Big wide shoulders are a critical component to a well balanced muscular physique. Having big round deltoids will give you that nice V-tapered look and help you fill out an X-large T-shirt

What you’re going to get below is a complete dumbbell shoulder workout to help pack on some muscular mass. We’re going to be using super sets in a circuit routine to hit all 3 heads of the delts and pump up your shoulders like crazy.

And the best part is this entire routine shoulder routine can be done with just a set of adjustable dumbbells, so it’s perfect for those of you who workout at a basic home gym.

To recap the home gym shoulder workout…

The first super set is:
Front Dumbbell Raises & Dumbbell Shoulder Press

The second super set is:
Side Dumbbell Lateral Raises & Dumbbell Shoulder Press

The third super set is:
Bent Over Dumbbell Raises & Dumbbell Shoulder Press

Do the first super set, rest 1 minute.
Do the second super set, rest 1 minute.
Do the third super set, rest 1 minute.
Repeat for a total of 3 super set circuits.

Shoot for 10-15 reps for each exercise.

Give this shoulder workout routine a try for yourself and then leave me a comment below letting me know how you like it.

Join The “Inner Circle” Coaching Club…

And if you would like to work with me personally and get your very own customized diet and workout program for building muscle, burning bodyfat, and getting in your best shape ever. Then make sure to sign up for the Total Fitness Bodybuilding “Inner Circle” Coaching Club at: www.TotalFitnessBodybuilding.com

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There are three distinct categories of the human body:

The endomorph, characterized by a preponderance of bodyfat.

The mesomorph, marked by a well-developed musculature.

The ectomorph, distinguished by a lack of either much fat or muscle tissue.

Obviously, most people are not going fit exactly in one category or another. We tend to have a combination of the 3 body types. But knowing which of the 3 body types you predominately lean towards can help you structure your workouts and nutrition program to better meet your fitness goals.

Here are some general training and nutrition guidelines to follow for each of the 3 body types…

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Ectomorph

Ectomorphs need to focus their efforts of gaining muscular bodyweight.

Heavy weight training will help ectomorph’s stimulate muscle growth. Slower paced workouts with longer rest periods (i.e. at least 2 minutes between sets) will allow heavier weights to be lifted and thus help stimulate more muscle growth. Ectomorph’s also need to train less frequently in order to give their body plenty of time for growth and recovery. 3 weight training workouts per week would be ideal.

Cardio and other aerobic activities should be kept to a minimum until you are happy with your current bodyweight. This will conserve calories and allow them to be utilized for muscle growth.

Ectomorph’s need to make sure that they consume more calories then they burn off in order to have a caloric surplus from which to grow from. Ideally they should not go any longer then 2 hours without eating something. Each meal should contain protein and starchy carbohydrates. While the diet should be focused around natural unprocessed foods, some higher fat foods like peanut butter, red meat, whole eggs, and full fat dairy products can be added to the diet to help increase the caloric intake.

Ectomorph’s have really fast metabolisms so the risk of gaining bodyfat is low. And even if they do gain some bodyfat during the mass building phase, they will easily be able to get rid of it once they return to a lower calorie diet.

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Endomorph

An Endomorph’s biggest problem is losing bodyfat and keeping it off.

Weight training will help endomorph’s develop a better muscle to fat ratio in their body and therefore speed up their metabolism. Ideally endomorph’s should train at a fast training pace (very little rest between sets and exercises) to help burn up more calories during their workouts.

A minimum of 30 minutes of daily cardio, preferably done first thing in the morning before eating, will help burn up stored bodyfat and help increase the metabolism. Moderate intensity activities like brisk walking, bike riding, and cardio machines at the gym are ideal.

Endomorph’s need to eat less then maintenance calories in order to burn up stored bodyfat for energy. 5-6 small meals spaced out every few hours during the day. These meals should be based around lean protein and green veggies. The only time starchy carbohydrates should be consumed is immediately after exercise. At these times the body is primarily concerned with replacing muscle glycogen and the carbohydrates will be unlikely to get stored as bodyfat after exercise. Obviously, sweets, junk foods, and heavily processed foods should be eliminated from your diet, except for an occasional treat once or twice per week.

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Mesomorph

Mesomorph’s tend to be in the middle of the road as far as muscle mass and bodyfat. They generally have a naturally fit body, but to maintain it or improve it they need to exercise and diet correctly. Most successful bodybuilders have this body type.

Weight training can be done more often and for longer sessions then would be good for an ectomorph, but mesomorph’s still need to be careful not to overdo it. Depending on the individuals fitness goal, a mesomorph could focus on the guidelines suggested for an ectomorph and gear their training towards gaining muscular bulk. Or they could focus more alone the guidelines outlined for the endomorph and gear their training towards fat loss and getting ripped.

A lot of mesomorph’s like to cycle their training by bulking up and gaining muscle mass during the fall and winter months. And then switch to training for fat loss during the spring and summer months, in order to have a lean fit looking physique for the summer.

Eventually ectomorph’s and endomorph’s can take on a similar training cycle pattern as their physiques get more developed and they begin to take on some of the characteristics of the mesomorph. But they will still have a tendency to need more work on their trouble areas (i.e. gaining size for ectomorphs and losing fat for endomorph’s).

When a mesomorph is happy with their muscle size and leanness they can simply train to maintain it by sticking to a good healthy diet and performing moderate cardiovascular exercise several times per week to keep the bodyfat in check.

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Conclusion

When you know what body type you have and then train and eat properly for your body type, you will make much better progress with your workouts.

Your goal should be to look as close as possible to a mesomorph. With the correct exercise and diet this is an attainable goal. And while some people may have to work harder then others to either gain muscle or lose bodyfat, progress is possible regardless of genetics. And very often people with a stronger work ethic and more determination will be able to overcome their limitations and surpass those with better genetics.

==============

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What you’re going to get in the video below is a complete push up workout that you can do at home without any exercise equipment.

You’re also going to get some advanced push up variations that you can do using rubber fitness bands for added resistance. And don’t worry if you don’t have a set of rubber fitness bands, because you can order your very own set of Heavy Duty Adjustable Tension Rubber Exercise Bands from: www.BodyLasticBands.com

Push ups are great extra exercise that you can add to any workout routine to help speed up growth in the chest. So if you find that your chest is a stubborn muscle group for you, then simply doing a couple sets of push ups everyday can help spur on new muscle growth because you are regularly flushing blood and nutrients into your pectoral muscles.

Give these push up exercise variations a try for yourself and then leave me a comment below letting me know how they work for you.

Join The “Inner Circle” Coaching Club…

And if you would like to work with me personally and get your very own customized diet and workout program for building muscle, burning bodyfat, and getting in your best shape ever. Then make sure to sign up for the Total Fitness Bodybuilding “Inner Circle” Coaching Club at: www.TotalFitnessBodybuilding.com

Do you want to get on the FAST Track for packing on lean muscle mass and blasting away that stubborn bodyfat?

Well if so I’ve got good news…

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Because right now I’m in the process of setting up my “Inner Circle” Coaching Club Members with their very own Fast Track Programs.

You see rather then just making up generic “one size fits all” workout and diet plans. I’m going to use the actual members from the “Inner Circle” to create step-by-step training,
nutrition, and supplementation programs for:

So if you would like to be apart of this, just sign up for the “Inner Circle” Coaching Club and then go in on the forum and send me your stats.

I’ll need to know…
- Your age, height, weight, and bodyfat percentage.
- How long you’ve been working out.
- What your diet been like up until now.

And be honest, if you’ve been “On and Off” in the gym, or if you never really paid attention to your eating, then say so… (I won’t get mad, I promise )

After all we’re only human and the goal of the “Inner Circle” Coaching Club is not to be perfect, but to make progress. And being totally up front and admitting where you are right now is the first step to getting to where you want to go.

So again, just go to:
www.TotalFitnessBodybuilding.com <<--Click Here

Sign up and post your info in the Muscle Building Fast Track forum and I’ll chat with you there.

According to Wikipedia they define Overtraining as:

Overtraining is a physical, behavioral and emotional condition that occurs when the volume and intensity of an individual’s exercise exceeds their recovery capacity. They cease making progress, and can even begin to lose strength and fitness. Overtraining is a common problem in weight training, but it can also be experienced by runners and other athletes.

And just like a lot of the valuable stuff you’ll find on Wikipedia, that definition of overtraining is pretty dam accurate in my opinion.

The big problem I find with most of my coaching students and website followers is they pretty much “know” what overtraining is, but they can’t really tell if they are overtraining in their own workouts or not.

The root of all this confusion comes from the fact that what is overtraining for one person, is not necessarily going to be overtraining for another person. We all have different levels of fitness, different levels of work capacity, and different recovery rates. Not only that, but all of these factors will change within the individual as they get more experienced with their workouts and get in better physical shape.

A common e-mail that I get at least a dozen times a day is one of my followers will send me a copy of their workout routine that they are following and then ask me:
“Am I Overtraining or Is My Routine Ok?”

And you know what I CAN’T accurately answer that question. Anything I say will only be an educated guess. Only YOU can truly tell if you are overtraining or not by monitoring your progress (or hiring a coach who is going to monitor your progress for you).

But I’ll give you some guidelines here within this article that you can use to help monitor your progress. This will allow you to decide for yourself if you are overtraining and if you should make changes to your workout routine, or if you can keep on doing what you are doing.

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1. Strength Gains
Are you making strength gains with your workouts? You should strive to constantly improve your strength on a regular basis by either getting an extra rep on your sets, or adding an extra 5 pounds to the bar.

This is what we refer to as “progressive overload”. Now obviously it’s not alway going to happen each and every workout, but you should be seeing some noticeable progress in your strength as the weeks go by, especially if you have been tracking your workouts in a log book.

For your major lifts like bench presses, squats, deadlifts, rows, leg presses, etc. it should be fairly easy to make 5 pound jumps in weight on a regular basis. For the smaller isolation type of exercises like bicep curls, lateral raises, flyes, etc. the gains will come slower. After all there is a BIG difference between adding 5 pounds to a 200 pound squat compared to adding 5 pounds to a 20 pound dumbbell curl.

So right now do a quick self evaluation…
Have you been making steady strength gains over the past several weeks? Have you been able to set some new personal records with your major compound lifts? If so then chances are you are NOT overtraining.

However, if you have been lifting the same weights for months on end, or even worse you had to reduce some of your poundages on certain lifts, then you may very well be overtraining.

Gaining strength is one of the most easy to measure signs of progress with your workouts. And if you are not moving forwards, then you are moving backwards, it’s as simple as that.

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2. Changes In Bodyweight
Another measurable way to monitor your progress is by keeping track of your bodyweight. Any unexplained changes in your bodyweight could be a sign of overtraining.

For example, if you are currently training to gain muscular size and bulk and you are hitting the gym hard and consistently. But you find that your weight is actually going down, when it should be going up, then you may very well be overtraining.

On the other side of the coin, if you are training for fat loss and you are following a very strict diet, doing regular cardio, and hitting the gym consistently. But you are still not losing any weight, or worse you are even gaining weight. Then this maybe a sign that you are overtraining.

You see your body has to be coaxed into making progress, you can’t force it. When you try to force your body to change it sometimes backfires and does the opposite of what you want. And one of the ways it does this is through unexpected weight changes.

A prime example of this is with a lot of overweight people who try and diet themselves skinny. Have you ever known someone who went on a borderline starvation diet or maybe even cut back to eating just one meal a day in effort to lose weight?

What usually happens is that their body basically says “F-ck You” and it ends up clinging to all the stored bodyfat for fuel, while burning up precious lean muscle tissue in effort to slow their metabolism down. It does the exact opposite of what the dieter is trying to accomplish. In fact they may actually gain fat in this calorie deprived state.

Some words of advice that you should follow when trying to change your body, be that gaining muscle or losing fat, is that most people “over estimate” how hard improving their physique will be… But they “under estimate” how long it will take…

Bottom line, you don’t have to force yourself, torture yourself, or any such thing. You just have to be consistent with the basics over the long term in order to get the results you want.

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3. Energy & Motivation
The first 2 guidelines are concrete and measurable. Meaning they are actual numbers that anyone can monitor and instantly see if there is any change or not. But this 3rd guideline is more subjective and you have to be extra cautious when monitoring subjective things because human error and inexperience can really screw things up.

If you have been training hard and consistent for weeks or months on end and then all of a sudden you find that your strength, energy, and motivation for your workouts start to drop then this is very likely a sign of overtraining and it’s your body’s way of telling you that you need a rest.

But the problem here comes with less experienced fitness enthusiasts who often times mistake lack of motivation from plain old laziness as “overtraining” and then they may end up backing off with their training, when in fact they need to do the exact opposite and kick themselves in the butt and push it even harder.

For beginner and intermediate level bodybuilders it’s best to focus primarily on the concrete and measurable guidelines to determine if you are on the right track with your workouts and avoiding overtraining. But as you get more advanced in your training and you get in tune with your body, how you “feel” will be more accurate.

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A prime example of this occurred within my own training just recently…
During my contest prep for my last bodybuilding competition my daily routine consisted of approx. 2 hours of cardio, weight training workouts, as well as posing practice all while following a carbohydrate and calorie restricted diet.

Now a mild form of overtraining is actually quite normal for competitive bodybuilders in their pre-contest phase, especially when their main concern is pushing the limits with burning off as much bodyfat as possible.

But eventually things can take it’s toll. So occasionally when I’m feeling physically and mentally run down, even during contest prep, I purposely take a couple days off from training entirely…

No Cardio. No Weight Training. No Posing.
And I purposely eat more food as well to help fill out my liver glycogen stores and aid with my recovery.

After just 2 days of this I feel like a new man, I’ll literally gain about 5 pounds (mostly from the extra carbs and water weight) but I’ll be physically and mentally stronger and ready to kick it back into high gear and push it hard again.

Having this sense and knowing when to push it hard, and when to back it off is critical as you get more advanced. It will help keep you on the edge with your workouts and moving yourself in the right direction towards your bodybuilding and fitness goals.

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If you’d like to learn more about how you can push your training to the limit, while avoiding the negative pitfalls of overtraining. Be sure to check out my “Hardcore Muscle Building DVD”. This killer weight training muscle building workout program will show you how to push your muscle gains to the limit by training your body past the point of muscular failure. But at the same time, it will allow for adequate recovery time between training sessions to maximize your growth and strength gains. You can check it out for yourself right now at: http://www.LeeHayward.com/dvd

But any exercise is better than no exercise. So to a certain degree all strength training exercises that you do can be beneficial. But there is a specific way to rank exercises from those that provide the lowest level of muscle stimulation, to the those that provide the highest level of muscle stimulation.

In this blog post I’m going to share that exercise ranking system with you. So you can use it to help save yourself time and maximize your gains in the gym, by picking the most productive muscle building exercises, in the right order, for your workouts.

Compound vs. Isolation Exercises

Compound exercises work multiple muscles across more then one joint. Squats, Bench presses, and Deadlifts are prime examples of compound exercises. They are often referred to as the “Big 3 Lifts” because they are the 3 powerlifts used in powerlifting competition.

Just by doing these 3 exercises you work virtually every muscle major muscle group in the body. Squats primarily work the quadriceps, hamstrings, hips, glutes, spinal erectors, and upper back. Bench presses mainly work the chest, shoulders, and triceps. Deadlifts heavily work the entire back, hips, glutes, hamstrings, as well as the grip and forearms. Because these exercises involve so many muscle groups, you can handle a lot of weight with these big basic compound exercises.

Now there are a lot more compound exercises besides squats, bench presses, and deadlifts. Most pressing and rowing exercises fall into the category of compound exercises as well. Shoulder presses, bent over rows, dips, chin ups, etc.

Isolation exercises on the other hand generally focus on working one major muscle group across a single joint. Dumbbell flyes, leg extensions, and bicep curls are examples of isolation exercises. These exercises are smaller movements and you are greatly limited in the amount of weight you can lift, compared to bigger compound exercises.

Now I should also point out that technically there are no “True Isolation Exercises”, all exercises will bring in multiple muscle groups as stabilizing and supporting muscles. Heck, even now while you sit in your chair reading this blog post you are working your spinal erectors, abs, obliques, etc. just to sit up straight. So our main focus here is not on “every single muscle”, just those we are working for muscle building purposes.

Free Weights VS. Machines

Free weight exercises are typically classified as barbell and dumbbell exercises (kettle bells would also fall into this category as well). Basically they are exercises that you do with no outside support. You are responsible for lifting, supporting, and balancing the weights using your own strength.

Machine exercises are what you’ll find a lot of in most gyms these days. They are basically fixed exercises with handles, pads, pulleys, or foot plates that you push or pull against to lift the weight. Now even though you have to exert effort to actually lift the weight, the machine itself balances and supports the weights along a fixed path.

There is less actual muscle stimulation from machine exercises as compared to free weight exercises. The whole act of balancing and supporting free weight stimulates your body at a higher level. You have to be more aware of what you are doing, there is a greater risk of injury with free weights as they can move in all directions, shake, wobble, etc. All this extra movement activates your central nervous system to a much greater degree.

But on the other hand machine exercises are valuable because they can work the muscles from different angles and ranges of motion that are simply not possible with free weights. With free weights we are limited by gravity and only have resistance when lifting up. However, with machines you work against the resistance of pulleys and cables so you can have resistance in all directions and angles based on the particular machine.

Which Exercises Are The “Best”?

• Some people believe that compound exercises are the best because you can work multiple muscle groups and lift more weight.




• Others believe that isolation exercises are very important for targeting and isolating individual muscles because you can focus directly on those particular muscle groups more efficiently.




• Some people believe that free weights are the best because they put your body in a real 3 dimensional lifting environment and provide more muscular stimulation.




• Others believe that machine exercises are important because they work the muscles from different angles and ranges of motion, and they are generally safer to perform.

Now all of these arguments are valid and there are pros and cons to each exercise variation. But I personally don’t like to think in absolutes of only doing one or the other. Instead I like to focus on how to combine the different exercise variations to maximize muscle stimulation and get the best overall muscle building results.

After all, the whole process of working out is just a means to an end. We’re only using these exercises to build muscle and get in shape. We not here to nit-pick over which one is better than the other.

The Best Approach For Maximum Muscle Growth

When training a body part, I typically like to start off with a big basic compound free weight exercise right at the beginning. This provides high intensity muscle stimulation when I’m feeling fresh, strong, and energetic. So if I was training chest for example; I’d start with some form of free weight bench press variation, such as the barbell bench press.

After working the muscles hard with a free weight compound exercise. I generally like to move on to an isolation exercise to really target and isolate the particular muscle group I’m working. So in the case of a chest workout I may do dumbbell flyes.

By this stage of the workout muscle fatigue is starting to set in. But I don’t want to call it quits just yet, I still want to do another exercise for my targeted muscle group to really “finish them off” so to speak.

This is where doing a machine exercise can work really good. You can train the muscles from a unique angle and because the weight is balanced and supported by the machine, the risk of injury is much lower compared to doing another free weight exercise.

So in the case of a chest workout I may move on to some variation of a chest press machine and really grind it out. Knowing that I can push myself hard and train to failure with no risk of getting pinned under a heavy barbell.

In Conclusion

As you can clearly see, there is no one “Best Muscle Building Exercise”. It all depends on the individual and what stage you are at in your workouts. Each exercise variation has a time and place where it can be utilized to help with your workouts.

This simple process of going from a basic compound free weight exercise, then moving to an isolation exercise, and finally onto a machine exercise is an awesome way to select your exercises for each one of your body part workouts. It will help you get the best muscle building benefits from all the different exercise variations.

And if you’d like to see this entire exercise selection process in action for yourself, and get a complete muscle building workout system that you can follow to take your muscular development to the next level. I highly recommend that you pick up a copy of my “Hardcore Muscle Building Program” 2 disc DVD set.

This program will show you how to train beyond muscular failure to achieve maximum muscle gains in the gym. This is a serious muscle building workout program that incorporates high level advanced training techniques to maximize muscle stimulation.

Just click on the link below to get your very own copy…

Hardcore Muscle Building 2 Disc DVD Set

DVD # 1 Chest, Shoulders, & Triceps
DVD # 2 Back, Biceps, Legs, & Abs

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Did you know that nearly ALL commercial shampoos contain the female hormone “estrogen” in them?

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Even worse, since these are chemical forms of estrogen, your body has a hard time getting rid of them.

If you’re a man over 30 you may have already started seeing the signs of low test such as:

* Decreased libido

* Less energy and mental focus

So here’s what I want you to do right now…

Go to your shower and grab your shampoo NOW!
(yes, if you’re at home, do it right now so you don’t forget)

Look on the ingredients label for anything that ends with “-paraben” (such as methylparabens, butylparabens, etc.)

If you see any parabens in your shampoo, then you must know that it’s wreaking havoc with your hormones!

Throw it out!

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I thought it was pretty cool that he wanted to interview me. And as you know I’m always willing to offer a helping hand, be it helping someone build their body, or in this case help build a better body and hopefully better grades in school as well

The exact e-mail that I received below…

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Hey Lee,

Thank you for your time.
Joe
======================

So I helped Joe out and did an interview with him for his school project and I posted it up below. I thought it would make for an interesting blog post because we covered some good solid fundamental bodybuilding information. You can check it out and then please post your feedback in the comments section.

1. How do you personally define Bodybuilding?

The term bodybuilding can have different meanings depending on the context it’s used. In its pure essence “Body Building” is simply following a diet and exercise routine to Build The Body.

Some more advanced people will refer to the sport of Bodybuilding. This is where competitors (i.e. bodybuilders) will train for a competition and get on stage to compete and see who has the best built body in terms of muscle mass, definition, symmetry, and proportion. I am competitive bodybuilder myself and have been competing regularly since 1995.

However, in my business I use the term “Total Fitness Bodybuilding” which basically means taking consistent action through diet and exercise to build your body and improve your overall fitness level. Most of my online followers and coaching students are NOT competitive bodybuilders, they just want to use weight training, cardio, and proper nutrition to improve their physiques and get in their best shape.

2. Why is it important for bodybuilders to have knowledge of muscle groups?

The primary exercise for building the body is weight training. And this involves isolating the major muscle groups of the body and performing specific exercises to work those individual muscle groups. Now you don’t have to have a degree in Kinesiology, but you do need to know what all the major muscle groups are and their primary functions.

The major muscle groups that bodybuilders will work in the gym are:
- Chest
- Back
- Shoulders
- Biceps
- Triceps
- Quadriceps
- Hamstrings
- Calves
- Abdominals
- Forearms

Very often bodybuilders will group complementary muscle groups together in the same workout.

So for example, a common bodybuilding workout is training the Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps together in the same workout. These muscles are all primarily pushing muscles and when you do any kind of pressing exercise for the chest; the shoulders and triceps come into play as secondary muscle groups. So bodybuilders will often group them together in the same workout routine.

Another common group is grouping Back, Biceps, and Forearms together in the same workout as these are all pulling muscles and when you do any type of rowing or pulling movement for the back; the biceps and forearms come into play as secondary muscle groups.

And finally the muscles of the Legs and Abdominals are usually grouped together and trained in the same workout. When you do exercises for the legs the quadriceps, hamstrings, calves, and even the abdominals come into play.

One of the most popular 3-day bodybuilding split routines is:

Workout 1: Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps
Workout 2: Back, Biceps, and Forearms
Workout 3: Quadriceps, Hamstrings, Calves, and Abdominals

I’ve got a series of workout videos on YouTube that cover a complete
3 Day Basic Bodybuilding Workout Split Routine

3. By how much will the results of a builder who uses proper form and good tempo differ from those of a builder who rushes his circuit and has sloppy form?

The main thing when it comes to building muscle is placing stress and demand on the muscles so that they have to adapt and grow stronger. This is achieved with progressive overload, meaning that you have to constantly try to lift heavier and perform a greater workload in order to give the muscles a reason to grow bigger and stronger.

Now you can actually accomplish this by using sloppy form in the gym. Granted this is NOT what I recommend, but you will often see bodybuilders who are big, strong, and muscular using poor lifting form. The reason they are still growing is because the workouts they are doing are still providing stress and demands to the muscles and stimulating them to grow. However, the risk of injury is very high when you use poor lifting form. It’s easy to pull or tear a muscle, tendon, or ligament when using poor form and jerky movements. A much better and safer approach is to use good lifting form and maintain proper control of the weights at all times and not letting momentum takeover. This is what I strive to do myself in my own workouts and what I teach my coaching students as well.

Remaining injury free is critically important when it comes to making long-term bodybuilding gains. If you get hurt you can potentially be laid up and out of the gym for weeks or even months. And this will hinder your muscle gains a lot more then taking your time and lifting more conservatively and using proper exercise form while in the gym.

So in the long term using good form and staying injury free will allow you to make better overall gains and stay consistent with your bodybuilding workouts.

4.How does nutrition apply to bodybuilding?

Nutrition is a very critical aspect to any bodybuilding routine. You can be consistent with your workouts, but if you don’t fuel your body properly you will NOT get optimal results.

You can compare your body to an engine. For example, if you have a high performance sports car would you fill it up with low octane gas and cheap low-grade oil? Of course not, you would only use premium gas and high-grade oil in the car. And you should treat your body the same way, only fuel it with quality nutrition.

Feeding your body lots of lean protein, green veggies, complex carbs, and healthy fats will go a long way to improving your overall strength and energy levels. It will also speed up your recovery from training and aid with muscle growth.

Another way to look at it is lets say you had a million dollar race horse, would you go out and feed that race horse pizza, ice cream, and French fries and expect it to run at it’s best? Probably not, I mean with that kind of money on the line you’d do everything you can optimize it’s performance by feeding it properly, training it regularly, giving it adequate rest, recovery, etc. to make sure the horse is in perfect health. Your body needs that same kind of respect as well when it comes to nutrition and lifestyle to function at it’s best as well.

5. Is there positive progress made by a builder who’s awareness of nutrition is poor?

Even though nutrition is very important, you can still make some progress with sub-par nutrition.

I’m often asked: “What’s more important – Diet or Exercise?”

Now while both are very important, I would have to give a slight edge to Exercise. The reason is that everyone has to eat. But you don’t have to exercise. So just by being active and working out on a regular basis you will still reap some benefits. Just like a high performance sports car will still run on low octane gas. Now the car’s performance will suffer and the low grade fuel may cause some engine damage over the long term, but the car will still run non-the-less.

What I often suggest for new people just starting out is to focus on their exercise routine first. Once you get that down pat and you are consistent with working out. Then focus on improving your nutrition. Often times the momentum that’s created from following a proper exercise routine will help motivate you to improve your nutrition and eating habits as well so that you can get even better gains in the gym.

6. Why should bodybuilders take nutrition seriously?

Bodybuilders who want to maximize their muscle gains and lose excess bodyfat need to take their nutrition program seriously. The more advanced you get as a bodybuilder the more important nutrition becomes. At the high levels of bodybuilding competition, the show is often won by the bodybuilder who has been the most disciplined with sticking to their nutrition program.

7. How can conditioning (i.e Aerobic Exercise) improve bodybuilding?

The primary form of bodybuilding training is lifting weights to stimulate muscle growth. But a secondary form of bodybuilding training is cardiovascular conditioning through aerobic exercise and this is mainly to aid with fat loss. The ideal bodybuilding physique is having a big muscular build with a lack of bodyfat. So that’s why cardio is very important.

In addition to helping with fat loss, cardio training improves your work capacity, endurance, blood circulation, metabolism, etc. So what you’ll often find is that bodybuilders who are in better shape cardio wise will recover faster from their workouts and this in turn will help them build more muscle mass and stay leaner.

8. Which is more important, nutrition or conditioning; or are both equally important?

Like I mentioned before, both are very important, however I would have to give a slight edge to Exercise or Conditioning. The reason for this is that everyone has to eat. But not everyone has to exercise. And when you get consistent with the exercise portion of your routine, it’s only natural that you’ll want to improve the nutrition portion of your routine as well. After all, no one wants to waste their time in the gym and miss out on potential muscle gains simply because they are
following a poor nutrition program.

9.What leads some bodybuilders to the use of steroids?

When it comes to bodybuilding the natural progression usually goes like this:

You start going to the gym and lifting weights.

• Once you maximize the gains you get from just working out, then you start focusing on improving your nutrition program.
  
• Then once you maximize the gains you get from proper training and proper nutrition you start looking into sports supplements to help get an extra edge.
  
• Then after you maximize the gains you get from training, nutrition, and supplements you may push the boundaries and look into performance enhancing drugs such as steroids.

It’s usually only advanced bodybuilders who really want to push the limits on what’s possible resort to steroids and other performance enhancing drugs. Now granted there will always be some ignorant beginners who think they can shortcut the whole process and just jump into taking drugs right away, but this rarely ever works. The foundation of proper training and nutrition is a must before supplements or even steroids can make any significant differences in your muscular
build.

10. If you could give any advice to future bodybuilders, what would it be?

My number one tip would be to take action and get started NOW. A lot of people procrastinate and put things off. You’ll often hear people say that they’ll start exercising when they have more time, etc. But the truth is you are always going to be busy and you will always have other things going on in your life. You just have to bite the bullet and DO IT NOW! Don’t wait to start.

To help with this, try to surround yourself with people who are in better shape and more advanced than you. When you are around successful people the positive influence will inspire you to improve. Having friends who are in great shape will help pull you up and motivate you to get in better shape just so you can stay on the same level as they are.

And finally, you need to view bodybuilding and fitness as a healthy lifestyle. This is not some quick fix that you are only going to do for the short term. You have to commit to lifelong fitness if you really want to achieve all the benefits that bodybuilding can provide.

11. What influenced you to become a bodybuilder?

I started working out at 12 years old. My father was always an active person. He used to jog, ride bicycle, lift weights, etc. That had a big positive influence in my life while growing up. Just like a lot of kids, I wanted to be like my dad

But the big thing that really sparked my love of muscle was when I first saw
Arnold Schwarzenegger in the Conan The Barbarian Movies.

I didn’t even know what bodybuilding was at the time, but I was just blown away that someone could actually be that big and look like a real life comic book super hero. I was determined that I would someday look like that myself. That’s when I got bit by the bodybuilding bug. All during high school I was obsessed with working out. I also participated in martial arts at the same time, taking karate lessons for 5 years. Then in my senior year of high school I entered my first bodybuilding competition. The 1995 Newfoundland Provincial Bodybuilding Championships. Bodybuilding just seemed to click with me and I enjoyed it right from the start. I was always a shy kid growing up, but for some reason I felt very comfortable on stage competing in bodybuilding. From 1995 on I have competed pretty much every year in local and regional bodybuilding competitions. My most recent competition (as of this interview) was the 2011 NLABBA Championships that took place on November 19, 2011.

Lee Hayward: Age 19 in 1997

12. What challenges do you face as a bodybuilder?

For a lot of bodybuilders dealing with social settings can be a challenge. Whenever we get together with family and friends it’s usually over food and drink. So if you are trying to follow a clean eating bodybuilding diet plan you’ll often be tempted with junk food, alcohol, etc. And you have 2 choices, either give in and indulge. Or be looked on as a social outcast because you don’t want be like everyone else.

It is like peer pressure on a higher level. Because not only are you tempted by “BAD” things like drugs, cigarettes, booze, etc. but even simple things junk foods and stuff that average people don’t consider bad will hinder your progress and cause you to gain excess bodyfat.

So hands down the biggest challenge that a serious bodybuilder faces is sticking with a healthy muscle building nutrition program while also dealing with people and everyday life. And the hardest part is that it’s usually our closest friends and family members who are the ones trying to tempt us with the bad foods.

If you have any questions, comments, or feedback about this interview;
please feel free to post them in the comments section below and we’ll discuss them there

This “Secret” can mean the difference between struggling in the gym with nothing to show for your efforts. Or making consistent muscle gains week after week.

It’s what separates an OK bodybuilder from a GREAT bodybuilder.

And NO, I’m NOT talking about steroids or supplements…

The REAL Secret To Your Muscle-Building Success is the Food You Eat!

Hands down nutrition is one of the most critical aspects to any bodybuilding routine. Once you get to the point where you are going to the gym and working out regularly. The thing that’s going to make or break your success is your nutrition program.

You can be consistent with your workouts, but if you don’t fuel your body properly you will NOT get optimal results. It’s as simple as that.

Everyday I get e-mails and comments from my followers saying things like:

——————————
“Lee, I can’t gain any muscle. I’ve been working out for
a couple years. This is the routine I’m following:
Day 1 Chest, Day 2 Back, Day 3 Legs, Etc…
Can you help me? Please tell me what I’m doing wrong?”
——————————

In 99% of these cases the root cause of their lack of results is NOT from lack of effort in the gym, but from having a poor nutrition program.

Very often when I follow up with these guys and ask what their diet is like I’ll get an answer like this:

“I eat right…”
Or
“I eat a lot…”

What the heck does that mean?
Can you decipher how many calories, protein, carbs, fat, and micronutrients are in “Eating A Lot”? (I sure can’t…)

Most guys who struggle to make gains in the gym are just ‘winging it’ with their diets. The extent of their nutrition program is when their belly growls they eat something.

Your Body NEEDS Premium Fuel For Optimal Performance…

You can compare your body to an engine… For example, if you had a high performance sports car would you fill it up with low octane gas and cheap low-grade oil? Of course not. You would only use premium gas and high grade oil in the car or else it wouldn’t get optimal performance. You should treat your body the same way and only fuel it with quality nutrition.

Another example, lets say you had a million-dollar race horse. Would you go out and feed that race horse; pizza, ice cream, chips, cookies, and french fries and then expect it to run at it’s best?

Probably not…

I mean with that kind of money on the line you would do everything you possibly can to optimize it’s performance by feeding it properly.

Your body needs that same kind of respect as well when it comes to nutrition in order to function at it’s best.

So the take home message here is if you want to maximize your muscle gains and lose excess bodyfat you need to take your nutrition program seriously.

The Bodybuilder’s Cookbook! And if you want a No-Brainer Bodybuilding Nutrition Program that you can follow that not only fuels your body with the Perfect Ratios of protein, carbs, and healthy fats… But also Tastes Delicious and is FUN and Enjoyable to eat then you need to check out: www.AnabolicCooking.net

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“I know I should stretch… blah, blah, blah… but why bother? I just want to get big and muscular. And besides I don’t want to look like some skinny twisted up yoga master.”

(Note: I hope I didn’t offend any skinny twisted up yoga masters who may be reading this )

Well, one thing you probably didn’t realize is that when stretching is properly integrated into a weight training program it can actually speed up your muscle growth. In this blog post I’m going to outline several unique stretching exercises that are designed to stretch the connective tissue which surrounds the muscles, and there by expand the fascia and enable the muscles to grow bigger and stronger.

The connective tissues that surround the muscles is very tuff and hugs the muscle fibers tight. This can actually constrict expansion and growth. For muscle hypertrophy to occur the surrounding fascia needs to be stretched and become more pliable in order to give the muscle fibers room enough to expand grow bigger.

Even if you haven’t seriously focused on stretching before, the muscle mass that you have built up to this point came about from the stretching and expanding of the muscles encasing tissue. During your workouts when blood is being pumped into the muscles, the surrounding connective tissues are being stretched, that’s why you get that tight feeling we call “the pump”.

The ideal time to stretch for increasing muscle mass is right after you’ve trained a particular bodypart and the muscles are “pumped up” and feeling tight.

At this stage the connective tissues are already being stretched from the blood volume in the muscles, and then by manually stretching the muscles as well, you get a double whammy effect and this really increases the muscle fibers growth potential.

There are basically two types of stretching that you can do to expand the fasical and surrounding connective tissue, active stretching with weights and static stretching.

Active Stretching With Weights

Active Stretching with weights is where you include exercises in your routine that work the muscles in the fully stretched range of motion. Some good examples of this include:

- Dumbbell Flyes for chest.

- Pull Overs for the lats.

- Preacher Curls for the biceps.

- Overhead Tricep Extensions for the triceps.

- Shrugs for the shoulders / traps.

- Stiff Leg Deadlifts from the hamstrings and lower back.

- Bench Lunges for the quads.

- Standing Calve Raises for the calve.

Now there are plenty of other exercises that I could add to the list of active stretching moves. But I think you get the idea. Each of these exercises allow you to lower the weight all the way down and really feel a deep stretch in the muscles at the bottom of each rep. To really emphasis the stretch you can hold the bottom position of each rep for a couple seconds while you do these exercises in your workouts.

Static Stretching

Static stretching is the more traditional form of stretching that most people are familiar with. For example, bending over and touching your toes is a good static stretch for the hamstrings and lower back. With static stretching you want to go to the point of discomfort and then hold the stretch for 30-60 seconds.

Ease into it at first, don’t rush into it and push yourself to the point of excruciating pain and risk pulling or tearing the muscles. As you become more accustomed to stretching your pain threshold will improve and you’ll be able to hold the stretches longer and stretch deeper.

Here are some static stretches that you can do at the end of each bodypart workout.

- Chest, shoulders, biceps.

Extend your arm and hold a poll or some other sturdy stationary object with one hand. Then rotate your body away while keeping your posture upright. Keep going until you feel a good stretch in the chest, shoulders, and biceps. Hold this for 30-60 seconds and then repeat with the other arm. Do this stretch at least twice for each side.

- Lats, chest, biceps, triceps, rear delts, and upper back.

This stretch is quite simple, just grab a chin up bar and hang from it for as long as your grip will hold out. You’ll pretty much feel the stretch throughout the entire upper torso. You can repeat several times with different grips (i.e. wide, narrow, underhand, overhand, etc.). This is one of my personal favorite stretches that I do often.

- Lats and chest.

Grab a bar or machine handle that is about waist high. Simply extend back as shown in the picture until you feel a good stretch in the lats and chest. Hold this for 30-60 seconds, take a quick rest and then repeat again.

- Front Delts

Similar to the previous exercise, using a bar or machine handle that is waist high, grab it from behind, palms facing backwards, and step forward until your feel the stretch in your front deltoids. Hold this for 30-60 seconds, take a quick rest and then repeat again.

- Triceps and lats

Extend both arms overhead, then bend one arm down behind your head and grab your elbow with the opposite hand. Pull your elbow until you feel the stretch in your tricep and lat. Hold this for 30-60 seconds and then repeat with the other arm. Do this stretch at least twice for each side.

- Quadriceps

Using a leg extension or seated leg curl machine, set the foot roller pad so that it is just lower then the height of your butt. Put the pin in the full weight stack so that the pad doesn’t move. Then hook your foot over the pad as shown in the picture. And lean back and down until you feel the stretch throughout the quads. Hold this for 30-60 seconds and then repeat with the other leg. Do this stretch at least twice for each side.

- Hamstrings

Extend your leg on a weight machine, rack, or some other object that is a bit higher then waist height. Straighten your leg and lean forward until you feel the stretch in the hamstrings. Try to grab your toes if you flexible enough, if not then just reach out as far as you can. Hold this for 30-60 seconds and then repeat with the other leg. Do this stretch at least twice for each side.

- Lower Back and Hamstrings

This is pretty straight forward, just bend over with your legs straight and touch your toes. Hold this for 30-60 seconds, take a quick rest and then repeat again.

Well there you have it… some simple stretches that you can incorporate into your workouts. The way you would do them is after you train a particular bodypart you would go through the above list of stretches and perform the ones that stretch the muscles you just worked. You DO NOT have to do each and every stretch after every workout. Just stretch the muscles that you trained. And then as you go through your workout cycle you’ll train and stretch each and every muscle group.

The actual time commitment to doing these stretches is minimal we are only talking about 10 minutes at most at the end of your weight training. But I can guarantee you that if do these stretches on a regular basis you’ll see noticeable improvements in your muscle fullness and separation within the next 6-8 weeks.

Here we are at the start of a brand new year, and the gym is going to be packed with people who are all committed to whipping their lazy butts into shape in a hurry.

You’ll hear them say things like:
“I’m going to lose this flab and muscle up”
“I’m going to workout everyday”
“I’m going to cut out all the junk food”
“This year I’m going to get ripped & jacked!”

Now while I appreciate their enthusiasm and desire to get in shape, it’s generally short lived. And you can see literally see the same pattern with every new year…

–>> In January the gym will be packed full.

–>> By February a lot of the new members will start to drop off.

–>> When you get into March & April the gym will be back to the same old regulars.

Do you know the main reason why so many people quit working out?
…They start off doing Too Much, Too Soon!

More is NOT always better…

When starting any new workout routine you are better off pacing yourself, starting off conservative, and focus on building up your work capacity gradually overtime. By taking things at a manageable pace and making slow steady improvements with progressive overload you’ll be able to stick to your program over the long term and actually make some solid progress.

After all, it probably took you months (or years) to get “Out Of Shape”. So don’t try to reverse everything in a couple weeks.

Rather then trying to go about transforming your physique and starting a brand new workout & diet program on your own, why not take the “Short Cut” and learn from someone who has been there before and who has already done what you want to do?

By having an experienced bodybuilding coach in your corner, you can save yourself from making a lot of trial and error mistakes. A good coach can set you up with a realistic muscle building & fat loss program, one that’s designed for your current fitness level and your body type.

Very often when an inexperienced person tries to set up their own muscle building & fat loss program they’ll either do too much too soon, or sometimes they won’t do enough, and very often they’ll just end up making a lot of rookie mistakes (especially with their with diets) that slow their progress.

So if you are interested in starting 2012 on the right track and following a proven training and nutrition system that will help you pack on pure fat free muscle mass, then you’ll want to check out the 21-Day Fast Mass Building Program. This is the Most Advanced Cycle Diet & Training Program that I’ve ever created.

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• How to “Bulk Up” and “Cut Down” at the SAME TIME without the unhealthy and unnecessary fat gain. This is the program you need if your goal is to muscle up while trimming off that excess holiday blubber.
  
• How to guarantee 2012 becomes your breakthrough year. Get ready to shock your friends and family when you take your shirt off and reveal your new ripped physique!

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As I look back over the past year I’m very grateful. It’s been an amazing year for me, with many ups (and a few downs) but overall it has been a very productive year.

And I feel very fortunate to be able to share it with you. As you know, I love helping my online followers reach their bodybuilding & fitness goals, it is a HUGE part of my life. And I look forward to finding new ways to help serve you even in 2012.

So to help kick off your New Year on the right track I want to give you 2 FREE e-Reports that will show you how a simple cycle-diet “trick” can help you pack on as much as 12 pounds of rock solid fat-free muscle mass this January!

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- How many days per week should I workout?
- How many exercises should I do for each body part?
- How many sets and reps should I do?
- Should I lift heavy weights / low reps or light weights / high reps?
- How often should I train each body part?
- Etc. Etc. Etc…

The challenge is that there is no “Right” or “Wrong” answer to these questions. There are countless variables that come into play when designing a workout program for someone; (i.e. level of training experience, individual fitness goals, previous workout routines, etc.)

In this blog post I’m going to cover this topic in more detail, my main goal is to try and clear up some of the confusion about working out. While providing you with a sample 12 week workout program that you can follow to make some solid muscle and strength gains.

Like I already mentioned, there is really no RIGHT or WRONG way to workout. You could ask 10 different bodybuilders to explain their workout routine and most likely you would get 10 different answers.

“Everything works, but nothing works forever.”

That is probably the most important thing to remember for making consistent progress with your workouts. You can follow most any type of workout routine and you will make good progress for the first few weeks (provided that you are getting adequate nutrition, rest, etc.). But generally after a few weeks of following a set workout program your progress will start to slow down and eventually you will no longer make progress with that routine.

Our bodies are very smart and naturally accommodate to stress. Your body will add as little muscle as necessary to get the job done. This is why construction workers get only big enough to handle the exact amount of work they do during a days work and no bigger, even though they are doing physical work All Day Long.

Adding muscle is a very unnatural thing to your body. You must constantly throw “curve balls” at your muscles to get them to grow. Generally, you will make the best progress for the first 3 weeks of starting a new workout routine. After 3 weeks your body starts to adapt and your progress will slow down.

Now this doesn’t mean that you can’t continue making progress after 3 weeks of following a particular program. But for the most part you’ll see your fastest results (i.e. muscle gains, strength gains, or fat loss) during the first few weeks of starting a new routine.

So to maximize these mini 3 week growth spurts, I designed the following workout program into 4 different 3-week workout cycles that you’ll follow back-to-back in order to make a 12 week workout program.

This program requires you to workout 4 days per week. Ideally you would workout on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. And rest on Wednesday’s and weekends. But if this doesn’t fit your schedule you can workout on other days of the week. Just make sure that you do not workout for more then 2 days in a row before taking a day off.

By doing this you will give your body plenty of time for recuperation and muscle growth. Muscles do not grow while you are working out; they grow while you are resting. Working out will stress and damage the muscles slightly. Then your body reacts by building up the muscles in order to handle the extra work and stress.

Note:
With each of the exercises do as many warm up sets as you need to get to your top working weight. Then perform the required sets and reps with the same weight.

If you can’t get all 5 x 5 or you found them extremely difficult, keep the same weight for your next workout.

The 12 Week Workout Program

Weeks 1, 2, and 3 do the following weekly workout routine.

====================================

Monday: (start with five minutes of light cardio to warm up)

Squats:
- do a couple light warm up sets first
- 5 sets of 5 reps (train heavy, but don’t train to failure)

Dead lifts:
- do a couple light warm up sets first
- 5 sets of 5 reps (train heavy, but don’t train to failure)

Standing calve raises:
- 5 sets of 10 reps

Hanging leg raises:
- 5 sets of 10+ reps*

Incline sit ups:
- 5 sets of 20+ reps*

*You can super set the leg raises and sit ups back and forth.

====================================

Tuesday: (five minutes of light cardio to warm up)

Incline barbell bench press:
- do a couple light warm up sets first
- 5 sets of 5 reps (train heavy, but don’t train to failure)

Seated dumbbell shoulder press:
- 5 sets of 8 reps

Bicep cable curls: (from low pulley)
- 5 sets of 10 reps*

Tricep push downs: (using straight bar attachment)
- 5 sets of 10 reps*

Bent over dumbbell lateral raises:
- 3 sets of 10-15 reps

*You can super set biceps and triceps back and forth.

====================================

Thursday: (five minutes of light cardio to warm up)

Leg press:
- do a couple light warm up sets first
- 4 sets of 15 reps

Leg curls:
- 4 sets of 15 reps

Wide grip pull downs:
- 4 sets of 15 reps

Hyper extensions:
- 4 sets of 15 reps (add weight if needed)

Pull down ab crunches:
- 4 sets of 15 reps

====================================

Friday: (five minutes of light cardio to warm up)

Incline dumbbell bench press:
- do a couple light warm up sets first
- 4 sets of 10 reps

Dumbbell side lateral raises:
- 4 sets of 10 reps

Bicep dumbbell curls:
- 4 sets of 12 reps*

Tricep push downs: (with rope attachment)
- 4 sets of 12 reps*

Barbell upright rows:
- 3 sets of 15 reps

*You can super set biceps and triceps back and forth.

Keep records of the exercises, weights, sets, and reps that you do. Each workout try to beat what you did for your previous workout. With the squat, dead lift, and incline barbell bench press try to add 5 lbs. to the bar each week and do the same number of sets and reps.

Weeks 4, 5, and 6 do the following workout routine.

Monday: (five minutes of light cardio to warm up)

Bent over barbell rows:
- do a couple light warm up sets first
- 5 sets of 8 reps

Barbell shoulder shrugs:
- 5 sets of 10 reps

Leg extensions:
- 5 sets of 10 reps*

Leg curls:
- 5 sets of 10 reps*

Seated calve raise:
- 5 sets of 10 reps

Incline sit ups:
- 3 sets of 15+ reps

*You can super set leg extensions and leg curls back and forth.

====================================

Tuesday: (five minutes of light cardio to warm up)

Decline barbell bench press:
- do a couple light warm up sets first
- 5 sets of 5 reps (train heavy, but don’t train to failure)

Seated barbell shoulder press: (i.e. military press)
- 5 sets of 8 reps

Preacher barbell curls:
- 5 sets of 10 reps*

Lying tricep extensions: (with the EZ bar)
- 5 sets of 10 reps*

Cable upright rows: (from the low pulley)
- 3 sets of 15 reps

*You can super set biceps and triceps back and forth.

====================================

Thursday: (five minutes of light cardio to warm up)

Hack Squat:
- do a couple light warm up sets first
- 4 sets of 15 reps

Stiff leg dead lifts:
- 4 sets of 15 reps

Seated cable rows:
- 4 sets of 15 reps

Leg raises:
- 4 sets of 12 reps

Crunches:
- 4 sets of 25+ reps

====================================

Friday: (five minutes of light cardio to warm up)

Flat dumbbell bench press:
- do a couple light warm up sets first
- 4 sets of 10 reps

Dumbbell front lateral raises:
- 4 sets of 10 reps

Bicep barbell curls:
- 4 sets of 12 reps*

Tricep push downs: (with V bar attachment)
- 4 sets of 12 reps*

Close grip pull downs:
- 4 sets of 15 reps

*You can super set biceps and triceps back and forth.

Keep records of the exercises, weights, sets, and reps that you do. Each workout try to beat what you did for your previous workout. With the decline bench press and the bent barbell row try to add 5 lbs. to the bar each week and do the same number of sets and reps.

Weeks 7, 8, and 9 do the following workout routine.

Monday: (five minutes of light cardio to warm up)

Squats:
- do a couple light warm up sets first
- 5 sets of 5 reps (train heavy, but don’t train to failure)

Partial Dead lifts: (use a power rack and set the bar just below your knees)
- do a couple light warm up sets first
- 5 sets of 5 reps (train heavy, but don’t train to failure)

Chin ups:
- 4 sets of as many reps as you can do

Pull down ab crunches:
- 5 sets of 10 reps

Leg raises:
- 5 sets of 10 reps

====================================

Tuesday: (five minutes of light cardio to warm up)

Flat barbell bench press:
- do a couple light warm up sets first
- 5 sets of 5 reps (train heavy, but don’t train to failure)

Bent over dumbbell lateral raises:
- 4 sets of 10 reps

Dumbbell side lateral raises:
- 4 sets of 10 reps

Dumbbell front lateral raises:
- 4 sets of 10 reps

Bicep cable curls: (from low pulley)
- 5 sets of 10 reps*

Tricep push downs: (using straight bar attachment)
- 5 sets of 10 reps*

*You can super set biceps and triceps back and forth.

====================================

Thursday: (five minutes of light cardio to warm up)

Hack Squat:
- do a couple lighter warm up sets first
- 5 sets of 10 reps

Leg press:
- 4 sets of 15 reps

Chest supported row: (i.e. T-bar row, hammer strength seated row, etc.)
- 4 sets of 10 reps

Hyper extensions:
- 4 sets of 10 reps

Pull down ab crunches:
- 4 sets of 15 reps

====================================

Friday: (five minutes of light cardio to warm up)

Dumbbell bench press on the stability ball:
- do a couple light warm up sets first
- 4 sets of 15 reps

Dumbbell shoulder press sitting on the stability ball:
- 4 sets of 15 reps

EZ bar bicep curls:
- 4 sets of 15 reps*

One arm over head dumbbell extensions:
- 4 sets of 15 reps*

One arm dumbbell rows:
- 3 sets of 15 reps

*You can super set biceps and triceps back and forth.

Keep records of the exercises, weights, sets, and reps that you do. Each workout try to beat what you did for your previous workout. With the squat, partial dead lift, and flat barbell bench press try to add 5 lbs. to the bar each week and do the same number of sets and reps.

Weeks 10, 11, and 12 do the following workout routine.

Monday: (five minutes of light cardio to warm up)

Leg press:
- do a couple light warm up sets first
- 5 sets of 5 reps (train heavy, but don’t train to failure)

Stiff leg dead lifts:
- do a couple light warm up sets first
- 5 sets of 5 reps (train heavy, but don’t train to failure)

Wide grip pull downs:
- 4 sets of 10 reps

Incline sit ups:
- 5 sets of 15 reps

Leg raises:
- 5 sets of 15 reps

====================================

Tuesday: (five minutes of light cardio to warm up)

Dips: (add extra weight if needed)
- do a couple light warm up sets first
- 5 sets of 5 reps (train heavy, but don’t train to failure)

Chin ups:
- 4 sets of as many reps as you can do. If you can do more then 10 reps, add weight.

Side lateral raises:
- 4 sets of 10 reps

Seated barbell shoulder press: (i.e. military press)
- 4 sets of 10 reps

Bicep dumbbell preacher curls:
- 5 sets of 10 reps*

Tricep push downs: (using rope attachment)
- 5 sets of 10 reps*

*You can super set biceps and triceps back and forth.

====================================

Thursday: (five minutes of light cardio to warm up)

Squats:
- do a couple light warm up sets first
- 4 sets of 15 reps

Leg curls:
- 4 sets of 15 reps

Leg extensions:
- 4 sets of 15 reps

Seated cable rows:
- 4 sets of 15 reps

Standing calve raise:
- 4 sets of 15 reps

Pull down ab crunches:
- 4 sets of 15 reps

====================================

Friday: (five minutes of light cardio to warm up)

Push ups with feet elevated on the stability ball:
- 4 sets of as many reps as you can do

Seated dumbbell shoulder press:
- 4 sets of 10 reps

Standing one arm dumbbell curls:
- 4 sets of 10 reps*

One arm over head dumbbell extensions:
- 4 sets of 10 reps*

Close grip pull downs:
- 4 sets of 10 reps

(*Super set the curls with the over head tricep extensions. For example, set of curls with one arm, set of curls with the other arm, set of extensions with one arm, set of extensions with the other arm, with no rest in between.)

Keep records of the exercises, weights, sets, and reps that you do. Each workout try to beat what you did for your previous workout. With the weighted dips and leg press try to add 5 lbs. to the bar each week and do the same number of sets and reps.

Conclusion…

Each 3 week phase of the 12 week program is different. As the weeks progress you’ll be focusing on training the muscles with different exercises during each phase. And the reps you perform for the exercises will vary during the weekly workouts. This will ensure that the muscle stimulation provided is unique and fresh and this will help to keep your body on the “anabolic edge” for maximum muscle growth. Training like this will allow you to make consistent progress over the long term.

These short training cycles work perfectly with our body’s natural adaption and growth patterns. Like I mentioned before, our bodies are very smart and quickly accommodate to stress. Adding muscle is a very unnatural thing to your body, so you have to constantly throw “curve balls” at your muscles in order to get them to respond to your workouts and grow.

After you complete this 12 week workout program you can go through the entire program again and strive to beat your personal best lifts from the first time through. Or if you want, you can move on to something totally different to better suit your training needs.

If you are looking for a more advanced training & nutrition program, then I’d recommend you check out the 21-Day Fast MASS Building Program.

This is a 21-Day Training & Nutrition Cycle that will help you pack on pounds of lean muscle mass without getting fat in the process. The best part is that you can repeat this program over and over again, as often as you like, until you reach your desired level of lean muscular mass.

The secret to the 21-Day Fast Mass Building Program is harnessing the power of the “Anabolic Amplifier Effect” which maximizes your body’s natural production of anabolic hormones such as testosterone, growth hormone, insulin and IGF-1 to pack on pounds of rock solid muscle mass WITHOUT gaining bodyfat!

To learn more about the 21-Day Fast Mass Building Program & to download your copy, just click on the link below:

www.21DayFastMassBuilding.com

When it comes to bodybuilding things are no different we want results ASAP. The desire to build a better body unites all bodybuilding and fitness enthusiasts, but for most of us, the muscle gains come too slow and they never come easy. So we look for shortcuts. Is the secret to fast muscle gains training harder, lifting heavier, eating more, popping this pill, or slugging back the latest hyped up magic muscle drink…

In this article we are going to dive into 5 of the most common workout “shortcuts” that people take and pick them apart to find a better plan of action. More often then not the best methods for building a stronger and more muscular physique involve a less extreme approach.

Shortcut # 1 – Training More Often

A lot of times aspiring bodybuilders think they are not training enough and fall into the more is better mentality. After all more workouts must mean more muscle, Right?

It is not uncommon to find less experienced (but over enthusiastic) bodybuilders to start spending more and more time in the gym. Daily workouts become the norm and the length of those workouts gradually gets longer and longer. They usually think they are doing themselves good, and sometimes even brag about how they workout “everyday”.

Is there a better way?

Your body can only recover and grow so fast. Training a muscle again before you have fully recovered from your previous workout will eventually lead to overtraining. Generally the most you can train a bodypart is twice per week and still recover and grow.

While there are some exceptions to this rule with some abbreviated specialization routines (i.e. the Blast Your Bench program). You should limit yourself to working each bodypart no more then twice per week and taking at least 2 days per week off from weight training entirely as this is a good general guideline to follow for optimal muscle gains.

Shortcut # 2 – Doing More Sets

Making the transition from a beginner, to intermediate, to an advanced lifter usually involves increasing your workout training volume to some extent. The better shape you are in physically, the higher your work capacity, and the more volume of training you can handle.

For example, a beginner workout may consist of 6 sets per bodypart (i.e. 3 sets of 2 exercises). An intermediate workout may consist of 9 sets per bodypart (i.e. 3 sets of 3 exercises). And an advanced workout may consist of 12 sets per bodypart (i.e. 3 sets of 4 exercises). While this is all good general training advice, it breeds the “more is better” mentality. After all no one wants to be a newbie for long so they jack up the training volume too much, too soon.

Another problem with this train of thought is that if 12 sets per bodypart are good for an advanced lifter, will more sets be even better? How about 15 sets, or 20 sets, and beyond… Will this make me an “extremely advanced lifter”…?

Is there a better way?

Generally it takes at least 3 years of training to progress from the beginner, to the intermediate, and on to the advanced levels of training. Once you reach the advanced levels adding more sets and training volume beyond this is often counterproductive.

While there is no hard set rules for exactly how much training volume you should do, there are some general guidelines that you can follow. 9 sets per workout should be adequate for smaller muscle groups like biceps, triceps, calfs, and abs. And around 12 sets per workout will be enough for larger muscle groups like chest, back, and thighs.

Once you are at the advanced training level the key to more muscle growth is using progressive overload (gradually increasing your weights over time) and by adding variety to your workouts, by changing your exercises. NOT from adding more training volume.

Shortcut # 3 – Training Less Often

The world of bodybuilding is full of extremes, for a lot of guys it is either all or none… there is no middle ground. So after learning about the negative impacts of training too often, as outlined above, many bodybuilders make a complete U-turn and go the opposite direction and drastically cut back on their workouts figuring that “less is more”.

Some experts have gone over the deep end with the fear of overtraining. Mike Mentzer and his Heavy Duty style workouts were one of the biggest influences of the “less is more” idea. Overall the basic principles of this workout were good because it implemented a solid plan of action, used progressive overload, monitored your progress, etc.

But one major flaw of the system was that if you weren’t making progress with your workouts it was automatically assumed that you were “overtraining”, so your workouts were cut back. Sometimes going to the point of working out once a week or less. In fact there is one popular fitness guru who actually preaches that you only need to workout once every 4 weeks…?!?

Is there a better way?

For some extremely hardgainers training less often (i.e. every second day) may be the best frequency for muscle gains. But most people will respond well to more frequent workouts (i.e. 2 days on, 1 day off).

There are no hard set in stone rules that work for everyone, but a general guideline of working out 4-5 times per week and training each bodypart twice per week is a good place to start. As you get more experienced you be able to find out exactly what your body responds the best to and customize your workouts to fit your specific needs.

Shortcut # 4 – Heavy Weights & Low Reps

One of the basic bodybuilding principles is a bigger muscle is a stronger muscle. So in order to get bigger, you need to get stronger. Progressive overload is the cornerstone of all successful workouts. You need to gradually increase the weights you are lifting over time in order to make progress.

During the early phases of a starting a workout program beginners can make fast gains because all training stimulus is new at this stage. And a lot of the initial strength gains come not only from increasing muscle strength, but also from improved lifting technique and better coordination.

But once you get past the initial beginners phase, your strength gains come more slowly. When this happens a lot of lifters will simply do fewer reps so they can continue to increase the weights.

For example, if I can lift 100 lbs. for 10 reps, maybe I could drop the reps to 8 and lift 120 lbs., or drop the reps to 6 and lift 140 lbs., etc… While this may work to some degree initially to get you growing again, there comes a point where it can back fire and bring your gains to a screeching halt.

Is there a better way?

Lifting heavier weights for lower reps increases your odds of getting an injury such as a muscle tear. When you are doing fewer then 5 reps per set you lose the mind muscle connection. The lift becomes an end in itself and no longer a means for building muscle. Lifting too heavy makes it harder to concentrate on the muscles you are working, your focus switches to simply moving the weight and not getting crushed under a heavy barbell.

While you can successfully incorporate low rep training cycles into your workouts from time to time. They shouldn’t be your primary focus. For bodybuilding purposes try to stay within the 6-12 rep range. This is the “sweet spot” for keeping your muscles under tension long enough to stimulate growth, while still allowing relatively heavy weights to be lifted.

Shortcut # 5 – High Intensity Techniques

A lot of hardgainers think the key to making faster gains in the gym is to simply work harder. So they increase the intensity of their workouts with various advanced training techniques such as forced reps, super sets, drop sets, and so on… Thinking that the harder they push themselves, the better gains they’ll make. While these guys certainly deserve an A for effort, is pushing past the point of muscular failure really necessary?

Is there a better way?

One of my favorite training motto’s is “Stimulate, Don’t Annihilate!”

For the average drug free lifter using advanced training techniques and pushing yourself to the limit will quickly lead to burnout, overtraining, and possibly injury.

A very common mistake that you can witness pretty much any day of the week in the gym is to see a couple of eager young lifters doing bench presses with WAAAYYY too much weight on the bar. One guy will be getting ready to bench while his trusty spotter is standing by ready to assist the lift. After getting psyched up the lifter plops down on the bench and takes the bar from the rack, he manages to struggle up 2-3 reps using piss poor form and every ounce of effort his body can muster. Then he gets his spotter to assist him with an addition 3-5 reps.

At the end of the set you wonder who worked the hardest, the guy benching or his buddy pulling the bar off his chest…?

This is a prime example of abusing high intensity techniques. Once you reach failure with an exercise you have stimulated the muscle. Doing more then this is often not only waste of time, but could potentially set you back in your training through risk of injury.

I rarely, if ever, use any type of set extending high intensity techniques like forced reps in my training anymore. I’ve found that they are just not necessary. Doing your sets to positive failure is intense enough to stimulate your muscles to grow.

Once you reach failure, make note of it in your training journal and then strive to beat what you did for your next workout by either adding an additional 5 lbs. to the bar or doing an extra rep with the same weight. Using progressive overload like this will ensure that you constantly push yourself to make steady strength and muscle gains.

The Real Shortcut To Fast Muscle Growth

Gains in muscle and strength don’t come overnight. They take consistency over the long term. By taking things at a manageable pace and making small frequent improvements week after week with your workouts your muscle size will increase faster then you ever thought possible… without having to go to the extremes to get there.

Inch by inch life’s a cinch… Yard by yard life is hard…

“The #1 Muscle Building Mistake” could cover A LOT of different factors;
from training – to nutrition – to mindset – to being consistent, etc…

But this particular blog is a guest post from IFBB Pro Bodybuilder Ben Pakulski and it covers a common TRAINING MISTAKE that you’ll see A LOT of people making in the gym that is literally preventing them from ever maximizing their gains…
(I hope you are NOT making this mistake!)

The #1 Training Mistake People Make In The Gym…

Guess what, more likely than not, you have all been guilty of doing this too at some point in your life (whether you care to admit it or not).

The first thing you need to do is identify your desired goal. If your goal is to build muscle, then you have come to the right place and you should listen up.

The one and ONLY most important factor that you need to consider when it comes to your quest to build muscle, is TENSION. (more on that in a minute…)

We have all heard people speak about The “Mind-Muscle Connection”, or that you’ve got to really “squeeze” a muscle to make it grow. I don’t know about you, but for most people this is a really hard concept to figure out. Those of us that “get” what it means, still really have a difficult time putting it to action.

The good news is, this is quite a simple concept and I will show you how to apply it to building your muscles literally TWICE as fast.

Here is what you need to know:

Muscles communicate in terms of tension. They have absolutely NO idea how much weight you are lifting. They only know how much tension or torque is going through them.

What if I told you there was a way to perform more or less ANY exercise so that you could FEEL it EXACTLY where you are supposed to feel it, AND increase muscular tension with LESS weight to get results TWICE as fast in half the time. Sounds pretty cool, right?

YOU can control exactly how much tension or torque that goes through a muscle you are working at ANY point in the workout.

You have complete control over HOW HARD you squeeze, HOW LONG you work, and most importantly EXACTLY WHERE you squeeze and contract.

You can selectively train EXACTLY the muscle you are supposed to be and not train anything that you don’t want to be.

Every guy out there knows what I’m talking about. We’ve all done bench presses at some point or another and probably got more of a pump in our shoulders and triceps, but NO pump in the chest (which is the muscle we are trying to work!) Well not anymore…

I would like to take this moment to introduce to you the revolutionary muscle building technique called INTENTION!

The way I describe intention to people I encounter that are unfamiliar with it is this:

“Intention is the CONSCIOUS INTENT to create TENSION in the muscle”

I know, I know, sounds a little hokey. BUT the fact of the matter is that this is BY FAR the best way to ensure you are maintain tension on the working muscle.

The number one most highly correlated factor with building muscle is “TIME UNDER TENSION”. The longer you can keep tension directly on a muscle, the more you control the rate at which that muscle grows.

You can do a bench press all day long, and if there is not tension in the pecs, you WILL NOT build pecs. Why is it that some people can build great chests while bench pressing while others cant? Because some peoples “genetics” all them to thoughtlessly keep a greater amount of tension in that muscle!

We now have the ability to do this consciously. The best part is, IT’S EASY!!

INTENTION in action.

The most simple example of intention exists on the bench press. Grab on the bar in front of you, just like you would on a bench press. You can use any stable surface for this example. I will use the edge of my desk. I grab the edge of my desk about equally as wide as I would on a bench press. Hold on firmly, and without letting your hands move from that position, “shove” them toward each other. What happened? Your chest contracted didn’t it?

Now imagine doing this exact thing through a range of motion, like in a bench press.

WOW! You just created continuous tension in the EXACT muscle you wanted to! Pretty cool right!?

Well in my brand new MI40 Muscle Building Training System I go into great detail and cover specific techniques and tricks that will help you maximize tension and growth for all your major muscle groups.

If you’d like to get more information about this program and learn how to stimulate the most muscle growth from your workouts, just click on the link below:

Check it out for yourself now at: www.MI40MASS.com

However, a lot of people will make some very critical mistakes when doing this move that actually limits it’s effectiveness.

Lee Hayward demonstrating the “Close Under Hand Grip Lat Pull Down” for building back width.

Watch the video and give these various lat pull down variations a try in your next back workout.
Then leave me a comment below letting me know how they work for you.

And if there are any other exercises that you would like to see more detailed video tutorials on,
please let me known by posting a comment here on my blog.

However, the problem with this is that there is so much conflicting crap out there these days that it can be mind boggling!

That’s why I put together this video clip to show you how you can simplify your nutrition and maximize your muscle gains.

Just click PLAY to watch the video below:

Skip La Cour: The Author Of Simple Bodybuilding Nutrition

Skip La Cour is a expert at getting people in the best shape of their lives through following simple, but proven methods for building muscle and burning fat.

He is one of the most successful Natural Bodybuilder’s of all time. He has won 15 bodybuilding competitions in his career. Including the National Drug Free Championships 6 times. At the peak of his competitive bodybuilding reign, he was the most recognized drug-free bodybuilder on the planet.

Skip has recently compiled his all time best bodybuilding nutrition tips & tricks into his brand new program: “Simple Bodybuilding Nutrition” which you can download right on his website www.SimpleBodybuildingNutrition.net

So if you are looking for a way to simplify your nutrition and maximize your results, just check out Skip’s Simple Bodybuilding Nutrition
System at: www.SimpleBodybuildingNutrition.net

This is a guest article by: Skip La Cour
Author of Simple Bodybuilding Nutrition

The organizing principles of good nutrition that will take this area of your bodybuilding and training efforts to the next level!

1. Place A High Priority On Eating:
You must place a very high priority on the way you eat if you want to take your physique to the next level. The way you eat is far more important than the way you train. You’re in the gym for about an hour a day. It’s what you do during those other 23 hours of the day that are going to make the biggest impact on your progress.

2. Burn More Calories:
You must burn more calories than you eat if you want to lose body fat. It doesn’t matter if almost all of the food you eat is good, healthy food, you must burn more than you eat or you’ll get fat.

3. Don’t Look For The “Perfect” Diet:
Stop looking for the “perfect” diet. Nothing worth having in life comes without some sacrifice. Eating the way you must to build the body you want will be no exception. In the long run, it’s the challenges that we face that makes what we have rewarding. How enjoyable would life be if everything was easy? When you start adhering to a particular eating regimen, anticipate the discipline, sacrifice, and discomfort that comes with the pursuit of any worthwhile goal.

4. Keep It Simple:
Keep your diet simple. That way, you’ll give yourself a better chance to follow through and ultimately achieve successful results. If you must make your diet more complex,
do so on the weekends only.

5. Eat Smaller, More Frequent Meals:
Eat smaller, more frequent and well-balanced meals spaced evenly throughout the day. Your body will use the nutrients in your food more efficiently. You’ll build more muscle and prevent body fat this way.

6. Eat Pre-Workout:
If you want to make sure you preserve as much muscle mass as possible, you should start eating a small protein-based meal with high-gylcemic carbohydrates before every one of your weight training and cardiovascular training sessions.

7. Set A Time Limit:
Set a time limit for your workout. Your weight training sessions should last no longer than one hour. More isn’t better—not when it comes to bodybuilding and training.

8. Eat The Right Carbs:
Carbohydrates serve as an essential part in the muscle-building process. Instead of trying to eliminate carbohydrates altogether, you should make sure you are eating the right types of carbohydrates at the right times of day. High-glycemic carbohydrates (potatoes, simple sugars are best before and after your workouts; low-glycemic carbohydrates like vegetables are great throughout the rest of the day.

9. Be Patient:
If you are not getting the results you want with your diet, you’ll need to raise your standards. You either need to do a “little more of this” or a “little less of that.” You may also need to make these changes for a longer period of time.

10: Accept All Responsibility:
Don’t blame your diet when you aren’t getting the results you want. Take 100 percent responsibility for your success and failure. Just about any eating program can be effective—if you follow through on a consistent basis. If you aren’t getting the results you want, assume that the problem is in your approach.

About The Author:
Skip La Cour is a expert at getting people in the best shape of their lives through following simple, but proven methods for building muscle and burning fat.

He is one of the most successful Natural Bodybuilder’s of all time. He has won 15 bodybuilding competitions in his career. Including the National Drug Free Championships 6 times. At the peak of his competitive bodybuilding reign, he was the most recognized drug-free bodybuilder on the planet.

Skip has recently compiled his all time best bodybuilding nutrition tips & tricks into his brand new program: “Simple Bodybuilding Nutrition” which you can download right on his website www.SimpleBodybuildingNutrition.net

So if you are looking for a way to simplify your nutrition and maximize your results, just check out Skip’s Simple Bodybuilding Nutrition
System at: www.SimpleBodybuildingNutrition.net

Now I’ve been asked about muscle soreness so many times via e-mail, blog, facebook, & YouTube comments that I decided to answer it in specific detail with this video presentation below.

So please check it out and then leave me a comment below letting me know what you think…

And if you’d like to follow a proven training system that builds REAL Muscle Mass using
“Progressive Overload”, just Click Here to download a copy of the “Blast Your Biceps” program!

This 3 Phase Mass Building System will help you NOT ONLY Build Bigger More Muscular Arms…
But also get Bigger AND Stronger ALL OVER in Record Time!

For example, it’s common to see folks with a big upper body and skinny legs (or vice versa).
Or it could be the individual muscle groups themselves that are lagging, someone could have big and well developed thighs that are stacked on top of scrawny little calves. Some folks may have big muscular arms, but flat chests. Some people have big biceps, but very weak triceps, and others may have thin “Spaghetti Noodle” arms and need to gain mass in a hurry.

Regardless of the situation, the good news is improvement is always possible!

And that’s why I’ve put together my “Muscle Specialization Training Guide”.
This is a comprehensive 104 page e-Book manual that covers unique muscle building specialization moves for each and every bodypart.

And the Best Part… You can download this e-book right now for FREE!

Yes that’s right, just enter your name and your best e-mail address in the form below and I’ll personally send you my “Muscle Specialization Training Guide” ASAP.

Note:
There’s no catch and there’s nothing to buy. All you have to do is enter your name and e-mail address in the form and you’ll get instant access to this FREE e-Book.

You owe it to yourself to check out this killer program because in addition to getting a FREE copy of the e-Book, I’ll also keep you up to date with all my latest muscle building tips and tricks that will help you build rock solid muscle mass faster than ever before!

You see it was about this time last year that I revealed my “Best Kept Secret”
for quickly packing on lean rock hard muscle mass without getting fat in the process.

I shared this “Special Program” with my good friend Vince Del Monte
and he went on to gain a whopping 7.4 pounds of pure muscle mass,
while actually losing 1 pound of bodyfat, in just 21-days!

And I want to share this exact same program with YOU Right Here!

Download Your FREE Muscle Building e-Books Below:

Download The Death Of Bulking

Download The Anabolic Amplifier Effect

In these 2 e-Books, you’ll discover why you don’t need to
buy into the nonsense bulk up diets that only pack on pounds
of fat, instead of quality muscle. You’ll also learn a secret
technique that competitive bodybuilders have been hiding for
decades to getting bigger and leaner year in and year out…

Not only that, but you’ll also get the EXACT Meal Plan that
Vince used to gain 7.4 lbs of muscle in just 21-days, these
e-Books could easily retail for $39.95, but right now I’m
GIVING them away to you! (no catch or credit card needed).

Just download your FREE Muscle Building e-Books from the links above.

Don’t even think about starting any muscle-building
workout or nutrition plan until you read this info!
It’ll change the way you build muscle… Forever!

Enjoy the free info!

Hardly a day goes by that I don’t get asked about ways to increase energy levels. People are always curious as to what foods they should eat and what supplements they should take to jack up their energy levels.

Everything from Nitric Oxide, Caffeine, Ephedrine, Ginseng, Amino Acids, Horny Goat Weed, Red-Bull, RockStar…

You name it people are looking for it and are willing to try it all. And yet the one thing that often gets ignored, but yet can improve your strength and energy levels better then any supplement or stimulant is sleep!

The benefits of getting adequate sleep are HUGE! Everything from speeding up your muscle recovery, increasing growth hormone levels, improving your athletic performance, improved heart function, cell repair, and the list goes on and on…

But one thing that may be of interest to you – is that sufficient sleep helps increase your motivation for exercise!

One of the biggest excuses people have for not following through with their workout routine consistently is being too tired to exercise. But one thing that you can do (and it costs nothing!) is simply taking a 20 minute power nap in the afternoon.

You will feel more alert and energetic afterwards, and once rested after your mid-afternoon nap, your mood, efficiency, and alertness level will improve greatly.

Scientists have proven that taking a 20-minute nap approximately eight hours after you have awaken will do more for your strength and stamina than sleeping in later in the morning.

Of course when you first come out of your afternoon nap, you will probably feel a bit groggy for about ten minutes, but once this dissipates, you will reap the rewards of being well rested, recharged, and ready to go for the rest of the day.

So if you are looking for a kick ass all natural energy booster with no jittery side effects, just take a 20 minute power nap when you get home from work or school.

It’s easy, it’s proven effective, and it’s FREE!

Workout 3 – Legs & Abs With the earlier workouts in this 3 part program we paired up the pushing muscles into one workout. The “pulling muscles” into the second workout. Now we’re going to complete the program by training the lower body. With the lower body a lot of the moves we’ll do are classified as pressing or pushing exercises (i.e. squats, leg press, etc.) But there are some other exercise variations we’ll be doing as well (i.e. leg curls, leg extensions, etc.) We’re also going to pair up legs with abdominals. Now while you can train your abs with any body part that you like, they do come into play as stabilizing and supporting muscle groups for a lot of the lower body moves we’ll be doing. So that’s why it makes sense to pair them up with your leg workouts.

Click Play to watch the 3rd Workout… Legs & Abs.

To watch the 1st workout, click this link:
Chest, Shoulders & Triceps Workout

To watch the 2nd workout, click this link:
Back & Biceps Workout

If you like these videos, make sure to Click Here & Subscribe to my Bodybuilding Video Channel
so that you can get early notification of whenever I add new videos.

More often then not the sample routines they send me tend to focus too much on the “show off” muscles such as the chest and arms and not enough on the real powerhouse muscles of the back and legs.

So over the next week I’m going to put together a complete basic bodybuilding workout routine that you can follow that focuses on building size and strength throughout all the major muscle groups of the body.

This 3 day per week bodybuilding split routine that I’m going to share with you can be used by all lifters, from beginners right up to advanced levels, with good results.

Workout 1 – Chest, Shoulders, & Triceps

These are the “pushing muscles”. You’ll notice that all the exercises you do for chest, shoulders, and triceps involve some type of pushing or pressing movement. For example, bench press, shoulder press, tricep push down, etc…

That’s why we’re going to group all these muscle groups together in the same workout. This will allow the complementary muscle groups to get trained at the same time and also get equal recovery time between workouts.

In the 2nd workout we’ll cover the “pulling muscles”, the Back & Biceps, and in the 3rd and final workout we’ll cover training for the legs and abdominals.

Click Play to watch the 1st Workout… Chest, Shoulders, & Triceps.

If you like this video, make sure to Click Here & Subscribe to my Bodybuilding Video Channel so that you can get early notification of whenever I add new videos.

You can see Part 2 of this workout at: Back & Biceps Workout Program

You can see Part 3 of this workout at: Legs & Abdominals Program

Everyday I get questions from my online followers asking my opinion on various supplements. Now while most of the supplement questions are related to the basics of protein, creatine, vitamins, amino acids, etc. I do get a lot of questions asking about “Testosterone Boosters”.

Surprisingly,
Most of the questions I get about “Testosterone Boosters” come from TEENAGERS!

Unfortunately, I think this has more to do with teenagers being impatient and looking for a shortcut to get “huge”, rather than actually solving a physical problem that they have. During adolescence the production of anabolic hormones such as testosterone and growth hormone are at their all time natural peak. That’s why EVERYONE grows bigger and stronger during their teenager years, regardless if they workout or not.

If a teenager is looking for the solution to getting bigger and stronger, it is NOT through getting their testosterone levels higher. I mean the average teenage boy’s test levels are already on bust to the point that he’ll pop a woody if a warm breeze of wind hits his crotch.

A teenage boy looking for ways to get his testosterone levels EVEN HIGHER isn’t going to do a darn thing. The key to building muscle for teens comes down to consistently following a proper muscle building diet and training program.

However, once you get past this natural growth spurt and start approaching the “ripe old age” of 30 things take a nose dive…
Just like somebody stole your MoJo!

Unfortunately, most middle age men just assume that this is a side effect of growing old and that the “good ole days” are long gone. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

Believe it or not, there are actually 6 Natural Substances that are available to you Right Now!
That can safely restore your testosterone levels to what they used to be like in the picture above!

In fact, just ONE of these natural substances has been show to literally Double Testosterone Levels within 2 weeks!

And you can get the low down on all SIX of the most potent, most powerful substances available to raise your testosterone levels and get your mojo back!

Just Click Here for all the details…

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This is a question that comes up a lot among people who are new to bodybuilding. Now if you really stop and think about it, I think the answer becomes quite obvious… BOTH are important.

However, one is MORE IMPORTANT than the other and the answer may surprise you.
Just watch the video clip below to find out the answer…

Time-Volume Training is one of my favorite “no brains required” methods for building muscle and strength like clockwork. When you do this style of training, you know EXACTLY what weight to use, how many reps to do, how long to do it for and when to increase the weight… ZERO brains required. It’s a strategy that allows you to do a LOT of work for a muscle in a short period of time, which will stimulate muscle growth AND burn a lot of calories and boost your metabolism, contributing to significant fat loss. It’s GREAT stuff and a technique I think is absolutely worth using whether you’re looking to build muscle or burn fat. The formula for regular Time-Volume Training is simple… and you’ll be able to see exactly why I say “zero brains required”…

Nick Nilsson

Select a weight you can do 10 reps with in a normal set:
Now do 3 reps.
Rest 10 seconds.
Do 3 more reps.
Rest 10 seconds…
and repeat until you can’t get 3 reps in a set.

(You’re going to be doing this for a 15 minute block of time).

Now switch your rest to 20 seconds and keep going with more 3 rep sets.
Repeat these with 20 seconds rest until you can’t get 3 reps again.
Then go to 30 seconds rest… and so on, to 40 seconds rest.
Repeat until your 15 minute block of time is done.

If you make it 1/3 of the way through (e.g. 5 minutes on a 15 minute block) still doing 10 seconds rest, then you increase the weight on that exercise in your next workout.

That’s it!

Time-Volume Training is a form of Density Training (density training has been used by Vince Gironda, Charles Staley and many others) that takes ALL the guesswork out. The exact sets and reps and rest are all laid out for you… All you have to do is the work.

Do Time-Volume Training with just one exercise per muscle group… e.g. bench press for 15 minutes straight to work chest, leg press for 15 minutes straight to work legs, etc.

This works VERY well. You’ll get a tremendous amount of time under tension for the target exercise and target muscles and you can see tremendous results both in muscle and fat loss.

Give this simple “Time Volume Training” technique a try in your next workout, and leave me a comment below letting me know how it works for you!

And if you’d like to learn some other killer training tricks like this for stimulating new muscle growth in your stubborn bodyparts, than I highly recommend you check out Nick Nilsson’s new program: “Mad Scientist Muscle” How To Build MONSTER Muscle Mass With Science Based Training. Nick is one of those guys who thinks outside the box. He is one of the most creative muscle building coaches that I know. I’ve picked up dozens of unique tips and tricks from following his programs and I regularly apply them to my own training. So if you are looking for a new twist to help you maximize your muscle growth. You owe it to yourself to check this program out. Click Here To Visit Nick’s Website.

“Lee, is it ok to add in extra exercise such as cardio, bodyweight workouts, ab work, etc.”

And the answer is YES!

When it comes to exercise there are no “set rules” that you have to follow.
If you want to do some extra exercise and you feel up to it, then Do It.

Just watch the quick video clip for more info on this topic…