Body Composition

At long last, more and more people are finally becoming aware of the concept of body composition and that it somehow differs from simply focusing on changes in body weight.

However, this is all too commonly leading to confusion as people ask “What does body composition mean?“. They know that it’s important but aren’t quite sure why it’s important or what the concept is about. I want to help take some of the confusion out of the topic here.

What Are You Made Of?

I’m not talking here about the scientifically proven fact that little girls are made of sugar and spice and everything nice while boys are made of slugs, and snails and puppy dog tails; rather, I want to talk about what the human body is composed of in biological terms.

Let’s imagine that I could magically (and hopefully painlessly) separate your body into all of its different components and put them on a slab somewhere (putting you back together might be a problem). What would we find? Well, there’d be some skeletal muscle, some fat cells (possibly too many fat cells), your bones, your organs, your brain, a whole bunch of different minerals, your blood, some water and probably a few other minor components that make up the totality of what makes you you

Depending on which type of tissue we’re talking about, we’d find massively varying amounts. Skeletal muscle can make up 25-40% of someone’s total weight, fat can range from less than 10% of the total in extremely lean individuals to 40-50% in the morbidly obese. Everything else I listed accounts for some proportion of your weight as well. The average brain is about three pounds, organs take up some space, blood weighs so much, you get the idea. If you add up the weights of all of these individual parts, you would end up with the total weight of your body. When you get on the scale, that’s what it’s telling you, the sum total of every different bit of your body and what it weighs.

Body Weight vs. Body Composition

When you talk about dieting and diet books (or even weight gain for those who are trying to increase rather than reduce weight), it’s safe to say that the majority of information out there focuses on weight loss. People want to see the scale drop, the faster the better. Diet books talk about weight loss, quick weight loss centers try to get the scale to go down as quickly as possible, even the TV show The Biggest Loser, which should be doing more to educate (and less to try and kill its contestants) focuses only on the weekly weigh-in to determine success or failure. It’s all about weight.

Why is this a problem?

Let’s say you step on the scale after dieting or exercising for a few weeks. And, happy days, the number has gone down by a few pounds (or kilos for my foreign readers).

Now, unless something very strange is going on, odds are it wasn’t bits of your brain or organs, it’s not likely to be bone either. But was it body fat? Was it skeletal muscle? Was it just water? Did you just have a rather large bowel movement that morning and that’s why you weigh less?

The typical bathroom scale that only measures weight can’t answer those questions. All a typical scale can tell you is whether or not your weight has gone down or up (if that’s the case). It can’t tell you what type of tissue (e.g. muscle, fat, water) was gained or lost.

That’s where body composition comes in.

Models of Body Composition

Recall from above how I listed a whole bunch of different tissues in your body that comprise your total body weight. Well, researchers, depending on how difficult they want to be, will group those organs in various ways and use that to develop body composition models. There are a number of different ones ranging from simple 2-component models to far more complex models involving 4 or more components.

Thankfully, for the majority of non-research applications (e.g. dieters or athletes), the 2-component models are just fine. In that model, the body is divided rather simply into:

Fat Mass: This is the sum total of all of the fat in your body. I’ll discuss this in detail in another article but there are three or four different ‘types’ of fat in the human body. All of it goes under fat mass.

Fat Free Mass: This is simply everything else. Everything that isn’t fat mass, including muscle, bone, organs, minerals, blood, etc. is fat free mass (often abbreviated FFM). I’d note that both glycogen (carbohydrate stored in the muscle) and water count as FFM; I’ll explain why in a second.
Put simply: Total body weight = Fat Mass + Fat Free Mass.

And even that simple 2-component model gives dieters and athletes the tools that they need to far more accurately track what’s happening in their body. As I mentioned above, it would generally be rare for people to be losing bone, brain or organs in any significant amount. So if someone is losing weight and they are not losing fat free mass, that means that what is being lost is fat mass (body fat). That’s good.

However, in some situations (including diets with insufficient dietary protein, or without the right type of exercise), it is possible to lose fat free mass; and since brain, organs, etc. aren’t likely to be going down, a decrease in FFM often means a loss of muscle mass.

This is generally (but not always) a bad thing, for reasons beyond the scope of this article. I would note that water loss can show up as fat free mass on certain types of diets and this can cause athletes and lean dieters to get very concerned; they think they are losing skeletal muscle mass but they really aren’t. This is a topic I’ll discuss in more detail in a later article.

I’d note that measuring body composition can also be useful when someone is trying to gain weight. An athlete usually wants to be gaining muscle mass, not body fat. By tracking body composition while in a gaining phase, they can determine what is actually being gained.

You might be wondering how body composition is actually measured. There are a number of methods available ranging from very low- to very high-tech and low- to high-cost. Many gyms will use skinfold calipers (small pinching devices which measure fat thickness), there are also handheld monitors and specific scales (such as Tanita) that use body water to estimate body composition. I’d note that, for the most part, I don’t find Tanita scales terribly useful. Other methods such as DEXA scans (a very high-tech method) and others exist. This will be the topic of a forthcoming article with specific recommendations.

In any case, by looking at changes in body composition, rather than just changes in weight, it becomes possible to tell what is actually changing in the body. Is muscle being gained or lost? Is fat being gained or lost? Are the changes just water being shifted on and off the body? While only looking at weight can’t tell you any of that, measuring and tracking changes in body composition can.

How To Gain Weight: 5 Simple Steps

Gaining weight is often a misunderstood concept in bodybuilding circles, with the majority of newcomers assuming ‘weight gain’ simply means adding pounds onto the scale. The truth is, gaining high-quality weight means adding lean muscle tissue with as little fat as possible, a feat that is often easier said than done. Many assume that in order to add pounds of muscle you have to add pounds of fat as well, but with careful attention to your diet and workouts designed to add muscle, it can be accomplished.

Gaining weight comes down to one simple principle: Calories in must be greater than calories out.

This takes into account everything you’ve eaten throughout the day and every ounce of energy you’ve expended, including your workouts. If you have a surplus of calories on a consistent basis, you will gain weight. The trick to gaining muscle without fat is keeping your caloric surplus at no more than five-hundred calories per day, which will give you the energy needed to build muscle without an excess of calories that are stored as fat.

Let’s take a look at five simple steps you can take to maximize lean muscle growth while limiting excess body fat accumulation.

5 Steps: How to Gain Weight

Weight-Gaining Step #1 – Keep your workouts intense

Those extra calories need a job to perform or they will simply go towards fatty accumulation. Lean muscle tissue can only be built if there is adequate stimulation inside the gym. This means following a bodybuilding-friendly lifting regimen that will help you grow. Six to ten repetitions per set, fighting hard to finish each set, will ensure you are lifting hard enough to build muscle.

Weight-Gaining Step #2 – Limit the amount of cardio performed

Cardiovascular exercise is important in maintaining a lean physique and a healthy heart. However, if adding slabs of lean beef to your body is your goal, keep your cardiovascular exercise to a maximum of two to three sessions per week, lasting no more than fifteen minutes per session. This strategy will give you the benefits without burning too much energy.

Weight-Gaining Step #3 – Complex carbohydrates are your friend

One of the most important steps in eating to gain quality weight is to eat high-quality carbohydrates. These types of carbs help provide the fuel your body needs to power-through tough workouts, the fuel your body needs to repair and rebuild your muscle tissue, and the lasting fuel you will need to stave off junk-food cravings.

When you stick to high quality sources of carbohydrates such as oatmeal, yams, sweet potatoes, and other whole-grain sources, your body keeps it’s anabolic hormones in check and it’s fat-storing hormones at bay. Those who attempt to gain weight by eating anything and everything they want often end up gaining more fat than muscle, a direct result of the low-quality sources of carbohydrates that alter the optimal anabolic environment.

Weight-Gaining Step #4 – Supplement with a quality protein product

Most of us don’t realize just how much food it takes to achieve a daily caloric surplus; it is often more than the average person can consume. For this reason, it is important to consume two to three high-quality protein shakes everyday in-between meals, which supplies you with the quality protein and calories you need to grow. Some people naturally have a very high metabolism; if you are already very lean and struggling to gain weight then you’re probably in this category. This is the right time to take your supplementation a step further and consume a weight-gaining shake. These shakes are loaded with high-quality carbohydrates, proteins, and fats, important for the hard-gainer who is struggling to gain weight on diet and protein supplementation alone. Not all protein and weight-gaining supplements are created equal, so be sure to do your homework and get some product reviews before finding the right one for you.

Weight-Gaining Step #5 – Lean cuts of red meat provide quality calories

Red meat is a great weight-gaining tool because it is loaded with protein, contains more fat than chicken and turkey, and is rick in vitamins like zinc and iron, which help give you the power and strength needed to lift your hardest in the gym. Stick to lean cuts of beef such as Eye of Round and Flank steaks, which provide you with the benefits of red meat without the excess of fat found in the majority of cuts. On top of choosing lean cuts, be sure to remove any visible fat before cooking, as this will limit the amount of artery-clogging fat you consume.

Red meat doesn’t need to be consumed on a daily basis, but it does have its place within a solid weight-gaining strategy.

These five steps will give you a huge advantage on your journey to gaining weight.

There is no single ‘Super-food’, no ‘super supplement’, and no ‘magic bullet’ to gaining solid muscular weight. The biggest secret is perhaps knowing what it takes to achieve the goal; consistency. It takes a smart bodybuilding routine combined with a solid weight-gaining eating plan, executed regularly and consistently over a period of weeks, months, and years. As with anything else in life, putting the plan into action and sticking to it over the long haul will help you achieve the results you are looking for.

How To Gain Muscle: My Two “Magic” Secrets

Muscle building can seem like an incredibly frustrating process. On one hand you have the 5% of lifters who appear to make it look easy. On the other hand, you have the rest of the pack who for the life of them can’t figure out what in the heck they are doing so wrong.

Believe it or not the muscle building process is rather simple. There are a limited number of rules that, if followed, lead to rapid success.

This article will tell you exactly how to build muscle. You will be provided with the 2 primary rules of lifting. Follow these rules and you will exceed your goals. Ignore them and you will continue to spin your wheels like every other confused and frustrated gym rat.

Secret #1 – To Build Muscle You Muscle Remain Consistent

An obvious secret of success, but an overlooked one.

Take 100 lifters who aren’t making quality gains and ask them how often they are missing workouts. I would wager than only a very small handful of this group missed less than 5 workouts during the last 365 days.

If you want to be successful then you need to get your butt to the gym. Muscle will not be built sitting on the couch. Sure, rest is an essential part of the muscle building process, but only after the hard work has been done.

Excuses kill gains, legitimate or illegitimate. If you can’t, or don’t lift, then you’re going to have the body of someone who doesn’t lift. Period, end of story. Far too many guys enter the gym all gung ho, wanting to kill themselves by training 6 days per week, or with a crazy amount of volume. This is often a recipe for failure. Why?

Training too often leads to burnout. Training too often also leads to missed workouts. Life gets in the way. Life always gets in the way. Not many guys can stick to a 5-6 day per week split and not miss workouts. If you can great.

The same thing applies to volume. If you go into the gym with the sole purpose of beating the living crap out of your body, then that’s likely to be the outcome. While this is seen as the right thing to do, it sure doesn’t make it easy for you to spring out of bed the next day, full of motivation, and hit the iron again.

You will most likely wake up unable to move. The next logical step – you start to miss workouts due to intense muscle soreness (DOMS), or due to lack of motivation. It is far better to start slow with only 2-3 training days per week using a moderate volume. Allow yourself time to develop the habit of not missing workouts.

Learn your limits, work on improving exercise form and don’t pressure yourself to destroy yourself in the gym. Get in, make progress and get out. Understand that it is a long journey, but a journey that hinges on consistency. Do everything you can to maintain momentum.

Train hard, but train smart. Live to fight another day.

Secret #2 – To Build Muscle You Must Get Stronger

We are all aware that the body adapts to specific demands rather quickly. If you go out and run, you will be in pain the next day. Continue to run, day in and day out, and within a month your body will have adapted quite nicely.

The same thing applies to muscle building. If you hit the gym and bench press 135 pounds for 5 reps, you will feel sore the next day. If you never attempt to add reps and/or weight to this workout, your body will rapidly adapt to this demand and will have no additional incentive to build more muscle tissue.

It doesn’t matter what style of training you utilize – drop sets, slow negatives, low rep sets, Wendler’s 531 with Boring But Big, Starting Strength, Stronglifts, Doggcrapp, HIT, or high volume – if you are not pushing yourself for more weight of the bar over time, muscle gains will stop.
This does not mean you have to get as strong as an Elite level powerlifter. It DOES mean that you can never get complacent with your training. Thought bodybuilders will tell you they don’t specifically train for strength, which is true, I have yet to meet a single weak bodybuilder.

Anyone that wants to build a substantial amount of muscle mass must build a substantial strength base from head to toe. You can’t expect to curl 25 pound dumbbells and have monster biceps. You can’t expect to leg press 135 pounds and have tree trunk quads.

The addition of strength, or progressive overload, needs to be the cornerstone of your training.
When you push sets as hard as possible, for as many reps as possible, you are maximizing progression and strength gains. You are also maximizing workouts and speeding up the muscle building process.

On the other hand, if you choose to push only 10 to 25% of sets for more reps, you are dramatically slowing the muscle building process. Imagine taking the beginner gains that happened during the first year of training, and purposely stretching them out so that they now take 5 to 10 years to come to fruition.

If only 10 to 20% of your sets are maximized during a given workout,t hat’s exactly what you’re doing. This lack of focus on progression is a major reason why so many gym rats spin their wheels month in and month out.

6 Ways To Build A Training Program With Purpose

Complacency is a death sentence for any training program. Use these methods that create sustainable plans of action to lift, run, and live with purpose

Every training career goes through highs, lows, and middling lulls. Not only is this normal, I believe it's a necessary process in order create lasting habits. If you're on a downswing, though, it can feel like you'll be stuck there forever. Trust me: You won't. There are multiple reasons why your training has derailed, but the truth is that there's not one answer. What you were doing before simply wasn't working; what you do next is the real test.

Each of these strategies has helped me to get back on track in times like these. Approach them with an open mind, and a few minutes from now, you'll own the tools to reinvigorate your physical life.

1) TAKE A WEEK OFF
Let's start with the advice no avid lifter wants to hear: Downtime is the first step to overcoming dead-end training. A stale mind is often the result of an overstimulated body. The first sign of overtraining in motivated iron athletes is a lack of drive to train. Rest is necessary before you refocus and push forward again, and one rest day isn't going to cut it.

Training exists on a continuum which begins from stress and progresses to recovery. Let this idea settle in, and something profound becomes apparent: rest and recovery are training, as much and maybe more than anything you do in the gym. Hold that perspective, and it's easy to accept how a week of rest fits into your program. You're still teaching your body to adapt to all the stress you've inflicted on it up to this point, and will continue to in the future.

If training seems like a chore, get out of the gym. Accelerate your adaptation with low-level aerobic activities like long walks and extended mobility routines. Bike rides, hikes, and shooting hoops are all great for physical rejuvenation and clearing the mind. Throw yourself into activities that you enjoy—and perhaps haven't done in a while—at a different intensity than you're used to.

"IF TRAINING SEEMS LIKE A CHORE, GET OUT OF THE GYM. ACCELERATE YOUR ADAPTATION WITH LOW-LEVEL AEROBIC ACTIVITIES LIKE LONG WALKS AND EXTENDED MOBILITY ROUTINES."

2) EXAMINE YOUR GOALS
If you don't have a defined goal, your program will lack direction. Without direction, staleness is inevitable.

But even if you have a goal, ask yourself this: What does it mean to you? Why are you chasing it? If you don't have good answers for those questions, you've still got some thinking to do. Some folks aren't great goal-setters—that's fine. A simple question I recommend you ask yourself to set goals is: "What do I suck at?" It shouldn't be too hard to find something!

Once you determine your weaknesses, embrace the project of changing them and set a goal to put your weaknesses on par with your strengths. When you achieve that goal, reevaluate by asking the tough questions again. Set a new goal, and attack it.

3) ISSUE YOURSELF CHALLENGES
I often remind the children I coach that life isn't supposed to be easy or comfortable. The sooner you can accept that, the quicker you'll make progress.

Training problems happen when we familiarize ourselves with a program and become complacent. Challenges introduce struggle, and struggle introduces us to ourselves. Staleness can't thrive in a challenge-laden environment.

"CHALLENGES INTRODUCE STRUGGLE, AND STRUGGLE INTRODUCES US TO OURSELVES."

The process is simple: Take on one challenge per week that scares you. You've no doubt heard the saying "do one thing every day that scares you," but one each week is more sustainable and may allow you to think bigger. Systematically make yourself uncomfortable.

Each day is still an opportunity for growth and change. There are always ways to improve your form, mindset, and execution. Pick one of these per day and hammer it until you undeniably improve. Combine daily small challenges with larger weekly conquests, and your training will be filled with purpose.

Need a challenge to get started? Build up to doing 100 kettlebell swings with the heaviest weight you can swing with good form in five minutes. This is harder than it sounds, and it'll test your ideas of what "strength" and "endurance" mean.

4) MASTER NEW SKILLS
We live in a fascinating training era with a wealth of ideas, implements, and practices. Bodyweight strength work is undergoing a fascinating revival. Kettlebells and the Russian philosophies that spawned them litter gyms from Indonesia to Indiana. Olympic lifting has surged in popularity, and powerlifting and bodybuilding remain steadfast. You're not starved for training options and skills waiting to be mastered.

KETTLEBELL SWINGS

There's nothing wrong with being a renaissance man or woman, but weighing too many options will leave you sitting on your ass rather than taking action. Find a novel interest and explore it with intense passion!

If the old way of doing things is feeling old, devote yourself fully to a style of training with a different purpose. If powerlifting is wearing out its welcome, attack the clean and snatch. If you're sick of worrying about aesthetics, switch it up and master all that kettlebells have to offer. What's the risk? You can always go back!

5) COMPETE
Competition nurtures focus. There's nothing like pitting yourself against your peers to reinvigorate your training intensity.

The type of competition is irrelevant. Powerlifting, strongman, 5ks, and bodybuilding shows all accomplish the same foundational goal. It's the preparation that matters. Make the commitment, and know that every training session brings you one step closer to standing toe to toe with other athletes who want to beat you.

There's a special type of freedom and mental acuity that accompany a pre-competition program, no matter how you end up placing on game day. You work hard and focus just as hard, confident that everything you're doing is leading to something greater.

There's no definitive measure to determine when you're ready to compete, but that's part of the fun. First, find a competition 3-6 months away. Then, hire a coach or find the simplest training program you can follow. Then get after it! All of a sudden, the physiological changes that accompany your training—more strength, better movement, better physique—are just an added bonus.

6) CHANGE YOUR PERSPECTIVE
For many of us, training is a big part of our lives. It's the heart of our physical development and a staple of our personal growth. But the world outside is much larger than iron, sets, and reps.

There are people who will never use their legs again. Others are terminally ill. Some people don't have the financial means to train and work three jobs to feed their children. Take a global view, and you'll see that merely being able to enrich your days with physical training is a rare privilege.

Spend this precious time wisely. Use it to grow and to enhance your life, and don't waste your energy making mountains out of molehills. There's no definitive approach, just like there's no definitive physique. Invest in yourself, challenge yourself, and restore your lifting life force!

7 Training Tips To Power Up Your Lower Chest!

For many guys, the lower pecs are the most difficult area of the chest to fully develop. That's about to change. Not because we're the proud owners of a magical exercise that'll finally build that slow-to-grow region, but because we've developed seven strategies which take direct aim at shallow lower pecs.

To add thickness to your lower chest, start by abandoning the "one lower chest exercise is enough" mentality when it comes to chest day. To focus on a stubborn area, it's too late to pick your parents, but not too late to dig deep into your bag of chest-training tricks.

Besides adding specific lower-pec exercises, you can also manipulate your routine and boost your training intensity by adding techniques such as dropsets, rest-pause sets, or even negative reps. Addressing all of these elements is your best option to re-ignite muscle growth and give your lower pecs a big lift.

Try these seven tips to power-up your lagging lower chest!

1) Train lower chest first

Many a chest workout has deservedly started with the bench press, but when you prioritize a particular area, you should start your training day with an exercise for that area when your energy is fresh and your strength is high. In this case, do a lower-pec move like decline barbell press right off the bat.

"DO A LOWER-PEC MOVE LIKE DECLINE BARBELL PRESS RIGHT OFF THE BAT."
If you traditionally do declines later in your workout, you will notice right away that you're significantly stronger when doing them first. That's the idea: tackle the target area with weights it hasn't had to push before. Above that, don't be afraid to push heavier weights for lower reps than you normally do. If you typically do declines for sets of 10 reps, increase the weight and do sets of 6-8. Don't underestimate the impact that a novel training stimulus has on a target muscle.

2) Do a seconв lower-pec movement later in your workout

Who says you have to do only one lower chest exercise per workout? While you normally want to do various angles to hit all the muscle fibers in your chest—often flat bench, incline, and decline—by using a decline bench set to a different angle than your first decline exercise, or using a totally different decline-focused machine, you can work those lower-pec fibers in different ways for better development. Just avoid doing lower-chest exercises which closely mirror each other, such as the decline barbell press and Smith-machine decline press, each done on a bench of the same angle, or decline dumbbell presses and barbell presses at the same bench angle.

In addition to introducing a second exercise from a different angle, train the muscle in a slightly different rep range. So if you did the first exercise heavy for sets of 6-8, do the second with slightly lighter weights for sets of 10-12. The multiple relative intensities are great for increasing strength and size.

3) Target the lower pecs with single joint exercises

"The high cable crossover (with pulleys attached to the top), decline bench fly, and cable fly all target the lower chest while eliminating contribution from the triceps" 

The high cable crossover (with the pulleys attached to the top), decline-bench fly, and cable fly all target the lower chest while eliminating contribution from the triceps. With single-joint exercises, use a slightly higher rep range than what you'd do for presses. Like other isolation moves, these are best done at the end of your chest workout.

4) Incorporate new lower  
Chest movement
Granted, there aren't a lot of "new" choices here, but anything you haven't done in a while becomes "new." For example, if you tend to always use the barbell, it's time to choose dumbbells or a machine.

Besides changing equipment, you can also make slight adjustments to the equipment you already use. Set the decline bench a notch above or below your usual setting. Another favorite of mine: Sit sideways on the Hammer Strength decline machine—which has independent arms—so you can push across your body rather than just straight out.

Weighted parallel-bar dips are another great compound movement to try. To target your chest, lean forward by bringing your feet up behind you, and allow your elbows to travel away from your sides as you come down.

5) Train chest after a rest day
This is a strategy pro bodybuilders use because you typically have more energy and a fully stocked glycogen supply after a full day of rest and solid nutrition. If you do chest in the middle of your training week, however, make sure you don't train delts or triceps the day before; they need to be fully rested.

6) Turn up your training intensity with advanced techniques

Training to failure is your first step to building muscle, but training past failure for 1-2 sets of several lower-chest exercises can push you into the growth zone. There are many techniques to increase intensity; here are four great ones!

Forced reps: Ask your workout partner to help you lift the weight after you reach muscle failure so you can do a few more reps.

Heavy rest-pause: Choose a weight in which you can do just 6 reps (your 6-rep max), but do just 3 reps. Rest no more than 20 seconds, and then do 3 more reps. Alternate this work/rest sequence for five cycles and you'll end up doing 15 reps with your 6-rep max, an impressive growth-producing stimulus. Choose an exercise which allows you to quickly get into position, like a machine chest press.

Negatives: Once you reach failure, instead of ending your set, have your partner help you lift the weight, and then take five seconds to lower the weight on your own. Do as many reps as you can until you can no longer hold the eccentric contraction for five seconds.

Dropsets: Once you reach muscle failure, immediately reduce the poundage by roughly 25 percent and continue repping to failure. You can even do this a second time when you hit muscle failure again.

7) Finish with a bang
Here's a lower-chest finishing move I learned from a trainer named Tucano in Rio de Janeiro many years ago. I swear the guys down there don't know physical limits, and it shows.

Do unweighted parallel-bar dips to finish your chest workout. Start at the top, arms extended, but not locked out. Take a full 10 seconds to lower yourself, counting slowly. Instead of pressing back up, place your foot on the apparatus and "walk" your way back to full arm extension, pushing off the footplate to raise yourself. Immediately do another 10-second negative and again walk back up to the top.

Controlling the speed of the descent gets increasingly more difficult; your set ends once you can no longer make 10. By then, you'll have achieved the lower-pec pump of your life.

The lower chest exercise list

Press (multi-joint exercise)
- Decline Barbell Press
- Decline Dumbbell Press
Fly (single-joint exercise)
- Cable Crossover
- Decline Dumbbell Fly
- Decline Cable Fly

Bodyweight Moves
- Incline Push-up (feet on floor)
Bodyweigh dips

Six Forgotten Arm Building Exercises

Our bis, tris, and forearms can be targeted from unaccustomed angles to provide a unique stimulus through which fresh gains in lean mass can be achieved. Hitting the same movements in each training session leads to stagnation. Though our weights may be progressively increased and our rep/set structure modified, the relative amount of stress inflicted on specific muscle fibers will be more or less the same. Sometimes a different set of exercises is called for to seek and destroy untapped muscle fibers to reveal a muscle’s full growth potential.

Triceps

Decline Dumbbell Extension

Unlike many triceps extension movements which allow the use of heavy weights, the decline dumbbell version requires stricter isolation and lighter poundages to ensure that all target muscles are fully worked from extension to contraction. By lying on a flat bench, locking the arms vertically in front of the body, and hinging at the elbow joint, as when completing the old school skull crusher movement, tension is removed from the delts and the triceps are forced to work against gravity. However, because of the precarious positioning of the bar and the pressure placed on the shoulder joint, many people negate the effectiveness of this movement by letting their upper arms fall toward the head on the second half of this exercise.

By placing a bench on a slight decline (to increase the recruitment of all three heads), holding two dumbbells as if to perform a hammer curl, and, from a fully extended position in front of your body with arms locked in place, lowering the dumbbells to the sides of your head before squeezing them back to the starting position, safety is improved (no skulls need be crushed) and a greater stretch can be achieved on the downward phase.

Throat Crushers

Arguably the best movement for fleshing out the hard to target triceps area closest to the elbow (the lower portion of the more visible lateral head) and for fully developing all three triceps heads, the throat crusher, rarely employed in today’s training era, is a true old school training tactic that never fails to deliver rapid mass building results.

To perform: Lying on a flat bench, press bar away from body until arms are fully locked; bending at the elbow joint, slowly lower bar to neck, before immediately extending weight back to starting position. Squeeze triceps at the top of movement. Repeat.

Note: Going excessively heavy on this movement may lead to impingement (compression of or damage to soft tissue such as cartilage) of the elbow joint so pick a weight that will ensure impeccable form throughout. Furthermore, be sure to control the weight on this movement so as not to literally crush your throat and die. Indeed, many an astute strength training authority has concluded that dying will significantly compromise the extent to which we may build triceps mass and strength.

Biceps

Drag Curl

We all know that the regular standing barbell and dumbbell curls are probably responsible for building more collective biceps mass than all other movements combined, the drag curl is nevertheless an excellent way to procure the coveted peak contraction so integral to placing maximum stress of both biceps’ heads. The greater the muscular contraction, the greater the stress our muscles receive, and the more growth we are likely to experience.

As its name implies, the drag curl requires us to literally drag (rather than curl) a straight or EZ-Curl bar up our body. Though our biceps will still be curling the resistance to a complete contraction, their positioning at the top range of the movement will be more mechanically advantageous and, as previously explained, will allow for a greater peak contraction.

To perform, stand with bar resting against tops of thighs, holding it with a palms-up grip and hands shoulder width apart, with chest out and head focused ahead. Pull elbows as far back as possible, forcefully contract the biceps, and slowly and deliberately drag the bar up your body until it reaches the shoulders. Slowly lower the bar along the same trajectory.

Spider Curl

Complete biceps development is marked by the full development of the short and long heads, respectively lending length and thickness. A movement which can target both heads to create outstanding thickness and peak is the spider curl (named after the eight-legged bench it was first performed on).

Traditionally considered to be more of a ‘detail’ movement to be completed as a finisher once the mass building barbell and dumbbell curls have taken their toll, my recommendation is to place this exercise first in your routine, when you are at your strongest. By emphasizing perfect form, accentuating the negative, and contracting hard on the positive, this exercise may do more to fully maximize your biceps building potential than any other.

To perform: Lean forward on an incline bench and extend arms vertically to fully to achieve a complete stretch before raising weight to shoulder height, using the biceps to control the resistance throughout. This can also be done with a barbell, and on a reverse preacher bench.

Forearms

Behind the back barbell wrist curls

The forearm flexor muscles, visible when the wrists are fully supinated, form the bulk of our forearm musculature. To properly stimulate them requires an emphasis on curling at the wrist joint, though grip work, as outlined above, will also promote their continued growth. While barbell wrist curls, a proven mass builder, have added flesh to many a stubborn forearm flexor, the behind the back version adds, quite literally, a uniquely effective twist to this movement. I have personally found this exercise to be one of the most effective forearm builders in that it hits the outer flexor hard to promote greater forearm width and depth.

To perform: With wrists fully pronated, and arms behind back, grasp a suitably weighted barbell (just heavy enough to allow a full contraction without any added momentum) from its resting position on a bench or table. With arms perfectly straight, use wrist strength to curl weight toward the forearm flexors and slowly lower. To intensify this exercise, on the final 2-3 reps allow the bar to roll down fingers before, using finger strength, curling it back to its original position.

Reverse Grip EZ-Bar Curl

In addition to their visual appeal, an impressive set of forearms will, through the role they play in weight stabilization and the assisting of grip strength, allow us to better control more weight on many of the exercises we do. Functionally and aesthetically, fully developed forearm flexors and extensions will lend mass appeal and lead to impressive muscle gains throughout the entire physique.

To perform: While holding an easy bar with a reverse grip straighten the arms and lower so thew weight is at waist/thigh level. Bending at the elbow raise the bar to a peak contraction at the top of the movement. Avoid swinging the arms to help raise the weight, if this happens, reduce the weight until perfect form can be achieved.

Anabolic and Catabolic Hormones

There are several endocrine hormones and growth factors that contribute to muscular hypertrophy and fat burning. These are chemical messengers released from various endocrine glands due to stimulation from the nervous system, or other hormones. Each hormone can be classified as an anabolic (building up) or catabolic (breaking down).

Let’s start out with a look at the anabolic hormones:

Growth hormone (GH) is produced in the anterior pituitary gland of the brain. This hormone is released following resistance training. Among its many functions is stimulating insulin-like growth factor (IGF) in muscles. IGF is one of the factors responsible for the division of satellite cells during the repair process. The other contributing factors include fibroblast growth factor (FGF) and hepatocyte growth factor (HGF).

Testosterone

Another anabolic hormone of utmost importance for hypertrophy is testosterone, which is secreted in the testes. It is also known as the androgen (male) hormone.  Testosterone levels are elevated during resistance exercise and the hormone acts to increase protein synthesis. This allows for optimal
repair of muscle fibers. In addition, it increases satellite cell count along with the number of androgen receptors in muscles, leading to greater hypertrophy.

Insulin

Insulin is also an anabolic hormone capable of increasing protein synthesis. It is produced in the pancreas and it mainly functions in activating glucose uptake in cells, such as muscle cells. It can also transport amino acids. During exercise, insulin sensitivity increases due to a muscle's additional need for glucose. This not only enhances glucose uptake, but also the uptake of amino acids, thus stimulating protein synthesis.

Glucagon

Unlike insulin, the catabolic hormone glucagon increases blood glucose. This hormone, also produced in the pancreas, breaks down fat to release glucose into the blood during periods when blood glucose levels are low. This can occur while performing cardio on an empty stomach and is
beneficial when trying to burn fat.

Cortisol

Cortisol is also released when blood glucose levels are low. It is a catabolic hormone secreted by the adrenal glands, and is often referred to as the stress hormone, as stress increases cortisol levels. When secreted, cortisol converts fatty acids and amino acids into glucose. This can negatively affect hypertrophy by slowing down or even preventing protein synthesis, as the amino acids needed for this process would be converted to glucose.

Epinephrine and Norepinephrine

Two catabolic hormones that help boost performance during training are epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine (noradrenaline). These hormones, produced in the adrenal glands, are released during exercise, especially high-intensity resistance exercise. The benefits of epinephrine and norepinephrine include increased strength, increased blood flow, and increased secretion of the anabolic hormone testosterone.

Irisin

Another hormone released during exercise is irisin. This hormone is secreted by muscles. Your body comprises two types of fat cells: white and brown. White adipose tissue, or white fat, is used by the body to store energy in the form of triglycerides. This kind of fat has little mitochondria, hence its white color.

The other type of fat, brown adipose tissue, or brown fat, is used to burn energy. Unlike white fat, it contains an abundance of mitochondria, which explains its brown color.

Brown fat expends energy via non-shivering thermogenesis, and it is highly activated during cold conditions. Most people only have a small amount of brown fat in their bodies. Also, as they age, the levels of brown fat decrease. There are, however, individuals with higher amounts of brown fat than the normal population, which gives them an advantage in terms of burning calories, due to the increased thermogenesis and thus increase in metabolism.

It is possible though to increase brown fat by performing intense exercise on a regular basis. This is because intense exercise causes muscles to release the hormone irisin, which converts white fat to brown fat. Irisin helps convert the energy-storing white fat cells to the energy-burning brown fat cells. By doing so, it causes an increase in metabolism, thus allowing your body to burn more calories.

What kind of cardio is more effective in losing weight?

For a long time cardio continues to be a hot topic in all discussions on methods of burning fat. After all, as we all know, not just cardio can dramatically change the composition of the body. Many studies have shown that actually weight training is more effective in the fight against fat. Despite this, people prefer to sit for hours on a stationary bike with a magazine reading gossip news. You are free to do what you think is necessary, but isn’t it better to try to get the most from workout? In this article, we will compare two most popular types of cardio – HIIT and LISS. By reading this article to the end, you’ll get an idea of ​​what kind of cardio is more suitable to you.

So what does mean cryptic abbreviations HIIT and LISS? HIIT – High-intensity interval training  is an enhanced form of interval training, an exercise strategy alternating periods of short intense anaerobic exercise with less-intense recovery periods. For example: 30 seconds sprinting, followed by a 4-minute walk to restore a normal heartbeat, and then repeat it as many times as needed. LISS – Low Intensity Steady State Cardio. This can be walking on a treadmill or pedaling a stationary bike. Now when you have an idea about these varieties of cardio, let’s get into the details.

Why do we need to test our lactate threshold (LT) and anaerobic capacity (AC)? LT and AC – this is an excellent cardio performance indicator. Our muscles burn glucose (blood sugar) in two ways: aerobic (with oxygen) and anaerobic (without oxygen). For example, LISS is considered aerobic workout but resistance training or HIIT is considered anaerobic workout. LT and AC – this is a great test for the cardio, as they help to determine under what load is produced ATP (adenosine triphosphate). ATP provides a quick burst of energy for working muscle group (for example, every time you bend your arms with barbell, ATP is produced). HIIT, unlike LISS, increases the body’s ability to endure physical stress. High-intensity training makes you workout outside of the LT and AC, which leads to faster metabolism, which eventually leads to more intense fat burning. But during LISS you do not reach your LT and AC.

How to speed metabolism

# 1. It is necessary to increase muscle mass and muscle oxidative capacity. In our muscle tissues there are structures that produce energy; they are called mitochondria, which produce ATP and burn fat. The more mitochondria we have and the more active they are, the greater oxidizing power will get our muscles and the faster we’ll lose fat. HIIT improves the performance of mitochondria and increases their number.

Studies show that due to high-intensity training, we lose more fat as increase oxidative capacity of muscle fibers. During LISS we burn calories only while exercising. Low intensity cardio does not speed up metabolism. Moreover, our body gets used to such load and we have to increase the duration of cardio workout to continue to burn fat. Most people do not realize that for best results, it is necessary to go beyond the comfort and try to spend as much energy as it possible. And if you feel pain during HIIT, then your body is working in uncomfortable mode and you’re doing all right!

# 2. Our body quickly gets used to everything. We’ve all seen people who spend hours doing LISS. Actually they should lose those extra pounds, but this does not happen, because their metabolism has adapted to the low-intensity training. Their body uses calories only during exercise, and speeding up the metabolism does not occurs. Regularly training LISS, you get results that could be achieved through diet alone. For example, you burn 200 calories in 30 minutes of LISS. But you could forego these 200 calories, reducing the amount of carbohydrates or fats in the diet. Plus, can use HIIT to accelerate the metabolism.

# 3. A study conducted by Dr. Wilson from the University of Tampa, Florida, shows that starting LIIS, from the beginning we lose weight, but this effect is quite short. In the first week of the experiment examinees people had lost about one kilogram, but thereafter everything stop. This happened because their metabolism has completely adapted to the new regime of physical activity. Furthermore, LISS combined with low-calorie diet can lead to loss of muscle mass. During a low-calorie diet, LISS is more catabolic (breaking muscle) activity, unlike HIIT which take care more carefully of muscle tissue. The reason is that our metabolism adapts to LISS and we have to increase the duration of cardio workout. A reduction of caloric intake often occurs by reducing carbohydrate intake. Glycogen stores in the muscles are depleted and our body needs energy. And what do you think, how did the body will draw energy? From protein! And our muscles just consist of proteins!

# 4. The same study showed that LISS cause greater loss of muscle mass then HIT. The fact is that during these workouts our muscles work differently. It’s like training with weights! HIIT – is another way to stimulate muscles. As an example, compare sprinters’ and a marathons’ runner body. With this research it is difficult to argue.

# 5. In another study, conducted by Dr. Naito, from Juntendo University of Japan, it was found that production of satellites cells in experimental rats body does not depend on duration of endurance training but because of its intensity. Most of you will say, “Well, it’s a rat.” However, rats’ body like human one synthesizes protein and has similar reaction on amino acids and their metabolism. For those who have never heard about satellite cells: These cells create new muscle fibers in the body, and this in turn leads to muscle growth. Thus, studies have shown that when rats were subjected to HIIT, were ensued stimulation of muscle fibers growth. During LISS similar reaction was not observed. This proves that in cardio the most important is the intensity rather than duration.

Now many of you are probably convinced that for muscle gain and burn fat is more suitable HIIT. However, it should be noted that LISS is not absolutely useless. These kinds of cardio make sense to be combined and here are the reasons:

You cannot do HIIT 5-6 days a week, because in the end it will reflect badly on weight training and muscle growth.
Many people have contraindications (orthopedic, cardiac and even psychological) to HIIT and they can do only LISS.
If used incorrectly, HIIT can lead to injury.

Therefore to insist that HIIT is more effective in changing the composition of the body is as wrong as saying that 6 reps per set is better than 20. HIIT and LISS have their own unique advantages. Both types of cardio are worthy to be including in your training program. Choose that kind of cardio that you like better. HIIT workout is shorter, more effective for fat loss, accelerates metabolism and helps maintain muscle mass. But not all people can engage in HIIT. LISS is safer, but to lose a similar amount of calories you will need double to spend your time. Furthermore, LISS does not affect metabolism.

We does not have the purpose to convince you to give preference to any of this cardio, even if you thought so. Just the time has changed and science has discovered a lot about HIIT. And in the end, it is for you to decide what type of cardio is more suited to you. We hope that after reading this article, it will be easier for you to make a choice. If you are still in doubt … Just start practicing!

Slow reps: strength training with light weights does give results

Strength athletes, who because of injury or sickness can only train with light weights, can still get a decent training stimulus out of their workouts if they make their movements with light weights slower than they would normally. A human study that researchers at the University of Tokyo suggests this.

The Japanese are looking for a training method that can help elderly people to fight sarcopaenia – loss of muscle mass and strength due to aging. Strength training with heavy weights is still the best method to build up muscle mass, but for one group of elderly people this kind of training is too risky. The Japanese want to know whether you can still build up muscle mass by using light weights.

The researchers got 40 subjects aged between 59 and 76 to train their leg muscles by using leg-extension and leg-curl machines for 12 weeks. All the subjects trained twice a week.

They used weights that were about fifty percent of the weight at which they could just manage 1 rep [1RM]. Each workout they did three sets of 8 reps, with one minute of rest between sets.

Half of the subjects trained at normal speed, which meant that both concentric and eccentric movements took one second to perform. A complete rep, including the isometric phase [where the muscles are held statically in a tensed position] after the concentric phase, lasted three seconds [LN; Normal speed training].

The other half of the subjects performed the movements at an exaggeratedly slow pace. Both concentric and eccentric movements took three seconds to perform. A complete repetition, including the isometric phase, lasted seven seconds [LST; Slow speed training].

At the end of the 12 weeks, the subjects that had trained slowly had built up more muscle mass and muscle strength than the subjects that had trained in the normal way.

How it is that slowly performed reps with light weights can have so much more effect than reps carried out at normal speed the researchers don’t understand.

They discovered that slow reps result in slightly more growth hormone being produced, and slightly less cortisol. The muscles also used slightly more oxygen when they performed slow reps.

But the effects were so small that they can’t account for the added value of doing exaggeratedly slow reps.

“Low-intensity slow-movement resistance training is effective in increasing muscle size and strength, even for older individuals”, the researchers conclude. “Since low-intensity slow-movement resistance training bears lower risk for orthopedic injury and cardiac events, this should be useful as a countermeasure against sarcopenia.”

Testosterone propionate can have permanent effect on muscles

Good news for chemical bodybuilders who’d like to change to a steroid-free lifestyle, but are afraid that they’ll lose all the muscle that they’ve so carefully built up. Researchers at the University of Oslo in Norway did tests with mice and discovered that a considerable amount of the effect of testosterone administration on muscle tissue is permanent.

Athletes who’ve managed to – say – do six reps with 120 kg, and then don’t touch a barbell for ten years, will probably lose nearly all the muscle mass they’ve built up. But if they resume training, then they’ll get that lost muscle mass and strength back in no time at all. The phenomenon is called ‘muscle memory’.

In 2010 the Norwegians started a study in PNAS in which they described how muscle memory works. If you train muscles the fibres absorb more stem cells. These stem cells then grow into adult muscle cells in the muscles. The increase in the number of muscle cells in your muscle fibres makes your muscles stronger and bigger. If you stop training, then your muscle cells will become smaller, but the extra cells remain in your muscles.

In 2010 the Norwegians concluded that strength athletes can continue to derive benefit from their muscle strength into old age. Moreover, the researchers suspect that steroids users continue to derive benefit from the courses they’ve taken for years after stopping. “Anabolic steroids have been shown to increase the number of nuclei”, the researchers write. “Thus, the benefits of using steroids might be permanent and should have consequences for the exclusion time after a doping offense.”

Good news for chemical bodybuilders who’d like to change to a steroid-free lifestyle, but are afraid that they’ll lose all the muscle that they’ve so carefully built up. Researchers at the University of Oslo in Norway did tests with mice and discovered that a considerable amount of the effect of testosterone administration on muscle mass is permanent.

In the new study the researchers implanted pellets containing Testosterone Propionate  in mice. These meant that there was much more testosterone circulating in the animals’ bodies for a period of two weeks than in the bodies of the mice in the control group – the latter had been given an implant that did not contain an active substance.

As a result of the raised testosterone level, the number of muscle cells in the muscle fibres of the mice in the testosterone group increased by 66 percent. Their muscle fibres became 77 percent thicker.

After fourteen days the researchers stopped administering Testosterone Propionate. The number of muscle cells in the mice’s muscle fibres remained the same, but the dimensions of the muscle fibres decreased.

After a period of three months the researchers forced the mice to exercise their muscles more than normal for a period of six days. The muscles of the mice that had received testosterone grew faster than those of the mice in the other group.

“Our data demonstrate that in least in mice, an episode of testosterone use may recruit a long lasting pool of excess myonuclei, and a persistent increased ability to regain muscle mass by resistance exercise in the absence of further steroid exposure”, the Norwegians write. “Thus, the benefits of even episodic drug abuse might be long lasting if not permanent in athletes.