Bodybuilding Competitions

Fitness training is only a small step towards winning a bodybuilding competition. It often requires a huge life change for the average individual. Bodybuilding is not only fitness training. However, the business of bodybuilding can be a highly fruitful and personally gratifying field for those who choose to pursue its long road. Strength training is the first step for bodybuilding competition. You must consider all of the competition’s elements if you want to win a bodybuilding competition. If you equipped with knowledge of what you need and dedicate yourself to the training, you will conquer yourself and have a shot of winning a competition. It’s not a dream if you work hard.

First you should ask yourself whether you are self motivated, driven, and disciplined. Think about the time commitment needed to invest in building a bodybuilding career. If you made your decision to be a professional bodybuilding competitor, you should begin by assessing whether you possess the characteristics of a good body builder. You could consult to a personal trainer. He will tell whether you are suitable for this competition.

If everything is OK, you should hire a good physician trained in assisting fitness competitors and a nutritionist. Develop a good initial plan with your trainer and nutritionist for the preliminary phase of bodybuilding training, including intensive weight loss or gain, depending upon your current size. Your goal is to reach between 6-9 percent body fat. That’s not easy unless you train hard.

If you are ready for a bodybuilding competition, you should choose a competition you want to enter and find out who runs it. Different organizations have different standards by which they judge competitors, and they also have different mandatory poses. So you should learn the mandatory poses carefully for your bodybuilding competition. Practice the poses as soon as you decide to enter the competition, and keep perfecting them until the competition date. Confidence in the poses helps you have good stage presence. If you want to win the bodybuilding competition, you should work hard. Or your dreams won’t come true. That’s the nature of competition. You should always remember that all the competition is cruel.

Before your bodybuilding competition, you should evaluate your condition using video or photography. Strike the mandatory poses for the camera and analyze them with another bodybuilder or a personal trainer. Only in this way you could improve your performance and beat other competitors. Work hard to win and you will make the dream come true. Leading eBooks Company

So here is opportunity to get your free guidelines on Weight Training Equipment and in addition to that, get essential information on Muscle Workouts

Get A Flat Tummy

What’s the point of all this physiology? Well, it turns out that in men, the lower abdominal region has a higher concentration of A2 receptors, so this gives us one possible explanation of why the lower abdominal region is often the first place the fat goes when you gain it, and the last place it comes off when you’re losing it. (Incidentally, the fat in women’s hips and thighs is also higher in A2 receptors.) This situation is dictated by genetics and by the hormonal and enzymatic pathways just discussed.

Think of ab fat like the deep end of the swimming pool. No matter how much you protest, there is no way you can drain the deep end before the shallow end. However, don’t let this discourage you. Lower ab fat WILL come off, it will simply be the last place to come off. Simply put: First place on, last place off.

This helps to explain why abdominal exercises have little impact on body fat loss. It’s a huge mistake to think that hundreds or thousands of reps of ab exercises will remove lower abdominal fat, except to the degree that it burns calories and contributes to a calorie deficit. What removes the fat—all over your body—is a calorie deficit and that comes from decreasing food intake, increasing activity, or a combination of both.

What I suggested to this young man was cutting back the ab training, spending the time he was wasting on excess ab exercises for more intense, calorie-burning cardio and weight training for the rest of the body. I also suggested he do an accounting of his food intake, get his nutrition in order and decrease his calories slightly if necessary.

As it turned out, his diet was a mess, and as nutrition experts like to say, “You can’t out-train a lousy diet.”

It’s a monumental error to think that 1,000 reps of ab work a day will make your abs finally “pop” when your diet is a disaster and leads to fat storage. It’s not that ab exercises aren’t important. But all the ab exercises in the world won’t help as long as you still have body fat covering the muscles. You can’t “spot reduce” with abdominal exercise and YOU CAN’T SEE YOUR ABS THROUGH A LAYER OF BODY FAT! Tom Venuto, NSCA-CPT, CSCS. Fat Loss Coach www.burnthefat.com

Just thought you may be interested in reading these guides: Muscle Mass and Strength Workout

Increase Testerone Naturally

If there’s one substance in the body that could be considered the “Holy Grail” of muscle growth, testosterone would be it.

It is without a doubt the most important hormone involved in building muscle, and is one of the limiting factors that determines how much muscle a person can gain.

The reality is that we all posses different levels of this powerful hormone, and aside from poking yourself with a chemically enhanced needle, it can be difficult to control these levels.

In this installment I’m going to cover some basic, scientifically backed methods that will allow you to naturally raise your body’s levels of testosterone. These increased levels will almost certainly have a positive impact on your resulting muscle gains. In addition to increasing your lean muscle mass, raised testosterone levels also have the following benefits…

• Decreased body fat levels
• Increased sex drive and sexual endurance
• Improved mood
• Decreased levels of “bad” cholesterol

Now, I certainly do not claim that using these methods will result in “steroid-like effects” or that they will allow you to pack on an extra 20 pounds of muscle in 2 months, but they will certainly help to speed up your overall progress both in and out of the gym.

Anyone who tries to tell you that you can achieve the same effects as steroids by using anything other than steroids is completely full of it. Don’t believe the hype!

Before we get into the actual methods of increasing testosterone levels, let’s first cover some quick biology so that we’re all on the same page. Here is how the body produces testosterone:

1) The brain releases LH (luteinizing hormone) and this “tells” the body to start producing testosterone.
2) The adrenal glands release DHEA into the bloodstream.

3) LH and DHEA travel together to the testes where testosterone production begins.
4) Testosterone is then released into the bloodstream.

So without further ado, here are some basic methods you can implement in order to naturally raise your body’s levels of testosterone and take advantage of all of its amazing benefits. I’ve broken this up into 3 separate categories: training, diet and lifestyle.

Training

1) Place the majority of your emphasis in the gym on big, basic compound movements.

These basic exercises will place your body under the greatest amount of stress in the gym, and this will force your body to secrete higher amounts of testosterone. Isolation exercises can have their place, but compound movements should be the cornerstone of your workouts.

2) Always train with full effort and intensity.

Whether you’re performing a compound movement or an isolation movement, you must always push yourself hard in the gym by taking all of your sets to the point of concentric muscular failure. The more stress you place on your body in the gym (without crossing the point of recovery), the greater your testosterone production will be.

3) Train your legs equally as hard as your upper body.
Leg training can be extremely difficult to execute with a high level of intensity, but the rewards are great when you do. Push yourself hard on basic leg exercises like the squat and leg press in order to stimulate the release of testosterone.

Diet

1) Increase your consumption of Essential Fatty Acids.

When most people structure their muscle-building diet, they almost always follow the idea of “high protein and low-fat”. Big mistake!

Fats play a critical role in the muscle-building process and have a direct impact on testosterone levels. You should be consuming about 25% of your daily calories from healthy, unsaturated fat sources such as peanuts, avocados and fish as well as nutritional oils like flax seed, olive and canola.

2) Reduce your intake of soy.

Soy protein raises your body’s levels of estrogen (the main female hormone). When the body’s production of estrogen increases, testosterone levels plummet. Avoid soy products as much as possible in order to keep your estrogen levels low and testosterone levels high.

3) Limit alcohol consumption.

Alcohol has been shown to have quite a dramatic effect on testosterone levels, so try to limit your “binge drinking” nights and keep your alcohol consumption in moderation.

4) Increase your consumption of cruciferous vegetables.

These vegetables have been shown to have a significant estrogen-reducing effect, thereby raising testosterone. Some good choices are broccoli, cauliflower, radishes, turnips, cabbage and brussel sprouts.

5) Eat smaller, more frequent meals throughout the day.

Rather than eating the traditional “3 square meals a day”, try consuming 5-7 smaller meals spaced out every 2-3 hours. This will keep your body in an anabolic state at all times and will keep testosterone levels peaked.

Lifestyle

1) Lower your levels of stress.

Stress contributes to the release of a highly catabolic hormone called cortisol which has a highly negative effect on testosterone levels.

2) Increase your sexual activity.

Sexual stimulation causes the body to increase the production of oxytocin which then increases endorphin production (the “feel-good” chemical), and this has a direct impact on testosterone secretion.

3) Get adequate sleep every night.

Failing to provide your body with proper sleep each night will raise cortisol levels, and this in turn will decrease your testosterone production. A solid, restful 8 hours of sleep every night will keep your cortisol levels in check.

Wrapping It Up

There you have it, a few basic, easy-to-follow guidelines for increasing your testosterone levels naturally.

Start implementing some of these techniques on a consistent basis and you should experience a noticeable improvement in your muscle and strength gains as well as your overall mood and sexual performance.

This is just one of the many simple but powerful methods for achieving a lean and muscular physique outlined in my complete program, The Muscle Gain Truth No-Fail System. By Sean Nalewanyj

Other post you may be interested in reading: Get A Six Pack and Exercise To Lose Weight

Stimulator Muscle

Are All Electronic Muscle Stimulator Devices the Same?

Many wonder what the difference is between the different types of electronic Muscle Stimulators. The two types of EMS devices are TENS and Russian Muscle Stimulation. Different devices can do different things such as stimulate sensory nerve endings rather than just muscles.

EMS
Electronic Muscle Stimulation uses a relatively low voltage that targets motor nerves in order to stimulate them. What this does is cause a contraction of the muscle. The muscle then relaxes between shocks and then contracts again when the shock occurs. This keeps circulation going and better circulation means oxygen and nutrients can be carried to the muscles much easier.

TENS
This device is also a type of Electronic Muscle Stimulator, but it behaves in a different manner than the standard EMS device. This one is used to stimulate sensory nerve endings in order to control pain. The pain signals are blocked and endorphin production is stimulated. We have all probably heard at one time or another that endorphins block pain. They are kind of like the body’s natural morphine in painful situations. These systems are not found on the open market because they are primarily used by physicians to treat a plethora of problems. Some of those issues involve:

• Preventing atrophy of the muscles when they have not been used in a while due to paralysis, being bedridden, or due to severe injury.
• Strengthening the nerves in certain groups of muscles
• Muscle spasm and muscle pain reduction

These devices have been successfully used within the medical community for quite some time. Electrodes connected to adhesive pads are stuck to the skin and the electric pulses are sent through the skin to the muscles via these pads. This makes TENS very effective in pain relief because of the production of endorphins. TENS has also been used in the treatment of arthritis, back pain, labor pain, shingles, sciatica, postoperative pain, and cancer pain.

Russian Muscle Stimulation

The Russian Muscle Stimulation device is also an EMS used for nerve stimulation. The electric currents that result are stronger and they penetrate deeper into the muscles. Sometimes the contractions of the muscles and nerves can be quite painful because they are more complex than with other EMS devices.

Overall benefits

When used with exercise, EMS devices can be quite helpful. For those simply wanting to use them to get those six-pack abs, the EMS device should be used in combination with exercise. There are also areas of the body that may not be reached through exercise and an EMS device can stimulate those areas, which helps promote overall physical health. However, the EMS device can’t produce a rock solid body alone, but what it can do is act as a great companion to other effective lifestyle changes.

Do Electronic Muscle Stimulators Work?

Electronic muscle stimulators, also known as EMS devices, are machines that aid people in toning their muscles. These types of machines can help an individual keep their body toned, in shape and according to some, enable them to lose weight. They are also used by physical therapists and health care professionals for the relief of minor joint pains, muscle aches and stress. For individuals who suffer from partial to full paralysis or have hard time moving, electronic muscle stimulation via these machines can also keep their muscles from atrophying.
Outside of rehabilitation, some body builders and athletes claim that EMS devices can help build muscle mass.

There is some debate as to if these electronic muscle stimulators are actually effective in helping maintain the shape and contours of the human body. Enthusiasts say that EMS devices definitely work and are the perfect compliment to an intensive workout. Others say that while electronic muscle stimulators can help strengthen muscles, it won’t give true muscle definition.

FDA regulation

The FDA technically recognizes electronic muscle stimulators as a “device” with therapeutic and cosmetic implications. While some mainstream consumer varieties of muscle stimulators exist, many high end EMS devices are used by therapists to keep muscles from atrophying after severe injury.

Overall Health and Safety

There is no shortage of online companies that will sell products that provide electronic muscle stimulation. Many such companies claim that they are the epitome of electronic muscle stimulators, but beware; the wrong type of device can be potentially dangerous. Some people have experienced pain, irritation, bruising, burns and shocks — electrocution has even been sited. This is why it is extremely important to make sure that the EMS device you are investigating is FDA approved.

What to look for in quality EMS devices

Although electronic muscle stimulation is often used by doctors and medical practitioners to increase blood circulation, reputable online and offline businesses can and do supply electronic muscle stimulators to the general public. More often than not, body builders and athletes seek to supplement their workout with consumer grade EMS devices.

When looking for an electronic muscle stimulator, they seek one with versatility and enough voltage to really aid with muscle growth. They can also use the EMS devices to help treat sore or injured areas of the body.

Quality EMS devices would also be cost effective without risking the health or well being of an individual because of cut corners.

Top EMS machines go for $60-$150 dollars consumer grade and come with electrodes.

If however, you have had a serious injury and wish to use the device for therapeutic reasons, you should consult with a certified health care professional before use.

An EMS device may not be the cure all weight loss item, but its wonderful applications in regards to pain management, stress reduction and muscle improvement make it a most noteworthy investment.

Just remember that the device delivers electronic currents and if mishandled can cause harm, even if it is FDA assured.

Are Electronic Muscle Stimulators Safe?

Electronic muscle stimulators are being used on a more consistent basis not only in doctor’s offices and clinics, but also in most physiotherapy rooms and clinics. Used in beauty salons, fitness and health centers, and by physiotherapists treating sports injuries and other muscle and nerve ailments, the electronic muscle stimulator has become an essential therapy tool.

The electronic muscle stimulator isn’t just for treating muscle sprains and back muscle pain, however. These instruments are generally called TENS machines (Transcutaneous Electrical Muscle Stimulation) and are a drug-free way to manage all sorts of muscle and nerve pain. The instrument uses a low frequency and mild voltage to provide a tingling sensation rather than an electric jolt to provide a rhythmic, deep pulsating sensation within the affected nerve and muscle areas. By applying the electrodes directly to the pain area, the TENS machine can quickly provide a high level of pain relief and can, in most cases, remove the pain altogether after just a few sessions. Chronic pain can be alleviated during these sessions because of the way that the TENS machine interrupts the pain transmitters sending signals to the brain.

Anyone who can do a low-level exercise routine can benefit from an electronic muscle stimulator session and it’s perfectly safe for most people. Some people should not use a TENS machine if they have pace makers, are pregnant, have heart problems, have metal pins or plates in their body, have diabetes or high blood pressure, or have cancerous lesions. As with any form of new treatment regimens, it’s absolutely essential that you talk things over with your doctor before starting any treatment.

Electronic muscle stimulators work by sending tiny electrical impulses through electrodes set on the affected area of the body. As the electrical signals pass through the skin and contact with the nerves, the pain receptors in the nerve fibers are temporarily blocked, shutting off the pain transmitters to the brain. The electrical muscle stimulator also promotes the release of endorphins in the body, which are chemicals that act as the body’s natural pain blocking mechanism. People recovering from strokes and those who’ve had muscle and nerve damage find that the electronic muscle stimulator treatments have a profound effect on the way that their bodies recuperate.

Many people with chronic pain conditions find almost instant relief by having regular electronic muscle stimulator treatments. The treatments are so popular and safe that many people with chronic pain administer the treatment themselves in their own home.

Please also check out my other guide on: Fitness Workout and Syntha 6

Cardio Exercise Equipment

Set foot in any traditional gym across the country and you’ll find an endless array of different cardio machines… from treadmills to stationary bikes to stairclimbers to ellipticals.

A well structured cardio program obviously plays an important role in any effective fat burning workout plan… but which cardio machines are best and what criteria should we use to determine which machines to focus on? It need not be a complicated process, but here are the 2 main factors that I would suggest looking out for when deciding which machines to include in your program…

1) The machine should not require very much skill to use. In other words, stick to cardio machines that are simplistic and mechanical in nature. Your goal during a cardio session is not to aimlessly slave away for a marathon session lasting an hour or more, but rather to keep the session short, concise and highly intensive.

For this reason, you don’t want to have to divert your focus onto balancing yourself on the machine or maintaining a specific form throughout the workout. Instead, you should pick a cardio exercise that is basic and straightforward to execute so that the majority of your focus can be placed on generating a high level of intensity.

2) The machine should minimize the risk of injury. One of your primary goals when it comes to both weight training and cardiovascular exercise is to keep your joints and connective tissues strong and healthy at all times. For this reason, you should try to stick to machines that produce low impact on your joints and that also don’t aggravate any existing injuries you may have. Experiment with different machines to see how they feel for you. If any specific machine causes you discomfort, make sure to steer clear of it. Here are a few of the machines I specifically recommend using based on the above criteria…

Upright Stationary Bike

This machine is extremely straightforward to use and will allow you to place all of your focus on generating a high level of intensity without having to worry about your form. It is also a very low impact exercise and will keep the stress off of your joints. Stationary bikes are also easily programmable and are ideal when performing interval-style training, which is the kind that I most highly recommend.

Recumbent Bike

This is the same as a stationary bike, only your body is in a seated position. The seated position will take some of the stress off of your lower back, which is a nice advantage for those who have previous lower back problems.

Treadmill

Another great choice when implementing an interval-style of training. Treadmills are a great alternative to running outdoors, because the platforms are designed to produce less impact on the joints. If you want to increase the difficulty you can also raise the platform up on an incline.

Stairclimber

A stairclimber can be used by anyone from beginners to advanced. It is another low impact movement and allows you to keep the majority of your focus on putting forth a hard effort. Make sure to avoid leaning on the handle bars as this will reduce the intensity of the workout.

Hopefully this has helped you understand which cardio machines are the safest and most effective fat burning solutions to include in your program. By Sean Nalewanyj

Other post you may be interested in reading: Lose Fat Belly and Ab Fitness Equipment

diet program

For decades if not centuries, the belief was that if you stopped eating fatty foods you would lose weight, but that other foods (healthier foods) were completely okay. However, this entire belief was thrown for a loop when some individuals started inventing low carb diets – diets that had no carbohydrate rich foods like bread, rice, pasta, as well as some vegetables and fruit – all of which seemed to be very effective at helping people lose weight.

The Atkins Diet, for example, was a diet that had 0 carbohydrates but a great deal of fatty foods like meats, high protein foods as well as healthier foods like fruit. That diet was considered an amazing phenomenon, because individuals that tried it seemed to shed pounds at a rapid pace, going from large to thin in just a few months.

However, carbohydrates have always been known as important for your body to work correctly. So these diets have come under intense scrutiny, especially about their safety and the ability to keep weight off.

DO THE DIETS WORK?

Low carb diets do work quickly. People that want to lose weight fast are better known to lose weight quickly on a low carb diet than on regular low fat, low calorie diets. However, in some ways the data is misleading.

LOW CARB DIETS CAUSE:

1. A loss in the amount of water weight you have because the low number of carbohydrates in your body cause it to burn a chemical called glycogen. Glycogen contains a great deal of water, so you are losing water from your body as well.

2. Increased Fullness – Most people that have low carb diets report less hunger and often feel full easier and for longer during the day. Because of this, few of them tend to overeat, which obviously caused a great deal of weight gain.

3. Less Calories – Less calories does equal less weight gain, and carbohydrates have calories. Reducing your caloric intake means that you are going to see weight loss in the low carb diets.

If you will notice, however, there is not a lot of loss of body fat in your body. With the exception of reducing your calories, you are really just eating less (which most people should do anyway) and losing water weight (which may or may not be healthy).

RISKS AND SAFETY

In addition, there are a lot of red flags about the safety of a low carb diet. Very little is known about the health of these diets because they are all relatively new, however a few things can be garnered simply by common sense:

1. Carbohydrates are necessary for energy. Most likely if you are now eating enough carbohydrates, you are not exercising much, in which case while you may look healthy, your heart and muscles are likely very negatively affected by the lack of physical activity.

2. High fat foods are going to be high in bad fats, as well as cholesterol, which can cause some severe health problems, including increased risk for heart attack and high blood pressure.

3. Carbohydrates have always been a part of your life, since early man. Taking them out of your diet altogether can potentially cause a number of health problems down the road even beyond the increased heart attack risk – and these will not be known because the diets are too new to research over the long term.

While these diets have shown some strong efficacy, they have potential risks. In general, a low fat, high exercise diet is going to be healthier, and poses no known risks in the short or long term.

You may want to check out my other guide on: Weight Bench and How To Gain Weight

Lifetime Health Fitness

The healthier you are. The more productive you become.

Once a person is healthy there is a great chance that he would have fewer absences, either in school or in work. Most importantly, he is capable of handling stress as well as develops a more positive attitude.

A healthy person may live a longer life. And, enjoy its whole span with a healthy body and mind.

This healthiness can be achieved thorough a consistent fitness exercise. For you to secure an unfailing health, you must commit to fitness for your lifetime. This is not an exaggeration.

A lifetime commitment on fitness will make you safe from the miserable feeling of obesity. Dr. David Satcher, formerly a general surgeon, identified that the excess weight of the body is epidemic.

He stated that this type of epidemic caused the deaths of almost 300,000 people yearly. In fact, excessive body weight becomes the secondary cause of death in America.

Most physicians never fail to remind their patients, as well as the whole public that physical fitness is the primary cure to avoid these threatening diseases. But why is it that more and more people have become unhealthy?

The fact that excessive body weight can harm a person’s health is not anymore news, for it is a fact that has long been existing. This is neither history, because it is not yet resolved.

Instead, this existing truth is a problem that worsens through time. The health problems mark a dramatic increase. One of its causes is the lack of physical fitness.

The system of the contemporary society requires more of human effort and time. Fast moves, rush paces, almost every adult is always in a hurry. That they don’t find some time for conducting a physical exercise.

People tend to ignore the most vital ingredient of a daily routine, exercise. And the problem was worsened by technology.

Nowadays, you can climb staircases with stationary feet, escalators and elevators are everywhere. You never mind to stand up from your chair to take your files from other table for you can just easily move your swivel chair.

So, where else will you place fitness?

Fitness is a thing that needs not to be taken for granted. Everything now is instant, food especially. Certainly, you don’t want an instant life too. Then, a lifetime commitment on fitness is your key to lengthen your life.

Engage yourself to fitness exercises, and make it as a part of your life. Always think that it is an important meal that you should not miss in a day.

If you are truly busy, you can opt for a 24 hours fitness center. The service there will always be compatible to your schedule, undoubtedly.

Consider this; you are doing your best to cope up with time. You work to earn for a living, to support your family and enjoy life as well.

But think, will you really be able to use and enjoy your investments when your health has already deteriorated?

So, you must invest in good health too. And that is through a lifetime commitment on physical fitness. By Michael Wong

I thought you might be interested in this article: Exercise Equipment and Elliptical Trainer