Excellent article that discusess the ideal amount
of water that you should drink. Marc David points out why if you work
out you should be properly hydrated and not to over drink which could
lead to hyponatremia. Marc David is an innovative fitness enthusiast
and the creator of the "The Beginner's Guide to Fitness And
Bodybuilding" method at www.Beginning-Bodybuilding.com
How
Much Water Should I Drink Per Day?
By
Marc David
I'm
always amazed at how many people seem to know the answer to this
question yet in practice they fail. Everybody I've talked to seems to
know that 8-12 glasses of water a day is the recommended standard. But
if I ask them how many glasses of water have you consumed today? The
answer is usually none. Or the other standard answer at a corporate
environment "does coffee count?"
While
8-12 glasses of water is great for the average sedentary person, many
of us are fitness conscious or on the pursuit of some type of
bodybuilding physique. With that in mind, I think the new standard for
us should be 1-2 gallons of water a day.
As
a bodybuilder, you are putting much more nutrients, food, supplements,
and other stuff into your body. What your body does not use, it must
rid itself of by any means necessary. Usually it does this via water.
So drinking plenty of water becomes a necessity. Increasing protein
puts a strain on your body and drinking lots of water can keep things
"moving." Creatine monohydrate supplementation requires a lot of water.
Creatine is all about cell volumization. Making sure your cells are
completely hydrated helps with the volumization process. NO2, a
hemodilator, requires water. Many other supplements require water as a
transport and a flushing method.
The
side effects of drinking too little water are an excess buildup of
certain chemicals. Creatine can leave behind some buildup that over
time, becomes a bit hard to pass. Putting such a strain on the body is
also self-defeating. But don't get me wrong, it's not just about
Creatine and NO2. It's about making sure you are hydrated.
Being
properly hydrated has it's benefits other then just the flushing
methods and cell volumization discussed above. Your state of alertness
is affected by your hydration levels. Performance in the gym by a
hydrated body is enhanced. Your body is roughly 70% water. It makes
sense to hydrate it. Drinking water is not just for hot days. It's for
intense workouts in the gym. In fact, being hydrated has that perpetual
pump that is so sought after.
There
can be too much of a good thing. Drinking water to excess leads to
water intoxication, referred to as hyponatremia. As you consume water,
blood plasma increases and dilutes the salt content of the blood. While
this is happening, you lose more salt by sweating. Consequently the
amount of salt available to the body tissues decreases and over time,
the loss interferes with brain, heart and muscle functions. Water
intoxication is more commonly found in endurance athletes.
Drink
plenty of water per day, but just keep in mind, there can be too much
of a good thing. Being properly hydrated is necessary for optimum
performance in the gym and for keeping your body performing well.
Posted by Critical
Bench - Weight lifting, training and bodybuilding site.
Posted
on: Tuesday September 27, 2005 9:45 am
Ten Ways
for Women To Progress in Weight Training
Part 2
6. Change Tempo
Slowing
down the negative (eccentric) portion of exercise will promote more
muscle development. This phase is usually the downward portion of an
exercise, when you are lowering the weight. External resistance
(usually gravity) is greater than the tension in your muscles. For
example, during a chest press, the eccentric phase is when you are
lowering the dumbbells towards your chest.
7. Change Position
Go
from flat, to incline, or decline. A change in position forces you to
exercise different parts of your muscles, helping you to achieve a more
well-rounded workout.
8. Use Resistance Bands
If
you are doing a one-armed standing bicep curl, place a resistance band
underneath your left leg, slide your left arm through the other end of
band, gripping the dumbbell with the same hand. Repeat with your right
side. Your exercise will have added resistance near top of movement
because of the added tension exerted by the resistance band. This means
you challenge your muscles at both the beginning and at the end of the
movement, allowing you to exercise more parts of your muscles.
9. Increase Length of Levers
Weight
held further away from your body exerts more tension on the muscles.
For instance, if you are doing chest flyes, instead of keeping arms
bent, straighten them.
10. Add Instability to Your Workout
For
instance, if using a bench, change to a stability ball. If doing
lunges, try them on a balance disc. If doing a bicep curl, try doing it
while standing on one leg (the one opposite your lifting arm). Adding
instability to your exercise regimen will force your body to exercise
your supporting muscles as well as the targeted muscle groups.
In
brief, by utilizing the various methods mentioned to increase strength,
you will continue to develop muscle. And the more muscles you develop,
the more calories you burn, the younger you feel, the greater your
appearance.
Author Bios
Linda
Kravitz, is CEO of PowerFit LLC. Gordon
Waddell, CSCS, is a certified personal trainer, who holds a B.S. with
Honors in exercise physiology and is currently completing his
Master’s degree in exercise science.
Posted
by Janet Ford.
Posted
on: Sunday September 25, 2005 9:35 am
Ten Ways for Women To Progress in Weight Training
Part 1
Women
face different challenges than men when lifting weights and doing other
kinds of strength training. A woman I met at a summer barbecue told me
she started a weight lifting program but stopped after only a short
while. When I asked her why, she responded that increasing weight each
time she worked out was too hard --she couldn't do it. It hurt.
The
goal of strength training is to get stronger and healthier and to
improve your appearance. The body must always be challenged in any
weight training routine, otherwise you will start to see declining
results. But it should never hurt. It should never be painful.
We
have listed several ways in which you can increase strength by your
workout. You have a number of options from which to choose.
1.
Increase Weight
The
most common and effective way to challenge your body is to increase the
weight you are lifting. This alone will keep your body challenged for a
good while. Each muscle is comprised of numerous muscle fibers, and the
more weight you lift, the more muscle fibers are recruited for the job,
and the more your body gets a full workout.
When
we increase weight, we should always be vigilant about performing the
exercise with proper form. If that form is compromised during a weight
increase, it may be that your body is telling you it needs a different
method of getting to the same result. Some alternative methods when we
are not ready to increase weight are described below.
2.
Increase Repetitions
The
standard range is to perform 8-12 repetitions of a movement in one set.
Do not exceed that maximum range. There is no weight training benefit
to doing more than 12 reps per set unless you are in physical
rehabilitation from an injury.
3.
Increase Number of Sets
Normally
you perform 2-3 sets per exercise. If you’ve done two sets at
the same weight, increase to three.
4.
Increase Frequency of Workouts
If
you are working out two times a week, increase to three, if three
times, then four. You should, however, not weight train more than two
days in a row unless you're training requires it (for instance, if your
are a bodybuilder). Your muscles get stronger, not during the workout
phase, but during the rest phase.
5.
Increase Intensity of Exercise
There
are two ways to increase intensity without increasing weight - super
sets and compound sets.
Super
sets
involve
exercising two opposing muscle groups by following
one exercise immediately with another. For example, do a set of
dumbbell bicep curls, then, without a rest period, do a set of standing
tricep pushdowns. Rest. Repeat.
Compound
sets
Involve
exercising the same muscle group by attaching one
exercise to another. For example, do a set of chest presses, then
without a rest period, do a set of dumbbell chest flyes. Rest. Repeat.
Last
5 ways for women to progress in weight training to be added tomorrow.
Author
Bios - Linda Kravitz, is CEO of PowerFit LLC.
Gordon
Waddell, CSCS,
is a certified personal trainer, who holds a B.S. with Honors in
exercise physiology and is currently completing his Master’s
degree in exercise science.
Posted
by Janet Ford.
Posted
on: Saturday September 24, 2005 9:55 am
Avoid
Over-Training Fitness Tip
If
you feel burnt out, weak and/or sore, you are probably over-training.
Not providing your muscles with enough rest will often prevent you from
making improvements. Training the wrong muscle groups on consecutive
days will also counteract your good results. Doing too many sets and
exercises per muscle group will also cause over-training.
Remember
that weightlifting, especially in an intense program, produces what's
called 'tissue micro trauma.' Those tiny tears in the muscles that
temporarily decrease strength and cause varying degrees of muscle
soreness. It is absolutely necessary to provide ample rest time between
successive training sessions. Muscles generally require about 48 hours
for the resting and rebuilding process before you work them again.
Another
example of over-training is doing duplicating movements of several
similar exercises for one specific muscle group. It makes no sense to
do three sets of Bench Press with a barbell and then do three sets of
Bench Press with dumbbells or Push-ups. Each of these exercises
requires exactly the same movement and works the same specific muscle.
Instead for example, it would make much more sense to do bench press
for overall middle chest (either barbell, dumbbell, or machine); to do
incline bench press for upper chest; and to do dips for lower-outer
chest.
Posted
on: Monday September 19, 2005 2:10 pm
Strength
Train With Weights To Prevent Injuries
Forearm
Exercises
Strength
training exercises such as forearm or wrist curls is an example of an
exercise to prevent soreness or injuries from occurring.
Strength
training two to three times per week keeps your muscles and bones
healthy. It also helps to prevent injuries or extreme soreness from
occurring that may arise when you participate in sports or suffer
injuries from work-related activities. Even when you do suffer injuries
or soreness, your recuperation period is much quicker than someone who
never strength trains.
Forearm
exercises such as forearm or wrist curls are an example of a great
exercise that you can do to prevent tennis elbow from occurring. If you
spend a lot of time using your mouse on the computer it will help
prevent serious wrist or elbow soreness from occurring. When performing
this exercise you do not need to use extremely heavy weights. Just
focus on your form and technique.
For
a detailed instruction guide on how to perform this exercise, click
here.
Posted
by Peter
Posted
on: Thursday September 15, 2005 1:47 pm
This
is an article that discusses strength training strategies to achieve
the maximum amount of muscle growth in the least amount of time. Four
effective strategies are discussed including training frequency,
exercises per session, number of sets and repetitions per exercise.
Strength
Training Strategies that Work
1.
Training Frequency
The
two main components of strength training are the intensity of the
exercise and the recovery after the exercise. Infrequent, short and
high intensity weight training sessions, followed by the required
amount of time to recover and become stronger is what is needed to
increase functional muscle size in the shortest period of time.
The
latest research has repeatedly shown that muscles over-compensate
(become stronger) up to a week after the previous workout, provided
that the muscles are trained to failure.
Remember
it's not the training volume but the intensity and recuperation that
are important when it comes to gains in strength and muscle.
2.
Exercises Per Session
Tests
under strict gym conditions have revealed that you've only got a
limited amount of (readily available) energy to use for a weight
training session. Blood tests on individuals have also revealed that
blood sugar levels (available energy) drop dramatically after 20 to 30
minutes of high intensity training.
As
you only have a short period of time to train before our blood sugar
level drops, "exercise selection" is crucial. You have to use
multi-joint or compound movements, as these offer the most training
stimulus for the available amount of time. In other words, we can train
many muscles simultaneously and thus use our energy more efficiently.
Performing
three to four exercises with high intensity during a session are what
most people are capable of. All the main structures of the body are
worked hard during this time. Working on these big compound movements
has a knock-on effect throughout the whole body. There is no need for
specialization techniques or isolation movements.
The
fact is, the whole body is worked hard, rest and recuperation is
allowed to take place and at the next exercise session we push out a
few more reps than before with the same weight, then we have gotten
stronger and achieve more muscle growth.
3.
Number of Sets per Exercise
After
performing one complete set using a compound exercise to total failure,
it should be just about impossible to generate the same force and
intensity for another complete set of the same exercise.
If
you're able to generate the same force and intensity for this second
set then it'll be pretty obvious that not enough effort has been put
into the first set. Thus you'll have to raise the intensity level you
put out for the first set.
If
you give the first set 100% effort and work the exercise hard to total
failure (eg. you cannot move the bar after the last rep) then there
will be not be a requirement for further muscle stimulation on that
specific exercise.
If
you think that volume training (multiple sets) is more effective then
you're wrong! The latest research shows that single set training is as
beneficial as multiple set training. Training one set will decrease the
chances of over-training. It will also allow you to save more energy
for other exercises required during the workout.
4.
Number of Repetitions per Set
The
development of muscle and strength is interrelated, it always has been.
Strength training sessions produce increases in strength that is equal
to increases in functional muscle. You'll become stronger and produce
muscle muscle growth.
Cycling
intensity through changes in repetitions and weight throughout a
ten-week program is an effective way to maintain progression and avoid
training plateaus (slumps in strength).
Repetitions
can be cycled. The higher repetition range will stimulate the slow
twitch muscle fibers and promote endurance. Moving further down the
scale, the lower repetition range will activate the fast twitch muscle
fibers and increase strength and muscle size.
Gary
is the author of several ebooks, including "Maximum Weight Loss in Ten
Weeks" - the complete ebook and time-saving solution for burning away
unwanted fat and "Maximum Weight Gain in Ten Weeks" - easy-to-use and
follow techniques that serve as a guide to muscle growth without having
to "live in the gym".
Posted
by Gary. Website can be found at http://www.maximumfitness.com
Posted
on: Tuesday September 6, 2005 1:05 pm
