PSYCHO DIETS

Hey buddy! So you want to lose weight, eh? Its summertime and you want to look all nice and hot for those babes at the beach. Ok, here’s what you have to do if you want this to happen quickly; eat lots of cabbage and drink a gallon of prune juice twice daily at noon . . . no wait. Hmm, try this; eat nothing but ice cream and lard for the next three weeks or until the next full moon . . . no that’s not it either. Aha! Here we go; eat six hotdogs per day (with syrup), while cutting out all meat products and carbs . . . . . what? Why are you giving me that look?? Ok, so maybe that wasn’t quite your cup of tea . . . Did I mention tea? Try this magic herbal-essence tea, with the special fat melting ingredient, Babaganoosh. Of course to ensure its potency, the only additional foods you can eat is two loaves of rye bread with pickles and mayonnaise . . . STOP THE MADNESS ALREADY!!!

You know, one thing that I fail to grasp is why people only worry about looking good during the summer? Sure, looking good in a swimsuit or bikini is nice, but is it not also important to look fit when wearing slacks? And as far fetched as some of these “diets” may sound, the things people are actually trying nowadays are just as perplexing. The problem is 99% of the weight lost on these diets will be water weight, which the body will quickly regain. What’s worse is that all of these diets promote starvation, which in turn causes the metabolism to slow down. Once you come off a particular diet, you are apt to gain back all the weight you lost and then some! The human body does not take kindly to severe deprivation, and it will do whatever it takes to store energy i.e. slowing down the metabolism.

To get a better idea of what kind of madness people are willing to subject themselves to, let’s take a closer look at some of these diets and their claims to fame.

The 3-Day Hotdog and Egg Diet

Synopsis: Here’s one if you just can’t seem to get enough hot dogs and eggs! It’s easy to remember, and easy to shop for! Day 1) seven hot dogs, no bun, and mustard only. Day 2) eggs any style. Day 3) eggs any style. The Claim: Lose between 8 and 10 pounds in three days. Hey, that’s a lot of weight to be losing in three days, where do I sign up?? Ok, reality check people! For starters, there is nothing denoting the amount of eggs you should be eating, nor does it specify adding stuff like ham and cheese to your eggs, etc. Not only that, but just the thought of eating seven hotdogs in one day makes most people want to gag. Heck, a hot dog vendor in Brooklyn who owns stock in egg manufacturing would find this diet hard to swallow!

The Cabbage Soup Diet

Synopsis: Every day you can have as much cabbage soup as you desire. In addition to this, you are allotted the following foods on certain days.
Day 1) any fruit, except bananas. Day 2) vegetables, plus baked potato for dinner. Day 3) up to eight bananas plus fat free milk. Day 4) brown rice, fruit juice and vegetables. The Claim: Lose up to 10 pounds in seven days. The trouble with this diet is that it seriously lacks in providing for vitamins and minerals. Plus the sheer volume of cabbage would turn a bunny rabbit into a carnivore within a week! Not to mention the irregular bowel movements, as well as a constant case of cabbage-fueled gas. Very potent! Sleep alone, FYI.

The Bread and Butter Diet

Synopsis: This diet seems to focus on the joys of getting bread and butter with every meal. Like most of the other diets listed, this one also claims that you can lose 10 pounds in a week. Here is a sample from their menu:

Breakfast:
1 slice cracked wheat bread
1 teaspoon butter or margarine

Lunch:
1 ounce Muenster cheese
1/2 cup stewed tomatoes
1 cup steamed summer squash
1 slice Italian Bread
1 Teaspoon butter or margarine

Dinner:
4 ounces dark meat turkey
1/2 cup corn
green salad
1 slice pumpernickel
1 teaspoon butter or margarine

As much as I like bread, it is not enough of an incentive for me to starve myself. On average, when following this diet you only get approximately 850 calories per day. Sure, you’ll lose weight, probably even the 10 pounds promised. However, by following a starvation diet of this nature, one will lose more muscle weight than fat. Once the average person drops bellow 1,000 calories consumed per day, the metabolism shuts down, and the muscles will start to atrophy because the body is burning the muscle tissue for energy. In other words, your body starts consuming itself!

Two-Day Liquid Diet

Synopsis: Buy a bottle of magic diet concentrate, mix with water and consume for two days. Did I mention you are not allowed to consume anything else besides water with this? But hey, it claims that you can lose up to 10 pounds in two days! These also claim to detoxify and energize you! Reality: looks like concentrated juice mix, which is really what it is. Plus, I’ve never paid $20 for OJ concentrate! And, I’ve never been “energized” when my tummy was screaming profanities at me for neglecting it. As for detoxification . . . I think a couple of laxatives would do the trick just as well. Bottom line; it is impossible to lose any amount of bodyfat in only two days. Any weight lost will be nothing but water, which will be regained immediately upon completion of the diet. In reality, diets like this are nothing more than fasting. And if fasting is something you actually enjoy doing, there are plenty of religions out there that offer meditation and some pretty cool chants to focus on, that will take the mind off of the hunger pangs.

The so-called “American Heart Association Diet”

Here’s a doozy of a diet that fools people into thinking that it is actually endorsed by the American Heart Association. Here’s just a sample from one day:

Breakfast:
Black Coffee or Tea
1/2 Grapefruit
1 slice toast
2 tbs. peanut butter

Lunch:
1/2 cup of tuna (no mayo)
1 slice toast
Coffee or Tea

Dinner:
2 slices of any meat
1 cup of string beans
1 cup of beets
1 apple
1 cup of vanilla ice cream

The Claim: Lose 3 pounds in 3 days, up to 30 pounds in 40 days

Needless to say, this diet is NOT sanctioned by the American Heart Association. The following is an except from the AHA website:
A weight-loss diet claimed to be from the American Heart Association has been cited several times across the United States and other countries. Many people believe that the three-day or seven-day, hot dog and cabbage soup diets are from the American Heart Association. However, this is not true.

The true AHA diet gives recommended servings per day of various food categories, not specific foods. Most of the diets that are incorrectly labeled as the AHA diet give specific menus or suggest that the diet should be followed for a specific length of time.

One phony diet describes a three-day or seven-day menu, supposedly prescribed by the AHA or by the “Heart Association.” It includes vanilla ice cream, hot dogs, eggs and cheddar cheese. The diet promises a 10-pound weight loss in three days. These bogus diets have been cited as the Spokane Heart Diet, the Cleveland Clinic Diet, Sacred Heart Memorial Hospital Diet and the Miami Heart Institute Diet. The poorly typed and photocopied phony diet has also been offered by mail for $2 per copy.
From time to time other fad diets emphasizing other foods will also incorrectly attribute the AHA.

Bottom line; be extremely cautious about anything that is supposedly endorsed by a national institution such as the American Heart Association. When in doubt, go to the organization’s official website and verify this information. If it sounds like it came out of left field, it probably did.

The Answer

Every psycho diet out there promises a loss of weight, which is fine, however what they don’t tell you is that you’ll be losing water weight, and will gain it all back once you complete the diet. And if you are feeling bloated and are actually looking to dump excess water weight, there are a lot less expensive methods for doing this. Try using water pills, for starters. And if you are looking to shed all that excess flab in time for summer . . . well what can I say, except that you’re too late for this year. Instead of torturing yourself with psycho diets that will only make you suffer and make you fatter in the long run, get a jump start on next year. Start a long-term eating plan that you can live with every day. Do NOT starve yourself, and be sure that you do not limit yourself to one type of food. Also drink plenty of water, especially when exercising. With proper diet and exercise, the average person can reasonably expect to lose between two and five pounds of actual bodyfat per month. Remember, results cannot be had over night, and nothing worth having comes easy. But the end result is well worth the effort!

About the Author: Dane Fletcher is the world's foremost training authority. He writes exclusively for GetAnabolics.com, a leading online provider of Bodybuilding Supplements. For more information, please visit http://www.GetAnabolics.com

INSULIN RESPONSE CAN BE YOUR BEST FRIEND...OR YOUR WORST ENEMY

Perhaps at one point or another, most of us have heard the term “food is a drug”. Considering all of the chemicals within the sport of bodybuilding, and in our world in general today, many of you may likely have dismissed this statement as fraudulent or ridiculous. But make no mistake, the phrase is much truer than you can imagine. That’s because eating any kind of food, any time, sets off a chemical reaction within the body that at least involves digestion, and at most, involves a lot more.

At best, food can be nourishing, enlivening, balancing and can cause our bodies to respond with better health and performance. At worst—or should we say ‘at our worst’—the foods we eat can cause utter havoc, and include things like mood swings, ill health and a general chemical imbalance within our bodies that create yet other chain reactions. We can see this clearly within someone who has an impaired metabolism, in that it can cause diabetes, obesity, and a host of other ailments. But for others, it may be much more subtle than that. And because it’s subtle, it can cause a host of problems that mount without us being aware of them, until it’s too far along to repair. Such is the case with insulin response and how the foods we eat can be our best friends or worst enemies.

More and more, we hear about insulin and insulin-producing foods in the fitness and diet media. The term “glycemic index” is now something that the average fitness-aware person has come to understand as legitimate. Fortunately, experts have locked into what’s really happening to our bodies when we eat various foods, and have determined what is most crucial in the scheme of feeding our bodies to best maximize all of its many functions and minimize potential problems. Our “insulin response” to the foods we eat is the context within which we can look at all of our successes and failures with foods, and manipulate how food affects our bodies on a short and long term basis.

In this article we’ll explore the truth about insulin… what happens when insulin levels are categorically high and chronically low and how it impacts the body. And whereas this topic may have been lightly covered in other publications, the truth is, the body’s insulin response isn’t just about a few simple carbs one way or another—it’s about lifestyle and a host of other factors that positively or negatively impacts our insulin levels.

Insulin is a major hormone. Most people don’t identify it as a hormone, but that’s precisely what it is. As a matter of record, it’s important to understand what it is and isn’t before trying to eliminate its presence in your body and life based on a few superficial articles about insulin and its villainous impact on your ability to lose body fat. What is best is learning how to utilize insulin to achieve the balance within the body and metabolism that can rebuild the body in the strongest and best of ways.

FACT: Insulin prevents your body from using up your vital bio-chemicals (enzymes, hormones and neuro-chemicals).

FACT: Insulin is a rebuilding hormone and very important to muscle and health.

FACT: Whether you skip meals, generally eat spartanly or overeat carbohydrates and sugar on a regular basis, the imbalances that over or under-producing insulin can cause will be as negative on either side of the coin.

You truly ARE what you eat, based on your choices, because you can only rebuild whatever bio-chemicals are available to you through those particular food choices. If you choose to eat mostly sugary carbohydrates, the amount and quality of bio-chemicals you replace and build will be minimal. Likewise, dependent upon what you eat, your body will secrete what it needs to secrete in the way of hormones to deal with that particular type and amount of food. If you are constantly supplying your body with large amounts of empty calories in the form of sugary carbohydrates, the amount of insulin you secrete will be enormous in order to deal with the necessary clean up.

The Positive Aspects of Insulin

Insulin is often seen as the enemy of dieters because its abundant presence can help the body store fat, rather than burn it. However, insulin actually has beneficial action because it counteracts the effects of both adrenaline and cortisol—the two hormones released during times of great duress, fear, overwhelming life situations and the general stress on the body that dieting places on it. Insulin is very important because it prevents you from using up more bio-chemicals than you make. It tells the body to rebuild structural/functional and energy related bio-chemicals from the proteins, fats and carbohydrates that you eat. But, as we just mentioned, what you rebuild is dependent upon what you eat.

The biggest thing to remember, however, is that every time you practice any kind of habit that releases either adrenaline or cortisol, insulin is released to prevent your body from using up its bio-chemicals. This is a positive thing. If your body didn’t have the ability to communicate this, you wouldn’t survive long; even under normal conditions of stress and strain.

Cortisol and Adrenaline Triggers

Keep in mind that the key to preventing fat storage and a host of other undesirable things is not so much to work on insulin, but to work on minimizing the cycle of releasing cortisol and adrenaline which, in turn, signals a need for a release of insulin. In order to minimize this cycle, and better utilize nutrients and rebuild bio-chemicals without a continuous damage control phase, it’s crucial to know what triggers cortisol and adrenaline release.

Cortisol is beneficial in that it helps the body maintain blood pressure, helps the body use proteins for energy and function and use glycogen for energy. Adrenaline is released to manage fear, stress and anger. However, too much of any good thing is often negative. While the cortisol hormone helps the body mobilize fats to be used in times of stress, fats can also be stored in times of chronic artificial stress. Too much release of cortisol over long periods of time, and this negative cycle can destroy the metabolism altogether.

Triggers List:

Low carbohydrate intake – If you create a situation where the brain uses mostly protein for its fuel, this destroys metabolism.

Dieting – Losing weight too quickly and causing the body undue stress, uses up functional bio-chemicals and destroys metabolism. Consistent good eating does not.

Skipping Meals – When you skip a meal, your body feels stressed and fears famine, signaling for a release of cortisol to conserve the fat you have.

Consistent Lack of Sleep – Optimal hormonal balance is impossible when sleep is irregular, insufficient or lacking in quality.

Over-exercising – Working out excessively is damaging to the body and uses up massive amounts of bio-chemicals in addition to triggering the release of cortisol to compensate.

Chronic Stress – Stress triggers both adrenaline and cortisol. If stress becomes chronic, cortisol becomes the dominant hormone. You cannot eradicate stress completely, but can learn to minimize it to prevent premature aging, disease and the destruction of the metabolism.

Alcohol and Drugs – Alcohol, a depressant, raises cortisol levels, while stimulant drugs raise levels of adrenaline. Drink beer and wine only, and do it infrequently.

Note: Remember, stress can be emotional, nutritional, chemical, physiological or hormonal. Knowing this means that you can more appropriately identify cortisol triggers and change behavior.

We may seem to be delving deeper into cortisol and adrenaline, but that’s not the case. It’s just much easier to understand why insulin can become a problem when one understands what precursory hormones can trigger its unnecessary release. In addition, because we are discussing insulin and its potentially negative effect on the metabolism, it’s important to note all things that contribute to the big picture destruction of the metabolism. But there’s another reason as well:

The Perils of Adrenal Burnout

Because hormones all overlap to some extent, and are inter-connected, any health problems associated with an imbalance is also closely connected when talking about insulin, cortisol and adrenaline. The problem with having an overabundance of cortisol and adrenaline means that adrenal glands (the gland responsible for producing both) can burn out and cause further damage to the metabolism. Here’s why…

Years of over-secreting, of either adrenaline or cortisol, not only stimulates an unhealthy insulin response cycle, but it burns out the adrenal glands, and causes a host of physical symptoms, including fatigue, mood swings, and weight gain. Anything on the list of triggers for either can help facilitate this happening. Chances are, if you are addicted to foods and substances such as white sugar, nicotine, caffeine, diet pills, alcohol, over-exercising or recreational drugs, you have an adrenal problem. This, in turn, stimulates the release of insulin and produces weight gain or metabolic breakdown in some form or fashion.

The reason adrenal burnout merits mentioning is that having adrenal glands that are burned out, in addition to having insulin problems, can oftentimes cause people to believe that their situation is hopeless, or that they have reached an age where they are powerless to do anything about it.

Where You Are on the Insulin Scale

Adrenal burnout is oftentimes very apparent. Even going down a list of triggers and symptoms can tell a person if they are likely close to or further down the road of adrenal burnout. A simple saliva test (which shows low levels of cortisone throughout the day) is the best indicator, but requires a physician’s assistance. But insulin resistance isn’t as apparent. Weight gain might be a good clue, but since weight gain can come from a variety of causes, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the body’s insulin response is out of whack.

Insulin Sensitive or Resistant

It’s best to first define the difference between insulin sensitivity and insulin resistance. Insulin sensitivity is actually where you want to be. It means that your body is responding correctly to all of the actions of insulin, including the ability of the body to make and store fats in its presence. (That’s why weight gain, alone, isn’t necessarily a good indicator). Insulin sensitivity is normal, and it’s actually your goal when trying to heal the hormonal balance of your body and its metabolism.

If you are insulin sensitive, here’s what happens within the body:

• Sugar is taken up by liver
• Sugar is taken up by the cells in your body
• When sugar and fats are in your cells, blood sugar levels begin to drop and insulin levels go back down
• Excess sugar in the liver is turned into triglycerides and cholesterol
• Triglycerides and cholesterol are taken up by cells of your body
• Once you eat again, the whole process begins again

When insulin sensitive, insulin levels rise slightly after a meal and come back down again in between meals. If you are eating balanced meals, this action is not noticeable.

When you are insulin resistant from sustained high levels of insulin circulating, your cells are completely full—overfilled—with fat and sugar. Your trigylcerides are high (though they can become high from other things such as birth control pills, smoking, alcohol, etc.) and you have high fasting insulin levels. Though fat weight around the midsection isn’t a definitive symptom of insulin resistance, it can be. Your blood pressure is generally high, and so is your cholesterol when you’re insulin resistant.

Years of insulin stimulation and release due to poor nutritional habits can be a major cause of insulin resistance. So can years of high adrenaline and cortisol output as a reaction to life’s stressors or poor nutrition can also cause insulin resistance. If you recognize that you’re on one of these paths, it’s time to start making changes now, to avoid symptoms and the onset of diseases such as Type II Diabetes, abnormal cholesterol levels, hypertension, atherosclerosis, and certain cancers (breast, prostate and colon cancers are most commonly associated with high insulin levels).

Unfortunately, recognizing your path towards insulin resistance is difficult. That’s because some symptoms on the list can be associated with a number of different ailments or conditions. But if you are well on your way toward insulin resistance, and don’t yet have symptoms of being diabetic or have been told you are at great risk for cardiac or cerebral damage, you may experience some of the following symptoms:

Acne
Fuzzy Brain
Ankle Swelling
Infertility
Burning Feet
Irregular Menstrual Cycles
Constipation
Irritability
Decrease memory or concentration
Loose bowel/ then Constipation
Depression
Water retention
Fatigue
Weight gain

Where to Go From Here – Determining Your Insulin Status

Why is it important to know whether you are insulin sensitive or insulin resistant? Well, short of the obvious—not wanting to end up with adult onset diabetes or heart problems as a result of cholesterol and high trigylceride levels—it’s important to know because knowing where you are tells you how to proceed with diet and lifestyle changes.

For instance…

If you are insulin sensitive and consume more carbohydrates than you need for energy or just consume too much food, you could be well on your way to becoming insulin resistant.

If you are insulin sensitive and don’t consume enough carbohydrates or food for your current activity level, you can raise adrenaline and cortisol levels to such an extent that you use up your bio-chemicals far more rapidly than you can replace them. While you may be losing weight now, your weight loss will never be healthy and will damage your metabolism.

If you are currently insulin resistant already and restrict carbohydrates or food for weight loss, you’ll become more insulin resistant, and weight gain and poor health can snowball.

If you are currently insulin resistant already and continue to overeat in general, or just consume far too many carbohydrate-rich/sugary foods, your current eating habits are making matters worse. Too many carbohydrates in the diet, or too much food in general, invariably increases insulin levels and will continue to cause more weight gain, along with increasing triglyceride and cholesterol production. These only boost your chances of degenerative diseases.

A Note on Determining Your Adrenal Status Prior to Choosing a Plan

If your adrenal glands are burned out, no matter where you go with diet and exercise to reduce insulin resistance, you will always have to deal with the fallout that comes from cortisol and adrenaline secretion. Since these two hormones cause an increase in insulin production and circulation, fat weight gain will be much easier, and there will be a resulting difficulty in losing fat weight already gained.

If your adrenal glands are healthy and are not burned out by lifestyle or dietary stress and strain, you can lose fat weight as easily as you can gain it. However, if your adrenals are burned out, it’s easier to gain fat and harder to lose it. Combine either of these with insulin problems and it’s going to be an uphill battle to lose body fat and keep it off. That’s where diet comes in and where you can learn to control both insulin and cortisol levels in order to maintain weight.

Where to Go From Here

A lot of people who follow a low fat plan, and can’t seem to lose weight, or put on weight, are truly suffering from one of these situations listed above. Family members, trainers, doctors and anyone else overseeing their progress will believe that the person isn’t being true to their weight loss plan, or are closet eaters that need other treatment. This may not be the case at all.

When a person is insulin-resistant and has burned out their adrenal glands, it will take a LONG time before any headway is made. That may sound as if it goes against all current dogma in the bodybuilding and fitness industry, but it’s the truth. Knowing this allows a person to at least address their real problems, rather than getting caught in some cycle of shame over not succeeding, even though they are trying their best. The key is to find the right diet to make the gradual change from insulin resistance to insulin sensitivity.

Using the Glycemic Index to value carbohydrates as either high or low insulin-producing foods helps a great deal with this because it will tell you how far you can go with each type of food, each day, and during each meal, so that you don’t over-stimulate the insulin response or overload your cells with sugars and fats. Almost immediately, following the glycemic index as a guideline to determine which carbohydrates are acceptable, you’ll be on your way toward healing your damaged metabolism and, if applicable, your burned out adrenal glands. Incidentally, following the glycemic index does not mean excluding carbohydrates from the diet. In fact, excluding carbohydrates is another way to cause insulin resistance, just as overeating carbohydrates and sugars is.

Chances are, if you begin eating balanced meals and you initially gain weight, it’s a sure indication that you have a damaged metabolism. Try not to let it rattle you, or cause you to cut back on foods or go back to ways of eating that will further damage your metabolism, just so that you can see some initial weight loss. The point is to heal before you expect to see any real fat loss. The guidelines are simple:

• Never skip meals! Eat at least 3 regular meals and 2 snacks per day.
• Eat balanced meals – including a protein, a vegetable, a carbohydrate and a fat.
• Eat unprocessed foods as much as possible (real food).
• Make protein the central nutrient focus of each meal.
• Include a vegetable in each meal (non-starchy only).
• Include a low glycemic carbohydrate that matches your current metabolism and activity level.
• Add a little healthy fat to each meal.
• Eat solid food, not liquid (unless it’s a protein snack).
• Include snacks each day – several small meals are better than a few large ones (make sure it includes a protein and carbohydrate, plus a small amount of fat).
• Drink plenty of water each day – 8 glasses if you’re inactive/12-15 if you’re active.

Make Changes Slowly

It likely took you awhile to get to this place with your metabolism and lifestyle. Make sure to make gradual changes to ensure success. It takes something like 30 days to instill a new habit. Take that much time replacing unhealthy behavior and habits with healthy ones. Reduce stress first. Take up yoga or learn to meditate. Don’t let little things bother you, and try to focus on ways of helping yourself relax when a tense situation arises.

Then work on your diet, slowly but surely. Even if it means that you become accustomed to eating smaller, but more frequent, meals first, then start with that. Then add a snack or two. Then begin to clean up your diet to include more quality whole foods.

It’s not always easy to remain motivated when you don’t see an appreciable loss of weight on the scale each week. However, this part will come if you stick to these principles. Think of it this way: You have NO chance whatsoever to heal your metabolism if you continue down the path you are on now. Even if it takes you 6 months to begin to see the scale reflect the fact that you’re eating well, it’s 6 months that you could have been traveling in other directions. Be thankful that you have identified your issues and are working on them!

About the Author: Dane Fletcher is the world's foremost training authority. He writes exclusively for GetAnabolics.com, a leading online provider of Bodybuilding Supplements. For more information, please visit http://www.GetAnabolics.com

BARN DOOR BACK

So you want strong, broad shoulders tying into a chiseled back, funneling down to a narrow waist? Before you hit the gym and start pounding the weights there are a few things you need to know about your back and how to blast it. First of all this: your back is comprised of three main areas: the upper back, the middle back and the lower back (spinal erectors). It’s no use only training the muscles you can see in the mirror. You’ve got to build all three parts to gain a top-notch posture and to develop a superior physique. Then you’ll not only look strong and confident, you’ll feel fantastic too.

The most impressive area of a fully developed back is the sweep of the lats: the traditional v-shape of a bodybuilder. Any movements such as pull-downs, pull-ups or chins-ups are fantastic for developing the width of the lats. The precise way that the pull-up or down movement affects the lats is determined by the angle you are working at, how wide apart your arms are and whether you are working to the front or to the rear. To develop the lower lats you need to do your back exercises with a very narrow grip. Narrow grip pull-downs as well as one-arm cable rowing and one-arm dumbbell rows are great exercises for developing the lower lats.

Not only should the lats be wide and sweeping. They should also look thick and powerful where they come together in the middle back. Back thickness is primarily achieved by doing rowing exercises, barbell rows, cable rows and so on. If you want to target the middle back, do rowing that gives you a longer range of motion in order to fully contract the area.

A really great lower back has two columns of muscle that stand out on either side of the spine. The lower back is also very unique when compared to the other major muscle groups. Its sole purpose is to act as a stabilizer, holding the body steady rather than contracting through a full range of motion. If you have a weak lower back, you should begin by doing bent over rows, starting with a relatively low weight and gradually increasing the weight as your back develops. Because the body tends to store a disproportionate amount of fat around the waist line, leanness and definition in the lower back are the visible proof that someone has worked hard to get in shape. If you do not have pre-existing problems with your lower back, deadlifts are ideal. These not only develop the lower back but strengthen it as well. If you want to start off with something a little lighter, then good mornings and hyperextensions are the alternatives for you. Now let’s look at some trisets that will bomb your back and give you perfect symmetry.

Thick Back Mass Blast Trisets

Triset 1

•Wide Grip Pull-ups to Front 6 sets of 10-12 reps (no rest)
•Pull-ups using a overhand grip (palms facing away from you) 6 sets of 10-12 reps (no rest)
•Close Grip Pull-ups reverse grip (palms facing you) 6 sets of 10-12 reps (1 minute rest)

Wide Grip Pull-ups

For the wide grip pull-up, you want to grip the bar on the part that is sloped. You also want your hands 6-8 inches wider than shoulder length. This will help isolate your back muscles. If your grip is too narrow, you will shift emphasis to your biceps. Any wider and you don’t put your muscles through a full range of motion. Now that your hands are in place, proceed by pulling up until your chin is even with the bar. Then bring yourself down without letting your arms lock out completely. You should be lowering yourself at a moderate pace.

Overhand Grip Pull-ups

Reach up and grab the bar with a firm overhand grip. Your hands should be roughly twice your shoulder width apart. This helps work more of your lats, rather than your biceps. Straighten your arms and let your body hang from the bar. You can keep your legs straight or bend your knees and cross your feet. Slowly pull your body up to the bar so that the top of your chest nearly touches the bar and your chin is over the bar. Try to keep your body straight without arching or swinging. As you move upwards, focus on pulling your elbows down at an angle toward your rib cage. Once your lats have completely contracted at the top, slowly lower your body to the starting position.

Close Grip Pull-ups

Grip the handles or a bar using a narrow or medium close grip and pull-up bringing your chin over the bar. Don’t cheat! Don’t sway backward. Try to concentrate on using the lats to do the movement. Draw your shoulders down and back and stick your chest out. Allow your body to go back down to the starting position in a controlled manner again until your lats are fully stretched out.

Grip Tips


Switching between the two main grips; the supinated or reverse grip (palms facing towards your body) and the pronated or overhand grip (palms facing away from your body) is important. There is also the semi-supinated grip (palms facing each other). Most people use the pronated grip exclusively and miss out on valuable benefits offered by the supinated grip. Why is the reverse grip so important when training back muscles? When pulling weights with a reverse grip, your muscle fibers get more stimulation because the muscle is targeted from a different angle, and the muscles won’t get used to the movements. Not to mention the fact that it will lengthen the lat muscles for more effective results. Other benefits from taking a reverse grip vs. an overhand grip are that you can squeeze your muscles to their max. The squeeze at the end of the movement is really important for any body part and working your back is no exception. An extra bonus when you’re applying a reverse grip is that you’ll also be blasting your biceps, adding to the total body workout.

Variations For Triset 1

Use the following variations to break up your workouts and stimulate even more muscle fibers.

Sternum Chin-ups

This variation of the chin-up involves leaning back throughout the entire movement. The lower portion of the chest should touch the bar. You can use either a supinated or pronated grip, and the grip can vary from narrow to shoulder-width. As you pull yourself to the bar, have your head lean back as far away from the bar as possible and arch your spine throughout the movement. At the upper end of the movement, your hips and legs will be at about a 45-degree angle to the floor. You should keep pulling until your collarbone passes the bar and your sternum touches it. By the time you’ve completed the concentric portion of the movement, your head will be parallel to the floor.

Towel Grip Chin-Ups

Start by draping both towels over the bar and space them so that they are approximately shoulder-width distance apart. Make sure that the ends of the towels are even so that the center of each towel is resting on the bar. Grasp the towel about 2/3rds of the way from the bottom. This way you won’t be trying to hold onto the bulkiest portion of the folded towel. This will also leave you some negotiating room if your grip starts to give way. If you grip the towels at the ends and start to slide off due to fatigue, you are going to crash. Try to pull straight up until your upper arms come into contact with your forearms. It may help to imagine that you are pulling your shoulders towards your hands. Try to avoid any unnecessary movement of the hips or legs during the movement.

Close Grip Lat Pull-Downs

With a support above your knees to offset the upward pull of the weight on your body, grasp the narrow/close-grip pull-down bar with your palms facing each other. Your body should be straight with the grip directly above your head. At the bottom of the movement, your shoulder blades should be squeezed completely together. Try to contract your back muscles. Pull the bar down as far as you can go. Exhale as you pull the bar downward and inhale as the bar raises.

Triset 2

•T-Bar Rows 6 sets of 10-12 reps (no rest)
•One Arm Dumbbell Rows 6 sets of 10-12 reps (no rest)
•Low Pulley Rows (palms facing you) 6 sets of 10-12 reps (1 minute rest)
•Deadlifts 3 sets of 10, 8, 6 reps (90 second rest)

T-Bar Rows

Straddle a T-bar rowing machine with your feet firmly on the ground. Using a narrow grip, hold the T-bar slightly off the ground so your back is relatively straight and not hunched. Bend your legs slightly and keep your upper body as straight as possible, but bent over at the waist. Lift the T-bar up toward your body as you would in a normal bent-over row. Bring the weight up as high as you can, or until it touches your lower chest. There will be a little more up-and-down movement of your upper body, but don’t sway or rock to gain momentum. Your elbows should be pointing up and slightly out as you lift.

One Arm Dumbbell Rows

These develop the center of your lats. A key advantage with this exercise is that you are able to work each lat independently and get a greater range of motion. Place an appropriately weighted dumbbell on the floor. Place your right knee on the bench, lean forward and place your right hand on the front of the bench for support. Your left foot should be in line with the dumbbell and driven into the floor for added stability. With your left hand, pick up the dumbbell with your palm facing the bench. Keeping your body tight and steady, lift the dumbbell up until it is touching your pectoral. Try not to use your arm to aid in lifting the weight. Lower under control and repeat. When finished on this side switch to the other side in order to complete the set. Always remember to keep your back tight and look up.

Low Pulley Rows

Low Pulley Rows are a compound movement for the Outer Lat muscles. Performed correctly, Low Pulley Rows promote muscle strength, thickness and size. In a seated position with knees slightly bent and feet against the foot supports, grasp the pulley handles. Taking the weight from rest, slowly draw the handles towards your stomach to an erect upper body position, keeping your elbows as close to your sides as possible. For added effect, a slight arching of the back, and a hold at contraction, will give added back thickness. Care is required when returning the weight back to the start position.

Deadlifts

To start, load up a heavy bar and stand over it, with feet about shoulder width apart, and toes pointing straight forward, or very slightly out to the sides. Bend over and grab it with a reverse grip (one hand over, one under), keeping your back straight the entire time. This is the key - you MUST keep your back erect the entire time. Failure to do this could result in permanent injury. A good rule to remember is to always have your shoulders above your hips, and your hips above your knees. Begin to lift by straightening your legs (remember to keep your back straight!) and then when the bar is around knee level, start bringing your back up, all the while pushing with the legs. This should be one fluid motion, but the finished position should leave you standing up straight, arms down at your sides, and the bar across your upper thighs.

Variations For Triset 2

If you want to spice up your routine a bit, you can alternate your rows and still blast your whole back.

Seated Cable Rows

Start out seated on the row bench with the pulley grip in both hands and your feet flat on the footpads. Let the tension in the cable pull your arms into an outstretched position. Keeping your knees slightly bent and your back straight helps keep you from stressing out your lower back on this exercise. Avoid letting the weight pull you forward. Pull the handles into your upper abdomen, contracting your scapula as you bring your elbows back. You should feel the large muscles of your upper back squeeze together. Avoid pulling the pulley grips too high up on your body, this will stress your arms more than your back. Slowly return to the starting position.

Bent Over Rows

Load a straight bar up, and stand over it, feet about shoulder width apart. Bending your knees, lean over and pick the bar up with a grip a few inches wider than shoulder width. Now you are basically in the top position of a deadlift. At this point, with a slight bend in your knees, bend at the waist until your torso is at an angle anywhere from 15 to 45 degrees to the floor. From this position, with arms hanging down, you simply pull the weight up to your lower abs, then let it back down slowly. Make sure you really squeeze at the top, as this will help to really carve out the dense ripples in your back. Focus on keeping your back straight. Don’t cheat! Avoid jerking your arms. Focus on pulling your elbows back, not your hands.

Good Mornings

Lift a light barbell up to a position across your shoulders behind your neck, balancing it in this position by grasping the bar out near the plates. Stand erect and place your feet about shoulder width apart with toes angled straight ahead. Your legs should be held straight for the duration of the exercise. Slowly bend forward at the waist until your torso is slightly below a position parallel to the floor. Reverse the procedure slowly to the starting point. Tip: if you feel the bar is cutting into your spine wrap it with a towel or use a pad.

Hyperextensions

Climb onto the hyperextension bench, facing the ground, and locking your heels under the supports. Position your hands either crossed in front of you, or behind your head (just like sit-ups or crunches), whichever you find more comfortable. Bend forward slowly and controlled, don’t just let go and let your body fall over, and feel a deep stretch in your lower back. From there, raise yourself back up until your upper body is just above parallel. Don’t go any higher than this or you risk hyperextending your back.

About the Author: Dane Fletcher is the world's foremost training authority. He writes exclusively for GetAnabolics.com, a leading online provider of Bodybuilding Supplements. For more information, please visit http://www.GetAnabolics.com

BALANCED ATTACK

When asked the magic question, “What are your workout goals?” chances are you will get one of two answers. People, regardless of age or sex will usually answer A) “I want to get huge,” or B) “I want to lose weight,” Or you may get a variant of B), “I want to get cut/toned/ripped.” Too often, it seems that people isolate their focus on one of these two goals when it comes to physical fitness training. Either they are trying to gain muscle mass, or they are trying to lose bodyfat. So what happens when you fall into that special category of those who want to both gain mass AND lose bodyfat at the same time? Many “experts” seem to think that you cannot have it both ways. It is commonly felt that you have to first gain mass, and then go through a “cutting cycle,” or vice versa. When one actually understands the way the human body functions, one realizes that it is in fact possible to cut your bodyfat levels, while at the same time adding lean muscle mass. Granted, adding muscle while burning bodyfat is a lot more difficult than focusing strictly on one or the other, as it requires a lot of discipline and strategy. Think of it as walking a tightrope. On one side you have the strategies pertaining to weight training, cardio, diet and supplementation that will help you to burn bodyfat. On the other side you have those strategies that will help you to gain muscle size. In order to attain both, one must balance the two ideals out. Before we look at the specifics of balancing out each factor, let’s first go over some misconceptions that need to be examined.

“I Want To Lose Weight”

When a person says, “I want to lose weight,” they are misleading themselves. Losing weight alone does not necessarily mean that one is losing fat. One must learn to differentiate between the two. When starting a new weight loss program, the average person will lose a significant amount of weight in the short term, usually the first two weeks. During this time their body is adapting to the new lifestyle change and will usually lose a lot of water. This is especially true if that person is new to exercising. They will think that they are losing massive amounts of fat, when in reality they are losing mostly water weight. Shortly thereafter, once their body has started adapting, their weight loss will slow down dramatically. They will still be losing the same levels of bodyfat; however the addition of muscle will negate any loss of actual weight. This frustrates many who simply use the scale to determine success or failure. Often they will then try crash dieting, or quit altogether. That is why when thinking about fitness goals; don’t think that you want to lose weight. Rather, think about wanting to lose bodyfat. It is not uncommon for someone to shed their excess bodyfat, go down in pants/dress sizes, and lose little to no body weight. Some people actually GAIN weight when all is said and done.

“I Only Need To Do Cardio In Order To Get Cut”

The staple to any body restructuring comes from weight training. Cardio burns calories; however it alone does not change one’s metabolism. On the other hand, the more lean muscle mass one has, the greater number of calories they will burn naturally. Adding muscle will help increase your metabolism. Without weight training, the muscles will gradually decrease in size. This will cause decreases in bodyfat to be less visible. Loss of muscle will also cause a drop in metabolism, which is defeating the whole purpose.

“To Gain Size, I Should Eat 10,000 Calories A Day”

This statement in and of itself is true. However, the size gained may not be the type of size one is looking for. When going through a “mass building” cycle, many weightlifters will gain significant amounts of bodyfat along with their hard-earned muscle. This is due to an obsession many have with taking in as many calories a day as possible during this time. They then feel the need to do a “cutting” phase in order to shed the excess bodyfat gained. This creates an endless and unnecessary cycle. The way to correct this is to balance out the right amounts of protein, fat and carbohydrates that will allow one to gain muscle size, without putting on unneeded bodyfat.

“I Can’t Get Fit Because Of My Genetics”

It is true that genetics play a huge role in how we look. Everyone knows someone who naturally looks like the epitome of fitness, yet they drink, smoke, eat like a pig, and couldn’t tell you what the inside of a gym looks like. This can be very frustrating. Genetics cannot be changed, however they can be maximized. This means that people of every body type have a certain potential that they can achieve. One has to be realistic when it comes to expectations. The best thing to do is to look for people of a similar height and body type before deciding goals. Example: Someone around 5’8” and thickly set will struggle with losing bodyfat, however they have an overall advantage when it comes to getting big, and displaying a “powerful” physique. By the same token, those who are over 6’ tall and skinny will struggle more with putting on muscle, however they have an overall advantage in obtaining the “tall, dark and handsome” look. It is good to find role models when it comes to finding what you want to look like. Keep it realistic, though.
Now that we’ve dispelled some myths and misconceptions, let’s look at how exactly we can balance out our physical fitness regimes.

Balancing Weight Training

When utilizing a balanced approach, you want to vary the weight and number of repetitions you do. However you do not want to do this every single workout. It is a commonly accepted rule of thumb to change your workouts every four to six weeks. When changing the exercises one does each workout, one needs to change the weight and number of reps performed as well. This will ensure that all the different types of muscle fibers are utilized over time and not neglected. Doing this will also “shock” the muscles, which is a key to promoting new growth. Example of cycle changes for a chest workout:

1st Cycle
Exercise Weight Repetitions
Bench Press 275 Pounds 4-6
Incline Dumbbell Press 80 Pound Dumbbells 4-6
2nd Cycle
Exercise Weight Repetitions
Dumbbell Bench Press 70 Pound Dumbbells 12-15
Incline Bench Press 135 Pounds 12-15
Decline Bench Press 135 Pounds 12-15
Cable Fly 30 Pounds 12-15
3rd Cycle
Exercise Weight Repetitions
Bench Press 225 Pounds 8-10
Incline Bench Press 185 Pounds 8-10
Dips Bodyweight 8-10
Dumbbell Fly 35 Pounds 10-12

This is an example of how to shock your muscles and stimulate new growth, as well as incorporating all the different muscle fibers that control strength, speed and endurance.

Balancing Cardiovascular Training

Cardio is vital to losing the bodyfat we have already accumulated. While weight training will help increase metabolism, cardiovascular exercise will speed up how quickly the body loses fat. This is because when performing cardio, energy is attained from free fatty acids, which come from the bodyfat stores. A common mistake is the tendency to overdue it. Just as in weight lifting, one can over-train on cardio. Too much cardio will tear the muscles down, slowing recovery. Three to four times a week is sufficient. First thing one needs to do is to forget about all those confusing “optimal heart rate” formulas you see on cardio equipment. There are in fact benefits of performing cardio at various levels of intensity, for various time frames. Low intensity for a long duration will burn more fat on the spot, however high intensity for short duration will burn more calories, plus the body will still continue to burn calories throughout the day afterwards. Using a moderate degree of difficulty will work somewhere in between. All degrees of difficulty actually complement one another. Low Intensity/Long Duration will get the body used to working for longer periods of time, while High Intensity/Short Duration will work the lungs harder, and help improve the body’s ability to “go the extra mile.” The best way to balance out cardio is to vary the intensity and duration throughout each week.

Example:

Day One – Stair Stepper, High degree of difficulty, 20 minutes (High Intensity/Short Duration)
Day Two – Ski Machine, Moderate degree of difficulty, 35 minutes (Moderate Intensity/Medium Duration)
Day Three – Exercise Bike, Moderate degree of difficulty, 45 minutes (Moderate Intensity/Medium Duration)
Day Four – Bicycling, Low degree of difficulty, 1-2 hours (Low Intensity/Long Duration)

Balancing Diet

The hardest part of any fitness routine, regardless of goals, is usually diet. The word “diet” is an ugly word in and of itself, because it conjures up images of starvation. Plus most people think of “diet” in the short term. It is better to think about a permanent eating strategy that will allow one to attain and maintain their fitness goals. Those looking to gain muscle are convinced that they need an ungodly number of calories each day, while those looking to lose bodyfat feel that they need to cut out absolutely everything and starve themselves. An eating plan cannot make one feel miserable, otherwise it will be too difficult to stick with. To balance everything out, one needs to keep several things in mind:

1) ALWAYS consult a doctor before trying any “diet.” No two bodies are exactly alike, and while significantly cutting carbohydrates may be beneficial to one person, the same concept could have dire medical consequences to another. Your physician will be able to do tests to see what type of eating plan will work best for you.
2) Never cut out carbohydrates or fat completely. Both are needed to maintain normal, healthy bodily functions.
3) Regardless of your goals, the body needs extra protein when you are physically active. When looking at gaining muscle and losing fat, you should intake between .5 and 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight. Protein shakes will to keep protein levels high, without the extra calories that come from carbohydrates and fat.
4) Whether you like them or not, maintain a healthy intake of fruits and vegetables. They provide much needed vitamins and minerals.
5) Avoid sugary foods and carbonated drinks. The body will work to process the sugars first, and will not utilize stored bodyfat while simple sugars are in the system. Simple sugars also quickly convert to fat, if not utilized.
6) Stay hydrated! Drink at least 64 ounces of water each day. Staying hydrated is critical when working out. It will help to prevent muscle cramps, as well as helping the body to flush out toxins and waste.
When looking to lose bodyfat and gain muscle, it is critical to keep the overall calories low enough that the body is burning more than it is taking in. At the same time, it is necessary to keep protein levels high enough that muscles will be allowed to gain size and not atrophy.

Alcohol

Something that deserves it’s own paragraph, but still falls under Diet, is alcohol. If you are serious about staying physically fit, alcohol can stop you in your tracks. All of us have heard the arguments about switching from beer to liquor, and about how drinking is not “that bad” for you. Truth is drinking alcohol on the weekends is worse for you than eating a bucket of ice cream. The main reason for this is that while consuming alcohol, your body goes into overdrive to try and purge it from your system. In other words, your body stops burning fat while you’re intoxicated! No matter how much you may sweat from dancing at the club, you are NOT burning any bodyfat while there is alcohol in your system. This does not mean that you can never have a beer or shot of whiskey again, just use some common sense. Also think about what your priorities are. If it is more important to drink up and party, feel free. Just don’t complain when you see that after six months of trying to work out and party, you have done little more than spin your wheels. If truly staying physically fit is more important to you, do yourself a favor and cut out the booze!

Supplements

Ah yes, the “magic thin pills,” or “muscles in a bottle,” etc. At least that’s how some people look at supplements. Let’s face it, in spite of all the hype heard on infomercials, there is no wonder drug that will make you magically thin. Nor is there any special formula that will give you big muscles overnight. Supplements are exactly that, they “supplement” diet and nutrition. They are not the solution in and of themselves. Each type of supplement has its own place in the world of physical fitness. But are they all necessary? Let’s look at supplements that one should take, as well as ones that are optional. This is especially important for those on a limited budget.

Necessary Supplements

Protein

Protein molecules are the “building blocks” of the body. The advantage to using a protein supplement is that you can quickly ingest much needed protein, without a lot of preparation or hassle. Plus it is also very cost effective. When it comes to protein supplements, the differences between brand names are minimal at best. When choosing a protein supplement, the best thing to look for is what gives you the most protein per serving at the lowest cost. Also look at the protein to carbohydrate to fat ratios. You want to be able to get the most protein per serving, with the lowest amount of carbohydrates and fat.

Multivitamin

In today’s society getting enough vitamins and minerals is difficult. This is compounded when one is exercising. Physical training depletes the body of vitamins more quickly than sedentary activities. Taking a multivitamin can offset this. Though there are brands specifically designed for bodybuilders, a generic brand that you can buy at the grocery store will still be more beneficial than nothing.

Glutamine

Glutamine is a naturally occurring amino acid that your body becomes depleted of while working out. As a supplement, it is extremely cost effective and is quickly gaining popularity. Though research on it is far from complete, glutamine has been found to be beneficial to people of any lifestyle. Many doctors are giving it to cancer patients to help improve their health. When it comes to physical fitness, glutamine helps minimize muscle fiber breakdown, as well as assisting in speeding recovery.

Optional Supplements

Thermogenics

Reality check, there are no magic pills that will give you washboard abs in a week or two. There are however, some high quality thermogenics that act as a catalyst in helping one to reduce bodyfat. One thing to keep in mind when searching for the right thermogenic is to take all the advertising hype with a grain of salt. This is particularly true when it comes to timelines. In almost every advertisement you will see people who claim to have lost tremendous amounts of bodyfat in a short time, sometimes within a month or less. Read the fine print at the bottom of each advertisement. It will usually say, “Results Not Typical.” Nevertheless, thermogenics will help speed up your fat loss. A realistic example is that during a given period, utilizing proper diet and exercise, you were to lose 4% bodyfat. During the same timeframe, you would probably lose around 6% bodyfat if you were to diet, exercise and use thermogenics. This is not an exact formula, rather just an example of what realistic results you can expect. If you have high blood pressure and cannot take products with ephedra, there are stimulant-free thermogenics. Caution: Read the warning labels completely before using. If you have any type of thyroid problems, you cannot take thermogenics.

Creatine

Creatine is naturally found in red meats, and as a supplement, it has been proven time and again to work in helping one to gain muscle mass. There are also no major side effects to using creatine. However, it is by no means mandatory to take creatine, especially if one is on a budget. There is much debate as to whether or not it is more effective to take creatine with some type of sugary beverage, like grape juice. Actual scientific data is inconclusive. Bottom line, if it fits into your budget, creatine will definately help you gain muscle size. If it is not within your budget, there is no need to panic, or to feel that your goals are unattainable without it.

Summary

As with anything else dealing with bodybuilding, there is no one right or wrong answer. The techniques and guidelines given here are exactly that. They are to guide you and to give you an idea of what strategies might work for you. They are not by any means set in stone. The important basics to remember are:

1)Weight train to increase muscle mass and metabolism.
2)Use cardio to help eliminate accumulated bodyfat.
3)Use common sense when developing an eating strategy, and DO NOT use crash diets.
4)Pick good supplements that work for you.
5)Stay hydrated, and drink plenty of water.
6)Be realistic with goals, and don’t get discouraged if you fall short some days. Just start up fresh the next day, and don’t beat yourself up.

Above all, be PATIENT when it comes to results. You may not get that elusive six-pack and 20” guns in 30 days or less, like the people in the advertisements claim. However, if you continue to pursue your dreams with strict determination, they will become reality!

About the Author: Dane Fletcher is the world's foremost training authority. He writes exclusively for GetAnabolics.com, a leading online provider of Bodybuilding Supplements. For more information, please visit http://www.GetAnabolics.com

BEEF UP YOUR BENCH

SMASH THROUGH YOUR BENCH PRESS PLATEAUS

Few exercises can top the staying power of the classic bench press. Ask any serious bodybuilder and odds are you’ll hear that the flat bench is, and always has been the meat-and-potatoes of his chest routine. Simply put, the flat bench delivers. But here’s the catch: Whenever you make a specific exercise a habit, you’re all but guaranteed to hit a plateau at some point.

Your body adapts to the stress you subject it to, i.e. it grows, but only enough to handle that stress. You may be working your butt off when you do your regular benching sets for the 100^th week in a row, but as far as your body is concerned, it’s old news. By doing the same exercise with roughly the same sets and reps week after week, month after month, you get into a ho-hum routine where not much happens. The reason is simple: your body knows the drill and has no particular reason to add more muscle mass. If this sounds familiar, it is time to jump-start your muscles and smash that plateau once and for all!

Rest

Sometimes it’s the most obvious problem that gets overlooked. Have you been hammering away at your muscles, non-stop, week after week or year after year without ever missing a workout? It could be that you’re simply overtrained. If that sounds like a possibility, your first step is to take a week or two entirely off! Get plenty of sleep, continue to eat healthy, protein-rich food and then come back for the rest of this re-ignition workout program. At that point you should be itching to get back in the gym, and that’s exactly the state you want to be in.

Alternative exercises

Your next step is to ban your favorite exercises for a full month. That’s right; you have to put together your chest workouts with exercises you rarely use. It will feel awkward at first, but you’ll get over it. Also note that there is ONE exception. We will do a few sets of negative training with near-flat bench presses, but that is only for a specific purpose a handful of times during this 30-day period. That aside, here are some exercises that may be worth considering:

1 Decline dumbbell presses

Dumbbell presses add another dimension of stabilization that barbells lack. Furthermore, by putting dumbbell presses to use in a decline position you’re reaping double benefits by hitting the pecs from a relatively unusual angle.

2 Iso-lateral machine incline presses

There are a lot of manufacturers who make good iso-lateral machines these days. It doesn’t matter whether the machines use weight-stacks or are plate-loaded; the important thing is that they allow you to work your pecs individually. If you’re used to using one particular machine, choose another one and give it a try for a few weeks.

3 Weighted dips

This is an old-school classic that has fallen shamefully out of fashion lately. Too bad, since it is extremely effective in targeting the lower pecs along with the anterior delts and triceps. Just remember not to overstretch at the bottom and turn when your upper arms are parallel to the floor.

4 Flat bench cable crossover flyes

By lying on your back on a bench and using the lower pulley handles, you get a very strict range of motion. This can help you target specific sections of your pecs by sliding the bench up or down on the floor between the pulleys (so that you get a slight upward -or downward- motion from where you lie on the bench.)

5 Seated dumbbell military press

Most people do these with a Smith-machine or straight barbells at best. By using dumbbells you get the added benefit of stabilization, and since you’re seated you effectively eliminate any risk of cheating.

6 Pec-deck flyes

Pec-deck flyes often get dismissed as a lazy man’s dumbbell flyes. This is unfortunate, since pec-deck flyes can be as effective – and safer – than dumbbell flyes. Granted, you don’t get the same benefit of independent, free-weight training that dumbbells provide, but you also don’t risk injury by potentially overextending the shoulder joints in a very hazardous position.

7 Arnold press

This is another old-school classic that mysteriously seems to have vanished from gyms over the past decade. The focus of Arnold presses is the anterior and medial delts, but you can make this an excellent exercise for the upper chest as well by leaning back against a bench set to an almost-but-not-quite upright angle.

8 Flat bench close-grip barbell press

While primarily a way to boost strength for your max bench, a few sets of close-grip barbell presses can make for a nice change once in a while. You get more emphasis on the triceps than with regular bench presses, but it’s a good one to have on your list.

9 Army-style pushups

Bring out your competitive instinct and challenge your training partner with some Army-style pushups. You can do them flat on the floor, with elevated feet on a bench or medicine ball, or if you’re really into it, do them with a “clap”, where you push yourself up high enough off the ground to clap your hands together between each rep. Whoever collapses first buys protein drinks!

Accelerated periodization

Another key step to keeping your muscles guessing is to alternate weight/reps between workouts. As bodybuilders, we’re conditioned to aim for low-mid range reps (4-8 reps per set) to stimulate the fast-twitch muscle fibers and trigger growth. Higher reps and lower weight, we’ve learned, are more aimed at slow-twitch muscle fibers and give less bang for the buck.

However, there are times when it is more beneficial to go low-weight/high-rep for the sake of variation. For example, if you’re always doing 6-8 reps with 300 lbs., it is time to throw in a couple of 20-rep sets with 200 lbs. to shake things up. Though you technically didn’t train “right”, you’ll probably find yourself sorer with the high-rep/low-weight workout because it’s something new and unexpected.

Periodization, the principle of alternating low-rep/high-rep training, should be a permanent part of your overall bodybuilding strategy. Typically, you’d do 4-6 weeks of heavy, low-rep training (4-8 reps) followed by 4-6 weeks of lighter, high-rep training (10-15 reps) with a “transfer week” in-between. But when smashing a plateau you may need to crank it up another level. Instead of 6 weeks of high-rep training, you do only 1-2 workouts before switching to low-rep training. Furthermore, instead of settling for 10-15 reps you may want to go all the way to 20-25 reps. The same holds true for the low-rep phase: while you’d normally do 6 weeks, you now cut it down to 1-2 workouts. One note on safety: don’t drop below 4 reps per set as your risk of injury goes up dramatically. You want to bust the plateau, not tear a shoulder joint.

The point is to make your muscles as confused as possible, but that is not an excuse to ease up on intensity. You may feel uncomfortable breaking all your old habits. Don’t let that interfere with your number one priority, which is to hammer your muscles as hard and brutally as you can physically muster. Use the high-rep training as a test of your discipline and dedication when the lactic acid kicks in and your muscles catch fire.

For our 30-day schedule, you will do 2-4 low-rep chest workouts and 2-4 high-rep chest workouts, depending on your normal workout frequency.

Negative training

Another, more advanced technique in your plateau-busting toolbox is negative training. You may have done some dabbling in negatives before, but now you’ll include it as a component of a specific strategy. As mentioned earlier, we will do these with near-flat bench presses (10-15 degree angle incline) for the simple reason that it is the exercise that lends itself best to this type of negative training. The slight angle of the bench puts your shoulders in a less vulnerable position.

As you have probably noticed, you’re stronger in the negative phase (resisting the weight on the way down) than the positive phase (pushing the weight up). This is a basic safety mechanism of the body, since it means that you can give a controlled descent to anything you can hoist up above your head, thus preventing it from coming crashing down on you. If we had equal strength in both positive and negative phases, we would risk getting pinned and/or injured whenever we attempted to lift heavy stuff.

Negative training taps into this difference, enabling you to handle more weight than you technically can under normal circumstances. Bear in mind, however, that you’re essentially bypassing a safety mechanism and that you’re walking a fine line between benefit and injury. Do NOT attempt negative training if you have joint problems or recent injuries in affected areas. Having a reliable training partner is a must.

In terms of execution, the idea is to have your partner do a good part of the work for pushing the bar up, while you focus on slowly resisting the weight on its way down. The descent should take 3-4 seconds with no bouncing or sudden jerks. Since you’re about 40% stronger in the negative phase you can load on extra weight. Start easy and play it safe. Don’t expect superhuman strength. Doing say 350 lbs. instead of 300 lbs. is perfectly decent. This extra weight is enough to help you trigger growth and boost strength.

The way to include negatives into our chest re-ignition effort is adding it to the high-rep workouts, as discussed in the previous section. This may seem counter-intuitive – shouldn’t it be done on low-rep days, when you’re using relatively heavy weights instead? Normally, that may make sense, but for these 30 days our priority is muscle confusion. To minimize the risk of injury you want to be fully warmed up but not exhausted to the point where you get sloppy. (See the sample workouts on the following page.)

It may be tempting to make this kind of negative training an ongoing habit, since the results are usually pretty dramatic in terms of strength increase. Restrain yourself and only use it occasionally, as overdoing it is a certain ticket to overtraining and/or injury. Going forward, limit yourself to throw in negatives at ONE chest workout per month, at most.

Additional tips

1) It’s good to make the day before your chest workouts a rest-day when following this program. You will be more energized and better able to reap the benefits of a chest jump-start. Besides, you can always go back to your regular schedule later, once you’re off the plateau.

2) Don’t skimp on carbs. Also, you want to focus on complex carbs since these digest slower and keep you energized longer. Carbs are the body’s preferred source of fuel and will keep you running through negatives and killer 25+ rep sets alike.

3) Drink plenty of water before your workout as well as during and after. Dehydration negatively impacts your performance. Drinking during the workout keeps things from getting worse, but if you start while dehydrated you’re off to a bad start.

4) Stretch thoroughly. Odds are you’ll get pretty sore from all the changes, and stretching thoroughly before hitting the shower can cut the next-day soreness a great deal. It’s also a good idea to stretch between sets as it flushes out lactic acid and other crud while bringing in fresh nutrients.

Putting it all together

Ok, so we have some different options to play with. Now, let’s put it together for 30-days of pectoral mayhem! You probably train something else with chest (arms, back, abs or whatever) but the following sample workouts focus only on the chest. Keep your regular routine for other muscle groups and train them on the same day like you usually do, but I recommend putting chest first in the workout for this particular period.

If you train chest once a week:

Week 1: High-rep + negatives

Week 2: Low-rep

Week 3: High-rep + negatives

Week 4: Low-rep

Sample workout – High-rep+ negatives

Exercise	Sets	Reps
Iso-lateral machine incline presses	3	15-20
Negatives on 15-degree incline bench	3	Max
Pec-deck flies	2	20-25
Standing cable crossover flies	3	25+

Sample workout – Low-rep

Exercise	Sets	Reps
Decline dumbbell presses	3	6-8
Flat bench close-grip barbell presses	2	6-8
Weighted dips	3	6-8
Bent-forward cable crossover flies	2	8-10

If you train chest twice a week:

Week 1, workout 1: High-rep

Week 1, workout 2: High-rep + negatives

Week 2, workout 1: Low-rep

Week 2, workout 2: Low-rep + max push-ups

Week 3, workout 1: High-rep

Week 3, workout 2: High-rep + negatives

Week 4, workout 1: Low-rep

Week 4, workout 2: Low-rep + max push-ups

Sample workout – High-rep

Exercise	Sets	Reps
Flat bench close-grip barbell presses	2	10-15
Seated dumbbell military presses	3	25+
Iso-lateral machine decline presses	2	20-25
Flat bench cable crossover flies	3	25+

Sample workout – Low-rep+ max push-ups

Exercise	Sets	Reps
Decline dumbbell presses	2	6-8
Arnold presses	3	6-8
Weighted dips	3	6-8
Military-style push-ups	3	‘Til You Puke

About the Author: Dane Fletcher is the world's foremost training authority. He writes exclusively for GetAnabolics.com, a leading online provider of Bodybuilding Supplements. For more information, please visit http://www.GetAnabolics.com

BENCH PRESS BOOT CAMP

So, you call yourself a bodybuilder? Think people can tell that you hit the weights? Well, what’s the most common question they ask about your physique endeavors? How thick your quads are? How much you can shoulder press? Nope - they wanna know how much you can bench - and unless you come back with a decent enough number they’re gonna dismiss you as a limp wristed try hard, no matter how striated your hamstrings happen to be. It may not be fair but the bench press is the standard by which we measure gym manliness. It’s the grand daddy of upper body exercises, the number one chest, triceps and deltoid mass builder. It’s also the most egotistical movement in the gym and, not surprisingly, the most abused, badly performed, over indulged and potentially dangerous thing you can do there short of risking arrest. Fortunately, bad bench press form is not inevitable. Follow some common sense suggestions with our back to basics guide and you’ll be able to proudly and confidently quote a bench figure that’ll have onlookers saying ,”Now that guys a real bodybuilder.”

WHY IT’S SO GOOD

The bench press, along with the squat and dead-lift, is a key compound mass builder for the entire body. It places you in a position of power enabling you to lift very heavy weight and therefore exert maximum stress on the working muscles. While its major target area is the chest, it also works the triceps, the shoulders and the back - in other words it gives a damn good workout to the vast majority of your upper body. Here’s how:

Chest: The chest is made up of two fan shaped muscles – the pectoralis major and the pectoralis minor. The pec major attaches to the upper arm and its function is to pull the upper arm across the chest. The pec minor lies mostly underneath the pec major and its function is to draw the shoulder blade down and forward. Correct bench technique calls for both of these movements - the arms moving forward and the shoulders hunching, making it an ideal chest movement.

Triceps: The triceps brachaii is made up of three heads (long, lateral and medial). Its main function is to extend the elbow and shoulder joints which it does every time you press that bar back towards the rack.

Shoulders: The deltoid is another fan shaped muscle and has three segments or heads (anterior, lateral, posterior). The lateral and posterior heads are stabilizers in the bench press whereas the anterior head (that’s the front segment of your shoulders) receives maximum bench press stimulation because it moves your arm upward and towards the chest.

Back: The upper back is made up of seven muscle groups, but when it comes to the bench, we’re talking about the lats. The latissimus dorsi pulls the arm back and down towards the spine, meaning that they’re involved in the bench press more than you might think. The lats also provide a strength reserve to push from at the bottom of the movement.

STANDARD TECHNIQUE

Before we delve into the specifics of bench press performance lets make it clear what our goal is. We’re interested in building muscle, right? The bench is a tool towards that end. That is why we refer to ourselves as bodybuilders rather than power lifters. For power lifters the weight itself is the goal and that means that the exercise, although bearing the same name, is performed in a quite different way to a person who is using it as a tool to build their body. That being said how do we perform the bench press to build muscle? Here is the basic technique:

(1) Lie on a bench with your head, torso and hips resting against it and your feet planted on the floor. Take a hold of the bar with a full overhand grip and with your arms slightly wider than shoulder width. Lift the bar off the rack so that it is being supported above your collar bone.
(2) Pulling your shoulder blades together, slowly lower the bar to just above your nipples. Press back up in a slightly arcing movement until the bar returns to its start position. Stop just short of lockout and remember to keep your shoulder blades pulled back.

OPTIMIZED TECHNIQUE

(1) Either place a four inch block under your feet or position your feet up on the bench. This will lessen the likelihood of back arch during the movement as well as preventing your quads from taking some of the load that should be going to your chest.
(2) After taking a grip on the bar which is wide enough so that your forearms are not quite parallel, lift it off the rack and, with it positioned above your mid chest, pinch your shoulder blades together.
(3) Lower the bar to the sternum (that is, just below the nipples). Your elbows should end up at 70 degree angles to your sides and your forearms should be vertical.
(4) Touch your chest (never bounce), forcefully stretch your pecs and immediately drive upwards, squeezing your lats and arcing the bar up to its start position at mid chest. Lock out briefly between reps. Keep your shoulders down throughout the pressing movement.
(5) Breathing: inhale while the bar is overhead, hold your breath during the descent and breathe out as you press back up.

5 THINGS YOU SHOULD NEVER DO ON THE BENCH

(1) Bring the bar down to your upper chest. It will place way too much harmful stress on your shoulders and could, if done repeatedly, land you in line for surgery – which is definitely not recommended.
(2) Perform hip thrusts. The hips MUST stay down on the bench. If they don’t not only are you wasting the exercise, you are also courting major lower spinal disc problems.
(3) Use a thimbles grip. It keeps the wrist hyper-extended, making it more injury prone. The thimbles grip also makes it easier to lose control of the bar as well as giving you less grip strength. All of which gives it the big thumbs down.
(4) Let momentum do the work. It should go without saying that every exercise in the gym needs to be done with a controlled movement. Momentum negates your effort, robbing you of results and fooling yourself into thinking that you’re strong. In addition, it’s dangerous – especially when you’re handling heavy poundages. Bottom line - NEVER bounce the bar off your chest when benching.
(5) Twist your neck around – no matter how hot that babe who just came into your peripheral vision looks. If you do you’re just asking for upper spinal trouble – a guaranteed recipe for remaining dateless and desperate.

SETS, REPS & FREQUENCY
FOR CRITICAL MASS

As we’ve already noted the bench press is the most egocentric exercise ever invented. So it’s no surprise that many trainers overindulge in it. But if you want to build serious muscle nothing will hold you back like spending too much time under the bench. The key is to get in, work the bench hard and heavy as part of an overall mass building program and then get out and let your body grow. Try the following for critical upper body mass in minimal time:

Bench press frequency: once per week

Warm up set: 12 reps
1st working set: 8 reps
2nd working set: 6 reps
3rd working set: 4-6 reps

Keep strict form throughout and make that last rep on sets 2 and 3 the absolute limit of what you’re able to do – that means you’ll definitely need a spotter to help you force them out. Focus on doing more - in some small way - every workout. That could mean one more rep without a spot or it could mean an extra 2.5 pounds on the bar but keep yourself moving forward.

The above bench press workout should fit into your chest program as follows:

(1) Bench press
(2) Incline dumbbell press 1 x 6-8 (max weight)
(3) Cable flyes 2 x 8-10
(4) Dips 2 x failure
(5) Push ups 1 x failure

VARIATIONS

No single exercise has more variations to it than the bench press. Think about it for a second - there’s the incline bench, the decline bench, the machine press, the dumbbell press and even the cable press. So, is there any merit in using any of these adaptations of the old faithful flat bench press? Yes and no. Testing with Electromyography (EMG) equipment has provided some interesting results. EMG testing allows a researcher to see which portions of a muscle are receiving maximal stimulation from a particular exercise. A 1995 study showed that, contrary to popular belief, the flat bench was a better lower pec developer than the decline bench. The study also showed that a slightly wider than normal grip better targets the lower pecs. However, the incline bench, with the angle at about 30 degrees, is a better upper pec stimulator than the flat bench and, this time, a slightly narrower than normal grip works best.

What about dumbbells? Well, the major advantage of dumbbells is that they allow for a fuller range of motion in the fully stretched position. This makes it easier to isolate the pecs. In addition they call into play synergistic muscles in and around the shoulder that are used to stabilize the load. You won’t be able to use as much weight with dumbbells and they are a little trickier to get into position but they do have one other major advantage; when the gym is full and people are queuing to use the bench, those heavy dumbbells are usually free.

The bottom line on variation is to build your program around the flat bench, adding inclines and dumbbells as you tailor your workout to the specific needs of your unique chest.

SIDEBAR
Got Bench?
Get Bench!

Is your bench press stuck in a rut? Has your one rep max run out of gas? Need some traction to get those poundages moving again? Here are 3 techniques that are guaranteed to blast you past your bench plateau:

(1) Partial Reps:
You are biomechanically at your weakest a few inches into the upward push of a bench press. That is the point where the upward surge inevitably stalls. Partial reps allow you to concentrate on this portion of the movement. They’ll go a long way towards getting you over the hump. Use a bench that allows you to adjust the stops so that they are positioned just above your chest (a Smith machine will do the job nicely). Load the bar with 20 % more than you’d normally use for 8 reps. Now get in position and take the bar from the rack and lower to the bottom stops. Push the bar up about 6 inches, or just beyond the traditional sticking point. Keep your reps within this 6 inch range, concentrating on a slow (2-3 second) descent. Go for about 6 reps, followed by a couple of forced reps with a spotter.

(2) Static Contraction:
Add another 10 % to the weight you were using for your partials and lower the bar to the bottom stops. Get your partner to assist as you push the weight up to that sticking point about 3 inches from the bottom position. Have your partner let go as you try to hold the weight in that position. Hold the bar in that position for as long as you can. This is very taxing and you’ll only be able to hack it for a matter of seconds, but the effect on your bench will be dramatic.

(3) Negatives:
20 years ago dropping the weight was an after thought. Today it’s called negatives and it has been proven to have a positive effect on your strength and your size. Using negatives on the bench will also get you past any mental road barriers you may have to a certain weight. Load the bar with about 20% more weight than your one rep max. Round up three spotters (one behind and one on either side of the bar). Have your spotters help you get the bar off the rack and then let go as you slowly lower the bar. The lower you get, the less you’ll be able to control the weight, but aim for a six to eight slow count to get it down. Once it touches your chest have your spotters lift it back to the start position. After a few reps, you’ll be feeling pretty positive about negatives (your upper body will also be a quivering mess, but that’s a good thing).

About the Author: Dane Fletcher is the world's foremost training authority. He writes exclusively for GetAnabolics.com, a leading online provider of Bodybuilding Supplements. For more information, please visit http://www.GetAnabolics.com