I’m sure you’ve heard all the myths and wives tales about muscle building diets… and for the most part it’s pretty darn hard to figure out what’s true and what isn’t.

One of the huge obstacles for people trying to structure a proper muscle building diet plan is ploughing through all the BS they get fed.

Plenty of it doesn’t work – and that sucks.

Well luckily for you…

I’ve got 9 pdf sample muscle building diet plans from 2000 calories through to 6000 calories – along with 8 critical muscle building strategies that you can download for FREE.

Each plan is 3 days in length and is a sample taken from the complete muscle building meal plans from Sean Nalewanyj’s – muscle building expert – paid program.

I’ve also included “8 Things You Must Do To Build Maximum Muscle” – which contains muscle building strategies that you need to know to help maximize your training and nutrition efforts.

On that note, I won’t beat around the bush…

Here’s the muscle building diet plans:

(I’ve placed all of them into a zip file for you -  click on the image above to save the zip file to your computer )

And 8 Things You Must Do To Build Maximum Muscle:

(click on the image above to save the pdf file to your computer)

Enjoy…

We want your comments and feedback on these pdf’s so feel welcome to get back to us using the comments box below!

Take care
Happy Training!
Mandy
VFT

Almost anyone that’s picked up a set of weights has or will experience symptoms of over-training at one point in there muscle building program. Over-training can lead to serious injury, chronic fatigue, and even muscle loss.

Over-training is very common amongst athletes and particularly bodybuilders, since they figure that training as much as possible is the fastest way to massive muscle gains.

This couldn’t be any further from the truth however…

Training too much, or at too high of an intensity will lead to over-training.

Now this doesn’t mean you don’t have to put plenty of effort in to see some decent results… Whether you are a bodybuilder, athlete, or just someone that wants to add some additional mass to your frame, you need to train hard and be consistent-that’s a given. In order to get the most out of your genetics, you have to progressively overload the muscles by increasing the weight and / or intensity of each weight training workout.

The problem is however, that many of us increase the intensity of our workouts or get insufficient amounts of rest, or even worse, a combination of both. The trick is finding the right balance between workout volume and intensity, and rest and recovery. And that is exactly what I’ll cover in this article.
The Effects of Over-Training on Bodybuilders

First, let’s take a look at some of the effects of over-training and how one can prevent over-training from happening in the first place.

The Effects of Over-training on the Nervous System

Over-training effects both the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems in the following negative ways:

If you are experiencing more than one of the symptoms outlined above, you may be in a state of over-training, and should evaluate your routine as soon as possible.

The Effects of Over-training on Hormone Levels

Many studies have indicated that over-training negatively effects the levels of hormones, as well as the hormone response in the body.  Since hormones play such an important role in the muscle building process, this can have a detrimental effect on your training progress.

Over-training has been show to:

The Effects of Over-training on the Immune System

perhaps one of the most alarming repercussions of over-training is it’s negative impact on the immune system-you’re bodies first defense against harmful viruses and bacteria.

Over-training can drastically decrease the levels of antibodies and lymphocytes in your body, making you much more susceptible to illness.  Simply put, this means that if you are in a state of over-training, you are much more likely to get sick.  Since you will have to skip workouts while you are sick, your muscle building progress will slow considerably.

The Effects of Over-training on the Metabolic System

Here is a list of how over-training can  effect the metabolic system.  These symptoms are the ones that are most commonly discussed, and are ones we can’t ignore:

Is it Worse to Over-Train With Cardio or Weight Training?

Any form of over-training is a bad thing, however, I’ve personally experienced both types of over-training and can honestly say that over-training in the weight room is much worse, and much more prevalent than over-training through cardiovascular training.

Here are some of the reasons why:

How do I Determine if I’m Over-training?

Determining if you’re currently over-training is fairly simple.   If you’re in tune with your body, you can often see the signs of over-training before they get serious.  If you are losing interest in workouts, are having trouble sleeping, and feel weak and irritable, you may be in a state of over-training and should take a week or more off.

If you are experiencing two or more of the symptoms outlined earlier in the article, this should raise a red flag.

Another variable you can use to determine if you are over-training is by tracking the performance of your workouts.

Has your physical performance improved compared to your last workout?

For example, let’s say last workout you were able to perform 8 pull-ups using your body-weight, but were only able to perform 6 pull-ups the following week.  This means that you have not “out done” your previous workout, have not fully recovered, and therefore are likely over-training.  You nave to re-asses your program and make modifications so that you see progress every workout.

How Can I Prevent Over-training?

In order to avoid over-training, you need to take a multi-facited approach.  Determining the correct training volume and intensity, eating the right foods, and getting the right amount of rest and recovery must all be taken in to consideration.  Now let’s take a look at each of those factors in more detail.

Correct Training Volume

Determining the correct training volume can be difficult, especially when you are first starting out.  You have to determine how much weight to lift, how many repetitions and set to perform for every single workout.

You need to use your own judgment in this case, based on your recovery ability and your recovery methods.  Remember that the goal is that you improve every single workout, and if this isn’t happening, you have to decrease the intensity of your workouts.

This is where many people go wrong though.  You begin your workout and realize that you have not fully recovered.  You can either continue to train at a lower intensity than the previous workout, or skip the workout entirely.

As hard as it may be, skipping the workout is the right way to go.  Just turn around and go home!  Your body is telling you that it needs more rest, and you must listen to it!

There is no point in training at a lower intensity, further breaking down the muscle tissue.   By doing this you will increase your risk of injury, and make it harder for your body to fully recovery for your next training session.

Proper Nutrition

Your diet plays a huge role in your muscle building program.  It helps regulate hormone levels, provides energy, and provides the raw building blocks that are used to create new tissue.

Here are some dietary recommendations that will limit the chance of over-training:

• Do not skip breakfast.  This is one of the most important meals of the day.  Skipping breakfast is very catabolic, and can promote muscle loss.
• Never let yourself get hungry.  If you’re trying to build muscle mass, you have to constantly feed your body quality foods so that it never has the chance catabolize muscle tissue.
• Unless you are trying to build muscle and lose fat, make sure you have eaten prior to your training session and are not hungry.
• Have the largest meal of the day within an hour after your workout.  Do this every single workout!
• Consider taking proven supplements like creatine, and antioxidants to increase performance and fight free radicals.
• Eat every 2-3 hours to ensure that your body remains in an anabolic state.
• Keep glycogen levels at full capacity to inhibit muscle tissue breakdown.

Rest & Recovery

Rest and recovery is essential when it comes to avoiding over-training.  Make sure that you get at least 7 hours of sleep each night, and that you are on a consistent schedule.  As for recovery time, it’s important that you have days off between weight training workouts.  Try to have one rest day between weight training workouts, and never train the same muscle groups on consecutive days.

By Vince DelMonte

Vince Delmonte is a competitive fitness model and personal trainer, as well as the author of No-Nonsense Muscle Building, a complete guide to building muscle for the hardgainer. Vince’s program includes extensive diet plans, complete weight training regimens, video tutorials, and full email personal training support.

You’re probably thinking what the heck has Vince’s bachelor party got to do with health and fitness?

Well believe it or not Vince wanted a bachelor party that created a positive, entertaining and memorable experience that bonded him and his buddies with an element of “Fear Factor.”

If you’re not already familiar with Vince Delmonte, he’s one of the internet’s biggest fitness muscle building experts – and one of the most popular – sharing his life, his engagement, his wedding details and even involving his fiancé in his thriving fitness lifestyle website.

Anyway Vince wanted to inspire others – as well as have an awesome time – by having a different style bachelor party! So sixteen of Vince’s closest friends travelled from all over the country to attend his crazy weekend of white water rafting!

It’s a hoot, you’ll laugh your head off – they even try dancing while they’re white water rafting – it’s hilarious.

Click on the video above to see all the action!

Have a great day!

Kind regards
Mandy
Virtual Fitness Trainer

PS. Vince Delmonte is a competitive fitness model and personal trainer, as well as the author of No-Nonsense Muscle Building, a complete guide to building muscle for the hardgainer. Vince’s program includes extensive diet plans, complete weight training regimens, video tutorials, and full email personal training support.

Watch Muscle Building Coach Lee Hayward as he outlines solid “Power-Bodybuilding” Mass and Strength Training Programs that you can follow to pack on lean muscular bodyweight!

Lee Hayward (author of the Blast Your Bench program) is a competitive bodybuilder, powerlifter, and muscle building coach who is committed to helping aspiring bodybuilders and fitness enthusiasts gain muscle, burn body fat, and develop a strong muscular body.

Lee is also the author of the Blast Your Bench program, which teaches you how to increase your max bench press by as much as 50 pounds in as little as 3 weeks, regardless of your previous weight training experience. To learn more about how you can quickly increase your strength and gain lean muscular bodyweight, just visit Lee’s website at: BlastYourBench.com

Body building workouts offer and deliver benefits that even go beyond looking fantastic. By adding these muscle building workouts into your fitness routine, you can be healthier overall, bounce back from illness more quickly, and can be less prone to injury as you age. For those who do experience an injury, recovery time is typically shorter for someone who performs body building exercises on a regular basis than someone who doesn’t. Let’s face it, having the option to look great and be healthier at the same time sounds like a pretty sweet deal doesn’t it?

Benefits of Body Building Workouts

1. Mental and physical discipline – as you commit to and stick with a body building fitness regimen, you’ll develop both mental and physical discipline. These skills are vital not only to your overall health and muscular development, but will carry over to every other area of your every day life.

2. Strong bones – weight bearing activities; i.e.: body building exercises; naturally make your bones stronger. And can help protect your bones from breakage and osteoporosis, which means you may be walking tall even in your golden years.

3. Heart health – Bodybuilding naturally invokes your heart muscle and makes it work harder during workouts. The stronger your heart is, the less likely you’ll be a victim of a heart attack or other cardiac disease, which means you could be around longer for your loved ones.

4. Lower cholesterol – your HDL, LDL and triglyceride levels will be in better balance if you’re performing exercises regularly. Lower cholesterol also means less chance of heart attack and other diseases.

5. Confidence – nothing builds self-confidence like bodybuilding. The entire process of making the decision to incorporate these intense exercises into your fitness plan and then seeing the fantastic, and very real results, of your efforts gives your self-belief a huge boost! Imagine taking that assurance in your ability to succeed in the area of your health and transferring it to your job performance and your relationships – what an amazing change you’ll see!

6. Stronger, beautiful, and toned muscles – well, that benefit speaks for itself.

Setbacks Don’t Have to Deter You Forever

Life “gets in the way” of anything we try to do sometimes. Whether we are pursuing a career, a passion, or working out regularly, there will be events that happen that will put you behind the eight ball so to speak. Travel, vacations, illness, and family emergencies can throw us off of our workout schedule and affect our strength and muscle mass.

However, you can get back to it and make significant strides toward regaining that muscle and building more on top of it if you keep your focus and don’t allow obstacles in your life to inhibit your progress.

Beginning Your Body Building Workouts Regimen

What sort of workouts should a beginner be performing? For those new to the world of basic weight training, a 3-day a week full body split routine is best. You can gradually split your program up over 3-4 days into various muscle groups as you progress into a beginners bodybuilding workout. Don’t worry, you’ll get there, but to begin, here is a sample workout that will ensure that you have the foundation for muscle growth and strength.

Sample Body Building Workouts for a Beginner

Take it slow for the first two to three months so you can get a good idea of how each exercise should be performed and to make sure you’re increasing your weights each time you exercise each set of muscles.

Monday: Legs and Abs
Tuesday: Upper Body
Wednesday: Rest Day
Thursday: Legs and Abs
Friday: Upper Body
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: Rest

Notice how the muscle areas are repeated? This is a good schedule for a beginning body builder. You’ll successfully build muscle mass and gain definition at the same time by performing isolation exercises and compound exercises.

Sample Exercises…

Upper Body

• Flat Bench Press
• Dumbbell Chest Flyes
• Incline Dumbbell Press
• Weighted Dips
• Skullcrusher
• Lat Pull-Down
• High Row
• Low Row
• Barbell Curls
• Hammer Curls
• Barbell Military Presses
• Barbell Shrugs
• Dumbbell Lateral Raises

Abs, Thighs and Calves

• Barbell / Smith Machine Squats
• Heavy Squats – leg press machine
• Hamstring Curls
• Leg Extensions
• Standing Calf Raises
• Crunches
• Planks

Tips and Hints for Effective Body Building Workouts

Make sure that you don’t over train. This may sound contrary to the mindset of working harder and longer, but rest periods are crucial for muscle growth. Be consistent, but allow your muscles time to rest in between intense workouts.

Eat clean food! Whole grains, lean proteins, and healthy fats are the keys to a rounded, balanced nutritional plan for body building.
Work smart! Yes, be intense during your workouts and strive to do better each time, but work smart and be precise in doing so. Don’t waste time by getting distracted. Stay focused, work smart, and get out.

Do you want muscle? Do you want to turn heads in your favorite jeans? Do you want to fill out that muscle shirt? How about feeling great when you walk down the street knowing you’re causing your friends jaws to drop in envy? Does the idea of staving off disease and possible injury as you age sound attractive? Imagine being healthy, fit now and throughout your life? Body building exercises have long reaching benefits, no matter when you start, so get started on a new lifestyle today!

Yours in fun, health and fitness

© Mandy Gibbons
Virtual Fitness Trainer

Persons who are of good health, suspect of their health or are aware of any conditions, physical deficiencies or diseases should always consult a physician before undertaking any eating or exercise program. Mandy Gibbons, Virtual Fitness Trainer, www.virtualfitnesstrainer.com.au and www.virtualfitnesstrainer.com disclaims any liability or loss in connection with the above program or advice given in this article.

Do you have the desire to be stronger and healthier? Do you hunger for eye-popping muscle mass? Bodybuilding is a very effective way to build strength and muscle while also enabling you to work every muscle group of the body. Train using a quality bodybuilding for beginners workout and nutrition plan, and you could become leaner and stronger than you ever thought possible!

For those who are just beginning to think about incorporating bodybuilding into their fitness regime, it’s important to make sure you are physically fit enough to begin an exercise schedule. Body Building is a lifestyle, not simply a hobby, and requires commitment and goal setting to achieve and maintain long term results.

Be sure to visit your physician prior to starting your bodybuilding for beginners routine. Ask for a full physical and blood tests. In order for your program to kick off to a safe start your kidneys, heart, and liver must be in good condition. Hormone levels should also be checked to make sure they’re balanced. Otherwise, you could be smacking your head against a wall in frustration wondering why you’re not seeing the desired results.

The very term bodybuilding makes most people think they need to rush off and join a gym or fitness center in order to be successful in this endeavor. While it’s perfectly fine to do so, you can quite easily and cost effectively set up a home gym that will give you the same fantastic results you’d get at a fitness center.

Education is key when it comes to beginning a bodybuilding program. Make sure you research what equipment is required and get yourself cracking on tried and true tips and techniques on the proper nutrition required to make your bodybuilding regime a success. Once these elements are in place, and you’ve received the green light from your physician, you’re ready to begin!

The “norm” for starting out with your body building exercise program is generally to perform full body workouts 3 x per week. Remember! Proper form is key! High reps are not your goal when you first begin bodybuilding. You’ll want to focus on making each rep count using a resistance that safely but effectively stimulates your muscles.

Don’t waste time doing rep after rep using super light dumbbells. And don’t make the mistake either of trying to pump out dangerously heavy weights, swinging your body all over the place trying to lift them! You won’t see results this way and you’ll get frustrated very quickly – and more than likely injure yourself. The pros recommend around 8 reps per exercise when starting out with your new-to-you bodybuilding program.

Keep a training journal so you can track your progress and see how you’re improving from week to week. Be sure to include the type of exercise, the amount of weight used, and the number of reps you’ve performed. Your goal being to challenge yourself each workout striving to execute your well strategized program better than the last.

It’s vital that you pay close attention to your nutrition. Eating the right foods using a well designed calorie specific plan to suit your training goals will help make certain that you are reaching the results you want – sculpted muscles that’ll blow you away and no doubt turn your friends green with envy.

Bodybuilding and cardio go hand-in-hand when it comes to staying fit and strong, often cardio is overlooked when it comes to body building – as for many it doesn’t fit the image they have of a muscle bound lean mean fighting machine. With your goal being to perform a style of cardio in a particular manner, that you find is the least taxing on your muscle.

Armed with these tips, wouldn’t you enjoy seeing kick ass muscle definition in your arms, legs and abs every time you look in the mirror?

There’s no time like the present to start feeling and looking fit and strong. It’s there… You just have to unleash yours and your body’s potential.

If you’re sick and tired of always wanting to achieve an awesome muscle exploding physique then here’s a “NO BS” program that’ll help you pack on solid muscle and get ripped – all without steroids: Vince Delmonte’s  No-Nonsense Muscle Building.

Yours in fun, health and fitness

© Mandy Gibbons
Virtual Fitness Trainer

Persons who are of good health, suspect of their health or are aware of any conditions, physical deficiencies or diseases should always consult a physician before undertaking any eating or exercise program. Mandy Gibbons, Virtual Fitness Trainer, www.virtualfitnesstrainer.com.au and www.virtualfitnesstrainer.com disclaims any liability or loss in connection with the above program or advice given in this article.

Can you gain more muscle by changing your rep tempo? There are a million ways to train, and a million ways to alter your training. Many people become overwhelmed when presented with the myriad of “systems” that claim to be better than the rest. In reality, my experience is that the most successful program is the one you haven’t tried yet! One great way to add variety to your training is to understand and use the concept of tempo.

What Is Tempo?

Tempo as a concept has been around since the inception of bodybuilding. Some athletes like to explode the weight upwards at blinding speeds and drop them just as fast. Other athletes insist that they do slow, controlled movements. Many successful bodybuilders vary their tempo throughout the training cycle.

Ian King, an Australian strength coach, did not invent tempo, but he popularized the system of writing tempo. Charles Poliquin, a Canadian strength coach, is also credited with bringing this concept to mainstream. Tempo simply refers to the rate at which you move the weights. If you are not paying attention to tempo when you train, you may be missing out! Tempo is written with 3 and possibly 4 numbers.

The system looks like this:
123 or 1234

The First Number:
The first number is for the negative or eccentric phase – in other words, when you are lowering the weight or when you are moving in a direction opposite to the muscle contraction. For a squat and a bench press, this would mean lowering the weight. For a cable row, this would mean returning the plates to the stack.

The Second Number:
The second number is the pause after the first phase is complete – for example, in the bench press, a pause as the weight is held stationary just above the chest.

The Third Number:
The third number refers to the concentric or positive phase – the contraction. For a bench press, this would be driving the bar upwards. A number of 1 here typically means, “explode” – in other words, you may do it faster than 1 second.

The Fourth Number:
The fourth number is usually left out, but if present, refers to the pause at the top of the movement.

In our example of 1234, you would do this on a bench press:
• Take 1 second to lower the bar to your chest
• Pause for 2 seconds with the bar held just above your chest
• Take 3 seconds to drive the bar upwards, controlling it and even moving more slowly than usual to take the full 3 seconds
• Pause for 4 seconds at the top, with your arms just shy of lockout
That would be one rep, and that rep would have taken 10 seconds. If your training program called for 3 sets of 12 reps, that would mean you would spend 3 x 12 x 10 = 360 seconds or 6 minutes moving weight. Add to that your rest time, and you can estimate the length of your workouts!

What Can Tempo Do For You?

Now let’s explore what tempo can do for us! Tempo affects many variables of training. The first, and possibly the most significant, is time under tension. Tension is what forces the muscle to contract and perform work. It is tension that fatigues the muscle and tension that triggers the response to training – a combination of strength (neural) adaptation, and/or mass (hypertrophy). So tension is a key factor to manipulate, and one of the ways to manipulate time under tension is tempo.

One popular diet book recommends shouting one phrase as you lift the weight, and another as you lower the weight. This enforces a specific tempo – probably something like 301 – 3 seconds to lower the weight, no pause, explode up. This is important. A pyramid of reps for this example training-program contains 60 reps, so each muscle spends 240 seconds or about 4 minutes under tension. Let’s say you were training 3 sets of 12 reps at the same tempo. This would translate to 36 x 4 = 144 seconds under tension, or about 2 ? minutes. This would be almost half the tension that the pyramid exercise provides. Is this bad? Not necessarily – it depends on the workload. If you were lifting a heavier weight, then the tension would be less but the workload may be comparable or even greater. As you can see, there are many factors to consider.

Tempo explains why doing the traditional 3 sets of 12 can fatigue the muscle as much as doing a “super heavy” lift with 2 sets of 4. If I do 3 sets of 12 at a certain weight, most likely I can handle a 211 tempo – 4 seconds per rep, so we are talking 2 ? minutes under tension. When I go extremely heavy, for 2 sets of 4, I still control the bar down – 2 seconds, but I try to explode up immediately. It can take me a full 4 seconds to complete the rep and push the bar up, because the weight is so heavy (high intensity)! So now I’m taking a 204 tempo, or 6 seconds per rep. 2 x 4 = 8 x 6 = 48 seconds under tension. Even though I perform ? of the reps, I’m only at about 1/3 of the time under tension – and at a much heavier weight.

Tempo doesn’t just affect time under tension. You can manipulate tempo for other reasons as well. For example, it is well known that the negative or lowering phase of a lift causes the most micro trauma/damage to your muscle tissue. While doing this constantly would result in overtraining, performing slow negatives for a few training sessions in a cycle may be extremely beneficial for muscle growth. So every 3 or 4 training sessions, you might change to a 422 tempo – or, if you are very bold, a 613 tempo! 6 seconds to lower you on a wide-grip pull-up or weighted dip is a great way to load those muscles with tension and elicit some major growth!

Some people have weak areas such as at the bottom or top of a lift. If your bench press fails at the bottom rather than the top, you might consider a 231 tempo – take 2 seconds to lower the bar, and then pause for 3 seconds and explode up. The pause on the bottom forces you to perform an isometric contraction – your muscle contracts, but the resistance is not moved. This will strengthen you in that specific range of motion and help get past the “sticking point.”

Why I Like Tempo Training…

I like to use tempo in my fat-loss programs because of the way it targets muscle fibers. Many of my clients are familiar with the sets that I prescribe where half of the set is performed explosively, and the second half extremely slow. I learned this technique from John Schaeffer, an ISSA instructor. The initial portion of the lift forces a neural or strength adaptation because the movement is explosive and requires a coordinated effort with all of the motor units within a particular muscle.

This fatigues the muscle, and then the slower reps kick in. These slower reps target individual motor units, and further fatigue the muscle and trigger a mass or hypertrophy response. Like any other training method, this is only effective for a short cycle before other techniques must be employed.

As you can see, tempo is a very powerful tool when designing training programs. Understanding tempo is easy, and incorporating it is not difficult. The next time you jump into the iron game, think about time under tension and tempo. If you dance to the tempo, I’m sure you’ll be satisfied with the results.

By: Jeremy Likness

Courtesy Bodybuilding.com

It happens every year. The New Year comes and every scrawny twerp on the planet swears this is going to be the year that he slaps on an extra 20 pounds of muscle. But if you didn’t pack it on successfully last year, what makes you think this year is going to be any different? Seriously?

Did you spend hours in the gym with no results? Did you spend the last year blindly following the muscle magazines only to look the same as you do now? Did you spend the year filling your body with mysterious supplements that only make you sick? Did you watch your friends train less than you but get twice as big? Sound familiar doesn’t it? I thought so.

So the question is, how are we going to get a different result? The answer is simple. By doing something differently. Would you agree the best way to get the same thing is to do the same thing? And would you agree that the best way to get a different result is to do something different?

Defeating Skinny Guy Genetics…

Give me a amen if you have decided that this year is going to be different. Give me a amen-hallelujah if you are prepared to be a different person and prepared to do something different this year. Commit to having your best year, and I’ll take care of you, providing you with the best skinny guy transformation program.

My Own Skinny Guy Experience

Trust me, I know. I was a skinny beanpole all through high school and university and gained the nickname Skinny Vinny. I gawked at my room mates how displayed copious amounts of rock-hard brawn on there frame. I was inspired by the spectacular ‘before and after’ pictures in bodybuilding magazines. I read every piece of bodybuilding literature I could, got misguided by a slew of personal trainers, experimented with every legal supplement I could purchase, but despite my efforts, my 12 week pictures looked nothing like the supplement advertisements. The cruel scale needle stayed the same like it was cast in stone. Perhaps I was doomed to be skinny for life…

Skinny Guys Must Play By A Different Set Of Rules

As a weight training enthusiast, figuring out the most effective workout routine can become an endless source of confusion and frustration. Every single fitness expert and magazine has a different training theory or training angle which becomes more confusing than a trip for Jessica Simpson at Home Depot!

Most skinny guys end up using routines designed and touted by those freaky monsters seen in the hardcore rags who have more than a little chemistry lab going on inside of them. Programs that include hitting the gym more than five times a week, focusing on 1-2 exercises per workout, 12-24 sets per exercise and overemphasizing isolation-type exercises. None of these components of a program helps improve the underlying foundation of a hardgainers success. Training to get bigger and more muscular, that is – your best body ever, must revolve around getting stronger and I mean really, really stronger. Increasing your strength remains the rock-solid foundation for defeating your skinny genetics and getting a head-turning physique.

Since the vast array of exercise machines came on the market, along with infomercials, instant result programs, and fancy dressed supplement ads, people are no longer willing to spend the time in the gym to build the solid strength foundation that is critical for long-term progress. Since you’ve read this far, you won’t be making that mistake this year!

Six Reasons Skinny Guys Must Focus On The Forgotten Factor: Strength

• Strength training is incredibly taxing on the body’s central nervous system. Increasing your central nervous system’s work capacity through heavy and/or explosive movements; you directly increase the ability of your muscular system to produce increased levels of strength.
• Strength training releases more growth hormone and testosterone. Using greater resistance loads than normal will release a greater abundance of these muscle building hormones necessary to maximize your genetic potential which will result in new muscle growth all over – especially on those lagging body parts!
• Strength training creates a platform to achieve more sets and reps. When you build a stronger foundation, your ability to handle heavier loads in the higher rep ranges will dramatically increase, resulting in some impressive muscular hypertrophy.
• Strength training benefits the smaller muscle groups as well. The pure strength movements do not just benefit the larger muscle groups such as the chest, back and legs but the smaller ones as well. An example: A skinny guy increases the amount of weight he can do on the bent over row from 135 to 225. The heavier poundages will result in significantly strengthening the assisting movers of the upper arm – brachialis and the brachioradialis – allowing him to curl much more weight on his curling exercises.
• Strength training involves the maximal amount of muscle fibers. To defeat your skinny genetics you must use the maximal number of muscle fibers in each set. Do you think lifting weights at 60-80% of your threshold is going to stimulate the maximal amount of muscle fiber? Think of your muscles as lazy. They would prefer to sleep this entire next year. They would prefer to stay small. They have zero interest in growing larger. That is something you want to do. The only reason they will wake up (get bigger) is if they are attacked. If they are exposed to an assault (heavy weight) they have not experienced before. Out of survival, your muscles will grow bigger to prevent the same assault from occurring again.
• Strength training does not eat up your precious calories. Unlike the 1-2 hour marathon training sessions that involve 12-24 exercises per body part or workout, strength training is much less demanding calorically. It does not burn up the calories your muscles need to grow because of the longer rests and shorter sets.
• Strength training leads to progressive overload. If you are thinking, “But I don’t care how much I can lift. All I care about is not being skinny anymore and building a good physique. I’m not a power lifter or bodybuilder.” I would reply that strength training is a fundamental principle of muscle growth because it leads to progressive overload. The only way to make a muscle grow is to subject it to unaccustomed stress. Progressive overload basically implies that when a muscle is subjected to an usual amount of unaccustomed stress and effort, the muscle must respond by getting larger to manage and cope with the new stress.

Still Not Convinced That Strength Training Is The Answer To Your Best Body This Year?

How many people do you see with skinny arms that can curl 135 pounds? How many people do you see with no chest who bench press 275 pounds? How many people do you see with massive upper girdles that can dead lift 315 pounds? How many people do you see with chop-stick legs who can squat 400 pounds?I would say – not many. There are many more reasons why strength training will help you defeat your muscle unfriendly genes and get the body you deserve this year but I think you get the point. If ever in doubt, just take a look at the biggest guys in your gym. I bet they are lifting 3-4 more times the weight as you!

Go here for the The 1 + 1 Skinny Guy Workouts Strength Program in pdf format.

Weight Training Program Notes:

• You will notice Monday is a Quad Dominant day with Horizontal Pushing (Chest) and Horizontal Pulling (Rows). You will notice that Traps and Calves are opposite movements so have been paired up respectively.
• You will notice Friday is a Hip Dominant day with Vertical Pushing (Shoulders) and Vertical Pulling (Lats). You will notice Traps and Calves are opposite movements so have been paired up respectively.
• You will notice slight variation on some of the exercise selection. The exercise selection is not as critical as the load and set protocol. Feel free to tweak the exercises based on your personal preference. For example, if a Trap Bar Deadlift feels better for you than a normal Deadlift – go for it. If you know you will get better results with dumbell’s instead of barbells – don’t be afraid to follow your instincts and be involved in the training process.
• For some, the 6 x 6 phase and 7 x7 phase will be too much volume on muscle groups like biceps and triceps. Feel free to modify these to only 3-5 sets. The goal is to keep the weight the same the entire workout. If your weights start to drop than simply record the number of sets you were able to do and try to beat it next week.
• I am guessing 4 x 4 will be your first exposure to heavy lifting. Remember, next phase, you will be focusing on adding one extra rep to the same weight with one extra set hence the 1 + 1 Program. This program is based on increasing the amount of work you are capable of performing over a 12 week period.e.g. Let’s say you can do 185 lbs for 4 x 4 in phase one. Next phase, you will be aiming to do 185 pounds for 5 x 5. You might even be able to slip a few extra pounds on the bar, depending on the rate that you super compensate which will be bonus.
• For time efficiency, opposing muscle groups like Shoulders and Lats, Chest and Rows and Shrugs and Calves can be super set together. I would not recommend super setting your legs. This is your personal choice though.
• The 2 x 20 and 2 x 30 are unique additions I have added from my own personal experience. I have found, generally, that skinny guys responds better to higher rep ranges for the calves and traps.
• You will notice that Monday and Friday can be classified as your Heavy days and Wednesday is an opportunity to increase your body weight strength and prevent your metabolic system from de-training. These higher rep exercises will counteract and help balance out the dominance of central nervous system training occurring.
• The weighted abdominal work should come from Hanging Leg Raises, Weighted Ball Sit Ups, or Cable Crunches.
• You will notice this is a three day program which will be alternated every three weeks with a four day program. I might suggest taking a ? week off at the six week mark if any symptoms of overtraining are suspected. Take at least one week off from the gym at the completion of this 12 week program.

Cardiovascular and Flexibility Training Tips

During phases 1 and 3 while you are doing only three day of weight training per week I would recommend the following:

• At least two or three 20-30 minute cardio sessions placed either on your non-workout days on immediately after you weight training workouts.
• Use the form of cardio that, in your experience, holds the most muscle on your body. For some, this will mean doing shorter interval cardio sessions. For some, this will mean going for a easy run or swim.
• Incorporate the cardio work to enhance your muscle gain goals – not detract. For example, you might benefit from a easy swim workout after a heavy upper body day. You might benefit from a easy bike ride to loosen up from a heavy lower body workout. Use common sense when choosing your cardio activities. For example, don’t try out for the soccer team at the same time you are trying to transform your body!
• Incorporate your cardio based on your nutrition intake. Remember, your muscles grow on calories so the more cardio you incorporate, the more overall calories you will need to counteract the lost.
• Try to stretch at least ? the amount that you lift. Heavy lifting requires long and lengthened muscles to allow full range of motion. Shortened muscles perform weaker and slower and have a higher incidence of injury. If you are weight lifting 4 hours in the week, you should be stretching at least two. This means at least ? hour of stretching before or after you weight training workout. This is my personal recommendation, any less, and your body will screaming for a injury.

Take The Challenge

Give the 1 + 1 Skinny Guy Strength Program a honest effort for the next 12 weeks and commit to making this year the year that you defeat your skinny genetics and build a body you can be proud of without spending any more time in the gym than you have to. Believe that you can do it. It can be done and it will!

By Vince DelMonte

Vince Delmonte is a competitive fitness model and personal trainer, as well as the author of No-Nonsense Muscle Building, a complete guide to building muscle for the hardgainer. Vince’s program includes extensive diet plans, complete weight training regimens, video tutorials, and full email personal training support.

If you have been a subscriber to my newsletter for some time, you know that I’m always trying to give you ways to make your workouts more interesting and fun, while also stimulating big-time results. Don’t you agree that your training should be fun? This is what separates the people who jump on and off the “fitness bandwagon” a couple times every year without ever making any real progress from the people that actually adopt a true fitness lifestyle and finally achieve the body they have always wanted. Make it interesting, make it fun, and make your fitness a priority, and you’ll have the body that you want.

What I have noticed over the years is that many people will train regularly for a few months and then will either get bored with the same old weight training and cardio routines, or will get discouraged because their progress comes to a grinding halt after a while. In my opinion, I don’t think your workouts ever need to get boring or stale. You just need to have an open mind to the huge world of various training styles and techniques that are out there. Seriously, there are so many different and fun training styles out there, that there is no reason you should ever get bored with your workouts and give up on that lean ripped body that you’ve been looking for. Also, mixing in various training styles builds stronger joints by reducing repetitive movement pattern overload and varying your training stressors.

Now before I start with some of my favorite non-traditional training styles, I will state that I think one of the best ways to achieve a lean, muscular and healthy body is through a consistent weight training routine with free weights. You can choose to integrate some of these alternative training techniques with your weight training routines on the same day, as alternative workouts on separate days of the week, or even as separate training cycles where you try some of these techniques for several weeks at a time before cycling back to a traditional weight training workout. Try some of these training styles out and you’ll be on your way to never being bored again with your workouts…and your body will thank you with muscles popping out that you never knew existed!

Alright, here are some of my favorite non-traditional training techniques:

1. Staircase Workouts – This is great because stairs are everywhere. You can go to a football field and do stadium stairs, any building that has stairs like a hotel (most people take the elevator, so you will not even have many people looking at you while you’re working out), or even the stairs in your own home. For an awesome full body workout, try mixing stairs sprints with an upper body exercise like pushups or pull-ups. If done with a high enough intensity, stairs workouts help to create changes throughout your entire body due to the muscle building and fat burning hormonal response and metabolism increase that you get through working the biggest muscle groups in your entire body. If you thought that going up and down the stairs was the only way to get a good stairs workout…think again. My fellow trainer and friend, Virgil Aponte, has developed a website that focuses on creative stairs workouts using all kinds of exercises you never would have thought of before. You can find out more info on stairs exercises workouts at my ‘fitness products’ page at truthaboutabs.com at the link below.

2. Wind Sprints and Hill Sprints – Find any open field in a park or athletic field and try 50, 75, and 100-yard all-out wind sprints. After each sprint, rest long enough to catch your breath before the next one (generally 1-2 minutes). Try workouts of anywhere from 6 to 20 wind sprints for a great “cutting” workout. Also, if you have a hill nearby, hill sprints are also great workouts. Sprint up the hill as fast as you can and walk down for your rest interval. Repeat until you’re whooped (a 20-30 minute hill workout is plenty). These sprint workouts are so amazingly effective at changing your entire body for the same reason as stairs exercises…by powerfully working the biggest muscle groups in your entire body, you greatly stimulate your metabolism while simultaneously increasing your fat burning and muscle building hormones.

Just look at any world class 100-meter sprinters and notice how ripped-to-shreds those guys are. Now compare that to the emaciated weakling physiques of many marathoners, and you’ll see that sprinting is where the action is at for a healthy, ripped, powerful body! Now I don’t want to upset all of you distance runners out there. Hey, if distance running is something you enjoy, then go right ahead. But don’t say you’re doing it for the health benefits, because I might just have to disagree.

3. Kettlebell Training – If you’ve been reading my articles for some time, you’ve probably heard me praise kettlebell training many times before, but I will have to reiterate that it has been one of the best training methods that I’ve ever tried and has taken my physical capabilities to a whole new level. Kettlebells are an alternative type of free-weight training instead of barbells and dumbbells. Their unique construction and weight distribution (basically a cannonball with a handle) allows for a whole different realm of exercises that’s available compared to dumbbells and barbells. Kettlebells have been typically used for training hard-core athletes, military units, martial arts competitors, and other tough individuals, but there is no reason that anybody looking to get stronger, bigger, or more cut can’t learn the exercises and benefit from them.

It’s been a little over a year now since I’ve incorporated kettlebell training into my routines, and I’ll admit that I’m hooked for life! At between $100-$150 per kettlebell, they are definitely not cheap, but they are well worth the money. Just one or two kettlebells and you’ve literally got yourself an entire home gym that you can use for the rest of your life…worth every penny in my book! If you want to give these body-hardening kettlebells a try, you can find more info at my ‘fitness products’ page at truthaboutabs.com at the link below.

4. Bodyweight Workouts – For a change of pace, try adding to your routine one or two workouts a week at home with just bodyweight based exercises. These can be great because you can get a high intensity workout done in only 15-30 minutes without having to go to the gym on days that you might not have time for a trip to the gym. Try alternating bodyweight squats, pushups variations, lunges, and floor abs exercises continuously for 15-30 minutes. Try to take very short rest periods or none at all to really amp up the intensity since this will be a brief workout. If you’re more advanced, you can even incorporate more challenging exercises like handstand pushups, one-arm pushups, and one-legged squats into your bodyweight training routines.

5. Ring Training – This type of training basically uses portable gymnastic rings that you can take anywhere with you. You throw the straps up over any high bar like a pullup bar, the top of a power rack, or even over a football field goal crossbar. Then you can quickly adjust the rings to do exercises like ring dips, ring pushups, ring pull-ups, hanging leg raises, horizontal body rows, L-sits, and more. Dips and pushups on the rings are my favorites and the rings really make them a hell of a lot more difficult, while also incorporating your stabilizer muscles to a much greater degree. The rings allow your joints to move in a more natural pattern and can help you prevent or even recover from shoulder injuries. Personally, when I try dips on a normal dip stand, it hurts my shoulders. However, dips on the training rings feel perfect, and also give me a much better muscle pump. The training rings are one of the best training devices I’ve ever bought. Give them a try…I think you’ll like them if you’re up for a challenge. I found my rings, which you can hang up easily on a power rack, pullup bars, or at a park, at ringtraining.com.

6. Swimming – A great full body workout that stresses the muscles and joints in a much different way than most resistance training. Incorporating swimming workouts once or twice a week into your normal training routines can really enhance your physique. I recommend trying a “sprint” style swimming workout, which will help more for building muscle compared with endurance long distance swimming. For sprint style, swim as hard as you can to the other side of a 25-meter or 50-meter pool (or sprint swim similar distances in a lake or the ocean if you like to swim outdoors). Rest enough to catch your breath between sprint swims (about 20-40 seconds). Try to keep the rest intervals fairly short with swim sprints. You can also mix different strokes (crawl, breaststroke, sidestroke, backstroke, butterfly) on each swim sprint. I’ve found that sprint swimming gives me a great muscle pump (especially in the upper body), without any soreness the next day as is typical with weight training. This is because swimming has no eccentric movement (the negative portion of a lift), which is what causes muscle soreness. Keep in mind that even though swimming works your muscles well and is a nice alternative workout to mix in once or twice a week, it does not strengthen your bones. You still need to do regular weight training to do that.

7. Sandbag Training – This form of training is a nice variation to mix in with your strength training. It works your body with an unstable object, which makes muscles that might normally be neglected get in on the action to perform the movements. I’ve been mixing some sandbag training into my routines for over a year now, and I’ve found it is a very intense method of training that works your muscles in a different way and gets you huffing and puffing like crazy. You can make your own sandbags to train with by filling various sized duffle bags with sand, or you can use those construction type sandbags that come in several shapes. Sandbag exercises can be done as squats, cleans, presses, lunges, shouldering, throws or heaves, carrying up hills, etc. Make no mistake, training intensely with sandbags will get you ripped in no time flat! I’ve actually found an entire book devoted to sandbag training, which gave me some great ideas for doing sandbag based workouts. If you’re interested in this type of training, you can find more info at my ‘fitness products’ page at truthaboutabs.com at the link below.

8. Mountain Biking – As you may have figured by now, I’m not a proponent of steady pace endurance exercise, but rather, highly variable intensity exercise that works with bursts of exertion followed by recovery intervals. Well, mountain biking fits this bill perfectly. You get the leg pumping exertion during the uphill climbs, while also getting the adrenaline rush of the downhill acting as your recovery intervals. Mix it all together and you get a super-fun, high-intensity, leg burning workout that will melt fat off of your entire body and build awesome legs at the same time. The climbs can be tough and will challenge you both physically and mentally as you pump away trying to make it up steep hills without having to resort to getting off of the bike. Then after you make it up the challenging climbs, you get rewarded with the adrenaline rush of flying down steep hills while jumping off of boulders and logs and trying not to stumble or fall off the bike. It’s such an addicting thrill…I love it! See, who says that working out has to be boring!

9. Indoor (or outdoor) Rock Climbing – This is yet another fun way to get in a great workout that will also challenge you both physically and mentally. Indoor rock climbing gyms have starting popping up all over the place in recent years and will be more accessible than outdoor rock climbing to most people. Rock climbing is a great workout for your legs, arms, shoulders, and your entire back. It also really works your grip strength and forearms like crazy. Whenever I go indoor rock climbing (which is only on occasion), my forearms are sore for about 2-3 days afterwards. Give it a try if you’ve never done it…it may be just what you’re looking for to spice up your fitness routine.

10. Stick Wrestling – This is a killer full body workout and can also be a great competition between you and your friends. This is probably more of a guy thing for most people. You could even come up with your own “fight club” and have stick wrestling competitions with your buddies to see who is toughest. There are actually sticks designed specifically for stick wresting, but you can even just use a strong broomstick cut down to about 30-36 inches long and taped up with some athletic tape to prevent splinters. For your stick wrestling workout, stand on a soft mat or carpeted area (or grass if outdoors), match up with a friend or foe. You’ll both grab the same stick toward the ends with your hands on the outsides of your partner’s hands, on the inside, or staggered. Then you simply push, pull, jerk, and thrash your opponent around trying to knock them off balance until they either fall or lose their grip of the stick…and you win that round! Be careful not to get the stick up high and knock each other in the face. Use common sense. You can do this in 1-2 minute rounds or just keep going until someone gives up. Be creative and keep going until you’ve gotten a killer workout. Your forearms and legs will be screaming!

11. Strongman Training – This type of training is a little more hard-core, but it’s a blast for those who are into trying something different. The premise is based on the types of exercises competitors perform in the “worlds strongest man” competitions. If you have a yard, you can even set up some of these exercises in your yard and do some outdoor workouts to have a little fun. Your neighbors will probably give you some funny looks, but it’s fun, so who cares! You can get one of those giant tractor tires and do tire flips (which is basically a deadlift followed by a push-press). You can also try your hand at log lifts, boulder lifts and carries, keg lifts and tosses, weighted sled dragging…anything that involves pulling, pushing, lifting, or heaving any types of odd objects. You don’t need to be a monster to enjoy this type of training…just handle whatever size objects are challenging for your individual strength. Strongman training works your entire body in a very intense fashion and could easily spark some new results. If you’re interested in finding out more ideas for strongman training, check out my ‘fitness products’ page at truthaboutabs.com at the link below.

12. Rope Climbing – This goes back to the old high school days of climbing the rope in gym class. Seriously, if you have access to a rope, either at a gym or somewhere outdoors, rope climbing builds a powerful and ripped upper body like no other exercise. A great way to incorporate rope climbing into intense workouts is to do a climb up, then lower yourself back down. Then while your upper body is recovering for the next climb, you can do a lower body exercise like squats or lunges, or go up and down stairs. Keep alternating the upper body rope climbs with the lower body exercises in between and you’ll get one hell of a full body workout.

13. Bag Boxing – You can use a heavy bag, a speed bag, or even one of those rebound bags to get a great workout. Among the three, the heavy bag is the best all around full body workout, while the speed bag will test your rhythm and timing and give you a great upper body workout. If available at your gym or if you have a bag at home, try mixing these in as a good warm-up or as an intense finish to your strength routine.

14. Rope Skipping – You can’t beat rope jumping as a great full body exercise. I like to use it as a warm-up for my weight training workouts. I prefer to use the really cheap “speed” ropes with a plastic rope instead of a fabric rope. Once you get good, you can jump rope much faster with the plastic ropes than the fabric ones, which will allow you to get a more intense workout. And don’t mess with the weighted handle ropes…they’ll just slow you down. Your goal is speed when rope skipping. Try mixing together two legged jumps, one-legged jumps, arm crossovers, double jumps (rope passes under feet twice for each jump) to keep things interesting and increase the intensity. Also, try alternating 15-20 second high intensity bursts where you jump as fast as you possibly can, followed by 15-20 second recovery intervals where you jump slowly to get ready for your next burst. Keep repeating until you’re whooped, which might happen pretty quick!

15. Jumping exercises – squat jumps, box jumps, lunge jumps, and broad jumps are some of the best ways to incorporate explosive jumping exercises into your routines. The explosive and powerful nature of jumping exercises works your leg muscles in an entirely different way than most normal slow grinding strength training moves. I’ve even seen a university study cited once that found squat jumps to elicit the greatest testosterone response of all exercises studied. That means more muscle and less fat on your entire body, not just your legs. Try super-setting jumping exercises with upper body exercises for some really intense workouts.

Well, I hope you’ve enjoyed all of these ideas for ways to really shake up your workouts and make them fun again. I know some of them may seem a little “out there”, but open your mind to the possibilities and you’ll never be bored again…and your body will respond with new found results!

By Mike Geary
Michael Geary (CPT) is a recognized International Fitness Expert, contributing writer for Muscle & Fitness Magazine, and author of the internationally-selling book, The Truth about Six-Pack Abs .

Everyone will inadvertently hit a frustrating plateau in their training at one time or another. You’re cruising along for a while, gaining strength, losing fat, looking better, and then all of the sudden it hits. Suddenly, you find yourself even weaker than before on your lifts, or you find that you’ve gained back a couple of pounds. It happens to everyone. Most of the time, these plateaus occur because people rarely change their training variables over time. Many people stick to the same types of exercises for the same basic sets and reps and rest periods with the same boring cardio routine. Well, I hope to open your mind and bring some creativity to your workouts with this article!

There are many ways that you can strategically modify your training variables to assure that you maximize your fat loss and/or muscle building response to exercise. Most people only think about changing their sets and reps performed, if they even think about changing their routine at all. However, other variables that can dramatically affect your results are changing the order of exercises (sequence), exercise grouping (super-setting, circuit training, tri-sets, etc.), exercise type (multi-joint or single joint, free-weight or machine based), the number of exercises per workout, the amount of resistance, the time under tension, the base of stability (standing, seated, on stability ball, one-legged, etc.), the volume of work (sets x reps x distance moved), rest periods between sets, repetition speed, range of motion, exercise angle (inclined, flat, declined, bent over, upright, etc), training duration per workout, and training frequency per week.

Sounds like a lot of different training aspects to consider in order to obtain the best results from your workouts, doesn’t it? Well, that’s where a knowledgeable personal trainer can make sense of all of this for you to make sure that your training doesn’t get stale. Below are a few examples to get your mind working to come up with more creative and result producing workouts.

Most people stick to workouts where they do something along the lines of 3 sets of 10-12 reps per exercise, with 2-3 minutes rest between sets. Booooorrrrring! Here are a few examples of different methods to spice up your routine.

.Try 10 sets of 3, with only 20 seconds rest between sets.

.Try using a heavier weight and complete 6 sets of 6 reps, doing a 3 minute treadmill sprint between each weight lifting set.

.Try using a near maximum weight and do 10 sets of 1 rep, with 30 seconds rest between sets.

.Try using a lighter than normal weight and do 1 set of 50 reps for each exercise

.Try a workout based on only one full body exercise, such as barbell clean & presses or dumbbell squat & presses, and do nothing but that exercise for an intense 20 minutes.

.Try a workout based on all bodyweight exercises such as pushups, pull-ups, chin-ups, dips, bodyweight squats, lunges, etc.

.Try a circuit of 12 different exercises covering the entire body without any rest between exercises.

.Try that same 12 exercise circuit on your subsequent workout, but do the entire circuit in the reverse order.

.Try your usual exercises at a faster repetition speed on one workout and then at a super-slow speed on your next workout.

.Try completing five 30 minute workouts one week, followed by three 1-hr workouts the next week.

.Try doing drop sets of all of your exercises, where you drop the weight between each set and keep doing repetitions without any rest until complete muscular fatigue (usually about 5-6 sets in a row).

There are many more ways to continue to change your training variables. I hope this article gave you some ideas on methods for you to take your body to the next level.

By Mike Geary
Michael Geary (CPT) is a recognized International Fitness Expert, contributing writer for Muscle & Fitness Magazine, and author of the internationally-selling book, The Truth about Six-Pack Abs .