HOW TO OVERCOME GROWTH PLATEAUS?
If you are just starting to lift weights you will notice that your strength on most of the exercises you perform will be increasing on a weekly basis. The increase of strength will lead to increase of muscle to your body. However, there will be times in your bodybuilding endeavours when getting stronger or bigger will seem almost impossible no matter what you do. Here are some tips to help you with this: VARY YOUR EXERCISES FREQUENTLY. Your muscles adapt very quickly to the w
HOW TO GET BETTER AT BODYWEIGHT EXERCISES SUCH US PULL UPS, DIPS, PUSH UPS?
Have you noticed that some of the hardest exercises to perform are bodyweight exercises? The reason for this is that with bodyweight exercises you cannot adjust the weight you are lifting, instead, you are forced to lift your own bodyweight and so the heavier you are, the harder it will be. As with any exercise, the only way to get better at it is by practicing it over and over again. The question I get frequently is: how do you practice an exercise that you can barely do one
HOW OFTEN DO YOU NEED TO CHANGE YOUR WORKOUT PROGRAM?
It is a good idea to change your workout plans every so often to get out of the rut of doing the same workouts all the time.
By changing the program it keeps things interesting and allows your body to continue developing.
However, if you follow the same workout for a prolonged period of time it is very likely that one of two things could happen:
1. You might get bored and lose interest in training due to the monotonous workouts.
2. You hit a plateau with your progress
WHAT ARE DROP SETS? SHOULD I BE USING THEM IN MY TRAINING AND WHEN?
Do you wonder sometimes how can you get the most out of your set? There several advanced techniques that can help you with that. One of them is by performing drop sets. A drop set involves performing the designated number of reps with given weight and once you reach failure at the end of the set you reduce the weight by 30% and keep performing reps till you reach failure once again. You can perform one drop set or multiple drop sets within a set. The drop sets would be more s
THE TRUTH ABOUT NATURAL GAINS (AND THE REALITY OF IT)
Here are two progress shots of me on Musclemania stage. The first one is from 2011 and the second one from 2015. Both shots almost look identical. I am 1.5kg heavier in the 2015 photo at the same % of bodyfat as 2011 photo. That is only 1.5kg of muscle in 4 years of grueling training and following a dense nutrient diet plan.
Gotta love natural bodybuilding. smile emoticon The reality is that after 15-20 years of consistent training you do tend to reach the peak of your natur
TRAINING THE TRICEPS
If I had to choose only one exercise for triceps I would go with Triceps Pushdowns. This exercise has always been a staple in my triceps workout. You can't achieve greater contraction of the triceps with any other exercise as you can with Triceps Pushdowns. Plus, what I like about it is that you can use different attachments to slightly work different areas of the triceps. You can use the straight bar to target more the long (inner) head of the triceps or you can use the V b
THE MORE YOU SWEAT IN PRACTICE THE LESS YOU BLEED IN BATTLE!
Today I scraped the bottom of the tank for energy and destroyed my legs as per usual. I live by the motto that:
"The more you sweat in practice the less you bleed in battle!"
Three weeks till battle time! #competition #training
A COMMON MISTAKE I SEE PEOPLE MAKE IN THE GYM #1.
Dropping the weight too fast on the negative part of the rep. The question that everyone asks is "How much can you lift?" Therefore it's natural everyone to be concerned only with the positive (concentric) part of the rep. However, what you should be concentrating more on, is the negative (eccentric) part of the rep. If you were to perform only positive reps or only slow controlled negative reps with the same weight, your DOMS would be twice as big from the negative reps as t
WHAT TO DO FOR LAGGING CALF MUSCLES
Training tip:
For the calf muscles they say either you have them or not. I think differently. Either you train them or not. When I say train them, I don’t think of doing few reps where you are bouncing on your toes, which most of the people who complain about their calf development do. Instead I think of doing full controlled reps.
If you are struggling with your calf development I recommend training them 2-3 times a week with high reps and lots of weight. (At least twice
TRAINING SMART FOR LONGEVITY
When you are at the gym lifting big weights you feel invincible. However, when an injury occurs all of a sudden you feel as vulnerable as a 5 year old kid.
If anything positive has come from the injuries I have had in the gym over the years (mostly the spinal lumber region) is that I have learned how to improve the muscle to mind connection while training. These injuries have forced me to train with lighter weights for certain period of time. In order to activate the traini
