Dear all,
Mr.Olympia 2010 is completed and results are published.
Jay Cutler won this year's Olympia Sandow. This year he striked again the stage with his awesome physique. This is his fourth win.
Phil Heath completed the Olympia with Second spot. A well deserved win for him. He came very close to Cutler but Jay edged him out with his massive physique.
Branch Warren who won second spot in 2009 Mr. Olympia pushed to third spot.
Dexter Jackson pushed to fourth spot. He looked really big comparing to his previous contests.
A really good come back for Dennis Wolf. He finished the contest with fifth spot.
Ronny Rockel finally achieved his dream of coming in top six. He attained sixth spot and his hard work really deserves him the spot.
I was really disappointed with Kai Greene's form. Eventhough he looked really big in this year's contest, he failed in his sharpness. His abs looked really pathetic and he came with very smooth delts. Hope Oscar Arden learnt something from this contest and will work to correct it in future year.
1. JAY CUTLER 4 Time Mr. Olympia!!!
2. Phil Heath
3. Branch Warren
4. Dexter Jackson
5. Dennis Wolf
6. Ronny Rockel
7. Kai Greene - Disappointment
8. Victor Martinez
9. Toney Freeman
10. Hidetada Yamagishi
Congratulations Jay!!!! and Phil!!!!!!
Hope Kai will work for his better comeback in 2011.
Regards
Citizen, India
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Mass Mass Mass
Dear all,
Recently i've read an article by Hugo Rivera - ISSA certified fitness trainer, about some of the training principles which we need to follow while we are in mass building phase. I hope this will be useful for you all. This article will especially be helpful for hardgainers.
1. Sessions should be short: 60 minutes maximum:
The maximum amount of time a weight training session should last is 60 minutes. After 60 minutes the levels of muscle building hormones like growth hormone and testosterone begin to drop. In addition, the stored carbohydrates in your muscle cells and liver, glycogen, which is the fuel that your muscles use to contract, is depleted. If you weight train more than 60 minutes you will actually be wasting your time since you will no longer have the hormones or the fuel necessary to produce muscle growth. Continue to train past 60 minutes and you will get impaired recovery which leads to overtraining, a condition where your body does not recover from its weight training sessions. This leads to loss of strength and muscle mass.
2. The rest between sets should be kept to a minimum; 90 seconds or less:
Keeping your rest time in between sets and exercises to a minimum not only allows you to perform a prodigious amount of work within the 60-minute weight training window, but it also helps improve your cardiovascular system and most importantly maximizes the output of growth hormone; a powerful fat burning/muscle building hormone. Also, this rest interval promotes a muscle voluminizing effect in which water goes inside the muscle cells (not outside) and makes the muscles look more firm and toned. Do not confuse this with water retention outside of the muscle cells, which is what makes us look puffy and fat.
3. Weight Training Exercise should not be performed for more than two days in a row:
This is something that is very important for hardgainers. While most endomorphs can recover from a six-day per week training split, most hardgainers have a difficulty recovering from more than four sessions per week. The reason for this is because their nervous system gets very taxed after two days of high intensity weight training, so continuing to train past two days will lead to a depressed nervous system; something that in turn will prevent the body from being able to recruit the maximum amount of muscle fibers in order to perform a lift. In addition, with a constantly depressed nervous system, strength gains not only become impossible to come by, but also to keep; so as a result you could see your strength diminishing.
4. Sets of each exercise should consist of a range of 6-15 repetitions:
There are many reasons for this. First and foremost, it has been shown that it is within this range that growth hormone output is maximized. As we already know, this is a good thing since this hormone does exactly what we are looking for (it increases muscle and decreases body fat). In addition, since you are performing so many repetitions, you get a great pump (blood rushing into the muscle) that provides nutrients to nourish muscle cells and helps them recover and rebuild faster. Finally, performing 6-15 repetitions reduces the possibility of injury dramatically since you will need to use a weight that you can control in order to perform the prescribed amount of reps. (Note: This rule does not apply to the calves and abdominals as these muscles usually respond better to higher repetition ranges, in the order of 13-15 reps).
5. Training must be progressive:
Progression means one more repetition than the last time the exercise was performed or a little bit more weight if you are able to do more than 15 repetitions for a particular exercise. It is important to understand that you will not be able to increase weight or the number of repetitions every session. However, progression comes in many forms; like performing more work within the 60-minute period. The overall goal of a training routine is to ensure progression over a period of time to bring about continuous improvements in muscle tone and definition.
6. Training must be varied:
This principle is vital to ensure continuous gains in strength and muscle tone as well as to prevent boredom. Variation does not necessarily mean changing all of the exercises in your program. Variation can occur in the form of using different techniques to stimulate the muscle, changing repetition and set parameters, and even changing the rest in between sets and something as simple as changing the width of your grip placement on the bar to help isolate specific muscles. As you will soon see, in this program you will alternate between three-week periods of high volume work with three-week periods of higher intensity (heavier weights) work. In this manner, the body is stressed in a manner that allows for maximum growth stimulus. If you were to perform the same lifting routine day in and day out, the result would be staleness as a routine only works for as long as it takes the body to get used to (adapt) it.
7. The form in which you perform an exercise should be impeccable:
This is one of those things that most lifters, especially male lifters, have a problem with. By letting the ego take control, many lifters concentrate on ever increasing the weight without regards to exercise form. Not only can this practice seriously injure the muscle group being worked on, requiring surgery as a result in certain instances, but also it prevents the proper stimulation of the muscle group being worked. The reason for this is that when doing less than perfect form, other muscles come into play, taking away as a result some of the load from the muscle that you are supposed to be targeting. This practice will slow down growth and get you injured so please pay attention to exercise form.
8. Aerobic exercise and outside activities should be minimized:
I am not anti-aerobics by any means. I love to perform aerobics by walking, riding a bike and other suitable activities in order to keep the cardiovascular system in good shape. However, what I am saying is that in order for the hardgainer to maximize results in muscle mass, aerobic activity and other outside activities such as sports like basketball or soccer, which involve a high degree of activity, need to be minimized. The reason for this is again nervous system recovery and also the fact that the hardgainer has a super fast metabolism. By performing too much caloric burning activities you will make it harder on yourself to gain muscle as you will need more calories than what is recommended in this book in order to cover your energy needs and those require by muscle growth. In this book, we will limit cardiovascular activity to a couple of times per week from 15 minutes to no more than 25.
9. Training must consist primarily of free weight basic exercises:
Only free weight basic exercises provide the fast results you are looking for because they recruit the most muscle while you are performing them. Besides, the body is designed to be in a three dimensional universe. Whenever you use a machine you limit your body to a two-dimensional universe and consequently you limit the amount of muscle fibers that are going to do work. Not all machines are bad however. Some definitely have a place in our weight-training program because they allow us to isolate the muscle in a way that no free weights would allow us to do. However, our program should be mostly based on barbell, dumbbell and exercises where the body moves through space such as the dip, the pull-up and the squat. In the sections below, we will cover in more detail which exercises are the best for muscle gains and the reasons behind it.
Source: Bodybuilding.About.com
Author: Hugo A. Rivera
Regards,
Citizen, India.
Recently i've read an article by Hugo Rivera - ISSA certified fitness trainer, about some of the training principles which we need to follow while we are in mass building phase. I hope this will be useful for you all. This article will especially be helpful for hardgainers.
1. Sessions should be short: 60 minutes maximum:
The maximum amount of time a weight training session should last is 60 minutes. After 60 minutes the levels of muscle building hormones like growth hormone and testosterone begin to drop. In addition, the stored carbohydrates in your muscle cells and liver, glycogen, which is the fuel that your muscles use to contract, is depleted. If you weight train more than 60 minutes you will actually be wasting your time since you will no longer have the hormones or the fuel necessary to produce muscle growth. Continue to train past 60 minutes and you will get impaired recovery which leads to overtraining, a condition where your body does not recover from its weight training sessions. This leads to loss of strength and muscle mass.
2. The rest between sets should be kept to a minimum; 90 seconds or less:
Keeping your rest time in between sets and exercises to a minimum not only allows you to perform a prodigious amount of work within the 60-minute weight training window, but it also helps improve your cardiovascular system and most importantly maximizes the output of growth hormone; a powerful fat burning/muscle building hormone. Also, this rest interval promotes a muscle voluminizing effect in which water goes inside the muscle cells (not outside) and makes the muscles look more firm and toned. Do not confuse this with water retention outside of the muscle cells, which is what makes us look puffy and fat.
3. Weight Training Exercise should not be performed for more than two days in a row:
This is something that is very important for hardgainers. While most endomorphs can recover from a six-day per week training split, most hardgainers have a difficulty recovering from more than four sessions per week. The reason for this is because their nervous system gets very taxed after two days of high intensity weight training, so continuing to train past two days will lead to a depressed nervous system; something that in turn will prevent the body from being able to recruit the maximum amount of muscle fibers in order to perform a lift. In addition, with a constantly depressed nervous system, strength gains not only become impossible to come by, but also to keep; so as a result you could see your strength diminishing.
4. Sets of each exercise should consist of a range of 6-15 repetitions:
There are many reasons for this. First and foremost, it has been shown that it is within this range that growth hormone output is maximized. As we already know, this is a good thing since this hormone does exactly what we are looking for (it increases muscle and decreases body fat). In addition, since you are performing so many repetitions, you get a great pump (blood rushing into the muscle) that provides nutrients to nourish muscle cells and helps them recover and rebuild faster. Finally, performing 6-15 repetitions reduces the possibility of injury dramatically since you will need to use a weight that you can control in order to perform the prescribed amount of reps. (Note: This rule does not apply to the calves and abdominals as these muscles usually respond better to higher repetition ranges, in the order of 13-15 reps).
5. Training must be progressive:
Progression means one more repetition than the last time the exercise was performed or a little bit more weight if you are able to do more than 15 repetitions for a particular exercise. It is important to understand that you will not be able to increase weight or the number of repetitions every session. However, progression comes in many forms; like performing more work within the 60-minute period. The overall goal of a training routine is to ensure progression over a period of time to bring about continuous improvements in muscle tone and definition.
6. Training must be varied:
This principle is vital to ensure continuous gains in strength and muscle tone as well as to prevent boredom. Variation does not necessarily mean changing all of the exercises in your program. Variation can occur in the form of using different techniques to stimulate the muscle, changing repetition and set parameters, and even changing the rest in between sets and something as simple as changing the width of your grip placement on the bar to help isolate specific muscles. As you will soon see, in this program you will alternate between three-week periods of high volume work with three-week periods of higher intensity (heavier weights) work. In this manner, the body is stressed in a manner that allows for maximum growth stimulus. If you were to perform the same lifting routine day in and day out, the result would be staleness as a routine only works for as long as it takes the body to get used to (adapt) it.
7. The form in which you perform an exercise should be impeccable:
This is one of those things that most lifters, especially male lifters, have a problem with. By letting the ego take control, many lifters concentrate on ever increasing the weight without regards to exercise form. Not only can this practice seriously injure the muscle group being worked on, requiring surgery as a result in certain instances, but also it prevents the proper stimulation of the muscle group being worked. The reason for this is that when doing less than perfect form, other muscles come into play, taking away as a result some of the load from the muscle that you are supposed to be targeting. This practice will slow down growth and get you injured so please pay attention to exercise form.
8. Aerobic exercise and outside activities should be minimized:
I am not anti-aerobics by any means. I love to perform aerobics by walking, riding a bike and other suitable activities in order to keep the cardiovascular system in good shape. However, what I am saying is that in order for the hardgainer to maximize results in muscle mass, aerobic activity and other outside activities such as sports like basketball or soccer, which involve a high degree of activity, need to be minimized. The reason for this is again nervous system recovery and also the fact that the hardgainer has a super fast metabolism. By performing too much caloric burning activities you will make it harder on yourself to gain muscle as you will need more calories than what is recommended in this book in order to cover your energy needs and those require by muscle growth. In this book, we will limit cardiovascular activity to a couple of times per week from 15 minutes to no more than 25.
9. Training must consist primarily of free weight basic exercises:
Only free weight basic exercises provide the fast results you are looking for because they recruit the most muscle while you are performing them. Besides, the body is designed to be in a three dimensional universe. Whenever you use a machine you limit your body to a two-dimensional universe and consequently you limit the amount of muscle fibers that are going to do work. Not all machines are bad however. Some definitely have a place in our weight-training program because they allow us to isolate the muscle in a way that no free weights would allow us to do. However, our program should be mostly based on barbell, dumbbell and exercises where the body moves through space such as the dip, the pull-up and the squat. In the sections below, we will cover in more detail which exercises are the best for muscle gains and the reasons behind it.
Source: Bodybuilding.About.com
Author: Hugo A. Rivera
Regards,
Citizen, India.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Decline Dumbell Flys
Dear all,
This time I'd like to throw some light on decline dumbbell fly. In my experience, i can say it helped me a lot in getting the depth between my pectorals major(upper chest) and pectorals minor(lower chest).
How to do??
1. Take two light weighted dumbbells in which you can perform at least 15 reps in normal flat fly.
2. Adjust the decline bench to your comfort.
3. Lie down on the bench and lock your legs properly.
4. Place the dumbbells at your chest with palms facing each other.
5. Do fly in such a way at the end of fly dumbbells should exactly be above your head with palms facing up.
6. From your chest, both the dumbbells should go half circle to complete the fly
7. Bring back the dumbbells from top to your chest like how you pull the weights while doing cable cross-overs.
8. Don't swing. Control the fly for each and every reps.
Targeted muscle: Pectorals major/ Pectorals minor
Regards
Citizen, India
This time I'd like to throw some light on decline dumbbell fly. In my experience, i can say it helped me a lot in getting the depth between my pectorals major(upper chest) and pectorals minor(lower chest).
How to do??
1. Take two light weighted dumbbells in which you can perform at least 15 reps in normal flat fly.
2. Adjust the decline bench to your comfort.
3. Lie down on the bench and lock your legs properly.
4. Place the dumbbells at your chest with palms facing each other.
5. Do fly in such a way at the end of fly dumbbells should exactly be above your head with palms facing up.
6. From your chest, both the dumbbells should go half circle to complete the fly
7. Bring back the dumbbells from top to your chest like how you pull the weights while doing cable cross-overs.
8. Don't swing. Control the fly for each and every reps.
Targeted muscle: Pectorals major/ Pectorals minor
Regards
Citizen, India
Monday, March 1, 2010
CREATINE
Dear all,
Do you want to know the answers for the following questions??
1. What is creatine?
2. How does creatine works?
3. What are natural sources of creatine?
4. How does creatine get into muscle?
5. Do all muscle respond to creatine?
6. Does everyone responds to creatine?
And much more FAQs...
Please visit the link
http://www.creatinemonohydrate.net/
Regards
Citizen, India
Do you want to know the answers for the following questions??
1. What is creatine?
2. How does creatine works?
3. What are natural sources of creatine?
4. How does creatine get into muscle?
5. Do all muscle respond to creatine?
6. Does everyone responds to creatine?
And much more FAQs...
Please visit the link
http://www.creatinemonohydrate.net/
Regards
Citizen, India
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Defnitions
Dear all,
I am listing definitions of some of the terms which we are using regularly in our GYM.
Bi's - Biceps
Tri's - Triceps
Abs - Abdominals
Reps - Repetitions
Sets - No of repetitions with particular weights.
BCAA - Branched Chain Amino Acids
Traps - Trapezius
Glutes - Gluteus(Large muscle of the buttocks)
Drop set - Performing a set by continuously decreasing the weights.
SuperSet - Performing the opposite part immediately after each set.(Ex: Barbell Curl - biceps and Push downs - triceps.)
Isolation - Attacks the particular muscle(Preacher Curls).
Compound - Works on surrounding muscle groups(Flat Bench Press).
Regards
Citizen, India
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Mr.Olympia 2009 Results!!!!
Dear all,
The much awaited Mr.Olympia 2009 has been completed and results are announced.
Jay Cutler rocked the show with massive come back.
Branch Warren (Thick Giant) adjudged second.
My favourite "Dexter Jackson" failed to retain his medal. He is pushed to third (his usual spot).
Kai Greene rocked the show with fabulous muscle maturity and he deserved fourth place.
Congratulations to Kolosseum Hidetada Yamagishi for his entry in top 10.
Please find below the results.
1, Jay Cutler
2, Branch Warren
3, Dexter Jackson
4, Kai Greene
5, Phil Heath
6, Victor Martinez
7, Ronny Rockel
8, Toney Freeman
9, Hidetada Yamagishi
10, Moe El Moussawi
Congratulations to all the contestants. As all known Hard work pays..
Regards
Citizen, India
The much awaited Mr.Olympia 2009 has been completed and results are announced.
Jay Cutler rocked the show with massive come back.
Branch Warren (Thick Giant) adjudged second.
My favourite "Dexter Jackson" failed to retain his medal. He is pushed to third (his usual spot).
Kai Greene rocked the show with fabulous muscle maturity and he deserved fourth place.
Congratulations to Kolosseum Hidetada Yamagishi for his entry in top 10.
Please find below the results.
1, Jay Cutler
2, Branch Warren
3, Dexter Jackson
4, Kai Greene
5, Phil Heath
6, Victor Martinez
7, Ronny Rockel
8, Toney Freeman
9, Hidetada Yamagishi
10, Moe El Moussawi
Congratulations to all the contestants. As all known Hard work pays..
Regards
Citizen, India
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Learn Learn and Keep on Learning
Dear all,
In general Off-Season means, load your body heavily with proteins, carbohydrates, fats, essential amino acids, and other essential nutrients so that you will get a good calories count on the board by end of day. It will be helpful for you to gain good muscle mass.
I would like to include one more thing as a part of my Off-Season schedule which is "Learning". Learn as much as you can. This helps you to know about your body and what it expects really. If you provide food to your body by knowing what it really needs, then your goal is not far. It is always better to analyze the inputs from others rather to implement it blindly.
So, i always advice you people to learn as much as you can and hit as much as you can in the Gym.
Regards,
citizen, India.
In general Off-Season means, load your body heavily with proteins, carbohydrates, fats, essential amino acids, and other essential nutrients so that you will get a good calories count on the board by end of day. It will be helpful for you to gain good muscle mass.
I would like to include one more thing as a part of my Off-Season schedule which is "Learning". Learn as much as you can. This helps you to know about your body and what it expects really. If you provide food to your body by knowing what it really needs, then your goal is not far. It is always better to analyze the inputs from others rather to implement it blindly.
So, i always advice you people to learn as much as you can and hit as much as you can in the Gym.
Regards,
citizen, India.
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