The road to building muscle is a long and arduous one, but luckily some shortcuts have been discovered by the emerging science of sports physiology. These shortcuts can help you build muscle at a significantly faster rate than normal.

The first secret is that you don’t have to work each muscle for hours every day. In the (very) old school of bodybuilding, there was no way to build muscle fast. You hit the gym for three to four hours every day and worked your entire body every day.  At night you rested, and one day per week you stayed away from the gym.

In those early days, athletes in other sports were told to stay away from weight training because it would make them “muscle-bound” and inflexible.

But for whatever reason, more and more athletes began to ignore that advice and discovered that weight training actually made them stronger and actually more flexible.

This didn’t go past the notice of sports trainers who started to evaluate weight training for muscle building. Their affirmation of the advantages induced lots of sports trainers to add weight training to their fitness routines, and soon, football, baseball and basketball players, even track and field athletes, began to pump iron.

Sports physiology became a science and weight training began to receive a more scientific approach as applied to muscle building for athletes in all sports.

Bodybuilders took note and began to workout smarter, looking for ways to build muscle fast. They still spent long hours in the gym, but now it was about half the time they used to spend. Why were they able to do this?

Exercises and routines were evaluated for the best approach to building muscle faster, and bigger. Researchers found that it was important to rest muscles after they were worked strenuously; otherwise they become exhausted and cannot develop any further.

These days bodybuilders are advised to work each muscle group to total exhaustion only one day a week. Sure they get some exercise when you focus on other muscle groups, but that’s unavoidable. It is only on their “focus day” that they are exhausted. Using this strategy fast tracks your muscle growth and makes your body stronger overall.

You don’t need to put up with constant all-over muscle soreness every day of the week either, since muscle groups are allowed to rest, recover and rebuild themselves.

Another leap forward in bodybuilding was the discovery that working the muscle to total exhaustion for each exercise was sufficient to tear it down. The protein ingested by the bodybuilder would be mainly used to rebuild the tissue, rather than developing it even further.

The other side of the building-muscle-fast equation is good nutrition. It has been claimed that bodybuilding is 80% diet, and while this might not be entirely accurate, it certainly accounts for more than half.

To build muscle and build it fast, a bodybuilder’s diet must have at least 25% of its calories coming from both animal and vegetable protein. You should only eat of complex carbohydrates, particularly those vegetables that contain protein as well. Fats and fibers should also constitute about 25% of your diet. Avoid refined sugars, refined starches and minimal caffeine and alcohol. The diet should be supplemented with protein powders mixed with raw milk or water, protein boosters like desiccated liver, kelp tablets and eggs. A soluble oil like wheat germ oil helps the body metabolize protein and it will provide added endurance.

In sum, the path to fast muscle growth is about exercising each muscle group smarter, not harder. Rest is just as important as strength training, and eating a careful diet is most important of all.

Every bodybuilding expert agrees that diet is the number one way to get rid of subcutaneous fat and show off your muscles, particularly your abdominals. But not every expert agrees on how to get 6-pack abs.

Almost all the experts have built the abdominals we all desire. How you build yours is a matter of choosing which method works best for your body configuration and metabolism.

Crunchies and diet

Let’s start with the late, great Vince Gironda, aka The Iron Guru. He advocated avoiding sit-ups completely. Vince had a 6-pack of abs like no one else of his era (his was more like an 8-pack!). He trained hundreds of bodybuilding champions and a host of other body-beautiful celebs, including movie stars and action movie heroes.

For abs, Vince recommended a series of crunching exercises; on the mat, hanging from a pull-up bar, on a bench and using the Roman chair. He also maintained that it was your diet that displayed your abs, not your workout routine. Vince was very controversial, but he was also a very successful trainer.

Work everything

Four-time Mr. Universe winner, Bill Pearl has written what is arguably the very best book on weight training and bodybuilding ever composed. In his Keys to the Inner Universe, Bill has 62 pages on abdominal work covering more than 240 different exercises and variations of exercises.

Bill Pearl’s abs looked like the Rocky Mountains divided by the Grand Canyon. At the age of 47 he was voted the “best built man in the World,” by his contemporaries.

Who is right?

Actually, they both are. Gironda believed in working the abdominals sufficiently and correctly to develop them and then dieting properly to show them off. Pearl believed in building every muscle to its maximum potential and then dieting to get rid of the body fat so they would show well.

Vince Gironda was small of stature, very muscular, fit and trim. Bill Pearl was exactly the opposite: moderately tall, massively muscled, extremely defined and very fit. Both of their students emulated Pearl’s build as much as they could.

Today we can learn from both of these champions and trainers of champions, and combine their techniques to get the ultimate guide for 6-pack abs.

Perform three sets of each of these exercises

• Roman Chair Sit-Ups – This is a backless chair device that allows you to hook your legs under a rung and then perform sit-ups for abs and back-bends for lower back muscles.

• Incline Board Crunches – A partial sit-up where you raise your head and shoulders while contracting your abs forcefully.

• Supine Crunches –On a bench or mat, elevate your legs with them bent at a 90 degree angle and place your hands behind your head. Crunch your abs while touching your left elbow to right knee and the reverse.

• Dumbbell Side-Bends – Seated or standing and using a single dumbbell, lower the weight at arm’s length and then return to upright. Alternate sides with 20 reps each side. This is also performed with the weight hanging behind your buttocks so you pull the rear obliques.

• Pull-Up Bar Leg Raises – With your hands widely placed on the chinning bar, slowly elevate your legs, bring your knees to your chest. Lower and repeat.

• Parallel Bar Dip Machine Knee-Ups – With your forearms resting on each side of the dip bar, elevate your knees to waist level.

This completes your 6-pack ab workout!

There are two elements critical to getting a flat midsection, although I often add initiative in as a third element!

The first element in how to get a flat tummy is proper exercise, the second is diet and the third is simply to get off your posterior, get motivated and get to work on the problem.

Exercise

To help flatten your tummy and bring out those upper, middle and lower abdominals you must perform a number of muscle-specific exercises to strengthen and build them up.

• Decline Board Crunches – with your feet elevated and your hands behind your neck, curl your upper body forward towards your knees, while contracting your stomach muscles.

Your shoulders should be elevated and only the small of your back and posterior should be touching the bench. Hold that position for a two-count, then return to start.

Repeat for 50 repetitions for three sets.

• Compound Crunches – Assume a supine position on the mat with your knees raised and hands behind your neck.

Curl your body forward with your right elbow moving towards your left knee and then with the left elbow towards the right knee. The knees should move towards the elbow at the same time as you move your elbow. Crunch your abs during the move.

Do 50 reps for three sets.

• Incline Board – With your head elevated, perform the same exercise as in the decline board crunches. This exercise is not a repeat of the decline exercise, but tends to work the abs differently.

• Roman Chair Sit-Ups – Using the Roman Chair where there is support for your legs only, perform slow sit-ups.

Do 10 reps, three sets.

• Roman Chair Back Raises – Assume the reverse position from the sit-ups. Lower your head towards the floor then raise your upper body while contracting your lower back muscles.

Do 10 reps, three sets.

• Leg Raises – In a supine position on the mat with your arms at your sides, keep your legs straight while raising them slowly to about two feet off the floor. Hold that position for a five count, lower and repeat.

Do 20 reps for three sets.

• Compound Leg Raises – In a supine position on the mat with your arms at your sides and keeping your legs straight, elevate your feet about two feet off the floor. Separate your feet until they are three feet apart and hold for a five count, bring them back together, lower and repeat for 20 reps. Perform three sets.

Diet

Exercises may build the muscle, but diet will display the results. You have to rid yourself of all subcutaneous fat around your middle (and everywhere else) for all your hard work to reveal itself.

Your diet should consist of protein, fats, complex carbohydrates and fiber. Protein – 25% of calories consumed. Carbohydrates – 40% of calories. Fats and Fiber – make up all the rest of your calories.

• Avoid any simple carbohydrates: Refined sugar, refined flour, artificial sweeteners.

• Minimize caffeine and alcohol.

• Take supplements

o Protein, mixed with water or raw milk

o Desiccated Liver tablets

o Kelp tablets

o Lipotropic amino acids (Lipo3 Compound)

o Wheat Germ Oil

Initiative

Let’s make this simple: Just think of how good you are going to look in your bathing suit and the admiring glances you’ll receive from both sexes!

Getting a flat tummy requires religious exercising combined with a careful diet to reveal your buffed muscles. As long as you keep up the momentum, you’ll see results pretty quickly.

Nothing says “fitness” more than a pair of big, muscular arms. Men and women alike appreciate the look of rippling triceps and bulging biceps. Big arms are apparent (and can be admired!) even when they are covered with shirt sleeves. Here are some ideas on how to get bigger arms.

First of all, in order to grow those arm muscles you have to work them hard. This isn’t something you can accomplish sitting on your butt squeezing a pair of rubber balls or spring-loaded hand grips. You have to hit the gym and pump some iron.

The arms are divided into two muscle groups: The biceps, the two-part muscle on the front of the arm that is fully contracted when your arms are tightly curled; and the triceps, a three-part muscle on the back of the arm that is fully contracted when the arm is straightened.

The biceps are for pulling things towards you, the triceps are for pushing them away.

The biceps are worked the most while curling a weight (positive exercise) and resisting the return to the beginning point (negative exercise). A bodybuilder should take care to exert the muscle in both parts of the movement.

The triceps are worked most while pressing the bar away (positive) and resisting the return of the weight to the start position (negative). Like the biceps (or any other exercise) both sides of the movement should be exerted.

Your focus-on-arms workout should be performed one day per week. Your arms will get some work on your other muscle group days, but they should be worked to total exhaustion only on the focus day.

Biceps Exercises

• Barbell and Dumbbell Curls – These exercises may be performed in a wide variety of manners, both seated and standing. The movements should be controlled and performed slowly with mental focus on the biceps. Three sets of 10 repetitions should be completed for each of the following exercises:

o Seated, close-grip barbell curl.

o Standing, close-grip cheat curl.

o Standing, close-grip cheat curl.

o Incline, face-forward barbell curl.

o Lying face-forward on high bench, barbell curl.

o Standing dumbbell curl.

o Incline dumbbell curl.

o Reverse-grip curl with the easy-curl-bar.

o Concentration curls on Scott Bench using easy-curl-bar.

o Flat Preacher Bench close-grip curls with easy-curl-bar.

Triceps Exercises

• Triceps Presses, Curls and Press-Downs

o Standing close-grip triceps curls.

o Seated close-grip triceps curls.

o French Press supine on flat bench.

o Supine triceps curl and press.

o Reverse-wide-grip bench press.

o Standing dumbbell triceps press.

o Triceps machine press downs.

o Reverse grip triceps press downs.

o Standing triceps press using wall pulley and rope or towel.

o Bent over triceps extension with wall pulley.

Super Sets

For advanced bodybuilders, you should alternate a biceps exercise with a triceps exercise. In this manner you will shorten the workout time without sacrificing the integrity of your workout. Move between the exercises with no rest and one minute rest between sets.

Now you’ve torn the muscle down with this “killer” workout, it’s time to rest and rebuild that tissue. A high-protein diet is critical to the rebuilding. Your diet should consist of at least 25% of your calories coming from protein. You should also have dietary fats included as they help metabolize the protein.

Protein supplements are good as are amino acids in the form of Lipotropic 3, a compound of three essential amino acids that help burn body fat. Desiccated liver and kelp tablets are also good. A cold-pressed wheat germ oil will boost your energy and endurance.

The legs are made up of three muscle groups: The quadriceps or frontal thigh muscles, the thigh “biceps” on the rear of the upper leg and the calves on the lower leg. Learning all the exercises for your legs will show how to get bigger thighs.

In most people, legs make up two-thirds of body weight. They are solid muscle, unlike the torso which is an organ-filled hollow containing lots of air spaces. As large muscles, the legs, and particularly the thighs, will require a lot of exercise in order to get bigger.

Researching in the great encyclopedia of bodybuilding, Keys to the Inner Universe by Bill Pearl, four-time Mr. Universe, we find 50 pages of exercise devoted to developing and defining our thighs. More than 150 different exercises are explained and pictured.

The Squat

Arguably the best exercise for getting bigger thighs is the squat. This is also the most avoided exercise by less-than-serious bodybuilders because it requires a lot of exertion. Squats may be performed with barbells (preferred) or with devices like the weight-loaded Smith machine.

Squats may be done with the weight on our shoulders, or held at chest level in front. They may be performed with the heels elevated about two inches or flat-footed. Regardless of how they are performed, the legs should never be “locked out” when in the straight position, or the tension will be off the muscles.

A bench may be used for one type of squat so that you may gauge the correct distance to go down, or you can just go until your butt hits your heels. How you point your knees and your foot spread will determine whether you work inner, outer or upper thighs.

To build bigger thighs, several types of squats should be performed for three sets of ten repetitions.

• Barbell Squat – using an Olympic bar and weights and a squat rack, elevate your heels and squat down until your thighs are parallel with the floor. Use enough weight that you struggle to reach ten reps.

• Barbell Squat Wide Stance – with heels elevated and legs spread widely, squat with your knees pointed out for an inner thigh workout.

• Hack Squat – with heels elevated and the barbell held behind your buttocks, squat until the weights nearly touch the floor.

Leg Presses

• Leg Press Machine – seated in the machine, the placement of your feet on the foot pads will determine whether you work inner, outer or upper thighs.

• Decline Leg Press Machine – seated in the machine, the foot placement will change the portion of the thigh that is worked. The gluteus maximus (buttocks) also get worked if you go deeply enough.

Leg Extension Machine

• Leg extensions will work the outer, inner and lower thigh down to the knee.

Thigh Curls

• Using a thigh curl machine or cable-and-pulley machine with ankle straps, perform curls to build the hamstrings or thigh biceps muscles.

Abductor and Adductor Machines

• These machines will work the inner thigh and the hip flexors. The development of these muscles is important to the overall look of your thighs. If these machines aren’t available, a cable-and-pulley machine may suffice.

Dumbbell Lunges

• This exercise will build the rear thigh muscles, including the gluteus. They are also good for the hips and lower body flexibility.

Okay, you’ve spent all that time and energy pumping iron and you’re as big as a bull buffalo. Now it’s time to get cut-up and defined because you want to display the results of all that effort in the best possible manner.

Here’s how to get ripped in weeks.

Losing all that adipose takes a special dedication, particularly since you are in such great shape from those hours in the gym. You will have to replace your heavy iron workout routine with medium weights and very high repetitions.

You will also have to go on a highly specialized diet for about four weeks. After all, bodybuilding is about 80% diet, according to several fitness gurus. Are you ready to get started? Let’s go then.

Weight Training

You are still going to be working the muscles to total exhaustion, just like with the heavy weights, but instead of poundage it is going to be reps that wear and tear the muscles.

Instead of six to eight reps of massive weights, you are going to be going for 12 to 15 reps of moderate weights.

Additionally, you are going to use a lot of dumbbell exercises for shaping those massive muscles. You are still going to have focus days in which you work mainly on one muscle group each workout. You are still going to work up the ladder on poundage, but you will not be pushing to your maximum.

You should perform a warm-up with a light weight and pump out as many reps as you can. Try to use a weight that you can squeeze out 25 or more reps. Your next sets will be using moderate weights for 12 to 15 reps. You are shooting for total muscle exhaustion, so plan on five sets per exercise.

You will minimize cardio workouts because cardio will not help you lose fat. You will lose muscle tissue instead. Did you ever notice that marathon and other long distance runners have little or no upper body musculature? But they often have a little pot belly! This is because their bodies need the stored fat for prolonged exertion, so they burn muscle tissue until they “hit the wall” in their running.

The Workout

Chest

• Dumbbell Flies, flat bench, incline and decline.

• Dumbbell Presses, flat bench, incline, decline.

• Push-ups with feet elevated, hands widely spaced.

Shoulders

• Dumbbell Presses, standing or seated.

• Front dumbbell raises, standing.

• Lateral dumbbell raises.

• Upright rowing with barbell.

• Shrugs with barbell.

• Bent over dumbbell extensions.

Back

• Pull-ups on the chinning bar.

• Seated rowing with cable and pulley.

• Lat machine pull-downs.

• Bent over rowing with barbell.

• One-hand bent over rowing with dumbbell.

Legs

• Squats with barbell.

• Leg extensions on machine.

• Thigh biceps curls on machine or with wall mounted cable-and-pulley.

• Lunges with barbells.

• Calf raises.

• Donkey calf raises.

• Seated calf raises.

Core

• Crunches, flat bench or mat.

• Compound crunches, twisting right and left.

• Side bends with dumbbells.

• Rear side bends with dumbbells

• Twists with barbell across shoulders.

Diet – maintain this diet for five cycles (25 days)

• Consume zero carbohydrates for four day.

• Eat a balanced diet on fifth day.

• Consume zero carbs for days six through nine.

• Eat a balanced diet on tenth day.

Supplements

• Protein Powder

• Essential amino acids (Lipo3 compound, inositol, choline, etc.)

• Wheat germ oil

• Desiccated liver, kelp tablets.

The recent movie “300” was the story of the Spartans who held back the mighty Persian horde at the pass of Thermopylae. The Spartans, led by their King, Leonidas, were the front line for a small band of Greeks who blocked that mountain pass so the invading Persians couldn’t descend into Greece.

It was a heroic movie and the cast, headed by Gerald Butler as Leonidas, looked the part.  The actors playing the Spartans all had these amazing rock hard abs, and if you’re anything like me, I bet you found yourself wondering how they got such a great look!

But guess what? The secret to having those amazing abdominal muscles that looked flexed all the time is getting an animator to doctor the film. Hey, I’ve seen photos of Butler and he does not have the rock hard abs as shown in that film, nor do the other actors . . . at least not the constantly flexed look we saw in the movie!

The real secret on how to get rock hard abs lies in two words, “workout” and “diet.” You have to work your midsection correctly in order to build those abdominals. Then you have to diet to rid your body of subcutaneous fat so those abs can be displayed.

For a program on how you can build those chiseled abs, we turn to real champions with real abdominal development and share their secrets.

The abdominals are only one muscle group in several that make up your “core.” The obliques and lower back are also important parts of what make up you midsection. All of these muscles should be worked and developed.

Core Workout

Sit-Ups – The jury is still out on whether you should ever do full sit-ups. Some trainers maintain that these moves are very important, but others say all you need are “partial” sit-ups, crunches that contract the abdominals and help build them.

Most great bodybuilding champions performed a wide variety of sit-ups; flat bench, incline, decline and compound (where you twist while sitting up). They also performed crunches to further define their abs.

• Decline Board Sit-Ups – Three sets of 50 reps, the last set being compound sit-ups.

• Crunches – Three sets of 50 reps on the decline board, the last set being compound crunches.

Leg-Raises – These tend to work the lower abdominals.

• Decline Board Leg Raises – Three sets of 50 reps keeping legs straight for two and bringing the knees to the chest alternately for the third.

• Chinning Bar Leg Raises – Three sets of 20 while hanging at arm’s length from the chinning-bar.

• Side-Bends with Dumbbells – These will work the front and rear obliques and the small of your back. Perform three sets of 100 for each side and then three sets while holding the dumbbell behind your leg for the rear obliques.

• Roman Chair Reverse Sit-Ups – These will work your lower back and rear obliques. Perform three sets of 25 with the last set being compound, where you twist your torso as you raise to contraction.

Bodybuilder’s Pre-Contest Diet

This diet came from the Iron Guru, the late Vince Gironda, who was probably the best trainer of champion bodybuilders of all time. Vince claimed that “bodybuilding is 80% diet.”

This diet should not be undertaken for more than a short period of time. This describes the first cycle of the diet. Five or more cycles may be undertaken to reduce subcutaneous fat.

Days 1 through 4 – Eat as close to zero carbohydrates as humanly possible. Consume high protein foods like eggs, poultry, meat and fish.

Day 5 – Eat a balanced diet in which 25% of the calories are from protein, 40% from carbs and the remainder from fats and fibers.

Supplements: Protein powder taken with raw milk, wheat germ oil, lipotropic amino acids (inositol, choline, betane), desiccated liver and kelp tablets.

“Middle Age Spread” is the term used to describe deposits of fat that begin to appear about our middles as we reach middle age. Originally thought to be a benign sign of the more sedentary lifestyle that comes with a settled career and family life, it is now understood that the accumulation of abdominal fat is potentially harmful to our health.

There are direct links between abdominal fat and Type 2 Diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, some forms of cancer and a variety of organ problems.

There are two types of abdominal fat: Subcutaneous, which is the fat that you can grab with your hands and is just under the skin; and visceral, the fat surrounding the intestines and abdominal organs. The latter variety is decidedly more harmful. So there are more reasons than just appearances sake that we should learn how to lose abdominal fat. Fortunately, both types of abdominal fat can be lost easily through dieting and exercise. By altering what we eat and how much we eat, our bodies will begin to burn up the excess adipose deposits.

Exercise speeds up our metabolism and develops muscle tissue, each of which contributes to losing both types of abdominal fat.

Dieting to Lose Abdominal Fat

It is important to note that going on a greatly reduced calorie diet can be counterproductive. Our Paleolithic metabolism responds to calorie reduction by storing more fat because starvation may be imminent.

With that in mind, it makes more sense to reduce our intake to between 1,800 and 2,000 calories, which is slightly below maintenance levels.

It is important to also maintain a diet log, keeping track of everything we eat so we have an accurate measure of caloric intake. Make one up for a week or so prior to beginning the fat loss diet, then cut calories accordingly.

It is also very important not to eat “bad” carbohydrates or oils. Refined sugars, starches and grains are sources of simple carbohydrates and will sabotage your dieting. Stay away from bread made from flour of any type, pasta and processed rice.

Don’t eat prepared foods, that is, those that only require warming before serving. These are usually filled with chemical preservatives, including high-fructose corn syrup.

Your diet should mainly consist of fresh fruits and vegetables, unprocessed meats, poultry and fish. Alcohol consumption (empty calories converted to sugar by our metabolism) should also be minimized.

When you first begin your diet, restrict your carbohydrate intake to about fifty grams per day (buy a calorie and carbohydrate counter) until your weight begins to drop.

After your weight nears your target, you may begin to slowly elevate your carb intake until you stop losing abdominal fat. This will probably be your maintenance point.

As you begin your exercise program, your protein intake should rise to about 25% of your caloric intake. Good protein-rich foods are: Eggs, organ meats, unprocessed beef, pork and chicken, fish, beans and other legumes.

Soy is not a good source of protein since it isn’t a good biological match to human flesh. This necessitates a huge consumption of soy products to derive all the essential amino acids necessary for tissue building and fat metabolizing.

Exercising to Lose Abdominal Fat

Strength and resistance training will build your muscles and increase the calorie consumption of your system. Muscles require more energy than fat – three times as much in fact.

Join a local health and fitness club or the YWCA and have a trainer set up a program of weight training. Minimize the cardiovascular exercises because they don’t really burn fat, but instead diminish muscle tissue.

There are a number of causes of “man-boobs”, but being overweight or a hormone imbalance are two of the most common. In order to figure out how to lose man boobs, you first have to know the cause of your problem.

If you are not morbidly obese, then your man boobs are probably caused by low testosterone. If this is the case, you should consult with your medical practitioner about hormone supplements or dietary changes. Also, heavy exercise will increase testosterone production naturally.

Fat collects on our bodies in different ways. Women’s bodies tend to store fat on their lower Extremities: hips, thighs and buttocks. Men on the other hand, tend to store fat on their upper bodies: stomach, chest and back.

The obvious answer to how to lose man boobs is exercise and diet . . . just like any other weight loss and bodybuilding program! Exercise will help condition the muscles, and more muscle tissue will help burn more fat, both stored and ingested.

Diet will help your body burn stored fat and you won’t be overeating of all the things that probably caused the problem in the first place. Your diet and exercise can be very specific to address the problem of man boobs, as well as the fat stored elsewhere on your body.

Spot reducing is a myth from the early days of health and fitness clubs. These clubs perpetuated the myth because of the vast amount of money it generated. They were filled with vibrating belt machines, hip-rollers and other contraptions that mechanically agitated specific body parts.

If these clinics had any successes, it was because of a diet regimen, not their flash vibrating belt machines.

Today we know that fat is stored pretty equally in those key areas subject to that storage. Any good nutrition program will reduce that fat about as evenly as it is stored. So, if you want to diet away those man boobs, you will lose fat in other areas as well. This isn’t a bad thing.

Exercising your chest muscles will make them grow underneath your man boobs. You will be firmer, but until you lose the fat, you will still have the problem.

Here is how to lose those man boobs. This is a good program of nutrition and exercise that will strengthen your body and reduce your overall body fat.

The Exercise Program Strength training will increase your strength and muscle size. Your program should include exercises for all body parts.

Unlike a serious bodybuilding program where massive size is the goal, your program will divide the upper and lower body workouts into alternate days.

The upper body will be worked on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The lower body will be exercised on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Sunday you rest. You will perform three sets of each exercise, most of them for 10 repetitions.

Chest

• Wide-Grip Bench Press

• Wide-Grip Incline Barbell Press

• Wide-Grip Decline Barbell Press

• Dumbbell Flies on Flat Bench

Shoulders

• Standing Barbell Press

• Upright Rowing with a Barbell

• Front Dumbbell Raises

• Lateral Dumbbell Raises

Back

• Lat Machine Pull-Downs

• Seated Rowing with Cable-And-Pulley Machine

• Bent Over Rowing with a Barbell

• Pull-Ups on the Chinning Bar

Arms

• Biceps Curls with Easy-Curl-Bar

• Triceps Press Downs on Cable-And-Pulley Machine

• Preacher Bench Curls with Easy-Curl-Bar

• Triceps Presses on Flat Bench

• Concentration Curls with a Dumbbell, alternating arms

• Bent Over Triceps Extensions

The Nutrition Program

Caloric intake for an active person is determined by age and gender. Consult with your physician about your daily calorie limits.

Calories should come from protein (25%), carbohydrates (40%), fats and fibers (35%). No refined carbohydrates are allowed: No sugar, starches, refined grains or artificial sweeteners. Carbs should come from natural, unprocessed vegetables and fruits.

Protein should come from eggs, milk, organ meats (liver, heart, kidneys, sweetbreads), beef, pork, poultry and fish.

Fats should come from protein rich foods and soluble oils such as olive oil, wheat germ oil and walnut oil.

Fiber will come from the fruits and vegetables.

Supplements you might wish to take: Protein powder, amino acid are the building blocks of proteins (Lipo3 Compound is a good one as lipotropic amino acids help the body metabolize fat), desiccated liver and kelp tablets.

Medical Science has said that belly fat is one of the biggest health hazards for men and women. Research has shown that abdominal fat, particularly around the organs, will lead to health problems for men. It is imperative that you lose belly fat in a healthy, natural fashion.

Diseases that are related to belly fat are: Heart disease, some types of cancer, hypertension, diabetes, stroke and insulin resistance.

Belly fat accumulates on men because of poor eating habits and physical inactivity. Age plays a part in the accumulation in both sexes, with the slowing of the metabolism and menopause in women. Both sexes tend to thicken in the middle as we age, but excess belly fat can be lost.

The two magic words that will help you lose belly fat are: Diet and Exercise. It sounds kind of simple, right? It really is. All it takes is a personal commitment to get rid of that adipose around your middle.

Strike the term “spot reducing” from your vocabulary. There is no such thing, even though it was promoted for many decades by health clubs in the early 20th century.

Fat is deposited evenly in areas where the body will store it. So, if you want to lose your belly fat, your diet will also reduce fat in other areas equally.

Belly Fat Reduction Diet

If you cut calories to below your subsistence level, you body will store more of what you eat as fat because low calorie levels are an indication of starvation. A starving person loses muscle tissue before their stored energy (body fat) gets burned.

Your calorie intake should be the amount your age, size and gender indicate is sufficient to maintain your tissue, organs and functions.

• For example, a man of fifty years who is average height and slightly overweight and exercises moderately 3 times per week will need 2,566 calories per day to maintain his weight. The same man at 70 years needs approximately 5% less calories.

o He will need to consume 2,053 calories per day to lose weight.

o He will need to consume 1,760 calories per day to dramatically lose weight.

• A woman of the same age and circumstances needs 2,338 calories per day to maintain, 1,870 calories to lose weight and 1,760 calories to lose weight dramatically. A woman of 70 years needs about 6% less calories to maintain.

The tool you need for your belly fat loss diet is a calorie counter. You can easily get one by downloading it from a number of sites on the internet. Plan your diet around the maintenance level for your age and gender, minus 5%.

As your muscles get stronger and your tissue more dense from exercise, you will accelerate your weight loss because muscle burns up about three times as much energy as does fat.

Belly Fat Reduction Exercise Program Strength and resistance training is important for building muscles. For a beginner it is sufficient to perform body-weight resistance exercises. An intermediate or advanced exerciser should use free weights or weight loaded machines to perform their exercises.

• Sports Walking – Beginners should walk at a moderate pace for 30 minutes per day. As you become conditioned, pick up the pace.

• Free Standing Squats – Standing erect with your feet slightly apart, and your arms extended in front, perform a full squat until your thighs are parallel with the ground. Work up to 100 squats.

• Free Standing Twists – Erect with hands on hips, twist your body to the left, then to the right. Work up to 100 twists.

• Calf Raises – With your toes on a piece of 2X4, rise as far as you can and hold it for a two-count and then lower your heels until they touch the ground. Work up to 100 calf raises.

• Push-Ups – In a prone position with your hands at shoulder width, elevate your body at arm’s length keeping your torso straight. Beginners should start on their knees. Intermediates should be up on their toes. Work up to 25 push-ups.

As you move beyond these beginner’s exercises, join a local fitness center and have a trainer set up a weight training program.

Vince Delmont’s program, No Nonsense Muscle Building, is aimed at the “hard-gainers” of the world, those people who cannot seem to gain any muscle tissue no matter how hard they try. They pump iron, take supplements and eat high protein meals, but still they remain skinny.

This was Vince’s history. Like many other painfully thin people, Vince was driven to succeed in building his body. In doing so, he stumbled over a “secret” technique to build his own body and has developed that into a program to help others.

Hey, Vince isn’t being altruistic . . . he’s selling the program. But according to many expert evaluators, Vince’s package is well worth the investment – several times over.

Though he doesn’t specifically say so in his promotional material, his program will work for “fatties” who have trouble gaining muscle as well as the “skinnies.” With the No Nonsense Muscle Building book and program, people of any size, shape, gender and physical proclivity will benefit from Vince’s advice and training.

As stated in his material, this program may not be for the hardcore bodybuilder who loves spending hours and hours in the gym pumping iron. For these gym-rats or muscleheads, the gym scene is a way of life. People attracted to Vince’s programs are regular folks like you and me.

The No Nonsense Muscle Building program is for busy people who cannot afford to spend more than three hours a week in the gym. Vince maintains that three hours is all you need to build your body into the one you really want.

In fact, says Vince, overtraining is a problem that can keep you from building muscle. Too much pumping iron and cardio are counter-productive. Vince isn’t the only one who has uttered this truism. His contention is supported by a number of coaches and trainers.

Vince Delmont’s material is supported by scientific documentation of the effectiveness of concentrated, focused training techniques. A number of his adherents have presented documented, quantitative evidence of their success using his program.

Mr. Delmont eschews the use of any chemical performance enhancers like anabolic steroids, human growth hormone and other testosterone boosters. He says that many people don’t respond to these drugs and those who do have only temporary success with muscle building.

Vince’s program is drug and supplement free. It is strictly about his exercise program and a diet of natural foods . . . nothing you will see advertised in a “muscle-magazine”. He points out that most muscle-mags are owned by supplement companies who use them as a platform to promote their own bodybuilding products.

Delmont points out that the glowing reviews of supplements by famous bodybuilding figures are paid advertisements, not unbiased, impartial commentaries on product quality and performance.

All in all, Vince Delmont’s No Nonsense Muscle Building is an excellent program for Mr. and Mrs. Everyman, people who want to improve their bodies without a massive investment in gym-time, protein powders and chemical supplements and vitamins and other health-food products.

It has long been recognized by the body-building community that many forms of supplementation will speed up the muscle gains and increase the size of those results. Medical science says that some types of supplements are not necessarily good for you, in fact, they may be harmful to your health.

Anyone with a television set and an interest in sports is aware of all the furor about the use of performance enhancing drugs that some athletes have been caught taking.

Drugs like anabolic steroids and human growth hormone (HGH) were the original culprits, but there has been evidence of drug labs formulating products for which there is no known discovery testing.

The awareness of performance drugs in the bodybuilding world has generated two types of contests; those open to all competitors and drug-free competition where testing is done on all entrants.

But what about the average person who just wants to get in the biggest and best condition of his life? What can he or she do to accelerate their program and give them the best results in the fastest possible time?

There are many natural ways to supplement your diet and workouts and none of them require a doctor’s supervision or a prescription to the pharmacy.

The late, great bodybuilding trainer, Vince Gironda, eschewed steroids and HGH personally and encouraged his charges to avoid them as well. I’m sure some of them succumbed to the lure of fast and easy muscles, but Vince maintained that you could boost your metabolism and testosterone naturally.

In order to accelerate muscle growth, one has to take in enough protein to rebuild the tissue damaged from extreme workouts.

The best source of natural protein is the food you eat, but sometimes that isn’t enough, so protein supplements are recommended. The best protein-in-a-can comes in natural forms, will little or no filler or additives.

Creatine Monohydrate is a hormone produced naturally in the body. Creatine aids in the assimilation of protein and the rebuilding of muscle tissue and it gives explosive power to your workouts. Creatine is taken by many bodybuilders and there are no known negative side effects.

L-Glutamine is another naturally occurring supplement. L-Glut assists the muscles in recovery from strenuous exertion. Taking L-G will ease the soreness that accompanies a hard workout and will get you back into the gym sooner.

Amino Acids are the building blocks of protein and are responsible for muscle tissue growth. Inositol, Choline, Leucine, Isoleucine and Valine are some of the amino acids that may be safely taken as supplements.

In some medical circles the use of human growth hormone (HGH) is advocated to stave off the body deterioration that comes with aging. Our bodies produce a diminishing amount of HGH past the age of 30, heralding beginning of physical aging.

Properly supervised by medicos, the supplementation of HGH has shown remarkable results in muscle growth, fat reduction and the reversing of aging signs.

As the saying goes, “You may not live any longer, but you’ll look great at your viewing.”

Nitric Oxide (NO) has been discovered to be a “heart healthy” product. The Nobel Prize winning medical doctor, Louise Ignarro has researched the benefits of NO and has written extensively on this gas that is formed by the breakdown of the amino acid arginine in the body.

Dr. Ignarro maintains that supplementation with NO will improve the health of your cardiovascular system. For a body builder it produces better blood circulation and increased energy.

In summary, natural supplements can boost your metabolism and help you build muscle while losing fat. This is good. Excessive supplementation may be counterproductive, however as your body will slough off the excess.

Anabolic steroids may cause a health hazard as well as being illegal in many forms. It is always best to consult with a doctor before embarking on any program of supplementation.

Rob Poulos has written the definitive book of weight training and dieting in Fat Burning Furnace. Rob advances and proves his theory that you don’t have to spend hours and hours in the gym to build your body and lose weight.

Rob is also a living testimonial to the success of his program. After trying to emulate his bodybuilding heroes by spending hours pumping iron, Rob finally realized that his body and metabolism just couldn’t build muscle like those muscle magazine cover men.

When he finally did begin to gain weight, it was for the wrong reason . . . he was overeating and had gotten fat. He then dedicated himself to losing that fat and discovering better ways to work out and build muscle.

The result of Rob’s research and experimentation is the complete program outlined in Fat Burning Furnace. Rob’s contention is that you can convert your entire metabolism into a fat burner by eating the right foods and exercising in the proper manner.

The book points out our genetic predisposition to certain body characteristics, some of which make it hard to gain or lose weight or to pack on any muscle tissue.

Rob is a strong advocate of strength training by pumping iron with the goal of increasing muscle strength and size. It is the increase in muscle size that helps your body to become a fat burning furnace – that and eating the right foods.

Rob points out that if you increase your lean muscle mass by just fifteen pounds (while losing about six or seven pounds of fat) you will actually burn about 700 more calories per day at rest. When active, you will burn even more.

He points out that the ladies should not be concerned about getting “bulky” from lifting weights because they lack the testosterone levels necessary to build bodybuilder muscles. Most of us lack the genetic make up to get huge like Arnold. Even with chemical enhancements, most people will not get that big.

Poulos is also not an advocate of extensive cardiovascular exercising. He claims that long duration, low intensity exercise will burn some fat, but it sends a message to your body that says you need to store more fat to be able to handle that exercise the next time you work out.

Also, says Poulos, long duration exercise may be harmful to your health because as you push past your aerobic limits you ultimately limit your heart and lung capacity as your body gets used to the long exercise period.

Fat Burning Furnace outlines exercises and nutrition that will maximize your potential and help you develop a strong, lean, fit and good looking body. Maybe not like Arnold’s, but one that will look great at the beach or on the tennis court. Also, you will be healthy.

Rob claims that if you follow his routine as outlined, you will get all the benefits of a cardio workout without the dreary time on a treadmill or Stair Master or elliptical stepper. His routine is short and sweet and he is a testimonial to the results – how appealing is that?

Tom Venuto is a very serious bodybuilder and trainer who has written an in-depth primer on diets. In 341 pages of step-by-step detail, he explains how to establish your own baseline for the appropriate intake of protein, carbohydrates and fats.

Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle is not a quick-fix diet for the average person. It is a first-class fact-based guide to proper dieting for bodybuilders who are also competitive on the pro bodybuilding circuit.

Anyone can benefit from this book and from Tom’s program, but understand that it is intended for serious bodybuilders.

The Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle book and program are available for $39.00 and $59.00, depending on which program you purchase. A sixty-day money-back guarantee accompanies either program level. This takes a lot of concern out of making the right choice.

Any bodybuilder preparing for a contest will benefit from Tom Venuto’s approach to pre-contest dieting to eliminate that last bit of subcutaneous fat so the muscles are displayed in all their glory.

Two bonuses that are available with Venuto’s plan are Foods that Burn Fat, and Foods that Turn to Fat. They contain some very good information for anyone wanting to maximize their physical potential and look their very best.

Tom’s approach is much different that run-of-the-mill diet books. He advises that there is no one-fix-for-all diet. You must know your body type and how it reacts to protein, carbs and fats before you can establish the proper diet for your needs.

The book goes into great detail, probably too much detail for the average dieter, but his information is scientifically and soundly based. His program is very complex, but once you figure out how to navigate through, the information is probably among the best you’ll ever find.

Venuto is a “natural” bodybuilder, free of any chemical performance enhancers. In fact, he is not a strong advocate of any supplements, believing instead that all of your nutritional needs should come from a proper diet program.

In his book, Tom emphasizes goal setting and then he sets out to coach you on how to set, maintain and achieve them. This book goes beyond dieting. It could change your life forever.

Many of the testimonials from users of Tom’s program are not bodybuilders, but people who were very serious about weight loss.

As well as dieting for fat loss, the book covers how to avoid muscle loss while on your diet. This is of great interest to bodybuilders who fear losing their bulk while dieting for definition.

Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle does not promise any “quick-fixes.” You have to be very serious and willing to dedicate the time and effort to overcome body fat. The book also is a strong advocate for working out with intensity, both strength training and cardiovascular exercising.

Tom Venuto’s Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle is to bodybuilding dieting what Bill Pearl’s Keys to the Inner Universe is to bodybuilding exercises. Both are absolutely the best in their field and buying Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle will almost certainly help you reach your bodybuilding goals.

The Same Object as the Men, But a Different Approach

There is no other sport in the world where so much time and effort is spent on preparation for contests as bodybuilding. Yes, bodybuilding is a sport. The sport side of bodybuilding is the intense training that goes into building musclewomen and musclemen.

It takes a tremendous effort to build a body that is fit for showing. The perfection of the body is the common goal of building either men’s or women’s bodies, but the approach has to be different because of the differences in their anatomy and metabolism.

The female body is not capable of developing the massiveness of the male body without chemical assistance. The exercises and natural diet of male bodybuilders produce different results in women.

Musclewomen still lift weights, they eat high-protein meals and they take natural supplements. Their bodies respond with great conditioning, defined musculature and even a “six-pack”, but without the muscle size of their male counterparts.

Bodybuilding for women has gone through a number of phases. In the early days a smooth, shapely figure was the goal. Then came massive muscular development spurred by the use of anabolic steroids and male growth hormones. Some of the female bodybuilders became so huge and muscular that they looked like men.

Currently, the emphasis has returned to a more natural look for women bodybuilders. They perform a lot of resistance exercises that give them definition and muscularity, but they still retain their femininity (think Linda Hamilton in Terminator 2).

Building a musclewoman begins with weight and resistance training. Every muscle group of the body is worked to complete exhaustion at least once a week. But women’s bodies are much different than men’s and their upper and lower body shapeliness requires different exercises.

More emphasis is placed on hip flexors, adductor and abductor muscles in the inner and outer thighs. Squats and thigh-biceps curls work the quadriceps and hamstrings, while calf raises finish the lower body.

For the upper body, women work their chest muscles with barbell or machine presses, dumbbell or machine flies, shoulder presses and arm work.

The arms are pumped with barbell and dumbbell curls, triceps press-downs and French presses on the bench. An advanced female bodybuilder will lift an impressive amount of weight in every workout.

Nutrition is the complementary side of the program for building musclewomen. A diet with about 25% of the calories coming from protein, 40% coming from complex carbohydrates and the rest from fats and fiber is used to rebuild the tissue damaged by intense workouts.

“Bodybuilding is 80% diet.” This statement was uttered many years ago by one of the greatest bodybuilding trainers of his era, Vince Gironda.

With some fame as a bodybuilder himself, “The Iron Guru,” as he became known, was more famous for helping a newcomer to the USA, Arnold Schwartzenegger move rapidly up the road to become one of the greatest bodybuilders of all time.

His acolytes list reads like a who’s who in bodybuilding of the 1950s through 1997.

Vince was convinced that a bodybuilding diet was the key to muscle-building success, and he was fundamental in convincing other people of this principle in his multi-decade career as a trainer of champions.

In a nutshell, a bodybuilding diet should focus on the best useable sources of protein, natural carbohydrates in the form of fresh vegetables and fruits, fats and oils, and finally, nuts. Bodybuilders also need to include supplements that help grow muscle tissue and reduce the subcutaneous fat on the body.

Renowned biologist, Bernard Beverley, stated that human tissue is 100% biological. What that means for bodybuilders is that eating foods that are very high in biological content is very important for developing that tissue as far as possible. Lots of people confuse foods high in biological content with foods high in protein, but this isn’t entirely the case as not all protein is the same. Biological content means food that contains protein of a structure that is very similar to the protein contained in human tissue.

This might come as a surprise to some, but the food with the highest biological content is the humble egg! Other foods high in biological content include raw milk, organ meats (heart, liver, kidneys and sweetbreads), steak, lamb, poultry and fish. Beans, legumes and some other vegetables are also good sources of protein, so it’s really important to include them in your diet as well.

On the other hand, soybeans, although famously high in protein, are only 22% biological. Thus you would have to eat huge amounts of soy to equal the amino acid content of the higher quality protein previously listed. For contest preparation, the Iron Guru recommended avoiding anabolic steroids in favor of eating as many as three dozen eggs per day!

The idea is that this gives your muscles a huge influx of biological protein so that they can reach new levels of strength and quickly repair any damage. After six to eight weeks, you should then reduce this amount to one or two per day, as you would have achieved your goal.

On the other hand, other bodybuilding diets focus on red meat and fresh vegetables, or one high in dairy products and fish. Each of these approaches serves a particular goal, that of loading the system with protein to replace and rebuild muscle tissue torn down by heavy workout sessions. They are not long-term diet plans however. Bodybuilding supplements that Gironda recommended were: Kelp tablets, desiccated liver, lipotropic amino acids(inositol, choline, methionine, betain that aid in the metabolism and assimilation of protein) and wheat germ oil. Another diet method the Iron Guru developed was putting his students on a special bodybuilding diet cycle in preparation for contests, to get rid of that last bit of subcutaneous fat.

This was composed of four days of zero carbohydrates, then on the fifth day eat normally. For the next four days eat zero carbs, and on the tenth day eat normally. The students would keep this up for between three and eight weeks, until every muscle separation and vein popped out on the surface.

In summary, a good bodybuilding diet should be focused on protein, fats, good carbohydrates and fiber. The breakdown should be 24% protein, 40% natural carbs (no refined starches or sugars) and the balance in fat and fiber.

Just before competition diets, and cycling of zero carbs for four days and the fifth day free, should be followed for no more than eight weeks. Appropriate supplements should be taken.

The chest muscle group, the pectoralis major, is the largest muscle group in the upper body. As such, the chest requires a great many very specific exercises to work the upper, lower and inner pecs. A good looking chest really sets off the appearance of a physique.

Even beginning bodybuilders are aware that in order to build muscle, you have to tear it down with exercise and rebuild it with a high-protein diet. A bodybuilding diet should be at least 25% protein and 40% natural, unrefined carbohydrates, with the balance being in fats and fibers.

The bodybuilding chest workout should be the total focus of one workout per week. Other muscles will get worked in this routine, but only as incidental to the chest exercises. The exercises will involve barbells, dumbbells and body-resistance moves.

The exercises should be performed in the order of descending strength of the muscle parts. In other words, begin with the exercise for which you use the heaviest poundage. Then work down the ladder from there.

Most chest bodybuilding exercises will be three sets of eight to ten repetitions each for an intermediate level bodybuilder. An advanced exerciser should consider raising that to five sets of six to eight reps with heavier weights.

Bench Press, with Barbell, Wide-grip

Lie flat on the bench with your feet planted flat and squarely on the floor. Grip the bar at about double shoulder width. Lower the barbell to your upper chest-lower neck region, pause, and return to overhead.

Begin with a one set as a warm-up with a moderate weight. Perform the next sets with the maximum weight you can handle for eight to ten repetitions.

Make each movement slow and smooth and pause at full contraction. Do not bounce the weight on your chest. Do not arch your back or lift your buttocks off the bench as this will place strain on you lower neck and could cause injury.

Front Barbell Raise, Incline

Using an incline bench and a lighter weight barbell, begin with the barbell grasped palms down and your arms facing straight down. Raise the weight smoothly overhead, continuing until your arms are extended behind your head.

Dumbbell Flies, Flat Bench

Using two moderately heavy dumbbells and lying supine, begin with the dumbbells held straight up. Lower them smoothly while bending your arms slightly at the elbow. The finish point should be with your arms parallel with the floor. Don’t hyperextend your shoulder joints.

Incline Press with Barbell, Wide-Grip

Using an incline bench, begin with the barbell straight overhead. Lower the weight to your upper chest-lower neck area. Use a weight that exhausts your muscles at eight to ten reps.

Decline Press with Barbell, Wide-Grip

Using a decline bench, begin with your arms perpendicular to the floor. Lower the weight slowly to the neck and perform eight to ten reps.

Flat Bench Dumbbell Press

Begin the move with the dumbbells straight overhead and then lower them to your chest keeping your elbows high and your upper arm nearly parallel with your shoulders. Use heavy dumbbells for eight to ten reps.

Flat Bench Dumbbell Pullover Press Lateral

Using medium weight dumbbells and beginning the move with the weights at your chest, rotate the dumbbells past your head towards the floor. In one movement, bring them back to your chest and press them overhead and then immediately perform a lateral fly with your arms bent at a forty-five degree angle.

Push-Ups Hands Together

Assume the push-up position with your body straight and up on your toes with your hands about a foot apart. Perform push-ups slowly for as many reps as you are able.

And that completes your chest workout. Bring on those ripped chest muscles!

The pectoralis major is the largest muscle group in the upper body. The chest muscles are large slabs spread across the upper torso, so the best chest workout is achieved by using heavy weights in a number of exercises that focus on the upper, lower, inner and outer pecs.

The pecs are “pushing” muscles that tie in closely with your arms and shoulders. When you work your chest, your triceps and deltoids also get some work. The size, spread and depth of your pecs is directly related to the weights used in your training regimen.

Exercises used to develop the pecs

Bench Press – When the chest is the topic of conversation and evaluation, the bench press is the first exercise considered. This exercise may be performed in a variety of ways and using different benches, grips, angles and weights.

The Olympic bar commonly used and the plates are the only commonalities in the types of bench presses.

A wide-grip on the bar while using a flat bench is the basic bench press. The wide grip will put more exertion on the outer pecs. Whether the bar is lowered to the neck or to the chest will determine whether the upper or middle of the pecs is worked.

When the bar is lowered to the middle of the chest and the elbows are kept at the lifter’s sides, the triceps are involved in moving the weight. When the bar is lowered to the neck and the elbows are splayed widely, the frontal deltoids are involved with the pecs.

The bench press may be performed on an incline board and the bar lowered to the neck. This will exercise the upper pecs. When performed on the decline board, the lower pecs are worked.

Parallel Bar Dips – These are very good for working the inner and upper pecs when the lifter’s hands are at shoulder width. Placed wider, the outer pecs and delt-pec tie-in are involved.

Dumbbell Exercises for a Chest Workout – Dumbbells may be used for a number of bench exercises that closely approximate the Olympic bar lifts. They may also be used to perform flies on a flat, incline or decline bench. These are good for stretching the pecs and ripping them up.

Cable-And-Pulley Machine – This device is good for chest finishing exercises like the two-handed crunch, where the exercise begins with arms spread wide and then the handles are brought together in front of the chest, with the arms slightly bent at the elbow.

Bent-Arm-Pullover – This move is performed on a flat bench with the weight on the floor. The lifter assumes a supine position and reaches back over his head for the barbell. Keeping his arms bent, the weight is brought to the chest in a circular motion.

A compound exercise is performed when the weight is then pressed from the chest as a close-grip bench press. The return is back to the chest and then lowered to the floor in a circular motion.

The best chest workout is to begin with the heavier weight exercises (bench press) and move “down the ladder” through the barbell exercises to the dumbbells and finally to the bodyweight resistance exercises to finish off the pecs.

Mike Geary is a guy with a bunch of initials after his Name: NCSF-CPT, AFAA-CPT – all of which means that he is a dual certified personal trainer . . . and that he knows what he’s talking about when it comes to diet and fitness.

Mike has chosen to take on all the myths and legends of one of the aspects of fitness that is of extreme interest to all of us, men and women.

In his well received book, The Truth About Six Pack Abs, Mike takes to task all of the misinformation that has proliferated about what exercises work best for developing that “six-pack” so revered by beach-goers.

As well as establishing a great abs exercise program, Geary has included dietary tips and discloses a lot of so called “healthy foods” as a farce. A combined program of good exercises and dietary advice is a real winner.

Mike Geary has a BS degree and a lot of experience in personal training. He does not advocate performing crunches, sit-ups or using any abdominal machine. He feels they are ineffective and a waste of time. Instead he introduces the reader to a series of exercises that he claims are much more effective at building nice abs.

His dietary advice is more for the bodybuilder and serious trainer who want to display their cut-up, muscular midsection. His program is good for overall weight loss, but it is really targeting the serious bodybuilder who wants to display his abs.

Mike’s approach is to blast the body with fat reducing exercise, a program that will cut down the body fat content of anyone who follows the regimen closely. The “truth” is that your six-pack may already be there, but it is hidden under subcutaneous fat. Remove the fat and the six-pack is there.

The Truth About Six Pack Abs promotes a host of non-traditional exercises, all designed to work your body smarter and harder, but not longer. Instead of being just about abs, the book covers total body workouts that also affect the midsection.

Various other websites have links to Geary’s homepage and all of them feature reviews of Mike’s product. None that I could find were derogatory and most of them were extremely complimentary. All serious users of the program reported great results. Some of these were from bodybuilding pros, but most were from amateurs.

So, even though the reported focus is on the bodybuilder, many of the users are folks who just want to get into shape and sport a “six-pack.” Whatever your situation, you will benefit from Mike Geary’s book and program.

The exercises don’t require a gym membership or any expensive supplements or the purchase of anything other than Mike’s great book. Invest in yourself and purchase one today. Mike offers a low-cost trial period and a guarantee of results if you correctly apply the principles set forth therein.

Through his webpage, Mike also offers other publications on training and diet. Some of these are free downloads, others are available at a low cost. His Training and Nutrition Insider: Secrets for a Lean Body, is one of the freebies and it is well worth the time spent to read the 64-page tip-packed manual.

Welcome to Health, Fitness & Weight Loss, feel free to check out some the great content and resources I have on this topic.

How To Lose Fat And Gain Muscle

Every bodybuilder has some idea of how to bulk up, but few of them really know how to lose fat and gain muscle. Bulking up is the easy part, all you have to do is pump ever-increasing amounts of iron.

The losing fat is the hard part because that requires a lot of self discipline and dedication.

It is a fact that the more muscle you build the more fat you burn. Muscle requires three times more energy to function than fat will use. Part of the solution to losing fat is to gain muscle.

The other part of losing fat is diet. This is the hard part because it requires that we shut off all desires for desserts, candy, soft drinks, bread made with any type of flour and alcoholic beverages. No refined sugars or grains allowed on a bodybuilders diet.

A bodybuilder weight and resistance training program will include exercises for every muscle group in the body; chest, shoulders, back, arms, core and legs. You need to make five trips a week to the fitness center for at least an hour or more of pumping iron per session.

If you are a fitness novice, you will need to seek the advice of an expert on the best way for you to lose fat and gain muscle. The trainer at your local fitness centre is the logical person to go to. They will establish a program for you that works every muscle to total exhaustion at least once per week.

Here is what a weekly schedule of workouts and other fitness activity will look like:
o Monday – Workout focus is on chest.
o Bench Press – 3 sets of 10 reps
o Dumbbell flies or Pec-Deck – 3 sets of 10 reps
o Incline Bench Press – 3 sets of 10 reps
o Decline Bench Press – 3 sets of 10 reps
o Push-Ups – 3 sets of 25+ reps
o Core Exercises
? Sit-ups
? Crunches
? Leg Raises
? Dumbbell Side-bends

o Tuesday – Workout focus is on legs
o Squats – 3 sets of 10 reps
o Hack Squats – 3 sets of 10 reps
o Sissy Squats – 3 sets of 10 reps
o Leg Extensions – 3 sets of 10 reps
o Thigh Biceps Curls – 3 sets of 10 reps
o Calf Raises – 3 sets of 10 reps
o Donkey Calf Raises – 3 sets of 10 reps
o Lunges with Dumbbells – 3 sets of 25 reps

o Wednesday – Workout focus is on Shoulders.
o Standing Barbell Press – 3 of 10
o Seated Dumbbell Press – 3 of 10
o Front Dumbbell Raises – 3 of 10
o Lateral Dumbbell Raises – 3 of 10
o Upright Barbell Rowing – 3 of 10
o Bent-Over Dumbbell Extension – 3 of 10
o Barbell Shrugs -3 of 10
o Core Exercises – 3 of 25
? Flat bench crunches
? Decline bench crunches
? Compound crunches on mat

o Thursday – Workout focus is on Back. Three sets of 10
reps on each.
o Pull-Ups on chinning bar
o Front Levers on chinning bar
o Lat Machine Pull-Downs
o Seated Rowing with cable-and-pulley
o Bent Over Rowing with barbell
o Bent Over Rowing with dumbbell, one arm at a time
o Core Exercises – 3 of 25
? Flat bench leg raises
? Compound sit-ups on mat
? Dip bar leg raises
? Upright twists

o Friday – Workout focus is on Arms. Three sets of 10
reps.
o Biceps Barbell Curls
o Triceps Press Down, cable-and-pulley (lat) machine
o Biceps Dumbbell Curls on incline bench
o French Presses on flat bench
o PreacherBench curls with easy-curl-bar
o Bent Over Dumbbell Extensions
o Concentration Curls with single dumbbell
o Dumbbell Presses from behind the neck
o Core Exercises
? Decline Sit-Ups
? Compound Decline Sit-Ups
? Compound Leg Raises

Diet – The really hard part

Protein – 25% of calories from eggs, organ meats, red
meat, poultry and fish Carbohydrates – 40% of calories
from fresh fruits and vegetables. No potatoes or rice.
Fats and Fibers – 35% of calories from natural fats,
soluble oils and fibrous fruits and vegetables.

Supplements – Protein powder, amino acids and vitamins.