A proper leg-training program can be the key to new found size and strength. By properly training your legs the rest of your body will grow as well.The true indication of a great physique is, symmetry. A "Symmetrical Physique" is one in which all body parts flow into each other. No one body part or side of the body is bigger than the other. There is nothing more ridiculous to see a guy in the gym with a well developed upper body with tooth pick legs. Your Whole Body Will Benefit From Training Your Legs!The path will be clearly set out for you by the words in this article but the journey will be hard, harder than anything you have ever done before, but once you see the results you will continue this journey of leg training for life. Keep reading...The anatomy of the legs is discussed below, its function, location in the body and some exercises for each area of the legs. Finally, 5 workout programs are included to help turn your tooth pick legs into massive tree trunk legs.To make your legs grow, you need a solid training routine to maximize its development; you can't just squat for hours on end. Here's a great guide for teens with workouts and explanations to build huge legs!o Function: Extension and Flexion when hip is extended.o Location: Inserts at the hip and travels down the middle portion of the upper leg and reinserts at the knee.o Exercise: Barbell Full Squato Function: Extension when hip is flexed.o Location: Inserts 2/3 up the femur on the outer portion of the Quad and reinserts at the knee.o Function: Extension when hip is flexed.o Location: Inserts 1/2 up the femur on the inner portion of the Quad and reinserts at the knee.o Function: Extends the hip joint and bends the knee.o Location: Back middle portion of the thigh.          o Function: Extend the hip joint and bend knee and also some middle rotation.          o Location: Back middle side of the thigh.          o Function: Knee Flexion and Hip Extension.          o Location: Lower inner portion of the back of the thigh.          o Function: Knee Flexion and Hip Extension.          o Location: Upper Inner portion of the back of the thigh.o Function: Plantarflexion at the ankle.o Location: Back portion of the lower leg. Diamond shaped muscle, in which people refer to as         the calf.o Exercise: Standing Calf Raises          o Function: Plantarflexion at the ankle.          o Location: Back part of the lower leg that runs below the knee to the heel.As you can see from the anatomy info above, there are a lot of muscles that make up the legs. The legs are used daily for basic activities like walking, standing, going upstairs or just getting up from a chair.If you are looking to put size on your legs half @ss workouts will not do anything, your legs are used to working all day. Only dedication to intense hard work in the gym will break down the dense thick muscle fibres of the legs and their only choice will be to get bigger and stronger.On the third and final day, the trio is back to blast legs showing you proper squat form to avoid injuries, straight legged deadlifts to nail those hammies, and plenty of others. You shouldn't be able to walk after this. You need to force your legs to grow. Your legs will resist you. They will burn, shake and burn some more while you workout, but you need to push through and want more as this is the only way to make your legs grow. The legs consist of many muscles so you will need to use a good amount of volume, many angles and different exercises to stimulate all the muscles of the legs. Our rep range will depend on the exercise. I like to use a lower rep range (4-6) with most of the compound exercises to help build strength and a solid foundation.With the isolation exercises a moderate (8-12) to high rep range (15-20) helps with pumping up the muscle to deliver more nutrients and break up the fascia tissue for more growth.All exercises should be performed in perfect form because bad form or habits that you start now will follow you and will lead to lack of progress or worst off injury in the future. Many if not all the exercises will be new to you. So make sure that you use the Exercise Guide on Bodybuilding.com to help you with your form.Now that you understand about what muscles make up your legs, their function, location, how to contract your back and the rep range needed to stimulate it, let's give you some workouts to help you build your legs.    * Barbell Full Squats: 4 Sets Of 4-6 Reps    * Dumbbell Lunge: 4 Sets Of 12 Reps Each Leg    * Leg Press: 3 Sets Of 12-15 Reps    * Lying Leg Curl: 3 Sets Of 12 Reps    * Leg Extensions: 3 Sets Of 20 Reps    * Standing Calf Raises: 4 Sets Of 12 Reps    * Barbell Deadlifts: 4 Sets Of 4-6 Reps    * Dumbbell Rear Lunges: 4 Sets Of 15 Reps    * Hack Squats: 3 Sets Of 8-12 Reps    * Seated Leg Curl: 3 Sets Of 8-12 Reps    * Leg Extensions: 3 Sets Of 15 Reps    * Seated Calf Raises: 4 Sets Of 20 Reps    * Leg Press: 4 Sets Of 4-6 Reps    * Romanian Deadlifts: 4 Sets Of 8 Reps    * Dumbbell Step Ups: 4 Sets Of 15 Reps Each Leg    * Leg Extensions: 3 Sets Of 12 Reps    * Thigh Abductor: 3 Sets Of 12 Reps    * Thigh Adductor: 3 Sets Of 12 Reps    * Standing Barbell Calf Raise: 4 Sets Of 12-15 Reps    * Front Barbell Squats: 4 Sets Of 8-12 Reps    * Barbell Lunges: 4 Sets Of 20 Reps Each Leg    * Leg Press: 3 Sets Of 15-20 Reps    * Lying Leg Curl: 3 Sets Of 15 Reps    * Leg Extensions: 3 Sets Of 10 Reps    * Seated Calf Raise: 4 Sets Of 20 Reps    * Hack Squat: 3 Sets Of 4-6 Reps    * Romanian Deadlifts: 3 Sets Of 8 Reps    * Dumbbell Lunges: 4 Sets Of 25 Reps Each Leg    * Leg Extensions: 3 Sets Of 20 Reps    * Seated Leg Curl: 3 Sets Of 15 Reps    * Calf Press On Leg Press Machine: 3 Sets Of 12 RepsThe workouts above are only as good as the work you put forth with them. If you continue down the path of half @ss workouts or no workouts at all for your legs, you will not see a difference.If you decide enough is enough and you want to have big thick tree trunk legs then get ready to work. You need to hit each and every set with all you have, using perfect form and rest as long as you need but nothing more. No workout day is going to be harder than leg day, period. Now eat up and get to the gym, you have legs to build.

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Want to know the long-lost secret to muscle growth?

So what does this equation mean?

Net Protein Balance (skeletal muscle mass, for our purposes here) = Muscle Protein Synthesis – Muscle Protein Breakdown.

Make it a positive value and you're on your way to hugeness.

You have to eat right to build your muscle tissue back up after destroying it in the gym. That's Bodybuilding 101. Under normal conditions, skeletal muscle has a high turnover rate – in the range of 1-2% of muscle proteins are being synthesized and broken down daily.

Both training and nutrient intake are potent activators of protein synthesis, although nutrient-induced increases are short-lived.

Training has a bigger effect; protein synthesis is ramped up for 24 hours in trained people.

The problem is that training also activates muscle protein degradation. Without the right nutrition at the right time, any potential muscle gain from increased protein synthesis could be canceled out by protein breakdown.

You can see how this works in the figure below. Without a training stimulus, muscle protein synthesis and muscle protein breakdown cancel each other out.

But add in an intense training session with the right nutrient intake at the right time and things change; protein synthesis is activated and degradation is suppressed. The result is an accumulation of muscle protein over time, as shown in the figure below.

To understand protein synthesis, it's important to become better acquainted with mTor. Research tells us that when you force a muscle to contract against a heavy load, the primary response is an activation of protein synthesis. Protein synthesis activation is, in turn, controlled by a series of phosphorylation events orchestrated by a protein called mammalian target of rapamycin, or mTOR for short.

mTOR is arguably the most important cell signaling complex for muscle growth. It's the master-controller of protein synthesis in the cell, and there's a direct relationship between muscle growth and mTOR activation; the more a workout activates mTOR, the more the protein synthesis machinery cranks out new proteins for muscle growth and repair.

mTOR is activated by three things:

Mechanical stress (from heavy training loads)Growth factors (IGF, growth hormone, insulin, etc.)Amino acids (particularly leucine)

So what can we do nutritionally to accomplish more than simply replacing the muscle you've just broken down in the gym with an equal amount to build back up?

You take advantage of the Anabolic Window. To get as big as possible you must exploit the window for maximal effect. It's time to talk about what to eat, and when.

There are three times for increasing protein/amino acid availability to augment the acute increase in protein synthesis caused by training:

Pre-workout: Within an hour or so before the workout begins.

Peri-workout: During the training session.

Post-workout: Less than two hours post-exercise.

The 10,000 dollar question is, which time(s) are best to get the maximum growth response from your training?

Scientists have looked into this, and the results of several studies are shown in the figure below.

The take-home from this chart is that post-workout nutrition amplifies the acute, exercise induced increase in protein synthesis more than pre-workout nutrition. This is good information to know, but there's much more to this story.

During training, ATP is burned to fuel muscle contractions, which increases AMP levels. This activates a protein called AMP kinase (AMPK). AMPK reduces protein synthesis by inhibiting mTOR.

Think of it like this – if mTOR is like the gas-pedal for protein synthesis, then AMPK is the brakes. While it's been shown that pre-workout nutrition doesn't improve the post-workout burst in protein synthesis better than exercise alone, pre-workout amino acid intake does blunt AMPK mediated inhibition of mTOR.

Take home point: Don't forget about pre-workout nutrition. It keeps the protein synthesis machinery from getting turned off during the workout.

Researchers have also compared the effects of peri-workout nutrition to post-workout nutrition on protein synthesis. The results of these studies are similar to the pre-workout studies in that protein intake during a strength training workout resulted in an increase in protein synthesis, but much less-so than when protein was delivered post-workout.

While peri-workout amino acids have a subtle effect on protein synthesis, protein intake still causes an insulin response. This is important, because insulin is a powerful inhibitor of protein degradation.

It also makes a good case to include carbs peri-workout. Not only have peri-workout carbs been shown to inhibit protein degradation, but they also blunt AMPK mediated inhibition of mTOR.

Take home point: Peri-workout carbs not only inhibit protein degradation, but they also help to keep the protein synthetic machinery on during the workout.

The post-workout meal is the most important for amping up protein synthesis after a workout. Muscle cells are primed for protein synthesis in the hours after training, but only if the right nutrition is there.

To make more muscle we need protein, and the type and timing of protein intake during the post-workout period has been shown to control the overall increase in protein synthesis that occurs immediately after training.

Importantly, activation of protein synthesis in the short term seems to ultimately determine how well we respond to training in the long term. What this means is that not only are intense workouts needed to maximally activate protein synthesis, but the right nutrition needs to be there at precisely the right time for this to happen.

The window is only open for a short time, and long term gains in muscle can be compromised if protein intake is delayed for as little as two hours after training. Hit this window just right, and you'll grow a heck of a lot more – miss it, and you may not grow at all!

There's been considerable research on exactly what type of nutrition is needed to maximally activate protein synthesis. While we'll discuss specifics later, it's important to know that only the essential amino acids (EAAs) have been shown to activate protein synthesis, with leucine in particular being the most important for turning on the protein synthesis machinery.

It's also clear from the literature that carbs aren't needed to activate protein synthesis after training, but there are other reasons to include carbs, which we'll get into later.

It would be great if we could simply inhale 1000 grams of protein or amino acids pre, post, or peri-workout, and then grow as much as we want. Unfortunately, this would at best get converted to triglyceride and turned into bodyfat.

Proteins act synergistically with weight training to stimulate protein synthesis, but just as there's an upper limit to how much exercise we can productively recover from, there also appears to be an upper limit to how much protein we can eat to max out protein synthesis.

This subject has been studied numerous times, but the amount of protein or amino acids used in the research may not directly apply to real-world scenarios. Scientists have rarely used a training stimulus that comes even close to what most guys are doing in the gym, making it difficult to extrapolate and make specific recommendations as far as how much protein is needed.

For instance, one study found that whey protein-induced increases in protein synthesis post-resistance exercise peaked at 20 grams of protein, with larger amounts not increasing the response any further. Similar dose-response studies have been done to determine the maximal requirements for leucine.

It's important to realize that the kind of intense, balls-out training most T NATION readers do probably activates protein synthesis to a greater degree than what researchers are using in the lab. Therefore, it's possible that more than 20 grams may be needed for most people to get a maximal response.

So what's the optimal amount, and when? We can offer rough recommendations, but it's important to experiment to find the right formula for you.

It's been shown conclusively in the literature that insulin signaling isn't needed to turn on training-induced protein synthesis – just leucine is required, which suggests that carbs aren't important.

This originally came as quite a surprise, because insulin is a potent activator of protein synthesis. Insulin activates mTOR by way of PI3K/akt signaling, which is parallel to the pathways used by amino acids and mechanical stress to activate mTOR.

Although insulin signaling may not be needed for that burst in protein synthesis that occurs in the hours after a workout, there's more to the story. Insulin is also a powerful inhibitor of muscle protein degradation.

Studies have found that both local hyperinsulinemia and the ingestion of carbs inhibits protein breakdown, with little to no effect on protein synthesis. When this was looked at specifically in the post-workout period, it was found that post-workout glucose consumption, although not activating protein synthesis, also had a powerful inhibiting effect on protein degradation.

That doesn't mean we should discount carbs as far as protein synthesis goes; they increase insulin levels, which may still be important. Muscles are primed for increased protein synthesis for 24+ hours after training, but the acute burst in protein synthesis that occurs as a result of training or amino acid intake only lasts for a few hours.

Mechanical stress from training, amino acid intake, and insulin/growth factors all activate mTOR through different but complimentary pathways, suggesting that if multiple mTOR activating pathways are turned on at the same time, we may be able to get a synergistic effect.

It's well established that the mechanical stress from training and leucine/EAAs synergistically amplify protein synthesis. Likewise, insulin may contribute to the overall burst in protein synthesis by turning on mTOR through the PI3K/akt pathway.

Although some studies looking specifically at resistance exercise-induced protein synthesis have shown that the addition of carbs to amino acids doesn't result in an additive effect on protein synthesis when ample amounts of amino acids are ingested, you have to look closely at the experimental model when applying research to the real world.

More recent studies looking at a more general model for protein synthesis show that insulin + amino acids can have a synergistically positive effect on protein synthesis, causing the greatest mTOR activation together!

Taking all this work together, it's safe to say that while insulin doesn't appear to increase exercise-induced protein synthesis, it may act to "hold the throttle open longer" for the protein synthetic machinery after a workout.

Naturally, if insulin is able to extend or amplify the post-workout burst in protein synthesis, there would be a huge advantage to including carbs as part of your post-workout plan.

Studies and literature are the backbone of the scientific method, but it's all worthless if you don't have a practical means to apply that information.

With that in mind, here's how to put this all into practice.

Protein source

30-50g of any medium to fast-acting protein source. Whole-food is okay, but you may want to restrict whole-food protein closer to 60 minutes out than 30 minutes out. Examples of fast-acting protein sources include mixtures of whey and casein isolates/hydrolysates and concentrates like Metabolic Drive® Low Carb.

Carb source: Optional, but if you plan to train hard, you should include carbs.

25-75g of low to medium GI carbs. Example is a cup of oatmeal with a cup of blueberries.

John's favorite pre-workout meal: Lean animal protein, 30 grams of carbs (oats), and 1-2 tablespoons of almond or peanut butter mixed into oats.

Bill's favorite pre-workout meal: Whey protein isolate with approximately 45 grams carbs from 1/2 cup oatmeal mixed with 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce.

Protein source

10-20g of BCAAs or 20-30g of isolates / hydrolysates from casein or whey or a mixture like Anaconda™ Anabolic Load or MAG-10® Anabolic Pulse.

Carb source: Optional

35-50g of high glycemic carbs, sipped throughout the workout.

The insulin response from carbs may synergistically amplify protein synthesis in the presence of amino acids. Insulin is also a powerful inhibitor of protein degradation.

For pre-contest trainees or those who are less insulin sensitive, there's a fat-burning advantage to keeping insulin low, so some people may want to omit carbs here. For offseason lifters or true hardgainers, the insulin response can be very helpful.

John's favorite peri-workout meal: 30-50 grams of casein hydrolysates like MAG-10®, and if off-season add 40 grams of potato starch. [Or, for functional carbs plus flavor, use Finibar™ Competition Bar.]

Bill's favorite peri-workout meal: 20 grams BCAAs, and if off-season also 40-50g carbs from dextrose/glucose polymers.

Protein source

30-50g fast-acting protein: whey isolates/ hydrolysates or casein hydrolysate like MAG-10® or Anaconda™.

Carb source: Optional but highly advisable unless you are in a drastic fat reduction mode.

Again, this is very dependent on the individual, their goals, and phase of training.

Use 25-75g of medium-to low GI carbs. Off-season lifters or hard-gainers may want to have 50-100g of a mixture of medium to high GI carbs.

True hard-gainers can really benefit from the protein degradation inhibiting effects of insulin here. The big spike in insulin from the high GI carbs and more sustained elevation from medium GI carbs may also keep the protein synthesis throttle open longer.

If you're pre-contest or for less insulin-sensitive people, occasionally omit carbs altogether during this meal, but don't make it a rule.

John's favorite post-workout meal: 50 grams of whey isolate 15 minutes after training; if off-season, mix in 1-2 cups of raw milk. One hour later consume fish and Ezekiel toast with jam.

Bill's favorite post-workout meal: 50 grams whey isolate; if off-season also 1 cup oatmeal with 1 cup blueberries. One hour later eat next regular meal.

Nutrients have a potent effect on the protein synthetic machinery, and timing them right can make or break your training progress. While there's no ideal, one-size fits all solution for everyone – that depends on individual insulin sensitivity, metabolism, body type, and goals – we've set you up with a peri-workout nutritional strategy based on the latest scientific research that can be easily modified to suit every lifter's needs. Use it as a template to maximize protein synthesis and grow like never before.

As always, we look forward to answering questions in the LiveSpill!

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Cuthbertson D, Smith K, Babraj J, Leese G, Waddell T, Atherton P, et al. Anabolic signaling deficits underlie amino acid resistance of wasting, aging muscle. FASEB J 2005;19:422-4.

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In Part 1 of this series on Strongman Training for athletes I make the argument that Strongman Training may be a great option for building strong and explosive athletes and a viable substitute for Olympic Lifting.

Here I will discuss some of my favorite Strongman exercises for making your athletes super fast and angry!

Tire Flipping

This exercise is a staple in Strong Man and a big part of the football strength programs that I design for my athletes. If there ever was an exercise that trains the entire body from "The Rooter To The Tooter"- It's tire flipping.

Getting your hands on a 300, 400 or 700 pound tire is a lot easier than most people think. Also, the best part of this piece of equipment is that it is FREE! All you need to do is look in your phone book for a tire company in your city. They've got tons of these things and they need to dispose of them, and this costs them money. They are as happy as hell when someone calls and says that they are willing to take one off of their hands for free. This biggest issue will be finding a way to transport it to your facility. Many times the tire yard will drop it off for you; make sure you give the delivery guy a nice tip.

Car Push

It's as simple as it sounds - push a car. That's it. But make no mistake, this exercise is not only fun and brutal - it's actually very useful. When pushing a car it is essential that you lean forward which creates a "positive knee angle". This develops the quads which are the dominant muscles being activated during short sprints and change of direction.

This is probably the most practical exercise to perform, from an equipment stand point. All you need it an automobile, the bigger the better. I've heard stories about Mike Alstott and how he used to push his Jeep around campus in college to get in football condition. If Mike Alstott does it, it's got to be good!

Farmers Carries

I am often asked, "What are the best overall exercises for strength AND conditioning?" My answer without hesitation is always - Farmers Carries. There is NOTHING that this exercise doesn't do. Besides a killer conditioner, farmers carries trains the arms, legs, core, shoulders, neck, grip, eye lids, eye brows and ear lobes like nothing that I have ever discovered.

What makes this exercise even more incredible is that anyone can do it, anywhere, with little or no equipment. Everything from the Torpedoes that you see those beasts on ESPN2 carry; to milk jugs filled with sand will get you strong and crazy fast.

Sand Bag Carry

This is another exercise that is easy to put together. In fact, when I first began training athletes at a local park, this is all I had to use. I simply went to Home Depot (there may be one in your city) bought a few 80 pound bags of pea gravel, threw them into contractor bag and duct taped them shut. After a while I noticed that we needed heavier bags so I bought a few large army duffle bags and tossed the smaller bags into it. Now I've got bags from 40 pounds to almost 300!

This exercise is as simple as - pick it up and go! But make no mistake, it is NOT easy. This exercise goes on my list of the best overall body conditioners as well.

Keg Clean & Press

We've all used or taught someone to use the famous Olympic lifts, in particular the power clean and press. And for good reason, they train the whole body and they produce faster and stronger athletes. But I do them a bit different.

When you use a half filled keg to clean and press, you are playing a whole new game. First of all, the neutral grip is more specific to football especially if you are a lineman. Second, the water (or beer) that you have used to fill your keg will be sloshing around in there, which turns this exercise into a real core conditioner!

If you want to get brutally strong and fast, you've got to add this super strong man exercise to your routine.

Sled Dragging

This is a staple is all of my training programs and I use this exercise for several different reasons.

First, upright forward sled dragging is a great posterior chain builder. Nothing gets those lazy glutes into tip-top shape like sled drags. Second, backwards sled drags does for the quads what forward dragging does for the glutes... fries em! Third, when done for distances greater than 50 yards or with short rest intervals this is one of my favorite work capacity / conditioning exercises. Finally, because your legs are always moving in a concentric fashion there is minimal soreness associated with doing this exercise. You can drag today and max effort squat tomorrow.

Keg Carries

A thick, strong and powerful upper back is paramount for building upper body strength that lasts. Everything from an increased bench press to decreased risk of shoulder injuries are associated with having a strong set of traps, rhomboids and rear delts.

Nothing builds a strong upper back in conjunction with leg strength and agility like keg carries. Caring kegs weighing between 50 to 300 pounds for short distances is one of my favorite ways of training generally weak and unathletic athletes to build endurance, strength and mental toughness.

I've got a video at Strongman Training about a great example of how to set up a "keg run". You can train several athletes at the same time with a set up like this.

Keg or Sand Bag Loading

Want to increase speed and jumping capacity?

Keg, Sandbag or stone loading takes even the flattest ass and turns it into a J-Lo. And we all know that a strong set of glutes in synonymous with explosive hip extension and speed.

Strong Man Training is not only for those 300 pound beasts on ESPN2, it is a great way to train even the most deconditioned athlete and turn average boys into hulking men. In Part 3 of this series I will show you exactly how I add these exercises to my training programs...stay tuned!

Who the heck is Elliott Hulse?

I am a Certified Strength And Conditioning Specialist and owner of Strength Camp, a Sports Performance service in St. Petersburg Florida. I train athletes to get incredibly strong and lightening fast in a "warehouse gym" with about $1000 worth of equipment. Lean more about me plus my Top 10 Gym Exercises For Explosive Football Speed: http://www.footballstrengthprogram.com/.

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Tags: Cleans, Power, Strongman

Years ago, it was not uncommon for bodybuilding experts to advocate an unrestricted, very high-calorie diet-in combination with an intensive weight training program-for someone wanting to gain muscle. The rationale was that if you wanted to gain muscle, you could eat basically whatever you wanted in order to bulk up and then later on, you could work on eliminating excess fat if necessary. Nowadays, we're a lot more enlightened and we know that not only is this not an effective strategy, but it's not particularly beneficial for your health either. The most effective eating regimen for gaining muscle is one that includes plenty of lean protein, healthy carbohydrates in moderation and unsaturated fats.

Protein is a basic, essential building block of muscle growth and if your objective is to maintain or gain lean muscle mass then you need to eat plenty of it every day. When the body isn't getting enough protein from the foods you eat, it will use protein from muscle mass to meet its energy needs.

Carbohydrates get a bad rap from a lot of the so-called "health gurus" out there but the fact is they're not telling the whole story. Carbohydrates provide the body with the fuel it needs for both physical activity and proper functioning of the organs. The key is to recognize the difference between good ("healthy") and bad carbs. Healthy carbohydrates come from vegetables, fruits, legumes (beans) and whole grains. The bad carbs come from highly processed foods, white breads, sugary sodas, snacks and pastries.

Fat is another oft-misunderstood component of our diets. All fats are not bad for us. In fact, our bodies need some fat in our diet in order to function normally. Again, like carbohydrates, the key lies in understanding the difference between the good fats and the bad ones. Saturated fats are the "bad fats" that we should avoid. Saturated fats come from animal fats, dairy products and oils such as coconut or cottonseed oil. They're also common in a lot of prepared foods. Unsaturated fats-although they still need to be consumed in moderation-are the ones that are better for our bodies, helping it to perform and function normally.

Okay, so now that some of the basics are out of the way we'll address the question, "What should I eat to put on lean muscle mass?" Individual protein, carb and unsaturated fat requirements will vary from person to person, depending on body type, weight, physical condition, fitness goals, etc.

A good basic eating strategy for gaining muscle mass is to get the majority of your calories from lean protein sources. A general rule of thumb is about a minimum of 1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight. Limit your intake of healthy carbs and unsaturated fats. Don't avoid them entirely though because your body-and your muscles-need them, just keep protein the central focus of your diet.

In order to gain muscle mass you'll need to consume more calories than you burn. You should start out by determining your body's calorie requirements for maintaining your body weight, account for your activity level and then add from there. You should also eat five to six meals a day, spread out two to three hours apart throughout the day. Eating just one or two large meals a day isn't the right strategy for putting on muscle.

Since protein is going to be the foundation of your diet, you'll want to mix up your sources or you'll quickly get sick of eating the same couple of things day after day. Skinless chicken breast and fish are two excellent sources of lean protein. Grill or broil them-don't fry or drown them in rich sauces. Other good sources of protein include turkey breast, lean beef or pork, egg whites, cottage cheese (fat free or low-fat), canned tuna (packed in water not oil) and protein powders.

Green vegetables (especially broccoli), leafy vegetables, sweet potatoes, potatoes, whole grain breads, whole oats/oatmeal (not the flavored instant packs) and beans are good sources for healthy carbs. Avoid any processed foods, snacks and pastries. You can pretty much eat about as much green vegetables (steamed is best) without worrying about getting too many carbs, but do watch your intake of everything else on the list above-the carbs add up quickly.

Unsaturated fats should comprise the smallest portion of your daily diet. Good sources of these healthy fats include olive oil, sunflower oil and avocados. Almonds and walnuts are both also excellent sources of healthy fats but limit your intake of nuts to no more than a handful a day.

This is of course not everything you need to know in order to eat to gain weight but it should be enough to give you a basic foundation upon which to get started on the path towards putting on lean muscle mass, not just fat.

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Tags: Muscle

Many body building individuals tend to neglect this part because of pain but stretching has utter important role in muscle building. Passive stretching will help prevent injury, improve performance, reduce DOMS(Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness is a major problem for hard-training athletes of all ages. Whereas normal muscle soreness occurs immediately following a workout and lasts for up to 36 hours, DOMS is far different: it sets in about 72 hours post-workout, severely restricts range of motion and functionality and is very painful), and should be part of a warm-up and cool-down. However, there is no scientific evidence to support these claims, and in fact there is mounting scientific research to show otherwise.
Despite this, there seems to be a lot of conflicting advice about how and when to stretch. It has been seen that too many trainees are unable to perform optimally or suffer from recurring injuries, in part due to improper stretching habits.
The stretch-shortening cycle occurs in a specific order. As the body performs an eccentric action the body stores potential kinetic energy. When the concentric action quickly follows the eccentric phase the kinetic energy is utilized.
The stretch-shortening cycle is displayed in numerous sporting events. This sequence of movement is often referred to as reversible muscle action in sporting events. The stretch-shortening cycle is displayed in numerous sporting events. This sequence of movement is often referred to as reversible muscle action in sporting events.
Examples of the stretch-shortening cycle would include the wind up by a pitcher in baseball. In power-lifting bench pressing and squatting are SSC(Strength Shortening Cycle) movements. In boxing fighters usually perform a slight pre-stretch before throwing a punch.

Stretching Reverses Hardening Of Arteries
Researchers show that prolonged stretching (in the form of yoga) with moderate aerobic exercise and diet control will reduce cholesterol and significantly reverse hardening of the arteries (20 percent regression) in adults with proven coronary atherosclerosis disease.
After one year in a yoga program, participants lost weight, reduced cholesterol, and improved their exercise capacity, (Retardation of coronary atherosclerosis with yoga lifestyle intervention, 2000, Manchanda).
If you have time for yoga classes, or your martial arts training emphasizes stretching, that's great. Keep it up! But if you're not attending karate or yoga classes, then the 10-Minute Synergy Fitness Stretching Routine may be for you.
There are 2 main categories of stretching: passive and active.
Passive stretching is when you use an outside force other than your own muscle to move a joint or limb beyond its active range of motion, to put your body into a position that you couldn't do by yourself (such as when you lean into a wall, or have a partner push you into a deeper stretch). Unfortunately, this is the most common form of stretching used.

Active stretching eliminates outside force and it's adverse effects from stretching procedures. It involves actively using your own muscles to achieve range of motion; as the antagonist (opposite) muscle contracts, the agonist (target) muscle groups lengthen and relax. This is a safe, effective, and recommended method of stretching.
Active stretching is a safe effective method of maintaining a healthy range of motion, while increasing joint stability and strength. Because muscle 'tightness' is often due to compensation for joint instability or weakness in another muscle, developing strong, stable joints allows a greater range of motion.

It is recommended to perform active range of motion (AROM) exercises following a workout, game, or practice session. The "stretch" positions can be very similar to passive stretches, but they are being held using muscular effort, not outside force. Actively hold each position for 10 to 15 seconds. Perform AROM Exercises Following A Workout.

 Examples of some basic AROM static stretches include:
o Lats: reaching your arms straight overhead
o Chest: extend your arms out to the sides, and retract your shoulder blades
o Quadriceps: flex your heal toward your butt, contracting the hamstrings
o Hamstrings: extend your leg straight in front of you, and contract the quads

      Athletes, coaches, trainers, and others need to use the combination of strength training, conditioning, and warming up that's best for a given sport or activity.

In general, it is recommended to perform a dynamic warm-up before training and incorporate some active range stretches afterwards. Also consider that stretching naturally occurs when you exercise. In order to contract a muscle, the opposite muscle groups have to be relaxed and lengthened.

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Tags: Importance, Stretching

Building a massive physique, unfortunately, requires a more measured approach than simply trying to heave as much weight as humanly possible.

To know how to best train a muscle, you have to first understand its physical structure, specifically its biomechanics and fiber type composition. This information helps you select the correct rep ranges, weekly volume, and rest periods for optimal results.

But many lifters don't specifically tailor these loading parameters to individual muscles. For example, they'll dedicate 4-6 weeks to "hypertrophy" and perform every exercise in the 8-12 rep range.

That's a mistake. Optimal hypertrophy training is muscle specific.

In this two-part article, I'll give you all the necessary information on these two topics – biomechanics and fiber type composition – for each major muscle. Today's article will cover the chest, triceps, and shoulders, but begin with a brief recap on muscle fibers.

There are at least three different types of muscle fiber. To increase contraction speed, increase force production, and decrease resistance to fatigue, you have type I, type IIa, and type IIb fibers.

Type I fibers are slow-twitch and type II fibers are fast-twitch. The following table lists the main characteristics of each muscle fiber type.

Each muscle has a different fiber type composition. Some muscles are fast twitch dominant while others are slow twitch dominant.

Muscle fiber type composition is largely genetically determined and has very important muscle-specific training implications. Fast twitch fibers respond best to low volume, long rest intervals, high intensity and low frequency. Slow twitch fibers, in opposition, respond best to high volume, short rest intervals, low intensity and high frequency.

Perhaps most importantly, fast twitch muscle fibers have significantly greater growth potential than slow twitch fibers. Even in untrained individuals, they're normally more than 20% larger and it's not uncommon for them to be over twice as large.

The fiber type composition of each muscle varies per individual, but as with most physiological characteristics, people don't differ that much. In the general population, differences in percentage of slow twitch muscle fibers are normally above 5% and usually below 10%. So, you probably aren't that special in this regard, even though your momma said you were.

As for muscle fibers changing from one type to another, getting old seems to be a factor (the percentage of fast twitch muscle fibers in your body starts to decrease after age 30), although some studies have shown high intensity resistance training helps to prevent this. Bodybuilding type training, with loads between 6 and 12RM, can also turn both type I and type IIb fibers into type IIa fibers.

Whatever the story, since weightlifters, powerlifters, bodybuilders, and sedentary populations differ less than 5% regarding the percentage of slow twitch fibers in their muscles, it's unlikely that you need to take fiber conversion into account with your training.

Also, the theory that high intensity (>90% of 1RM) is optimal for hypertrophy because it makes you more fast twitch and those fibers have the highest growth potential is likely false. Yes, getting stronger helps you get bigger as it enables you to put more stress on your muscles, however, it's also important not to neglect your slow twitch fibers.

In bodybuilders, equal hypertrophy of both fiber types has been found, in contrast to powerlifters and Olympic weightlifters, which show preferential hypertrophy of the type II fibers.

In conclusion, for maximum hypertrophy, you should always try to find a balance between volume and intensity.

This is all basically useless if you don't know the fiber type composition of your muscles.

To solve this problem, some smart trainers – who for whatever reason, always seem to be French Canadian – came up with a test to find out how fast twitch a muscle is. This test is commonly known as the 80% test.

In short, you find your 1RM for an exercise that targets a specific muscle and then test how many reps you can do with 80% of that. If you can do less than 8, the muscle is fast twitch dominant. If you can do more than 8, it's slow twitch dominant.

There are much more elaborate variations of this test – for example, Charles Poliquin uses 85% for 5 reps as the norm – but the principle is always the same. If you want to know more about this test, read Christian Thibaudeau's (amazing) Black Book of Training Secrets.

The upside of this test is that it's individualized. The downside is that it's impractical. I don't know of anyone that uses it systematically because you need to find an exercise for each muscle that really isolates it, meaning it's probably hard to do a 1RM with that particular exercise (ever do a 1RM fly?).

You also can't overcome neural factors. Bad technique or an inefficient nervous system will cause you to underestimate your 1RM and make you look more slow twitch than you really are. You can use exercises like front squats and dumbbell bench presses to get a general idea of your fiber make-up, but it's far from perfect.

The good news is that there's considerable research on muscle fiber type composition.

Now that we're done with the introductory notes, let's get to the good stuff!

The pectoralis major consists of two heads – the sternal head (lower chest) and the clavicular head (the upper chest).

The chest's primary functions are transverse shoulder flexion and adduction, as in fly movements. So, to target the pecs you should pick exercises that involve transverse shoulder flexion or adduction.

Note: it's flexion when the shoulders are internally rotated and adduction when the shoulders are externally rotated. If you have trouble seeing the rotation of your shoulder, look at your elbows when your arms are raised in front of your body. Elbows out to the side means the shoulders are internally rotated and elbows to the floor means the shoulders are externally rotated. Remember this, because you'll need it in a minute.

Additionally, the angle between your arms and your body determines which head of the pectoralis is trained most – incline for upper chest, and decline for lower chest.

A problem many lifters have when training their pecs is that the anterior deltoid takes over. The anterior deltoid is also involved in transverse shoulder flexion, but its role in adduction is small.

As such, if you want to isolate the pecs from the anterior deltoid, perform movements with the shoulder externally rotated. The most obvious choices would be standard fly movements where you actively try to slightly supinate your hand.

However, even though the pecs are best isolated by exercises involving external shoulder rotation, the pectoralis major is biomechanically more efficient and thus stronger when the shoulders are internally rotated.

This means you can't maximally stimulate the chest without training the anterior deltoid and you should take this into account when designing a program. It's a common mistake to overemphasize the front delts.

So which exercises are best at stimulating the chest?

For pressing movements, the more you flare your elbows out to the sides, the better.

This internally rotates your shoulders and makes the exercise involve more transverse shoulder flexion and less (non-transverse) shoulder flexion, which is the movement that occurs during front raises.

In agreement with Vince Gironda and TC, neck/guillotine presses are arguably the greatest pec exercise in existence.

Benching like this is known to cause shoulder pain for some – not to mention decapitate the odd hapless pudknocker who erroneously assumed "Guillotine" was yet another French Canadian strength coach – so you may want to use dumbbells or not take the risk at all.

An underrated exercise that doesn't mess up your shoulders while still really hitting the pecs is pronated grip flys. Most people do flys exclusively with a neutral grip, but the pectoralis major is stronger when the shoulders are internally rotated, so a pronated grip is superior for chest stimulation.

You can do this with dumbbells, but dumbbell flys have a resistance curve that doesn't match the strength curve (no tension at the top) and going too deep can compromise the shoulders. As such, I prefer cables.

If your gym doesn't have attachments that allow for a pronated grip, like straight handles or short ropes, you can just grip the hooks (attachments are for pussies, right?) or pull straps through the hooks and grip the straps.

As for the optimal amount of reps to use for chest exercises, use low to medium reps. The pectoralis major is a performance muscle and both its heads are predominantly fast twitch in almost everyone, with 60% type II fibers being the average.

The pectoralis major is composed of approximately 60% fast twitch fibers.It's strongest when the shoulders are internally rotated (elbows pointing away from each other during presses) and is best isolated by flaring the elbows maximally out to the sides.Try medium rep flys with a pronated grip.

If you understood the section about the chest, you know why benching like a powerlifter isn't optimal for chest development. Powerlifters often don't have the biggest pecs, but their triceps are usually monstrous (Dave Tate, anyone?).

This isn't only due to the biomechanics (arched back, elbows tucked, J-curve) of the powerlifting bench press that emphasizes the triceps over the chest, but also the triceps' fiber type composition.

Even more so than the pectoralis major, the triceps brachii is a performance muscle. Its fast twitch fibers outnumber their sluggish counterparts two to one with approximately 67% type II fibers.

Accordingly, don't bother with high rep kickbacks. Instead, ramp up the intensity on lockouts, dips, and close grip decline presses. It's best to use low reps the majority of the time. High reps will do very little for most people.

There's one more thing you should know about the triceps – it consists of three heads (long, lateral and medial) and the long head is biarticulate, meaning it crosses the elbow and the shoulder joint and helps to extend and adduct the shoulder (move your arm down and towards your body).

That means it enters 'active insufficiency' when it has to function as an elbow extensor while the shoulder is adducted or extended. That is, it can't exert enough tension to be active at both joints at the same time. Basically all horizontal presses, including dips (you might say they're vertical, I say who cares?) leave the long head under-stimulated. You need overhead work to train the entire triceps.

The triceps is composed of 67% fast twitch fibers, so train it according to the adage, "go heavy or go home."The long head needs to be trained with overhead work.

As you probably know, there are three deltoids – the anterior, lateral, and posterior head of the shoulder.

By the way, there is no such thing as a 'medial head.' In anatomy, medial refers to 'near the middle of the body,' whereas the correct term, lateral, refers to 'the outside of the body.' The terms are commonly confused and understandably so, but they're in fact opposites, not synonyms.

Terminology isn't the only thing that's misunderstood about shoulder training. Many people use completely unbalanced shoulder programs. A study showed that bodybuilders have front delts that are on average five times bigger than sedentary people. But their lateral delts are just three times bigger and their rear delts a mere 10 to 15 percent bigger. (Gundill, 2002)

This isn't surprising, given that many people do horizontal and vertical pressing on top of shoulder work – and their shoulder work isn't balanced to begin with. This is partly due to the misconception that side raises are a good isolation exercise for the lateral deltoid.

They're not, unless you modify the exercise.

During abduction, as in a side raise, taking the force generated by the lateral deltoid as 100%, anterior deltoid force is approximately 75% and supraspinatus force is 25%. That means the supraspinatus (another rotator cuff muscle) and the anterior deltoid together produce as much force as the prime mover, the lateral deltoid.

Furthermore, these studies were done on basically sedentary people, so athletes with dominant front delts can expect even worse results. The same holds true for overhead pressing movements. Doing them behind the neck or with dumbbells helps a bit, but they still don't produce balanced shoulder development by themselves.

So how do you train the middle shoulder without involving the front?

Decrease the amount of shoulder flexion (raising your arm as in a front raise). You may have heard that it's safer to do side raises in the 'scapular plane' which is about 30° to the front, and this is correct, but that means it becomes a front raise.

The same goes for not fully extending the elbow. Yes, it's easier on the elbow joint, but you should still aim for 99% extension. This should be sufficient to keep the stress on the muscles instead of the elbow.

You want the weight to be in a line that extends straight from your lateral deltoid. This means it's better to do the exercise on an incline bench. Try an angle between 15 and 60° incline. The lower the angle, the more you also involve the posterior deltoid.

Doing side raises on an incline brings me to another factor to increase lateral delt activity, range of motion. The first 30° or so degrees of abduction are produced primarily by the supraspinatus, after which the lateral deltoid becomes the prime mover. Now, that's not a bad thing, because the supraspinatus needs training as well, but it does mean you need to control the motion at the top.

If you're one of those yahoos that yank the weight to the side and then duck under it, you're just straining your supraspinatus and hardly working your lateral delts. If you do the exercise on an incline bench, you can't duck under it, and can focus on muscle activity instead.

There's one more very important factor that determines shoulder muscle activity – shoulder rotation (just like with the pecs).

The more you internally rotate your shoulder during shoulder flexion and abduction, the more you involve both the lateral and the posterior head, and the less you involve the anterior head. However, during horizontal shoulder abduction, as in a reverse fly, externally rotating your arm actually increases lateral deltoid activation at the expense of the posterior deltoid.

So for lateral and posterior deltoid training, I advocate extending your elbow very close to fully, not using the scapular plane, and internally rotating your shoulder.

These technique adjustments increase middle delt stimulation, but also decrease subacromial space width and increase impingement risk, so take care if you have shoulder issues. Also, you can counter these problems by retracting your scapulae.

The thing is, shoulder impingement is mainly a concern if your shoulders aren't structurally balanced to begin with and these exercises ameliorate that situation, so it's a bit of a chicken-and-the-egg scenario. Additionally, I recommend doing shoulder isolation work on an incline, which is generally easier on the shoulder.

As for the posterior delts, besides internally rotating the shoulders during reverse flys or low incline side raises, you can train them with any type of pulling motion, such as rows or face-pulls, that hyperextend the shoulder (bring the elbow behind the body). The lats and the pecs can't extend the shoulder beyond anatomical position, so the posterior deltoids then become the prime movers.

For front delts, the front raise in the scapular plane with the shoulder externally rotated is a good, risk-free front delt exercise. Unless you're not doing any overhead pressing work, I don't think you need any front delt isolation work though, especially not until your shoulders are structurally balanced.

Speaking of structural balance, to train the external rotators, I recommend face-pulls with an underhand grip. Squeeze hard at the top and pull the rope all the way against your face. If you want to isolate the infraspinatus and teres minor, do side-lying external rotations. They produce the greatest EMG activity of most external rotation exercises.

Remember though, reverse flys also train all the external rotators, so unless you have trouble activating the infraspinatus and the teres minor, it's generally sufficient to just do those and face-pulls.

As for reps, all scapula-humeral muscles are actively involved in maintaining posture and stabilizing the shoulder during practically every upper body movement. As such, they can be expected to have a high work capacity and are correspondingly around 60% slow-twitch dominant.

This goes for the entire shoulder girdle, with one curious exception – the infraspinatus provides some oomph for the external rotators and is fast twitch dominant by a small margin.

Traditional shoulder programs emphasize the anterior deltoid at the expense of the rest of the scapula-humeral muscles.Overhead presses are generally plenty of work for your anterior deltoids.Add incline side raises and reverse flys with your shoulders internally rotated to balance the program and round out your delts.Use medium to high reps.

I hope this article has given you some new ideas to optimize your training. In the next installment, we'll deal with the remaining major muscles in the human body. If you have any questions or comments, leave them in the LiveSpill.

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Data on the distribution of fibre types in thirty-six human muscles. An autopsy study. M A Johnson, J Polgar, D Weightman, D Appleton. J Neurol Sci. 1973 January; 18(1): 111–129.

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Tags: Chest, Hypertrophy, MuscleSpecific, Shoulders, Triceps

by Lee Boyce – 10/11/2011

Tissue quality is paramount when it comes to building a strong, healthy body. For example, something as innocuous as weak scapular retractors or tight external rotators can stop a soaring bench press or shoulder press dead in its tracks.

The body seeks structural balance, and the quicker you accept this and adjust your programming, the more successful your lifting career will be. This means making time for some of the stuff we all hate, namely "sissy" pre-hab exercises and of course, stretching.

Most lifters won't admit how tight their muscles really are. Each week we make hundreds of loaded contractions; reps upon reps, sets upon sets. Then, when we're at work or at home "relaxing," we continue to make our muscles fire by holding all sorts of unnatural positions.

To help offset this, therapists and trainers advocate flexibility and soft tissue work, but oddly, consider someone who spends 15 minutes a day working at it to be doing a good job. That's not even two hours a week!

It's important to recognize the vital relationship between a muscle's quality and its potential to gain size. Rather than being strictly size-obsessed, as we bodybuilders naturally are, a more "outside-the-box" holistic standpoint is at times necessary.

Muscles, bones, tendons, fascia, and ligaments all play a role in your welfare in and out of the weight room. Throw off your skeleton, and you get a lack of structural balance. Throw off your structural balance, and you get muscles being overloaded. Overload muscles, and you're grieved with joint stress and connective tissue issues.

Let's start things with a simple rule of thumb:

When a Muscle Appears Deficient, the Answer is NOT Always to Give That Muscle Your Attention!

Take a pair of tight hamstrings, for example. Lifters often suffer from hamstrings that have the elasticity of ropes. Yet despite the time spent before and during exercise methodically stretching the snot out of them, they see no improvement in their flexibility or in the performance of their given lifts.

Frustrating as this may be, it makes perfect sense – the hamstrings have all the flexibility they need, it's the surrounding muscles that are causing the not-so-pretty deadlifts and squats.

Here are some things that could infringe on muscles' apparent flexibility or strength:

In the case of tight, inflexible hamstrings, what often hinders ROM are tight hip flexors.

Stand up and try to touch your toes with stiff legs and a flat back. Take note of how close you get. Now, take 30 seconds and static stretch your hips. Now try the toe-touch again.

Notice an improvement? The hip flexors were acting against the hamstrings the first time around. Because they were tight, they inhibited the range of motion the hamstrings could achieve on the opposite site. A simple attention shift like this could be a make-or-break factor whether your muscles function the way you want them to.

Your posture is important for more than just looking impressive to the ladies. When you have a head tilt, the corresponding discs of the vertebrae are often being compressed. Not only can this lead to discomfort and chronic muscle imbalance, it can also lower your muscles' involvement in many major upper body lifts.

Let's say you tirelessly hit your biceps in pursuit of Thibaudeau-esque guns. Many lifters will crane their necks forward during heavy curls, or even look down at their purty biceps rather than focusing straight ahead while digging in for their set.

This impinges the nerve and lowers the electrical stimulation the nerves can send the biceps from their point of origin. Straighten up!

If it's a true spinal postural issue and not just a bad gym habit, exercises such as neck bridges can strengthen the neck musculature, along with exercises like the trap-3 raise for the lower traps and thoracic extensions with a foam roller.

Often with muscles that directly oppose one another (like the trap-3 and pec minor, or calves and tibialis muscle), one side can tighten up due to no contributing balance from its antagonistic.

Loose tibialis anterior muscles (the long muscle on the shin that allows you to raise your toes) are often responsible for extremely tight calves that inhibit proper technique. For lifters who suffer from this, it's as hard for them to drop their heels during squats and lunges as it is for Dennis Rodman to choose an outfit on awards night.

Your muscle fascia is often like a giant, connected chain. Releasing one link can unlock several others.

Try this: Do a standing calf stretch off the edge of a box or step. Now squeeze the glute on the same leg you're stretching. You'll feel the calf stretch intensify.

The contraction of the glute tugs slightly on the entire fascial chain, so the stretch is felt right along the back of the leg.

Knowing this, we can apply it to crusty chronic pain spots. Try taking a golf ball or lacrosse ball to your plantar fascia if you suffer from things like foot cramps, Achilles aggravations, or calf tightness.

It would do us well to first distinguish what we're doing all this stretching stuff for. Stretching work for basic flexibility in everyday life serves a very different purpose than stretching between sets of a 365-pound squat.

Regarding programming, we shouldn't be quick to focus on stretching as it isn't always the cure-all "remedy" for everything. Rather, it should be one of many tools in your toolbox to attack a pesky weak point. This way, when we do decide to prescribe stretching, it'll have the desired effect.

We all sit a lot. We also do tons of work using the muscles on the front of our body and minimal for the stuff we can't see in the mirror. Flexibility training for health and comfort should be a staple! This brings me to my next point.

Smart coaches preach that we should strive to achieve adequate levels of structural balance. That means the same rule applies for stretching, right?

Wrong.

Stretching both sides of the body evenly is not the answer. Think about it. If one side is tighter than the other side, and you proceed to loosen both sides up, you're simply maintaining the same imbalanced flexibility ratio, resulting in the same amount of strain and counter strain on the body.

Here's a comprehensive breakdown of muscles to give less or more attention to when stretching.

Traps. Deserve more of your attention. They surround vital nerves that can be compressed, and tightness can lead to them overcompensating for rotator cuff muscles that aren't active.

Chest. Deserve more attention. Tight pecs pull the shoulders way out of position and contribute to joint stress in the shoulder capsule, and general posture problems.

Upper Back. Much less attention. Loosening upper back tissue will contribute to rounding of the upper back, and take away from stability of the shoulder capsule.

Hip Flexors. More attention. From sitting, walking, running, and training, chances are as a lifter you'll always have tighter than desired hips. They also attach to the low back, a common spot to strain, so you don't want them tight and tugging on your spine.

Lower Back. Much, much less attention. The last thing we want is to put the back into a less than ideal position by going into flexion.

Glutes and Hamstrings. Less attention. The glutes and hams are normally loose enough, and as direct antagonists to the hip flexors, loosening them can encourage shortening the hips.

Groin/Inner Thigh Musculature. More attention. Any bilateral imbalance that exists due to tightness in one side can lead to hip tilting.

Calves. More attention. The calves' flexibility will avoid problems like Achilles tendonitis, bursitis, and other inflammations surrounding the heel.

Sometimes we all need a tactful reminder – and a little help – to pinpoint the root cause of a given issue. If working the strength side of things hasn't been panning out, put some effort into the flexibility side of the equation. You'll be glad you did.

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Tags: Reasons, Surprising, Tight, Youre

In the world of resistance training, one of the most common debates is whether one should use machines or dumbbells (free-weights) for their strength-training goals. Despite the slick look and new technologies of the latest fitness machines out on the market, dumbbells are one of the very few tools used in strength training that have stood the test of time.

Simply stated, dumbbells are better because they are free weights. This means that you have to work to stabilize the weight, instead of the shiny machine. And that's the goal: for you to do the work.

The use of dumbbells gives you a much more comprehensive strengthening effect because the workout engages your stabilizer muscles, in addition to the muscle you may be pin-pointing. Without all of the belts and artificial stabilizers of a machine, you also engage your core muscles, which are your body's natural stabilizers. In this sense, every exercise also becomes a more comprehensive total-body workout. Free-weight lifting causes your body to engage its natural strengthening tendencies. The same person that can bench press 200 pounds with a bar or a machine, may be only able to lift 160 pounds of total weight with free weights. With dumbbells, results are quicker because you have to work harder to stay stable in the entire body.

Dumbbells also give the user a better range of motion. The movement that it takes to lift a dummbell uses not only our natural weight baring tendencies, but also the body's natural patterns of movement. In this sense, free-weights are more balanced, and more functional. An example of this functionality in the real world would be that of an athlete training for a sport. Through the use of the free-weights, the athlete could create a workout routine that mimicked critical movement patterns that he or she repeats while engaged in the sport. Similarly, there are many cases where we can safely "multitask" with free-weights, such as in the case of doing biceps curls and lunges at the same time. In this way, you can perform a variety of exercises in less time than switching from machine to machine.

Furthermore, working out with dumbbells is something that most of us can afford to do from our own homes. In this sense, they carry over into normal life better than a machine can. The sheer variety that a couple of pairs of dumbbells can offer is unparalleled when compared to a machine. Many experts agree that dumbbells also create quicker, more visible results than exercise machines, because of their "natural" stabilizer effect, as well as the use of many other supporting muscle groups.

Price wise, the set of machines you would need to purchase to train all of your different muscle groups would cost a fortune for a home gym. A standard set of adjustable dumbbells can cost as little as $200 to $300 dollars. Compared to the price of buying the machines yourself, or even a standard gym membership, your own set of dumbbells are a great value for optimizing outcome on your body and your wallet. Space wise, today's adjustable dumbbell sets can be easily stored in the corner of a room or in a closet. Machines are bulky, and especially for a home-gym, require that you have an extra room in your home specifically for working out. This is simply unrealistic for most of us.

That said, there are some great benefits to using machines that should be mentioned. Particularly from a therapeutic standpoint, machines enable us to work a target muscle by pinpointing the exact and optimal range of motion. More modern machines also have cams that can alter the resistance in accordance with the muscle's strength curve. In this way, we can progressively load resistance, something that is impossible to do with free weights. Another advantage of machines is their ability to increase safety. The machine greatly prevents injuries from dropping a load on yourself, as well as hyper-extension or over-motioning.

All in all, your best bet for a comprehensive work-out is to use a combination of both, with an big emphasis on dumbbells and free-weight lifting. Use machines to target specific muscles, or to heal and strengthen an injury safely. And remember, dumbbells can be just as safe as a machine, if used with the proper awareness, proper training and general safety guidelines. Make the decision to incorporate adjustable dumbbells into your home or gym practice, and start witnessing some new changes in your strength process.

Mike Westerdal is the author of "Dumbbell Exercises & Lifting Routines" To Help You Gain More Muscle, Lose Weight, or Just Get Yourself in Better Physical Shape... WITHOUT the Hassles, and Expenses of Health Clubs. Increase Your Muscle Size And Improve Your Physical Fitness In 90 Days - Guaranteed.

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Now how many times have you been embarrassed to have got a comment of  being skinny too much. Your painful days are over. First, you should let go of the embarrassment thing and concentrate on improving your overall look out. Its possible very much.

 Anthony Ellis-left-3 months transformation speaks about the potential.
Go out there, show the world you can actually do it. Here are some tips I know of which everyone uses to motivate themselves.
Challenging Yourself For The Motivation- Try increasing the amount of weight after each set or day. This can be possible by training to failure.

Nutrition- Eat the correct diet. You need lots of good nutrition with lots of water to stay healthy and fit and gain weight. Egg-whites, Whey Protein, Chicken etc. Grab em all. Eat a high protein, high calorie diet pre and post workout and should be under 1 hour of both.

Compound Exercises man- Compound exercises are multi-joint movements that rely on the coordinated actions of several muscle groups to move two or more joints through a range of motion. Compound exercises are multi-joint movements that rely on the coordinated actions of several muscle groups to move two or more joints through a range of motion. Examples are press, squats etc.  These are much more beneficial than isolation exercises especially for skinny guys. Like I mentioned earlier, get those training for use.


Supplements-Only supplements won't do you any good if you just happen to sit at house and do nothing. Everything should go hand in hand to work.

Routine- Follow that routine which suits you and which is right for you. Not the one which pro body builders use. You are likely to end up hay-wire.

Frustration- Remember, frustration is a bad thing. Don't quit too early. Be Positive. Rome was not built in a day.

Proper Training- Using less no. of reps with heavy weight mostly does the trick for growth. Rely on this theory and you are sure to get rewarded. You should always take a day-off between workout days. Stretching is very important folks. Don't neglect this part. Stretching after each workout is important. Concentrate on free weights not machines.
It's always a good idea to book a session with a personal trainer to get set up on your first program until you have a better understanding of all the concepts involved with weight training. After that point, you can start playing around with your own program, implementing advanced training principles to help kick your results up a notch.

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Tags: Muscle, Skinny

This site may not function properly in the version of Internet Explorer you are using. Please upgrade to the latest version. Or download the latest version of Firefox or Chrome. by John Meadows CSCS, and Bill Willis Ph.Dc – 12/14/2011

Inflammation is big business. With an aging population seeking to live a long and pain-free life, pharmaceutical companies are hard at work developing drugs to combat the many faces of inflammation. But this stuff isn't just for old folks – young bucks looking to get bigger and stronger can benefit as well.

Inflammation is the body's first response to an injury or infection. It was originally defined by the Latin words calor, dolor, rubor, and tumor, which mean heat, pain, redness, and swelling, respectively. What's interesting is the pain, redness, and swelling aren't directly caused by the infection or injury, but the immune system's response to them.

When an inflammatory response is triggered, chemical messengers called cytokines are released. This causes local dilation of blood capillaries and the skin to warm and redden due to increased blood flow to the area.

Dilation of the vasculature creates gaps between the endothelial cells lining the blood vessels, allowing blood plasma to leak into surrounding tissues. This expansion of fluid volume induces swelling, which leads to pain by putting more pressure on local nerve endings.

Cytokine release also makes vascular endothelial cells more "sticky," allowing white blood cells to attach and move from the blood into the inflamed tissue. To clear out any invading microorganisms and/or damaged tissue, white blood cells release substances that further increase inflammation and can cause local tissue damage, increasing pain.

While this all sounds like a very destructive process, acute inflammation is a normal part of life. The benefit of the temporary discomfort and swelling is that inflammation allows large numbers of immune cells to rapidly move into areas where they're needed to kill any invading microorganisms and begin the healing process.

For example, you're slicing your grass-fed flank into pieces to throw into a stir-fry and accidentally cut yourself. A blood clot rapidly forms to stop the blood loss, but the break in the protective barrier of your skin allowed bacteria in.

The immune system instantly keys up on the presence of these bacteria, triggering an inflammatory response. This makes blood vessels in the area "leaky," causing swelling, pain, and redness, but it also allows white cells to rapidly move into the area and kill the invading bacteria before they can spread and create a bigger infection.

The last thing we want to do is steer you away from training like an animal, so you should know that the inflammation that accompanies hard training is good.

In this case, muscular contractions cause a local increase in cytokines, activating inflammation. Think of cytokines as local chemical messengers – they're signaling proteins that help with intercellular communication, such as Interleukin 6 (IL-6) increasing muscle glucose uptake and the use of fats as fuel.

They also activate a local inflammatory response, kicking off a cascade of events associated with muscle growth and repair. Along with local growth factor release in response to mechanical tension, infiltrating immune cells play a direct role in satellite cell activation by locally releasing the cytokine TNFa.

Think of it like a construction site that's been damaged by a storm or hurricane. The foreman (cytokines) tells his crew to bring in more building supplies and to get busy fixing things – but now, make the building even more stable by using more material than what was originally planned. The result is a bigger and better building.

These types of acute inflammatory responses are totally normal and are involved in everything from wound healing to muscle growth. But what happens when inflammation is chronic instead of acute?

This is a big deal. The medical establishment tells us that hypertension is the "silent killer." According to many progressive doctors, chronic inflammation also deserves that designation.

Like acute or short-term stress, acute or local inflammation is usually okay. But chronic/low grade inflammation tends to be systemic, and can lead to joint stiffness and overall muscle aches and pain. At its most serious level, it can result in heart disease or insulin resistance, and most chronic degenerative diseases (think cardiovascular disease, various forms of arthritis, rhinitis) and even cancer are driven by chronic inflammation.

The bottom line is that chronic inflammation means loss of performance, and possibly even more serious health problems down the road.

Fat Balance. Most of us eat too much omega-6 fatty acids and not enough omega 3's. Here's why:

Competitive inhibition of delta-6-desaturase. Referring to the diagram below, you'll notice that the first step is dependent on delta-6-desaturase. When you take significantly more omega-3 than omega-6 – or vice versa – they compete against one another. This is why I tell people that super-loading omega-3 is not a good idea.

If you take in too much omega-3, you'll have issues converting omega-6, which is also essential. So don't fall for the "take 20-30 grams of fish oil a day" recommendations.

Fact is, some topnotch doctors report seeing patients with unusual bleeding and joint pain from taking excess omega-3. On the other hand, problems also occur with ingesting too much omega-6, which happens to be much more biologically active and will set the stage for more inflammation.

Here are some key points:

Prostaglandins. These are lipid compounds derived from fatty acids. They can be both inflammation promoting and inflammation calming. An easy way to remember if the prostaglandin is anti- or pro-inflammatory (in case you're ever in a Jeopardy showdown) is that even numbers are pro-inflammatory, and odd numbers are anti-inflammatory.

'Ases.' Anything that ends in "ase" is an enzyme that pushes the conversion process along.Arachidonic acid isn't all bad. PG2 is created from AA, but so are lipoxins, powerful anti-inflammation agents. Lipoxins are a relatively new discovery, and help to slow down inflammation. They're produced if salicylic acid is available. So take a baby aspirin or eat plenty of fruits and veggies and you're set.Cox-1 production is good. Notice the pathway to the left of DGLA. This is a very strong anti-inflammatory pathway leading to PGE1. This is one reason why GLA is a very good thing.

Let's move on to the omega-3 pathway.

The prostaglandins produced through this pathway are all anti-inflammatory.DHA also produces resolvins and protectins, and like lipoxins, are relatively new discoveries.Resolvins, as the name implies, resolves inflammation. Dr. Charles Serhan has done some fascinating work showing that Resolvin E (made from EPA) inhibited activation and movement of immune cells, resulting in diminished inflammation. It's also been shown to reduce skin inflammation, periodontal disease in animals, and other cool stuff. Resolvin D (made from DHA) has also shown tremendous benefit.Protectins, as the name implies, protects us in some way.

Trans fats. Simply put, all trans fats are garbage. Look at the delta-6-desaturase enzyme in the two pathway diagrams. Trans fats can kill this step by inhibiting delta-6-desaturase. In other words, trans fats are crippling the healthy processing of fatty acids! Trans fats also get into your cell membranes and crowd out EFAs, thus increasing insulin resistance.

Alcohol. Just like trans fats, alcohol can slow delta-6-desaturase in its tracks. Alcoholics usually have chronic inflammation as a result. Go easy on the booze.

Insulin. I'm referring to insulin injections here. In some cases it may be a medical necessity, but for those injecting it for its anabolic properties, just know that it also fires up inflammation.

Excess caffeine. Drinking a cup or two of coffee isn't a problem, but those who drink it all day are also increasing inflammation.

Excess refined carbs. Constantly slamming non-nutrient dense refined carbs can also create inflammation. One way is by making the delta-5-desaturase enzyme "hyperactive." On the omega-6 diagram you'll see that this is what converts DGLA to arachidonic acid, which produces inflammatory prostaglandins.

The most common way is to get a high sensitivity C-reactive protein test. Many physicians now use this test as a predictor for heart attack risk as well. Although not a perfect test, it's great for measuring low-grade chronic inflammation.

A reading of less than 1 mg/L is low risk.A reading of 1 – 3 means is an average risk.A reading of 3 or above is high risk!

However, don't stop with the C-reactive protein test.

Next, get an omega-3 index test. Used to test for low omega-3, it's also being used as a measure for cardiac risk. I like the idea – instead of eliminating cholesterol through drugs, focus instead on raising omega-3 levels.

Ask your physician to measure your antioxidant levels as well. They can measure Vitamin A, E, and various minerals like selenium. Low antioxidant status usually means higher inflammation.

While I don't believe all anti-inflammatory drugs are evil, they are vastly overused and can be dangerous if abused. It's one thing to pop a few Motrin once a month to relieve soreness, but constant use can lead to trouble.

By inhibiting inflammatory prostaglandin activity, NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) may inhibit muscle protein synthesis after a workout. Also, NSAID junkies usually aren't aware that chronic NSAID use breaks down joint cartilage. Hello arthritis.

Conventional NSAIDs (such as Motrin, Naproxen, Advil, etc.) interfere with both cox-1 and cox-2. (Refer back to the diagram to see where they fall in the EFA pathways.) Cox-1 is essential for keeping a healthy stomach. In fact, helicobacter pylori infections that lead to ulcers are often caused by NSAIDs.

After the cox-2 enzyme was discovered, a new class of drugs was developed (Celebrex, Vioxx, Bextra) that suppress cox-2 but leave cox-1 alone. However, it was soon found that these cox-2 inhibitors also increased the risk of heart attack by four times compared to traditional NSAIDs.

Balance EFA's. Dump any cooking oils made with corn, safflower, and other high omega-6 oils.Eat more cold-water fish or use fish oil capsules. Wild salmon, sardines, and herring are great sources as they're low in mercury, but if you still fear mercury, eat a serving of Brazil nuts every day. The selenium in them binds to mercury, making it nontoxic.Eat grass-fed meat. Pasture-raised, grass-fed livestock have superior fatty acid profiles. Just be careful here, this industry is full of bullshit artists. Get to know the farmer.Limit refined carbs. Refined sugars are anti-nutrients – they take more from your body than they give. They also raise insulin, which isn't catastrophic, but constantly doing so will result in increased inflammation. Use simple carbs post-workout only, and perhaps a small amount in your intra-workout shake. Alternatively, you can also use a carb-free protein hydrolysate like Mag-10® Anabolic Pulse during training and forget the carbs altogether.Lose weight if overweight. Fat cells produce IL-6, TNFa, and other inflammatory cytokines. The fatter you are, the more you produce, and the more inflamed yGet a massage. A massage is an excellent way to relieve inflammation. Try to get one every week or two.ou get.Increase spices like curcumin, ginger, and oregano. Curcumin is a must. There are over 2000 studies supporting its use. It suppresses the interleukin-6 mentioned earlier, along with many other inflammation promoting compounds. I usually recommend ginger for those with upset stomachs or nausea. It also can block lipooxygenase. (See the omega-6 diagram for why that would be beneficial.)Avoid trans-fats. Nuff said.Avoid (or limit) alcohol. Hammering back shots like it's New Year's Eve is okay once in a while – like, say, on New Year's Eve – but if your idea of moderation is limiting alcohol consumption to just the days of the week that end in "y," then you probably have issues.Avoid excessive caffeine.Eat more fruits and veggies. This will increase the antioxidant status of your body.Use supplemental antioxidants and vitamins. If you can't get enough food in during the day, or simply don't like certain foods, use supplements. EPA/DHA and GLA supplements are number one, but you might also want to include vitamins A, C, E, and D.

Lastly, add in magnesium, selenium, and zinc.

Inflammation is a complex topic, and this article has merely scratched the surface. We hope that we've at least given you a few things to consider as you try to kick off 2012 on a healthier note. Remember, inflammation may be a "silent killer," but that doesn't mean you shouldn't take action.

Feel free to post your questions in the LiveSpill!

Maslinska D, Kaliszek A, Opertowska J, Toborowicz J, Deregowski K, Szukiewicz D. Constitutive expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) in developing brain. A. Choroid plexus in human fetuses. Folia Neuropathol 1999;37:287-91.

Pedersen BK, Febbraio MA. Muscle as an endocrine organ: focus on muscle-derived interleukin-6 Physiol Rev 2008;88:1379-406.

Palacios D, Mozzetta C, Consalvi S, Caretti G, Saccone V, Proserpio V, et al. TNF/p38alpha/polycomb signaling to Pax7 locus in satellite cells links inflammation to the epigenetic control of muscle regeneration. Cell Stem Cell 2010;7:455-69.

Rashad S, Revell P, Hemingway A, Low F, Rainsford K, Walker F. Effect of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs on the course of osteoarthritis. Lancet 1989;2:519-22.

Teather LA, Packard MG, Bazan NG. Post-training cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibition impairs memory consolidation. Learn Mem 2002;9:41-7.

Trappe TA, White F, Lambert CP, Cesar D, Hellerstein M, Evans WJ. Effect of ibuprofen and acetaminophen on postexercise muscle protein synthesis. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 2002;282:E551-E556.

Vazquez-Vela ME, Torres N, Tovar AR. White adipose tissue as endocrine organ and its role in obesity. Arch Med Res 2008;39:715-28.

Bill Willis is a personal trainer, bodybuilding competitor, and PhD student in physiology. His research looks into mechanisms that control protein synthesis in muscle tissue. The current focus is on the heart, especially during cardiac stress. He and his colleagues hope to one day be able shut down the pathological changes that lead to cardiac dysfunction and heart failure. He is also interested in translational (i.e protein synthesis) control mechanisms in skeletal muscle. He also competes in amateur bodybuilding contests, having placed first in the Mike Francios classic.

John Meadows CSCS, CISSN, is the creator and owner of www.mountaindogdiet.com. He is a top 5 finisher in the Mr. USA and Mr. North America bodybuilding championships, and when not training is usually chasing around his twin infants, designing brutal training programs, fixing people's cholesterol levels, or writing articles for T NATION.

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