space or more weights, then to make more muscle gains, it’s time to go to a proper gym.

For more exact training methods, please visit http://www.lamuscle.com

Filed Under: Weight training Tagged With: Best, Your

Seek To Maintain A Beautiful Body Build Your Own Home Gym Fitness Equipment

August 19, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

Now a days, more and more men and women are becoming conscious of their figure. But simply because their so occupied running their lives and their businesses, they don’t have the time for workouts. Though local gym membership is very attainable and gives you all the needed equipments for workouts, still situations arise. It can involve adjusting to the gym’s opening times, stress of traveling from your home to the gym, and pressure on the weather situation

In case you are dealing with this difficulty, consider building your own home gym fitness equipment to gain your fitness goals and keep you in shape. Truth be told there are many ranges of exercise equipments you can make the most of at home. Time and weather condition is not a problem anymore. You can do your exercises within your own set program. But the question is what equipments you are going to invest in.

If you are starting out your venture, or increasingly becoming active again after a lengthy break, it is a good idea not to pursue your home gym. Alternatively you must enroll at a local gym within a short period of time. It can help you check out a number of fitness equipments readily available in the market today. You can talk to your fitness instructor with regards to its advantages and disadvantages and how these equipments can satisfy your fitness needs. Thus, you can list down the equipments that you will decide to buy for your home gym.

If weight training is your main focus, then the first consideration is to purchase a set of weights. You can buy free weights which are less expensive. The price tags can be as low as 50 dollars or lower. But you need a combination of weights weighing 4.5 kg (10lb) and 9kg (20lb) which is a hand-held dumbbell with a bar. The end of this bar is replaceable with other weights for more flexibility. There are different types of bars. But it is up to you to choose whether you are going to use the plastic or metal weights. Metal weights are the standard weights used even before but plastic weights are more present day and often are sand-filled weights.

You can think about weight machines if you want to workout specific groups of muscles , for example the biceps, deltoids, and quadriceps in a safer way. More over, free weights cannot provide good workouts for hamstrings and calves muscle groups. However, you need to pay the price of a weight machine. Rates and types may widely vary from a simple resistance machine, to an adjustable, multi-stationed weight stack. You can spend hundreds or thousands of dollars.

A stair stepper is another popular alternate. A simple stair stepper model can present you a better cardiovascular workout and low impacts on your joints when doing exercises to build your calves and thighs. This machine is also a space saver and can cost from 80 to 150 dollars. A more complex stair stepper has adjustable speed, resistance level, speed, pedal distances and more. It also includes an HRM (heart rate monitor) as well as digital readouts for distance climbed, calories burnt, and speed. It can cost 1,700 to 2,000 dollars. Treadmills are very good workouts machines too for your home gym. The prices depend on the types, models, brand, and features.

Setting up your home gym fitness equipment can cost you money. However, it is worth investing in order to meet your fitness needs.

To find out how to find the finest home gym for you press on this linkhome gym fitness equipment. Also to understand about how to maximize the use of you home gym click here home gym fitness equipment maximize its use.

Filed Under: Weight training Tagged With: Beautiful, Body, Build, Maintain, Seek, Your

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