The Sunshine State Classic bodybuilding, figure, fittness and bikini diva

It is that time of year again for the Sunshine State Classic. This is the INBA's Florida state championship. The top athletes in each division get a pass to the nationals in Las Vegas. This is the best in natural bodybuilding and the INBA is home to the Natural Olympia the biggest event in natural bodybuilding. This is the real deal no politics everyone is on equal ground and tested. You can check out the event on Face Book at:http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/event.php?eid=218223248208517. You can also visit www.sscfl.com for more info don't miss out this awesome event only comes around once a year!!! Take advantage of the motivation and the sponsors that will be at hand.

Three Great Ab Exercises You Can Do Without Leaving The Comfort Of Your Couch

Check out these cool ab workouts for around the house this is a pretty cool article. Simple yet affective I like it. So check it out and stay hungry!!

Three Great Ab Exercises You Can Do Without Leaving The Comfort Of Your Couch

The Top 5 Killers of Men

All men need to check this out and try to avoid the following dead ends if possible. No pun intended. These are the five top reasons men do not live as long as women. So check it out.

The Top 5 Killers of Men

The oldest person? Feel that way this may help.

I have found over the years that there are many things that can lead to feeling old and lethargic. I think the number one thing that can lead to this feeling is the amount of inactivity that people experience these days. Trust me when I tell you that the world is becoming more inactive by the minute. Unfortunately our best friend technology tends to feed this behavior. The easier things become the less people are willing to do. Don't get me wrong here this is an excellent tool to leverage your time if you use it the right way. Sitting back on the sofa and lounging around in front of the computer or t.v are not good ways of taking advantage of this extra time. But that is what Joe blow the couch potato seems to be doing at an accelerated rate. Our bodies are bio feedback mechanisms and are designed to respond to our environments. So low and behold if you eat junk and sit around all day you always feel old and tired. If you want to give your metabolism a kick in the pants then get in the gym and start some sort of regular training program. The activity will increase your metabolism and make you feel better. You can check out my blog for some basic training and nutrition information to help you get started.

Yahoo! Shine - The 3 colors you should be eating more of

(thetrainingnews@yahoo.com) has sent you this information from Yahoo! Shine.

(Email address has not been verified.)

---

Personal message:

I saw this blog post on Yahoo! Shine and thought that you might be interested. It goes over the importance of colored vegetables in our diets.

The 3 colors you should be eating more of - Healthy Living on Shine
http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/health/the-3-colors-you-should-be-eating-more-of-2463885/

---

Yahoo! Shine

http://shine.yahoo.com/

5 New Rules for a Healthy Heart

Here is a good article to keep your heart healthy and you in the gym. These are some good rules and pretty simple ones for good heart health. Bad heart equals less or no gym time... Check it out.
5 New Rules for a Healthy Heart

Health Tip: Take an Antibiotic Properly

If you are sick and the doctor prescribes you an antibiotic you need to take all of it. One of the reasons we have these super bugs these days is due to people not finishing their antibiotics. The reason this happens is because the stronger members of the bacterial strain that are still hanging on will survive if you don't continue the use of the medicine. So not only does it come back but it comes back stronger. Check out this short article for some more info. If you stay sick you can't train..
Health Tip: Take an Antibiotic Properly

Slim Pickings: Healthiest Fruits

These are some good recommendations for alternative desert choices with using fruits instead of junk. The article also shows calorie content of the fruits as well for comparison. Check it out.
Slim Pickings: Healthiest Fruits

Lose Your Fear of Lifting

Twelve reasons women should be hitting the weights. There are clearly too many benefits here to ignore people. Good article for all female gym enthusiasts. check it out.
Lose Your Fear of Lifting

8 Secretly Super-Salty Foods

Watch out for the extra salt that is pumped into these foods. Salt can cause a whole host of problems in different kinds of people. We need some but not too much is usually a bad thing all around. Check it out..
8 Secretly Super-Salty Foods

3 reasons why Cleansing is so important?

Cleansing is a vital part to the start of any new nutrition regiment. It helps you to start out fresh and new in more ways than one. I have come up with this quick three point reference list of why it is important for your nutrition and training regiments.

1. Cleaning out the GI tract

Cleansing cleans out the gastrointestinal tract. Over the time when you were eating poorly or making bad nutritional choices your body has accumulated a lot of "junk" in your G.I. tract. I know if your nutrition was not where it needed to be you were not eating enough fiber so that alone means that there is all kinds of backed up stuff that the cleanse should eliminate. If you ate a lot of white bread all that flour has been lining the G.I. tract and needs to go for good nutrient absorption.

2. Cleansing gets your fluids right.

When I say fluids I mean H2O that's right water. Most cleansing systems recommend that you drink a lot of water with them. This is a very good recommendation due to the fact that most people do not get enough water throughout the day. You can see my previous article about how much water you need everyday for training. All that flour in your G.I tract that I previously mentioned from white flour products. Well that is able to sort of stay in place due to lack for fluids it is what makes it thick.

3. Flushing the rest out

The rest of these systems are designed to help you balance your body out and flush any other toxins or garbage out. In the previous points I have been mentioning a lot about your G.I tract but that is not all that needs to be cleansed. There is also a lot of stuff in the blood and liver that should be flushed. Most cleansing systems have herbal extracts built in to do this trick.

When starting a new program I always recommend to cleanse your self first. By doing this you are starting off on the right foot and giving yourself a strong renewed beginning. I have added a link with a good cleansing product here.

Australia mulls lifting ban on hemp foods

This doesn't surprise me at all about this government. They are probably more liberal than the rest of Europe. I think all governments around the world should make it illegal to "smoke" anything due to the addicts getting cancer from the carcinogens in the smoke. Although I do not agree with drug use at all if they do use some sort of drug they should eat it as not to burden the rest of society with the future medical bills.
Australia mulls lifting ban on hemp foods

Is Gluten Making Us Fat?

There is a lot of controversy surrounding gluten. Some people are allergic to it and some people blame it for almost every health problem people have. Check this article out it will help you get some facts straight.
Is Gluten Making Us Fat?

17 Shortcuts to Perfect Health

These are some good questions and answers with real world info on how to stay healthy. This is a good article for a quick reference to a lot of different topics. Check it out.
17 Shortcuts to Perfect Health

Large or small which body part first?

There is a lot of confusion over which body parts to train first. There is a pretty simple rule to follow to keep you out of trouble in this department. The easy rule to follow is that the smaller the muscle group generally you don't want to do more than three sets. The reasoning behind such logic is that you will over train the muscle group causing it to fatigue and fail to recover and grow properly. This especially holds true if you are new to training. Your muscles will not be used to recovering and will be damaged too severely to recuperate properly before your next workout. If you are more seasoned and advanced at the weight lifting game however you can probably get away with a higher work volume on those smaller body parts. So beyond that simple fact of the gym you can also stick to three simple rules when it comes to work volume.

1. Low reps = strength training

Low reps under 8 are designed for power lifting and strength conditioning. This is not for fat burning or muscle growth like a bodybuilder. It is also not like that of an endurance athlete with super high reps it is the exact opposite.

2. medium reps for muscle

Medium reps are usually the core of every bodybuilders routine. They use a rep range of 10 - 12 reps to stimulate as many fibers as possible. This is what helps them to trigger muscle growth and some fat burning at the same time.

3. Hi reps for endurance/ aerobic exercise

The truly high rep ranges are used for conditioning and endurance purposes almost exclusively. The rep range for these exercises is a range of 12 - 15 reps for high volume. The high volume also keeps your heart rate higher which helps with the fat burning.

The bottom line is yet again pick something that works for you but don't overdue it. If you do it will surely do more damage than good especially for the new people.So pick which one works for you stick to it and be consistent for results.

Your Muscle Flex Plan

This is a good all around circuit to follow for good benefits all around. You can also take pieces and parts from it and utilize what you need. Check it out.
Your Muscle Flex Plan

Photos on Yahoo! Health

Here is an article that could help some people with morning workout tips. You can also read my article about why you should do your cardio in the morning before breakfast.
Photos on Yahoo! Health

5 Myths About Antioxidants

This is a cool realistic article about antioxidants. They are good nutrients but they do get hyped up quite a lot. Check it out it is a good article. Learn the truth about these little super foods.
5 Myths About Antioxidants

Lose Your Fear of Lifting

This article is perfect for all you women out there who are afraid to lift weights. You do not have to be afraid you will not look masculine. It is not easy to get big like a bodybuilder like you are thinking. A little weight lifting could do you a world of good.
Lose Your Fear of Lifting

Yahoo! Finance Story - subway-passes-mcdonalds: Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance

Hanoman King (thetrainingnews@yahoo.com) has sent you a news article
------------------------------------------------------------
Personal message:

This is excellent news for the country. This means that people are starting to eat healthier by just a little bit. I hope this is an indicator that our country is getting healthier.

subway-passes-mcdonalds: Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance
http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/112284/subway-passes-mcdonalds

============================================================
Yahoo! Finance http://finance.yahoo.com/

Scientists Link 13 New Gene Regions to Heart Disease Risk

This is an interesting article about genetic characteristics that show you may have a propensity for heart disease. It doesn't mean you will get it it just means your chances are a lot greater that someone without these genetic characteristics. As they say knowing is half the battle the other half is keeping healthy and adjusting your daily habits to combat these bad characteristics. My site can help you with that. Check it out.
Scientists Link 13 New Gene Regions to Heart Disease Risk

7 Ways to Avoid Allergies and Toxic Pollution at the Gym

Here is a list of things to avoid if you are prone to allergies. There is also a list of possible toxic things in the gym and how to avoid those as well. You should try to make your training the healthiest experience for you as possible. So check this out.
7 Ways to Avoid Allergies and Toxic Pollution at the Gym

3 top motivation methods to keep training

People often find them self's in a difficult spot when it comes to staying motivated. There are some tricks however to keep yourself motivated and keep your progression to your goals. Here are the top three methods for sustained motivation.

1.Form a plan
You have to have a plan. If you do not have a plan you will be lost. The killer that you will not see is the word why. Without a plan it is the nagging reason. Why am I doing this? Formulate a good plan of what you want to do and train for. Whatever the plan my be make one and stick to it.

2.Make goals
You must make goals to reach your potential. If you have no goals it is like wanting to go up stairs with no steps. Do you think that the top athletes and individuals in the world started as what they were. Or did they actually make goals and stick to them to succeed. I think the reasoning is pretty obvious behind that statement. Unless you can fly get on the steps like the rest of us. Make both large and small goals and stick to them do not give up!

3.Stick to your guns!!
Above all else never give up. It is never too late to start a good nutrition and training regiment. I think that everyone on the planet should train and eat healthy. There is an uncountable group of things, events and circumstances that will constantly try to bring you down. The greatest enemy in all of this is yourself. I you can not block out simple stuff you will defeat yourself before you have even started. Anybody can make excuses for why they do not want to do something but few will have the fortitude to suck it up and continue. So stick to your guns so you can have some.

12 Best Restaurant Weight Loss Tricks

Here is an article that can help all you time crunched I can't cook people. At least it can help you to make some better choices while eating out. Check it out.
12 Best Restaurant Weight Loss Tricks

Yahoo! News Story - The Fight Over High-Fructose Corn Syrup - Yahoo! News

This is a good article about the reasoning and products which contain high fructose corn syrup. Is it good or bad? Find out here.
Hanoman King (thetrainingnews@yahoo.com) has sent you a news article.
(Email address has not been verified.)
------------------------------------------------------------
Personal message:

The Fight Over High-Fructose Corn Syrup - Yahoo! News

http://news.yahoo.com/s/dailybeast/20110228/ts_dailybeast/12657_highfructosecornsyrupdebateandproductswithhighamounts

============================================================
Yahoo! News
http://news.yahoo.com/

Yahoo! Shine - Bananas: The ultimate hunger buster

(thetrainingnews@yahoo.com) has sent you this information from Yahoo! Shine.

(Email address has not been verified.)

---

Personal message:

I saw this blog post on Yahoo! Shine and thought that you might be interested. Who knew bananas had this property in their starch. That is good for fighting those cravings and needless hunger.

Bananas: The ultimate hunger buster - Food on Shine
http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/food/bananas-the-ultimate-hunger-buster-2456998/

---

Yahoo! Shine

http://shine.yahoo.com/

Yahoo! Shine - Eat This for Gorgeous Skin

(thetrainingnews@yahoo.com) has sent you this information from Yahoo! Shine.

(Email address has not been verified.)

---

Personal message:

I saw this blog post on Yahoo! Shine and thought that you might be interested. It is an interesting article on skin health and nutrition.

Eat This for Gorgeous Skin on Shine
http://shine.yahoo.com/event/vitality/eat-this-for-gorgeous-skin-2454120/

---

Yahoo! Shine

http://shine.yahoo.com/

5 Things that kill your progress in the gym

I decided to have an article that described the things that really hurt you in the gym. In order to make it more easily accessible I have narrowed it down to the top five things that will really hurt your progress. So here we go.
5. Lack of consistency
I have been harping on this since starting this site. No matter what you do you must do it for a while to be successful. Consistency is your key to success as they say. So whatever the training regiment you follow at least follow it for a while but not too long.
4. complacency in training
What I mean by this is doing the same thing for far too long. I know I just said that you have to be consistent to be successful in number five but you don't want to do the same thing for too long either. Our bodies are bio feedback mechanisms and often times people in the gym hit plateaus due to the fact t hat they have been doing the same exact routine for years. If you don't want to hit any sticking points change it up once and a while.
3. Over training
Over training is something that happens all to often to new people in the gym. They are so eager to see progress that they over train there muscles. Let us not forget that we grow outside the gym and not in it. The training that you do is simply put a form of stimulation to the muscles. It is the nutrition and rest that produce progress and growth. It is a fine line train to little no results or train too much and no results due to over training. You need to find your sweet spot.
2. Stress and negativity
These are probably two of the most harmful thing to anyone who wants results from there training. People will look at you and tell you will not succeed because they themselves have failed. You will also have self doubts and general situations that are difficult by nature are good enough distractions. You have to learn too tune these things out if you do not they will pull down your focus and motivation like crabs in a barrel. Keep your eye on the prize.
1. Nutrition
I have always said that training is a 50/50. Half what you do in the gym and the other half is what you put in your mouth. If you are eating the wrong things or not enough of the right things than it will be difficult for you. Would you ask a home builder to build you a house out of cardboard? Then why do people ask there bodies to do such things. They train and work hard and then eat junk or not enough of the right stuff. Check out how much protein is enough protein for protein intake. I had a friend in high school that was tired of always being behind me with all of his lifts. So his solution was to take hormones and he still didn't eat the way I told him to. He still didn't beat me in my lifts because he was only working at %50 and I was at somewhere close to %100 because my nutrition was were it needed to be. I hope you can take advantage from this article and avoid taking these same pitfalls.

Men: What Your Sex Life Says About Your Health

This is a good article to tell you some symptoms of what your sex drive can be telling you. It is always a good indicator for hormones and balance.If there is something wrong in this department chances are there is something wrong somewhere else.
Men: What Your Sex Life Says About Your Health

Women: Eliminate Heart Attack Risk by Nearly 90 Percent

Here is a good article for women on how to reduce their stress levels. Although the article is geared towards women I think that me can benefit from some of the techniques described as well. You can also check out my article on memes and stress for more insight.
Women: Eliminate Heart Attack Risk by Nearly 90 Percent

The Id Ego and training

I don't know about you but how many times have you gone to the gym and seen some guy that spends about one decade or two one the bench. You start doing other things to try to work around this individual but it just doesn't seem to matter. He has to take ten hours of rest between his sets and go to some fast food joint and eat a greasy burger between each one. But its alright this keeps his strength up. You know it takes a lot of calories and rest to bench press 200 lbs. If only Joe blow the couch potato could get his ducks in a row he would realize that their is more to training than just how much ya bench. Welcome to the world of the man trapped in his own ego and it is killing his training routine. When you go about developing your training regiment you must build one based in logic and not off your ego. It's like the old skit on Saturday night live "how much ya bench" funny stuff and yes sad but true. A bunch of guys sitting around with little skinny chicken legs talking about how much they bench all day hmmmm that doesn't sound familiar. Your ego will ruin you in the gym it will destroy your routine and make you look like a fool. If you are constantly trying to compare yourself to weaker or less developed people then you have missed the point. The true challenge is against that guy that is string back at you in the mirror in the morning. I do not wake up trying to be the next whoever every day I simply work on improving myself. I am not saying that being inspired by someone is not alright. But you can only be yourself and not anybody else when you really look at it. So leave your ego where it belongs it can help you in certain arenas but harm you in others.

'Heroes' Judged Harshly for Bad Behavior, Study Finds

This article just proves that one bad thing wipes pout a ton of good things in the minds of most people in the world. Nobody is perfect however this is not an excuse to be a deviant low life. However all this nonsense about holding people to higher standards because they are "heroes" is stupid in my opinion. You can read my article on memes and stress and find out more about public perception and what I think of "stress" and its effects on your health.
'Heroes' Judged Harshly for Bad Behavior, Study Finds

Yahoo! Shine - Forever foods: 9 cooking staples that can outlast you

(thetrainingnews@yahoo.com) has sent you this information from Yahoo! Shine.

(Email address has not been verified.)

---

Personal message:

I saw this blog post on Yahoo! Shine and thought that you might be interested. It mentions dome pretty health long lasting foods. Check it out. Don't forget to check my site for tonnes of useful info.

Forever foods: 9 cooking staples that can outlast you on Shine
http://shine.yahoo.com/event/green/forever-foods-9-cooking-staples-that-can-outlast-you-2456896/

---

Yahoo! Shine

http://shine.yahoo.com/

5 Ways to Cheat Death

Here are some cool simple tips to beat the reaper. I think all of us should live a long healthy life so check this out it is pretty cool. There are also plenty of informative articles in my site as well explaining healthy habits but most are not as simple as these.
5 Ways to Cheat Death

The 200 diet

Along time ago there was a diet called the 180 diet. The center premise of this diet was to cut your carbs down to 180 carbs per day. Then if you felt weak and under powered and weak you could tweak it a little higher. If you felt no change you would keep it the same until you felt such a change. So I got to thinking about it and wondered why would you want to be so deprived of carbs that you feel weak? Why not start out a little higher and follow some simple principles to keep the extra carbs from being stored as fat? So I suggest to my fellow training enthusiasts that you start at 200 grams of carbs a day and then work your way down if you absolutely have to. The only reason you would have to is if you are not losing any body fat and you are not getting any leaner. So another good rule of thumb to follow is not to consume any starchy carbs four to six hours before bed. This should prevent the sugar being stored as fat. Keep your protein up to a gram per pound of lean body mass. In order to determine your lean body mass just get a body fat percentage and deduct your fat from your total body weight. So as long as you keep your protein were it needs to be with your carbs you do not have to worry about losing any lean body mass. Just think of the whole concept as a simplified diet to keep you lean while training hard.

Ancient Inca grain is new health food darling

This is an article about quinoa. This grain is an awesome little super food but yes there are others that are loaded with fiber and nutrients just like this one. If you have trouble finding quinoa you could use farro. Farro is a grain originally from Italy it is full of fiber and loaded with nutrients. The grain has a buttery flavor when you cook it and kind of reminds me of a cross between brown rice and corn. You can buy it at whole foods or even Costco.

Ancient Inca grain is new health food darling

The old vs the new view on training

Things are changing so rapidly these days with the advent of quicker technologies and research at which seems to be at the speed of light. With that said there is a lot to dismiss from the old school train of thought but there is also a lot to remember. Back in the days of the golden years of bodybuilding and training they simply ate a lot and lifted weights and there was not a lot of though put into the actual quantity of ingredients in the food or amount of protein they needed. This is a blind eye approach that a lot of people follow even to this day. As time went on athletes realized the benefits of having both size and speed so they started to be concerned with body fat and conditioning. Because lets face it speed, size and strength are all almost locked in an equally important balance. Mess with one and your athletic potential becomes messed up and off. I can remember Lou Ferrigno making a comment how he wished he did not eat so much peanut butter and milk early in his career. The reason is that it made him gain too much body fat and he could have been leaner. So I do not suggest that you forget the old days I just think people should learn from them. Take the best from both and make educated decisions on the information that you have. So stay informed with us and keep on progressing.

Foods That Fight Sickness

Are you getting sick a lot recently? This article tells you about some foods that are good at keeping you healthy and away from getting sick. Check it out every little bit helps.
Foods That Fight Sickness

Yahoo! Shine - 10 dirty fruits and veggies

Check this article out so you can be educated as to the dirty fruits and veggies. It is not always wine and roses as they say.

(thetrainingnews@yahoo.com) has sent you this information from Yahoo! Shine.

(Email address has not been verified.)

---

Personal message:

I saw this blog post on Yahoo! Shine and thought that you might be interested.

10 dirty fruits and veggies - Food on Shine
http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/food/10-dirty-fruits-and-veggies-2451593/

---

Yahoo! Shine

http://shine.yahoo.com/

Is fat a friend or foe?

There is a lot of talk and jargon about fat as a nutrient and what or how much of it we need. If you follow the carb haters they eat enough fat to feed a starving third world country almost every day and think this is fine. But we all know for all around good health and wellness it is not right to deprive or overindulge in any one nutrient. I look at it from an open minded more sensible approach. I hate to use calories as they are an empty measurement but they will give a good reference. Carbohydrates are four calories per gram fat is nine you can do the rest of the math to figure that one out. So it would only make sense that if you cut down on your fat intake it would lower your caloric intake much more than carbs or protein as they are less than half on the calories right? Well as you know by all the low carb diets out there, I think they are starting to out number the number of people out there. The answer is no. As with all good things it is far more complicated than just a simple answer like that. The most anabolic hormone in our bodies is insulin. Insulin is affected by how sugary a carbohydrate or simple the carbohydrate is. So the more sugary carbs you eat the more insulin is released rapidly. Although insulin is the most anabolic hormone in the body it is also responsible for fat storage as well. This is how the carb diets all work it is at there core. No insulin response low to no fat storage so the body has to tern the fat into carbs for the muscles. And it works great until you have to turn on the insulin again eventually. There was this condition that the pioneers called rabbit or squirrel starvation. What this was was when all they had to eat was one of these two animals lots of protein and some fat and no carbs. So there bodies would convert there fat into glycogen until the fat got so low in there bodies they starved to death. Go low carbs! So to answer the key question is fat all that bad as a nutrient? No. But we need to eat less of it than all this foolish carb talk. I personally get most of my fat in the form of essential fatty acids also referred to as the omega fatty acids. These are healthy fats that our body's need to survive and keep us healthy.They are involved in everything from our brains to fat metabolism itself. There are all kinds of products out there today to get these health fats out of our regular food like smart balance buttery spread and penut butter for instance. These are awesome products that everyone should use in my opinion. Even with these I would still keep my fat intake below sixty or seventy grams a day. You can eat fat just not too much and you want it from the right sources it is healthy for you. As of the carbs look at my article titled good carbs bad carbs what carbs for more information on that. So until then eat good and train hard.

7 Best Fast-Food Meals Under 350 Calories

I know a lot of you are still probably going to go for those easy fast food choices more than you should. Here is an article showing some meals at some fast food places that are low calorie. I still say to avoid the processed food and stay natural and healthy with your choices.
7 Best Fast-Food Meals Under 350 Calories

Vegetarianism all the rage in MMA - UFC - Yahoo! Sports

I don't know about the title of this article? Some of the fighters are talking about how they eat meat well whatever. The article has some diets for some of the top ranked fighters in MMA.
Hanoman King (thetrainingnews@yahoo.com) has sent you a news article
------------------------------------------------------------
Personal message:

MMA diets check them out.

Vegetarianism all the rage in MMA - UFC - Yahoo! Sports
http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/news?slug=dm-mmavegetarians021711

============================================================
Yahoo! Sports - http://sports.yahoo.com/

Creatine what does it actually do for you?

Creatine is one of the largest and most widely sold training supplements on the market today. It is not new although there are plenty of new versions out there creatine itself has been around for decades. Creatine is a metabolic resource used in the reproduction of ATP during exercise. ATP is the energy currency of the muscle fibers they use the phosphates in the ATP to produce energy. What the creatine does is to help this process increase buy giving phosphates to the process to speed the recovery. So in other words your strength will come back faster. The other thing that creatine does is to keep water in the muscles. What this does is help the muscles to stay in an anabolic state. If your muscles are not hydrated they will not grow! Your muscles must be in a hyper plastic( water bearing) state to grow. So if you actually dissect the whole supplement creatine helps you in two different ways. It helps with the biochemical energy process and the water bearing needs of the muscle for growth. There is a lot of hype surrounding this supplement due to it's time on the market. There have been reports of everything from kidney problems to death blamed on it in the past. To date there is no studies or proof showing any negative affects of creatine at normal levels. There was even one study done with hundreds of people in Europe for ten years straight with no negative results. Most of the reports siting some sort of issue are actually caused by dehydration of the individual or some other underling cause. Even with no supplements in your body at all dehydration by itself will cause kidney damage and eventually death. I have taken creatine on and off for years and have yet to experience any problems accept strength and training improvement. I would recommend this two fold supplement to anybody as part of their supplement regiment.So don't fear the hype and get your self right. Creatine can help and be an asset to your regiment.

Alternative Cold and Flu Remedies

Have a cold or flu? We all know training when sick is a bad move so here are some natural remedies to help you get through it. I like the mushrooms I have used these before and they seem to help me out. Check it out.

Alternative Cold and Flu Remedies

Your Finger Length and Prostate Risk

This is a strange but true study about prostate cancer risk and finger length. That is amazing that your index finger is an indicator of how much testosterone you were exposed to in the womb. My index and ring fingers are the same length so I guess I am ok.

Your Finger Length and Prostate Risk

Sitting Too Much? One-Minute Breaks Can Help

Here is a cool article for people who sit too much at work. Check it out.

Sitting Too Much? One-Minute Breaks Can Help

L- Glutamine and its benefits

It used to be that every where you read ninety percent of all supplements contained L-glutamine. Although that percentage is not quite as high they still include it in a lot of different supplements. So why do they put just this amino acid in so many supplements? Glutamine is not a branch chain amino acid so in other words our body's can produce it. But our bodies also use it for a lot of things such as the production of growth hormone or gluthione one of the bodies most powerful antioxidants. The main reason they add it into supplements is due to the fact that it helps with the growth hormone production and also that it is one of the most abundant amino acids in muscle. So logic would dictate that the more you get the better muscle recovery and all that. Well I can tell you from my own experience that that is some what true. Yes it helps with recovery and GH production and all of that good stuff but it is not an essential or branch chain amino acid. One source of protein that is high in glutamine is soy protein. So what I would venture to say is that glutamine's role is more anti catabolic that anabolic. Or in other words it just helps you to keep muscle while you burn body fat. If you are looking to add muscle your body will still need those pesky branch chain amino acids. You can take a peek at my previous article about branch chain amino acids to get more in depth info on them. If you look at most vegetarians they are usually relatively thin muscle wise. They don't have the large dense muscle. The reasoning is they lack branch chain amino acids in there diets. Your body cannot produce these on it's own it is a scientific fact. So therefore if you don't get them in your diet where are you supposed to get them from? And I am not saying there aren't any vegans or vegetarians who don't take branch chain amino acids. Which by the way is against the rules for a vegan because most of what you can get in the way of branch chain amino acids are from animal sources of some kind. Anyway I think that glutamine is good but not great. It is something you could add to your supplement regiment if you are cutting down or something like that. But if you eat a lot of protein already truth be told you are already getting glutamine with the protein. If you need extra security because you are not consuming enough protein for recovery glutamine could help you from loosing some muscle mass. For a good guide of how much protein you need check out my article on how much protein is enough protein. This explains in detail how much protein you actually need for recovery. Then if you want to add glutamine on it could be like the icing on the cake.

Yahoo! Shine - “Hey, That’s Exercise!� (Actually, It Might Not Be.)

Time crunched?Check out what you can and and cant make exercise at the link below.

(thetrainingnews@yahoo.com) has sent you this information from Yahoo! Shine.

(Email address has not been verified.)

---

Personal message:

I saw this blog post on Yahoo! Shine and thought that you might be interested.

“Hey, That’s Exercise!� (Actually, It Might Not Be.) - Healthy Living on Shine
http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/health/hey-that-s-exercise-actually-it-might-not-be-2453746/

---

Yahoo! Shine

http://shine.yahoo.com/

Yahoo! Shine - Natural remedies for the 15 most common aches, pains, and health complaints

You can follow this link for some natural remedies for different problems. I love stuff like this because I hate pharmaceutical drugs and hospitals. If you can treat it without all the financial and chemical burden on your body do it naturally.

(thetrainingnews@yahoo.com) has sent you this information from Yahoo! Shine.

(Email address has not been verified.)

---

Personal message:

I saw this blog post on Yahoo! Shine and thought that you might be interested.

Natural remedies for the 15 most common aches, pains, and health complaints on Shine
http://shine.yahoo.com/event/green/natural-remedies-for-the-15-most-common-aches-pains-and-health-complaints-2451193/

---

Yahoo! Shine

http://shine.yahoo.com/

Could Getting More Fiber Help You Live Longer?

I definitely think that eating healthy and taking care of yourself will add quality years to your life. There is no question in my mind check out my articles on multivitamins and why you should take them. This article is about fiber which is extremely important as well. Fiber is one of the key things that keeps your GI tract healthy. Check out the link below.
Could Getting More Fiber Help You Live Longer?

Time crunched training

As we carry on with our life's everything seems to become more and more time crunched. You get some sort of career job and a family and life just seems to keep getting in the way. This leads to the number one excuse for all training enthusiasts and people who would like to get in shape. "I don't have enough time to workout and get in shape." Let me tell you all something this is the biggest lie in the universe. Everybody seems to make time to do everything else but when it comes to training and getting in shape some black hole comes out of the reaches of the twilight zone and eats up all your time. If you can make time for tv and everything else you can make time to train. You might not have the time and dedication to be the next Mr. Olympia or universe or something like that but you can definitely get in good shape and healthy for yourself. A lot of this "crunched" for time attitude is actually poor time management. If people would just schedule a little bit better and prioritize things the way they should be we could all be at minimum healthier and happier. Trust me I know there was a time in my life when I worked 18 hrs a day six days a week and guess what? That's right I still had time to train and compete and be successful in bodybuilding. Some of you are thinking yeah right that is impossible but it wasn't I did it. I am not saying that it was easy there were days when I would lay down to go to sleep and wake up with my feet still on the floor I just fell asleep that way. But looking back I have no regrets it was all worth it. Even if you truly have very little time and cannot access the gym you could organize training sessions on your breaks at work. You do not need to go to the gym you could do a routine based in calisthenics push ups, sit ups free squats ect. If you have access to a gym during your break time you have no excuse. Another technique that I have discussed in previous posts is splitting your training routine. This is a technique that I have adapted over time and has paid off immensely. Just look up splitting your routine on my blog and you can find it. No matter how "crunched" you are for time you can always do some crunches or at train that is.

14 Things Your Eyes Say About Your Health

Check this article out. Your eyes can tell a lot about a persons health apparently. This is interesting stuff and can give you some hints to look out for. I have a friend who found out he needed medical help after looking at what his eyes were telling him. Pay attention people are bodies often time give us warning signs but we simply do not pay attention.
14 Things Your Eyes Say About Your Health

Split your rest days to inrease your success!!!

We seem to be wired to be sort of lazy by nature. I think this is an evolutionary or adaptive throwback that we have gained from a time once passed. Back when we had to conserve energy for what we needed to do which was hunt and gather. Unfortunately today all gathering is is hoping in the gas powered car and driving to the nearest fast food place to eat some sort of junk. Anyway we are wired to be lazy and it works against our goals. How many successful people do you hear about bragging how they spent the last part of a week sloughing around the house and laying on the sofa. Probably none right. As they say practice makes perfect. But yes I live in reality and I know that wee have to rest to recuperate. I wish I could just keep going non stop and training while I recuperated at the same time. But the ugly truth is that non of us can. So what should you do the you should work as much as you can and split your rest days. What I mean by this is that most people who train tend to rest two consecutive days in a row. This increases your down time and decreases your training time. The more you train the more calories burned and muscle gains achieved. So what I suggest for you to do is to make your rest day Sunday and Wednesday instead of Saturday and Sunday. My actual rest days are Sunday and Wednesday because they are almost at equal portions of the week apart. Whatever your days make sure that they are split rest days and watch your routine produce even more results for you.

Make Over Your Body With Yoga

Yoga is a good style for stretching and clearing the mind. I recommend it to anybody who would like to be more flexible and relive stress. If you would like more inside info into how yoga could help you with weight training look up stretching and its benefits on my page.
Make Over Your Body With Yoga

Yahoo! Finance Story - 10-states-with-the-deadliest-eating-habits: Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance

Check out this article for some sobering news about our fast food oriented society and where we are heading. Very scary people check it out.

Hanoman (thetrainingnews@yahoo.com) has sent you a news article
------------------------------------------------------------
Personal message:

10-states-with-the-deadliest-eating-habits: Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance
http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/112083/10-states-with-the-deadliest-eating-habits

============================================================
Yahoo! Finance http://finance.yahoo.com/

Best and Worst Valentine's Day Candy

I know everybody wants to be lovey dovey and get chocolates for valentines day. So here are some factoids about that chocolate. Hopefully you can make a healthier choice.
Best and Worst Valentine's Day Candy

A good beginners workout.

As I was looking at my site I realized something I do not have anything for people who may be visiting my site and would like to train but don't have the slightest idea of how to start a training regimen. So here is a good beginners work out regimen.
Beginners training regimen.

Day one:
Chest and biceps

Bench press machine flys Incline press 3sets x 10-12 reps 3sets x 10-12reps 3sets x 10- 12 reps

Day two:
Back, triceps and shoulders

T- Bar rows Lat pull downs Hyper extensions Shoulder presses 3sets x 10-12 reps 3sets x 10-12reps 3sets x 10- 12 reps 3sets x 10-12 reps

Day three:
Legs

Leg extensions Leg press Calf raises Leg curls
4sets x 10-12 reps 4 sets x 10-12 rep 3 sets x 15 – 20 reps 3 sets x 10-12 reps

*** The days between the training days are for rest and cardio. Cardio is to be performed 15 min durations in the morning before breakfast. Only drink water during your cardio nothing sweet or that has calories.

A lot of the movements can be substituted for calisthenics if you do not have access to a gym in your area. I would suggest upping the reps to 25 for the calisthenics and the sets to four. You could replace the flat and incline chest presses with flat and inclined push ups. As far as the back regiment is concerned you could do pull ups instead of lat pull downs. In fact if you are strong enough I suggest this either way. And of course free squats and calf raises for legs. Which ever way you do it just be consistent and stick to your guns. Your persistence will pay off in the end.

Why am I so fatigued?

There are many reasons that people can become fatigued. But essentially it all boils down to two different areas. Either you are fatigued from some form of mental "stress" or physical reason. There are more reasons for the physical type than the mental "stress" everyone seems to be flocking to these days. Physically speaking your body can usually endure a lot of punishment but this punishment comes at a price. Your body needs the required nutrients and rest to recover from such abuse. A lot of people are giving their bodies bad fuel in the form of processed junk to fuel and recover. You can check out my previous article about why you should avoid processed foods as much as possible. Th article is called what are processed foods and why should I avoid them. This article will explain the reasons that they are bad and yes can cause fatigue. The other reason physically that you can be fatigued is rest itself you probably are not getting enough rest. For more details on this check out my article on rest training and you. Rest is very important to your recovery in any given training situation. And that leaves us with the next main cause of fatigue "stress". This burns you out mentally and causes all kinds of emotional issues. I suggest you read my article on memes and their effect on health and training. In that article I go more in depth on the mentality and reasons behind what actually make people "stress" all the time. I also touch on the affects it can have on you and your training regiment. What ever the cause there is always an answer for your fatigue. It could be as simple as the fact that you are in a cycle of inactivity and your metabolism is now slow. In that case you owe it to your self to start a training regiment. It will increase your metabolism and help you feel better. Whatever the cause of your fatigue I hope I could help.

Strokes are rising fast among young, middle-aged

The effects of abusing the body are starting to show on the younger people in our country. You maintain you car and property you need to do the same for you bodies people. Age is a number and this proves that in my opinion. Less fast food and more training get away from the tv and the cheese burgers and lets get to work people. Check out the link below and read the story.

Strokes are rising fast among young, middle-aged

What are "processed foods" and why should you avoid them?

The term processed means anything that has been produced or changed by a humans hand. Like flour for instance it starts as a whole grain and is ground into a powder. If it is white flour we are talking about then it is bleached. Yeah that's right I said bleached. After that they reintroduce certain vitamins hence the term on the label "enriched" wheat flour. They do this because the bleaching removes these nutrients.So as you can see a loaf of white bread is extensively processed just in the flour itself not including whatever else they might be adding throughout the baking and packing process. Any king of "junk food" such as chips and cookies that sit unrefrigerated and exposed always have "preservatives". Some of these substances that are added to help the product taste fresh have names as long as the paragraph I just typed. I don't know about you but I am pretty sure that when we were all growing and hunting all of our own food these preservatives were not in them. One of the things that these things will do to your body is throw off you biochemistry. There is a whole host of biological reactions that are going on in your body as we speak. These reactions are dictated by hormones their precursors and enzymes and the glands that provide and regulate them within our bodies. One of the main regulators is the thyroid. If it is constantly having to adjust the effects will be a pretty immediate felling of fatigue and mood change. That is why people have trouble getting enough energy to get through the day. Their thyroid is constantly adjusting to metabolize all the junk. That flour I was talking about earlier will also act like play dough in your small intestine and coat it. The problem with this is that the micro vili inside the intestine that absorb the nutrients are now blocked. So you have physically separated your ability to absorb nutrients to a degree. The effect is increased and amplified if you are dehydrated. And as fate would have it most people do not drink enough water. I know that we can not completely remove processed foods from our diets but we can keep them to a minimum. Start shopping around the outside of the grocery store instead of the center. Make more whole natural choices for what you eat. Your body will thank you.

Yahoo! Shine - 6 Moves to Six-Pack Abs

This article contains some good general tips on keeping those abdominal muscles tight and flat. Those are one of the most neglected areas for most peoples training regiments. I also suggest you read why you should do your cardio before breakfast on my site. It will help keep the body fat at bay so you can see some of those abs. Check them out.

(thetrainingnews@yahoo.com) has sent you this information from Yahoo! Shine.

(Email address has not been verified.)

---

Personal message:

I saw this blog post on Yahoo! Shine and thought that you might be interested.

6 Moves to Six-Pack Abs - Healthy Living on Shine
http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/health/6-moves-to-six-pack-abs-2445978/

---

Yahoo! Shine

http://shine.yahoo.com/

The truth about leg presses

How many of you have gone into the gym and seen some guy that is not much larger than big top pee wee and he thinks he is king of the world because he has like 400 lbs on the leg press? It seems to be a pretty common occurrence and most people don't really know the reasoning behind it. Well here it goes this is the reason are you ready for it. Simple physics. See almost all leg style leg presses are designed to be at a 45 degree angle of motion. Or to put it in simply you are pushing the weight up a wedge of sorts. What does the wedge do? It takes some of the load of weight. How much of the load? Approximately %50 for a 45 degree sled. So if big top pee wee is doing 400 lbs on the leg press that means he is squatting 200lbs. I had a girlfriend that could do more than that on a real squat I mean seriously. Does this mean that the leg press is useless in the gym then? Absolutely not and here is why. If you really do say have like a 500 lb or 600 lb free weight squat for a heavy set and don't like the idea of getting injured all the time the leg press is actually a useful tool. Load that baby up with 1200 lbs or so and enjoy your 600 lbs squat equivalent movement with less risk of injury or failure. It is safer because it is more controlled. I however do both on my leg days to really blast my legs and reap the benefits of both movements. Is it harder that way? Oh yeah but nothing worth anything is ever easy. So now that you know the truth use it to your advantage blast those quads.

Physical exercise helps keeps cancer at bay: WHO

The world health organization is finally recognizing the benefits of exercise. This article outlines the fact that exercise research has shown it helps lower cancer risk. Check it out.

Physical exercise helps keeps cancer at bay: WHO

Yahoo! News Story - Qigong: mindful movement made in China - Yahoo! News

Hanoman (thetrainingnews@yahoo.com) has sent you a news article.
(Email address has not been verified.)
------------------------------------------------------------
Personal message:

This not so new exercise for mind. body and spirit is gaining popularity. Check it out. I have been practicing chi gong for years. I love it.

Qigong: mindful movement made in China - Yahoo! News

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110207/lf_nm_life/us_fitness_qigong

============================================================
Yahoo! News
http://news.yahoo.com/

5 All-Star Supplements

These are the five top supplements that the general public consumes for general health and well being. I have a post that highlights the three best training supplements for the gym. Just look up the supplement trifecta. This post details the main three supplements you will need to be effective in the gym to build the foundation of you regiment. You can also follow the link provided below to see what the public like for general health.

5 All-Star Supplements

Yahoo! Shine - The Top 6 Calorie-Burning Workouts

(thetrainingnews@yahoo.com) has sent you this information from Yahoo! Shine.

(Email address has not been verified.)

---

Personal message:

I saw this blog post on Yahoo! Shine and thought that you might be interested. Some good general tips to keep the burn going.

The Top 6 Calorie-Burning Workouts - Healthy Living on Shine
http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/health/the-top-6-calorie-burning-workouts-2444723/

---

Yahoo! Shine

http://shine.yahoo.com/

These are some good workouts for burning extra fat and calories if this can be useful to you at this time. Some are also endurance style workouts that of course also burn fat. Check out my article called the benefits of cardio in the morning before breakfast for more info on leveraging your fat burning and not sacrificing as much muscle in the process.

Dumbbells vs. barbells what is the difference?

There is always a constant debate over which one is better dumbbells or barbells. What could be the difference? There are actually many differences that could help or harm your training routine depending on how you use them. Dumbbells for instance allow each side of your body to be independent while you perform a certain exercise. This is good for strengthening the target muscles due to each side independently taking the load of weight. A secondary effect is the fact that the independent movement of the weight causes the use of "core" or "stabilizer" muscles more to maintain control of the weight. What these muscles are actually are all the supporting muscles for balance such as your abdominal muscles,back and legs. So in the long run the body burns more calories because it is using more muscles than a fixed barbell for control. But there is a bad side as with many things. Once you reach a certain strength level with your dumbbell movements the dumbbells become so large that it becomes cumbersome to carry out the motion of the exercise. So in other words if you are wanting to go really heavy dumbbells are not the way to go. Barbells still have the leading position for this role. But that doesn't mean that doing some heavier dumbbell movements prior to the barbells would not be a good thing. As I often say variety is the spice of life. That even goes for your chest routine. If you don't believe my last statement about the dumbbells being too large at really heavy poundage next time you get a chance to look at the 180lb or 200lb dumbbells if you can find them. They are about three and a half feet long a piece. That is a combined length of almost 7 feet. But whether you chose one or the other or a combination consistency will also give results.

Your Heart Health: 13 Numbers Everyone Should Know

Your Heart Health: 13 Numbers Everyone Should Know

Check this out it is a quick numerical reference to heart health. Everybody should be concerned about their tickers. Know your numbers and have a healthier happier heart.

Stretching? Why is it important?

In the mist of all the cardiovascular conditioning and weight training is another well needed training resource. Stretching, this resource is overindulged by some and all but forgotten by others. thew prime example of the over done part would be yoga and palates. I am not taking anything away from these two methods of stretching and exercise but they are both completely centered around stretching. Then there are the people who will workout continuously with weights and conditioning and never stretch at all. I truly believe that stretching is an essential part of any form or type of training regiment. Why do I say this? The answer is simple. As we train our muscle break down and recover to become stronger. If you continue this pattern long enough without stretching you will end up like the guy in the gym that everybody makes fun of. You know the guy that walks around like a robot that cannot straighten his elbows or walk properly. Why does this happen? Well all that work has built up scar tissue in the muscle belly causing it to be crowded and stiff. With out a lot of stretching and some other things such as deep tissue message this problem will persist.Not only does it affect your mobility but it also will impede new muscle development due to the crowding by the scar tissue. What I suggest to do is to start some sort of regiment of stretching that is regular.Stretching is a simple way to break up this scar tissue. A good rule of thumb is to stretch your parts that you are working out that day between sets. So if you are doing chest you would stretch you pecs between sets on every exercise. This has also shown to increase growth hormone in some studies by the Russian Olympic team years ago. What ever you decide to do. Weather you incorporate stretching between sets or implement yoga or palates you owe it to your body to do some sort of stretching with your routine.After all who wants to walk around like a rigid stiff robot?

Yahoo! Movies - Why Hugh Jackman Eats "6,000 Calories a Day"

Hanoman King (thetrainingnews@yahoo.com) has sent you a news article
------------------------------------------------------------
Personal message:

Good job for Mr. Jackman. Keep training and dieting to fit those roles. He has my respect he is am awesome actor.

Why Hugh Jackman Eats "6,000 Calories a Day"
http://blog.movies.yahoo.com/blog/546-why-hugh-jackman-eats-6-000-calories-a-day

============================================================
Yahoo! Movies http://movies.yahoo.com/

Meme's"stress" and their effect on health and training

Stress and worry seem to be running rampant more and more. Every body is running around and constantly being labeled and told by other people what they should be, what they should do, what they should wear. It's alright too stressed we have a habit forming pill for that. I have news for everybody these people are doing nothing other than spreading some sort of meme. What is a meme you ask? Meme's are essentially negative thoughts or beliefs that spread through peoples minds like some sort of mental virus. They are every where and as you know negativity is the breeding engine of stress and stress causes a host of negative affects to a person. In fact I believe myself that stress is a meme itself. Think about it for a second. Why do most people stress about most things? Because they were given the idea at some point in there life that that is what they do. As most people know stress is the number one enemy to the perfect training regiment. In fact training and exercise in and of its self are the anti type for the meme we call stress. That is why it is so important for people to train and exercise because it helps relive them of the meme called stress that has poisoned the collective mind of all of humanity. Yes that's right I said all of humanity. We all unfortunately experience stress on a daily basis of some sort. The really sad part is that most people don't even realize that this is happening and develop all sorts of other problems such as anxiety problems and depression. Will training and exercise cure the meme's that a person has? Probably not, but it will help them deal with the effects better. The only way that someone can truly get better from the effects of these meme's is to realize what they are and treat them accordingly. If you knew someone was infected by a flu virus would you simply walk up and share food and drink with them and let them cough in your face? I hope not. It is the same way with these meme's. Once you learn to recognize these for what they are you can make changes and preparations to avoid their effects. There are of course some people who like hypochondriacs and being sick enjoy living with meme's. It's easy to see these people all you have to do is ask one about the gym or exercise. They will come up with a laundry list of excuses as to why they can't exercise or get in the gym. Unless they are actually handicap or something the real reason for the resistance is that deep down inside there is a meme telling them they can't do it or it won't work. So what should you do? Believe in your self and work at having a healthy mind, body and spirit. That's right I said work at it. Because just as your body needs work in the gym your mind and spirit also need strengthening and exercise as well. But it all starts with a healthy body and self confidence. So get in the gym and get healthy it will help the rest to come along.

Squats the different styles and how to do them

There are two different styles and two different types of squats. The main type is the barbell squat this squat is done with a barbell and off of some sort of squatting rack that holds the weight. There are two general styles for this movement. The first style is what I call the standard style this is were the bar comes down about right in the middle of you shoulder blades and at the base of your neck. Your elbows are bent and  your hands are parallel to your shoulders holding the bar. This is sometimes referred to as a free squatting style due to the fact that barbel free moving this way. The exercise is performed by lowering your torso while keeping you back straight and you feet a little wider than shoulder width. As you go down your knees should not go past your toes doing this hyper extends your knee joints ligaments. You should come down to the point where you are just below a 90 degree bend and then return up.The second style of squatting are front squats or hack squats. These squats are called front squats because the bar is placed in the front of you body with your arms crossed over it. With this method you are putting more emphasis on the front of the quadriceps area of your thigh.  This method employs more of those leg muscles to the front to move the weight. The two different types of  squats are the barbell and the machine squat. Everything I have previously described applies to the machine squats as well as the barbells. I recommend you incorporate both into your regiment The preferred rep range for this exercise is 10-15 reps for 4-5 sets per movement. If your main goal is to develop your quadriceps muscle more than move more weight I would suggest the front squat style as that requires more use of just the quadriceps  than the free squatting style. However if you were to hit a sticking point with either style change is always good and would help you to get through this sticking point. So I suggest that you do both movements in your routine. So start squatting for a stronger quads and keep checking us out for updates and tips.

No More Crunches? Abs-olutely! | ThePostGame

No More Crunches? Abs-olutely! | ThePostGame

The Training News: How to do flat bench presses

The Training News: How to do flat bench presses: "There are two different styles and two different types of flat bench presses. The main type is the barbell press this press is done with a b..."

How to do flat bench presses

There are two different styles and two different types of flat bench presses. The main type is the barbell press this press is done with a barbell and off of a flat benching surface. There are two general styles for this movement. The first style is what I call the bodybuilding style this is were the bar comes down about right in the middle of you chest. Your elbows are bent and parallel to your shoulders. This is sometimes referred to as a bodybuilding style of flat benching due to the fact that bodybuilders barbel bench this way. The second style of barbell flat bench presses are low or power lifting style presses. These presses are called power lifting bench presses because most power lifters have adopted this method of barbel flat bench. With this method your elbows are more parallel to your upper rib cage than your shoulder. The Barbell bar would come to or right bellow your nipple line. This method employs more of the triceps muscles in the upper arm to assist the chest in moving the weight. The two different types of flat bench presses are the dumbbell and the barbell flat bench. Everything I have previously described applies to the dumbbells as well as the barbells. The preferred rep range for this exercise is 10-12 reps for 4-5 sets. If your main goal is to develop your pectoral muscle more than move more weight I would suggest the higher bodybuilder's style as that requires more use of the pectorals  than the power lifting style. However if you were to hit a sticking point with either style change is always good and would help you to get through this sticking point. So start benching for a stronger chest and keep checking us out for updates and tips.

Rest training and you

There is a constant question that plagues the minds of people new to training everywhere. That question is if I want to proceed further with my training and goals then I should train 10 times as long right? Wrong. If you train too long it does not give your body the adequate time that it needs to recuperate. I once had one of my friends ask me if he should do push ups every single day along with his weight training regiment. If you want to be soar all the time and experience little if no progress then go ahead was my response. Progress is defined outside of the gym not inside the gym. When you are resting you are recuperating for that next workout to push out that extra rep or add that next five pounds to that particular movement. So the actual progress itself is achieved outside the gym in your house while you are resting not in the gym. This principle is also why nutrition plays such a pivotal role in the whole picture. even if you rest as much as possible and train the way you are supposed to if you do not eat right you are only getting it half right. Would you as a construction company to build you a house with little or poor materials?Than why would you ask your body to do the same thing and then be surprised when you you get less than satisfactory results? Train eat rest and grow. That is how it goes.

Why keep a training log and or schedule?

A lot of people wonder why they have problems showing progress when they train. The problem is that they are just simply going at the gym in some sort of random non calculated guess. I don't know about you but if I went about my regular work schedule in a random miscalculated way. I would probably not have a job right now or that long ever in my life.  When you go on vacation do you just go and wander around some foreign place hoping to see something neat? No. Of course not you plan and schedule what you are going to do and it should be the same in the gym. Not only will a training log or schedule keep you on pace with your routine but it also allows you to plan ahead. Lets say you did some heavy lifting and you are still feeling it than you can schedule in a light day for that body part or even change the exercises in advance. No guess work just results. Every person that is successful in the gym always runs a training schedule and logs their progress. Some of these people have been doing this for so long that they can simply do this in their head. But I guarantee they are also writing it down somewhere and tracking their progress. So what are you waiting for? Go get your log and start tracking your progress so you can join the rest of us.

Vegetarian protein vs complete proteins

There has always been a debate in the world of training as to which protein is the best protein for a given athlete to consume. It used to be egg protein years ago hence all the atletes of old drinking the cup full of raw eggs. After the egg protein it is now whey protein. For a short period of time a lot of nutrition stores were pushing soy protein. This vegetarian protein is loaded with the anti catabolic amino  acid L- glutamine but lacks proper amounts of the branch chain amino acids. The branch chain amino acids are essencial for muscle growth due to the fact that our bodies can simply not produce them and need them from our diets. This is the fatal flaw in most vegetarian protein sources these branch chain amino acids are in lower concentrations in the vegetarian protein sources. Complete proteins on the other hand contain a more complete amino acid profile and concentration of the branch chain amino acids. They might not be as high in say L- glutamine but it doesn't really matter as your body can make L- glutamine anyway. But once again it cannot make the branch chain amino acids. This does not mean you have to cut out vegitarian proteion sources. All this means is that you have to incorperate them as part of a protein complexe into your diet. Like say a complex of whey, soy and egg protein or something. This would be a complete protein profile and yield the most benefit for the user. So mix up your proteins for better gains.

The importance of free weight exercises vs machines

There is a lot of talk about machines in gyms these days. They tell you that  these "machines" isolate this muscle and that muscle. Well here is the truth people you need to do multi- joint complex movements before you even attempt to isolate a given body part. The complex multi joint movements are the only way to truly strengthen your core and build a good foundation for the rest of your training career. These are the tried and true movements that have been working for decades around the globe. These "trainers" in some of these gyms can't tell me that doing some weak little circuit is better than doing free weights. I know from my own experience that I will get 100 times stronger doing dead lifts that machine rows. You want your back to develop better in the middle. Stop doing lat pull downs and start doing pull-ups. My point is this yes you can incorporate machine movements into your workout regiment but it should only be when you are at an advanced level of training. Even when at an advanced level you should just add a few machine exercise to you free weight regiment. So get off the machine and pick up those weights.

Branch chain amino acids. What do they mean to me?

The branch chain amino acids are amino acids that our bodies cannot produce from other amino acids. These amino acids are essential to muscle growth due to the fact that we are %100 dependent on getting them from our diets and that is the only place they can be derived from. All amino acids are in general are broken down proteins. If you break a protein down to it's smallest component you get amino acids. So they are often referred to as the building blocks of proteins. The three branch chain amino acids are leucine, iso-leucine and valine. The reason that they are referred to as branch chains is because the body can make any other amino acid out of these three. There fore it is essential to get your protein from sources high in these three amino acids in order to have an effective nutrition regiment. Not enough branch chain amino acids equals not enough growth. Unfortunately most sources of protein derived from vegetables are low in this essential amino acid trio. Although it can be higher in certain amino acids that have good effects for other things it still lacks these three in strong levels. So if you are not getting enough good quality animal protein in your diet you need a non vegetable based protein powder to make up the difference. Or someone concerned with vegetarian aspects of there diet could consume milk and eggs in addition to the protein powder to make up the difference. Whatever it is that you do add a strong source of this amino acid trio in somewhere. The bottom line is that if you don't you are only hurting your own progress in the gym.

The magic of MCT'S

People are constantly stuck between the struggle to stay lean and build muscle. There are very few things that you can use in your arsenal to accomplish this feat of balance. If you eat too many calories from most sources of food you will store the excess as fat because that is what the body is designed to do. However if you eat too few calories you look like a skinny little weakling and feel like one to. So what am I getting at? This is where M.C.T's come into the picture. Medium chain triglycerides are a source of calories that can be used for fuel but cannot be stored as fat. So what that means to you and me is that you can use them to gain extra calories to maintain muscle mass without affecting your body fat percentage. The main source of M.C.T's are from coconuts. This is a calorie packed super food that can help you maintain and gain mass without sacrificing the lean look so much. You can also find M.C.T's in oil form at some nutrition centers and retailers. My suggestion to you is to either incorporate the oil somewhere in your supplement regiment. What I do is add coconut extract to my morning and post training shakes to get benefit from the free calories. What ever you decide to do I definitely suggest you ad this to you regiment.

E.C.A Stack to help melt the fat

The E.C.A stacks or ephedrine, aspirin and caffeine stacks are some of the most effective thermo genics ever developed. They work by raising your metabolic rate and starting thermo genesis. Or in other words your body is warm due to the fact that it is using stimulants to raise your activity levels and everything. So if they are so good why is it so hard to find ephedrine based products on the market? There is a two fold answer to this question the first part is liability due to abuse. The federal government was even considering legislation against ephedrine not too long ago. It's the old adage "If one pill is good..." This is the worst attitude to have especially if you are not in good shape. An overdose can cause a panic type problem in most people which in obese people could cause a heart attack. The second cause for concern was the fact that the meth dealers use this to make their product. That is why you have to show your ID every time you want sudafed for a cold or something. Even with all these problems it is still sold. But most companies choose to use a replacement stimulant in the place of ephedrine. Even though they replace it with a different ingredient it still has an impressive response in the body. My suggestion is to add them with the supplements that I suggest in my article the supplement trifecta to help kindle the fat burning furnace.

How to lower cholesterol naturally

There are lots of people these days with cholesterol problems. I know everybody thinks it's the token fat guy sweating on the tread mill that is the guy with the high cholesterol but you would be surprised. Many of these people with high cholesterol are not even fat. In fact some of them even look thin. It is more a matter of what kind of liver you got in the genetic lottery than how fat you are. Granted if you got a bad one for producing the bad cholesterol and you are obese you are asking for serious trouble. There is always the token listen to the doctor and eat your oatmeal approach. This will lower your cholesterol a couple of points but not dramatically. Oatmeal is good don't get me wrong it is not enough in most cases however. Then there are the statin drugs like Baycol that killed hundreds of people. You can have low cholesterol and keep eating those double blubber chunk burgers with cheese and not worry right? Well the truth of the matter is that many of these statin drugs lower your good cholesterol along with the bad so what you wind up with are sore muscles for no reason and a lack of energy if you are lucky. If you are not lucky then you get muscle wasting (Baycol) your kidneys fail and you could die. So what do you do then? There are a lot of natural supplements combined with diet that can lower cholesterol if taken properly without hurting or killing you. One of the main stacks that I have always suggested are soy lecthin granules with increased vitamin C. What this does is supply the liver with more choline to do it's job naturally. Of course you could always eat oatmeal once a day to put icing on the cake. Try the granule once a day for a month and see what you think. They are also way cheaper that prescriptions by the way.

Super slow training isometrics in motion

There has been a lot of press lately about super slow training in every gym from Los Angeles to Moscow. Super slow is a good method of training but all they are doing is influencing you to conduct all your repetitions at a very slow pace. So your reps are a few seconds down and a few seconds up. This is a very familiar technique it is isometric training with range of motion added. The benefit is that you get that burning sensation in your muscles from them running out of oxygen. The drawbacks are that you cannot take the muscle to maximum overload. Remember there are three types of muscle fiber in your muscles that should be stimulated by your training routine. Especially by the resistance portion of whatever routine you are taking part in to stimulate your muscles. Some of these gyms and fitness centers tote the super slow method as the same as doing weights with cardio at the same time. Although you are burning more calories by doing your reps for a longer period of time this is far from "cardio". As we know you need to achieve your target heart rate and I see a serious problem for you to accomplish this while doing slow reps with relatively light weight in a still position. Does this mean that the super slow method is not good at all? No of course not. It is just not the answer to all questions concerning resistance training. I am afraid our bodies are just too complicated bio feed back mechanisms to accept that for an answer. As they say variety is the spice of life and the same holds true with your training.

Which multi vitamin is a good multi vitamin?

I believe that every single person in the world should take a good multi-vitamin. Especially considering the way most people eat these days. We just do not eat all the wholesome nutrient filled foods that we should on a daily basis. The reasons for this vary but whatever they may be you are the one that suffers for them one way or another. There are many types of multi vitamins on the market. So which ones are good and which ones are not good? Well to understand that you must look at the vitamins themselves and have a limited understanding of how they work in your body. For starters they have to have enough potency wise to supply your body with the right amount of each vitamin. They also have to be bio-available to your body through digestive processes. Most honest vitamin companies will have a USP disintegration code somewhere on the packaging. Once you have determined all of these factors then you have to look at the different kinds of vitamins and how they interact with your body. Fat soluble vitamins for example tend to stay in your body for longer periods of time. There fore such vitamins like E and D can become toxic if you consume too much over time. Water soluble vitamins are the exact opposite they are excreted and used by our bodies very quickly. There fore taking them multiple times a day is the most efficient way to keep your levels up. This is why I do not recommend a one a day philosophy for vitamins as this is not enough. Although it is better than nothing it is still not enough for our overtaxed and underpaid bodies. The best way to go is to take a two pill a day dose so you can divide your dose between breakfast and lunchtime meals. This divides the dose of fat soluble vitamins while keeping levels of water soluble vitamins like the B vitamins up. So take a two a day keep the doctor away philosophy because one a day is not enough.

Active and resting metabolism for fat burning

To understand how to change something that you don;t like about yourself you first have to understand how it works. Our bodies are often referred to as having a "metabolism" but in actuality there are more like two metabolisms working simultaneously. The first one is referred to as the resting metabolism this is your metabolic rate when you are at a state of rest. In other words how many calories your body is burning while just sitting around. This metabolism is directly affected by how much lean muscle mass there is on your body. Therefore the more lean mass you have the more calories and fat you can burn. That is why resistance and weight training are so important. The second metabolism is the active metabolism this one is affected by the amount of activity you do at any given time. This metabolism is only reactive for a short period of time usually 24 hrs after the activity. This is why you have to keep doing cardio to burn off extra fat. The best thing to do is to take advantage of both to achieve your goal. So in other words do both weight training and cardio to get better faster results. Happy training.

How much protein is enough protein?

This is probably the number on nutritional question that I have been asked over the years. As we know it takes protein to build muscle not enough protein and not enough muscle. A good rule of thumb that is told around every gym across the globe is one gram of protein per pound of body mass. This is good but not if you are extremely over weight. Lets say you weigh 295 pounds and are at %30 body fat than why would you eat enough protein to support the 88.5 pounds of fat on your body? Lets not forget that protein has 4 calories per gram just like carbohydrates do. So what you should do is eat to support your 206 ponds of lean muscle mass and ditch the extra calories. So what I am saying is to divide your 205 grams of protein over 6 meals or so and you will get the right amount without excess. You will have to get your body fat measured in order to figure this out. Once you do you will be very happy with the results. The key is to get enough protein to support muscle growth without getting fat. If you are curious about carbs you can check my post called good carbs bad carbs what carbs? So eat your protein but not too much and train hard.

How much cardio is enough cardio?

I get this question all of the time and the answer depends on what your goal is for your training. If you just want to burn fat the answer could be as simple as doing 15 min of cardio everyday in the morning before breakfast. This does not have to be high intensity (over 130 Bpm) it is only meant to burn fat. So in other words you could walk, bike, run, swim or whatever you want. If you want to get better endurance for some sort of endurance sport than you would want to do much more intense cardio of course. This cardio would have to bring your heart rate over 130 Bpm.The majority of my cardio is done for fat burning purposes so I do mine in the morning before I eat breakfast. See my previous article about the benefits of cardio before breakfast. I do on occasion however do cardio for a purpose. I do an endurance based workout that consists of 8 exercises non stop. I would only suggest doing such a workout once you have achieved a good level of conditioning. This will increase your ability to do endurance exercise even further. I typically do these endurance days on the rest days from my weight training. Whatever your goal is fat burning or endurance or some combo pick your plan and stick to it. As I always say consistency is your key to success. Happy training.

Isometrics the forgotten training aid

Isometrics are a forgotten form of exercise that most people have no idea about. They were developed in the 1940's that is the reason most people have no idea about isometrics. They came out around the same time as anabolic steroids were gaining popularity. Anyway enough about the history of the training form. Have you ever had a cramp in a certain spot and then the muscle in that spot was sore for days? That is because that muscle exerted maximum effort until it locked up and hurt like crazy. Well isometrics works on a similar principle. You exert as much force as possible in a static motion for a given amount of time and then repeat. Bruce Lee was famous for doing isometric squats with a bar logged to the ground. It provides maximum muscle overload but no range of motion. So in other words you push or pull against something as hard as you can for a few seconds and repeat a few times. You can do this exercise in any given position such as squats or bench ect. There have been studies which show isometrics to increase tendon strength in joints and also increasing the one rep maximum in weight training. What I suggest is to add some form of isometric exercise to your existing routine somewhere and reap the benefits. Good luck and happy training don't get cramped.

Feed your muscles you should also feed your joints.

People are constantly feeding them self's things to keep there muscles growing and their strength up. But there is one very vital thing that they do not consider their joints. The only reason your muscles can move is because of the leaver action of the joints. Without them motion comes to a grinding halt for our bodies. So just as we take supplements and protein for our muscles recuperation we need to take something for the recuperation of our joints. What we need to take is called glucosamine and condrotin sulfate. These two compounds are found naturally in cartilage but we don't eat too much cartilage therefore we must take it in supplemental form. These compounds are bio active sulfides that aid in the repair of ligaments and cartilage. Unless you eat the entire animal and not just the meat you don't have too much in your diet. My suggestion to you is to add a good supplement containing both to your supplement regiment. I use a liquid drink called joint juice. I drink one every two days and it seems to do the trick for me. I suggest you add something to your supplement regiment containing these. Your joints will thank you.

How much water is enough water?

We all know that water is the essential building block for life. Without water for us to thrive we will perish. Dehydration can cause several severe problems with the human body. The worst of course being organ failure and death. The least maybe being that of a dry mouth and being thirsty. There is one definite point I would like to make in this article. If you are working out and training you need to drink more water!!! Water helps your body through all of it's metabolic functions including building muscle and burning fat. Muscle is 70% water by volume. So guess what? If you don't get enough your muscle will not grow. They have to be in a state called hyperplasia. What that means is that they are full of water to be simple about it. This is one of the strongest points for creatine and it's benefits in the gym. It keeps your muscles in hyperplasia and growing(recuperating). The same holds true for burning fat. If you are dehydrated it is a lot harder if not impossible for your body to burn fat. The water is used in the fat metabolism to energy and the excretion of by products such as key tones by the kidneys. So back to the original question. How much water do you actually need? A good rule of thumb to follow is to get your body weight in ounces every day. This would be the minimum requirement. If you like to drink caffeinated beverages a lot such as soda or coffee these do not count and are counter productive due to the diuretic effects of caffeine. So in simple terms a 128 lb person requires 1 gallon of water a day total. 32oz = 1 quart  4quarts = 1 gallon 32 x 4 = 128 oz. So drink up on your water and keep building that muscle and burning fat!!

The Importance of a Morning shake

There are two big opportunities that someone has naturally to grow. The first one of is intimidately after you wake up. This is due to the fact that you just had sleep and your body has released all kinds of hormones to recuperate. the other  opportunity is after training. After you have just finished your training regiment your body has also responded by releasing hormones to recover and grow. My suggestion to you is to drink a shake loaded with nutrients at these two points during your day. You should take advantage of every edge you can naturally to grow and excel. These two will help you tremendously. I suggest mixing a protein complex with something like yogurt or skim milk and cold water. You can also add fruit and honey to the mix. I also add creatine to the shake this is optional of course.

The benifits of rotating your training regiment

You can get huge benefits from rotating your training regiment around every few weeks or so. the reason this is is because the body works through feedback. If you keep doing the same things then you will eventually stagnate and stop progressing with your training. This is what people in the gym often refer to as "plateaus" or "sticking points" . The reason this happens most of the time is because they have been doing the same routine for months if not years. In order to get through these "plateaus" you have to change it up. By changing the routine every few weeks or so you are shocking your body into new development. The most popular training system that follows this concept is the PX90 training system. I have included a link to the training system with this post. Even if you do not follow that system you still need to change it up every few weeks. Try it out and see the benefits.

A salad a day keeps the doctor away

Salad is an excellent way to get your fiber and servings of fruit and vegetables every day. I am always harping about the importance of eating non processed foods. Well salad is an easy way to get these non processed nutrients into your system. The fiber alone contained in a salad has enormous benefits not including if you get creative with your ingredients. Fiber keeps things moving in our digestive tracts and keeps them healthy. If you add some nuts and cuferious vegetables like broccoli now you have just included micro nutrients and omega fatty acids which are good for your brain. Now all you have to do is through a good oil and vinegar dressing on the salad and you are set for healthy success.