How has this happened? Why has there been so much miscommunication—or even disinformation—disseminated regarding these drugs? If so much written and said has been untrue, why haven’t experts who know the truth stepped forward and attempted to set the record straight?

One reason is the fear of seeming to endorse steroid use by appearing not to condemn them with sufficient energy. Unfortunately, steroids have been so incredibly demonized in the media, their dangers and negative effects so exaggerated, that anyone who voices the opinion that they may not be as dangerous as made out to be (in many cases) or that the negative effects are not so terrible as advertised can seem to be acting as an apologist for these drugs.

Medical McCarthyism

A good analogy to this can be drawn from the McCarthy “red-baiting” period of the early 1950s. They had names for people back then who took the position that, “Yes, Soviet Communism is a bad thing and ought to be guarded against, but I don’t really think the State Department is riddled with Communist agents. Those who failed to agree with the virulent anti-Communist position as advocated by the senator from Wisconsin ran the risk of being called fellow travelers, communist sympathizers, Soviet dupes and pinkoes.

The same sort of thing is likely to happen today to those who attempt to put the dangers of using anabolic steroids into some reasonable perspective. Which is one reason why medical scientists, who know better, are loathe to speak out against the exaggerated and often hysterical claims made against these drugs.

If they did speak up, what would these “experts” say? That steroids have some negative side effects, but are not as dangerous as made out to be by the media.

Also, while there are some athletic advantages to their use, steroids are far less effective in enhancing performance than generally believed.

What Are Anabolic Steroids?

In simple terms, anabolic steroids are synthetic analogs of testosterone. Testosterone is a “male hormone” that is nonetheless found in both males and females, although the amount of testosterone in the female body tends to be only about 1/100th of that found in the male.

For purposes of discussion, hormones like this have two different effects on the body: an androgenic effect, which influences sexual characteristics; and an anabolic one, which affects such things as muscle mass and strength.

Anabolic steroids in general have been engineered so as to differ from testosterone by increasing the anabolic effect of the drugs while diminishing the androgenic aspect. Chemists have devised specific anabolic steroids with slightly different molecular structures so that each has more or less effect on such things as mass, strength, and endurance and to have higher or lower androgenic properties.

Anabolic steroids are also anti-inflammatories and have a positive effect on rehabilitation of injuries. Actually, these drugs are very closely related to cortisone, and have many of the same effects, both positive and negative.

What Anabolic Steroids Do?

Anabolic steroids, depending upon the particular drug being used, have a number of effects upon the body.

Among Other Things They:

1. Increase the body’s ability to utilize protein, allowing an athlete to train with greater intensity without going into negative nitrogen balance (losing muscle mass);
2. Increase the ability to build muscle mass;
3. Increase the ability to build strength;
4. Increase the ability to build endurance;
5. Act as an anti-inflammatory, both helping to protect the body from injury and speeding up recovery after injury has occurred.

However, taking these drugs does not automatically produce the effects listed above. Far from it. None of these “athletic benefits” is achieved without a regimen of hard, consistent training, and even then the effects achieved may not be all that dramatic.

Contrary to public opinion, you can’t get bigger or stronger to any degree simply by taking a drug. Instead, what seems to be the case is that anabolic steroids allow athletes to train harder, longer and more often without becoming overtrained, and therefore allow them to derive benefit from this type of more intense workout regimen.

In 1998 I moved to Corfu, Greece where I worked as a bartender and lived in the house that my dad built. I met a British girl there and eventually moved to England. I started lifting weights again just to stay in shape. I returned to America in 1999 at the age of 23 and weighed about 180 pounds. I started my own landscape business and started modeling for fitness catalogs and Men’s Health Magazine. After being told countless times to compete in bodybuilding from friends, family, and strangers, I did. The first bodybuilding show I entered was in September of 1999. It was not an NPC show. I entered as a middle weight, weighing 178 pounds. I won the novice and open class and then developed the bodybuilding bug again. The only downfall was I had changed my physique too much and was let go from my modeling agency. Men’s Health agreed that I had gotten too big and now had more of a bodybuilder look than a fitness model. I really didn’t care because bodybuilding made me happier. The fact that only a handful of people have the will power and dedication to achieve the look it takes to be a bodybuilder makes me proud to be one of the elite. Bodybuilding also keeps me disciplined and grounded, which spills over into other important aspects in my life such as family, friends, employment, and relationships.

My first overall big win came in 2003 when I won my weight class and the overall at the NPC Mr. Lehigh Valley Show. Since then I have done well and won a number of shows. Some of the shows I have won are the NPC Mr. Pa, NPC Mountain Valley, NPC Mr. Lehigh Valley, and NPC Bev Francis Atlantic States. Now at this point I am ready to take my bodybuilding career to the next level, which is nationals. That is why I have produced my first workout video to help others get to where I am. When I started I had no one to give me any beneficial advice. I learned everything I know about bodybuilding, nutrition, and fitness by experimenting. Currently, in 2006 I have not competed for the first time since 1999. I had surgery in March of 2006 to fix an Arterial Venous Malformation in my head. The surgery was a success but I was left with a blood clot, which is now thankfully gone. I’ve taken the time to work on my DVD and do some modeling again. On October 16, 2006, I had double hernia surgery, which has taken me out of the gym for a little bit and unbelievably the following week, October 24th I had a minor surgery on my head again, to fix some scarring the AVM left me with. At the present time I work for my mother’s day spa and still do landscaping on the weekends. My goal is to return to college and finish my degree in the medical field. Lastly, I would like to say that bodybuilders unfortunately get a bad stereotype. Many of us are extremely intelligent, gentle, unselfish human beings. It’s a shame that in life everyone is judged based on color, race, religion, and economical status. So hopefully the next time you see a bodybuilder you will think twice about judging them. I hope everyone enjoys my website, thank you.

George Koufalis Official Site

Check out his GK Wear Signature Design T-shirts here now!

This 5 week training program will literally turn your training Upsidedown. Learn
how working your small bodyparts FIRST can help you make BIG gains in
EVERY single muscle group…even the major ones that you’re going to work LAST!

If you’ve been training awhile, you’ve no doubt experienced the dreaded “plateau.” It’s a terrible place where, no matter how hard you try and no matter what you do, nothing seems to happen. Well, you’re in luck…busting plateaus is my speciality!

The Upsidedown Training Program is one of my favorite “shake-up” programs and it’s a pretty simple one. It’s most useful when you find your smaller muscle groups are slowing down in development because, like a good trainer should, you’re always doing the “big” exercises (like squats, deadlifts, barbell rows and bench press) first.

It’s also VERY useful when you find you’re not making progress in your big exercises too! I’ll tell you more about THAT as you keep reading…

One of the best ways to smash through a plateau is to go completely OPPOSITE to what all the “rules” of training say. But then again, I’m not really one to follow the “rules” to begin with!

So today, I’m going to tell you basically (from a training standpoint) when and how to eat your dessert first and why it can work wonders for you in the short term and long term.

Here’s the deal…conventional wisdom (a.k.a. the “rules”) says “train your largest muscle groups first using the heavier exercises.” This is how to you maximize the overall load on your entire body and prioritize your workload. Totally true - nothing wrong with that. Working the big muscles first generally gives you the most bang for your buck.

But what I’ve found is that eventually, if you keep training the big muscles first, you don’t leave a lot of energy for the smaller muscles. Not a big deal for the most part…the simple truth is that the big exercises also tend to work the smaller muscles pretty hard, too.

For instance, if you’re doing barbell rows, you can be quite sure your biceps are getting great stimulation as well. The same goes for bench pressing and your triceps.

When it comes to what order to work bodyparts, a standard program might look like this: chest, then shoulders then triceps…or back then biceps…or thighs then calves.

But now we’re going to turn conventional wisdom COMPLETELY UPSIDEDOWN and, for a short time, work the SMALL muscles first and follow that with working the BIG muscles after. Of course, this totally goes against conventional wisdom, but who cares! The workout police aren’t going to drag you out of the gym if you hit your biceps before you work your back.

So what are the reasons working the small muscles first can be so effective? Glad you asked!

1. It Gives Your Body a Break

If you’ve been doing the big exercises and training the big muscles for a long time, your body is going to get beaten down. Squats and deadlifts are demanding and pushing yourself hard on those takes its toll. By working the small muscles first, you’re going to have less energy to destroy yourself on the big exercises, basically forcing your body to take a break from the constant pounding. This forced back-off results in a rebound effect and can actually increase your strength when you come back to hitting the big exercises first!

2. It Gives Your MIND a Break

Ever have that feeling of dread when you walk up to a fully-loaded bar to do some heavy squats? If so, that’s a good sign you need to back off. Working the smaller muscles first changes your whole mindset when it comes to training. Doing a set of heavy pushdowns isn’t nearly as daunting as pushing heavy squats. The reduced overall workload on the body also helps your neurological system recover from previous heavy training.

3. Focusing on The Small Muscles Gives THEM a Chance To Grow

With Upsidedown Training, you’re going to hit the smaller muscles with greater volume, intensity and weight than you normally do, spurring growth and development in those small muscles beyond what they were capable of before. This leads to more rapid results in the smaller parts!

4. Strengthens Your Weak Links

Shoring up and strengthening the smaller muscles (which are usually the weakest links in the big exercises) can have a HUGE impact on your strength on those big exercises. Think of it this way…you’ll suddenly have much stronger triceps. How will that affect your bench press, especially if triceps were a weak point of your benching? Your numbers will automatically go up. If your biceps always failed first with heavy rows? Now they can keep up with your back and you get more reps. Your back will grow when you go back to regular training.

Taking these 4 reasons into account, you’ve got yourself one powerful training program!

So when you do Upsidedown Training, you’re going to work the small parts FIRST with more sets than the big parts. It’s going to feel VERY strange the first time you do it (trust me) and you’ll feel like you’re doing something wrong.

But perform this Upsidedown program for 3 weeks and you’ll see a difference not only in your smaller parts but (after you’re done with the program) how you perform in your BIG exercises as well. Plus, it’s fun to have the energy to really hit those smaller parts hard!

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How To Do It
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While there are many ways you can structure this type of program, what I’ve found to provide the best results is a schedule that increases your training volume (number of sets) week by week while at the same time decreasing your rest periods in between sets. This essentially FORCES adaptation in the muscles by gradually making them do more work in a specific timeframe.

If you’ve ever used the “Big Beyond Belief” training system that came out a number of years ago, the framework of this program will look familiar to you. The overtraining concept (increase training volume while decreasing rest periods) they make use of in that program is VERY effective! Forcing overtraining through manipulation of these variables is a tried and true method that’s been around a long time.

At the end of the 3 weeks, we will switch back to a “bigger-parts-first” type of training style, backing off on the number of sets and increasing the rest periods between sets. Your body will play “catch-up” and you should see some impressive results! You can continue on this back-off program for more than 2 weeks if you find you’re still getting good results.

When it comes to exercise selection, try to stick with the “big” type of exercises even for the small bodyparts. For example, for biceps, use barbell curls, incline dumbell curls, Preacher curls, etc. For triceps, use dips, close grip bench press, lying tricep extensions, etc. For calves, use seated, standing and donkey calf raises. For shoulders, use dumbell and barbell shoulder presss.

When you work with chest, do bench pressing…for back, use barbell rows, chins and deadlifts…and for thighs, squats, stiff-legged deadlifts and leg curls.

In the program outline, I’ve included suggested rep ranges that I recommend for this program as well. The rep ranges are there to help you select an appropriate weight to use for your sets. Work a weight with which you will reach muscular failure (the point at which you can’t do another rep in good form) in and around that rep range. Be sure to push yourself!

When it comes to splitting up the available sets, when the program calls for 4 sets, you can choose to do all 4 sets of the same exercise or mix things up (e.g. doing 2 sets of 1 exercise and 2 sets of another exercise or 3 sets of 1 and 1 set of another). Don’t do more than 2 different exercises, though, because then you’re spending too much time setting up and taking down exercises.

When you’re working the BIG muscles, stick with just ONE exercise to keep things simple, e.g. do all your sets for chest using the bench press.

4 Training Days Per Week - 2 on, 1 off, 2 on, 2 off
I’ll tell you how to modify it for a 3 training day schedule at the bottom.

Training Days - Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday

Rest Days - Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday

WEEK 1

Rest period - 90 seconds between sets

WEEK 2

Rest period - 60 seconds between sets

Note how we have decreased the rest time in between sets and increased the number of sets by one. This is the beginning of the increased demand on the body.

WEEK 3

Rest period - 45 seconds between sets

This week will be the toughest week. We have increased the number of sets and decreased the rest time again. Towards the end of the week you should be feeling pretty rough!

WEEKS 4 and 5 (and beyond, if you like)

Rest period - 120 seconds between sets

Note the decrease in rep range, the decrease in the number of sets you are doing, and the increase in rest time. This is the easy phase where your body plays catch-up with recovery. Don’t back off on intensity, however. Keep pushing all your exercises to muscular failure!

In these 2 weeks, you’re going to be going back to the bigger-parts-first type of thing. You should notice increased strength in your bigger exercises as your smaller part training shored up the weak points of some of your exercises.

As I mentioned above, you can keep going with this program for longer than 2 weeks, as long as you’re still seeing results.

As for modifying the 4 day schedule to a 3 day schedule, that’s easily done. Basically, do the first two days as-is but just have a day of rest in between. Then for the third session, combine Day 3 and 4 into a single total-body workout.

Here’s what that day might look like:

On the “regular” program that you move to after doing 3 weeks on this, just do one of the total-body workouts for that training day.

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Conclusion:

If you’re ready for a change of pace, take the Upsidedown Training Program for a test drive. I think you’ll not only have fun with it but also get great results in both strength and muscle growth ! It’ll help you blast through your plateaus with ease.

*** NOTE: This program was taken directly from my site “Powerful Training Secrets.”

On this site, you’ll find TONS of unique training information, including totally new exercises, programs, fat-loss info, muscle and strength building techniques and MUCH more.

If you’re interested in getting the most out of your training or if you’re in a rut and want to shake things up and get your zest back for training, check it out now! I’ve got a pile of great samples that you can for a test drive right now!

http://www.fitness-ebooks.com

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Nick Nilsson is Vice-President of the online personal training company BetterU, Inc. He has a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been inventing new training techniques for more than 16 years. Nick is the author of a number of bodybuilding eBooks including “Metabolic Surge - Rapid Fat Loss,” “The Best Exercises You’ve Never Heard Of,” “Gluteus to the Maximus - Build a Bigger Butt NOW!” and “The Best Abdominal Exercises You’ve Never Heard Of” all available at http://www.fitness-ebooks.com. He can be contacted at betteru@fitstep.com.

When you’re putting together your first home gym, it’s easy to get caught up in the promises of fancy multi-station machines and infomercial products. But before you do, ave your money and have a close look at these four critical items that you SHOULD start your home gym with!

So you’ve got some space set aside in your home for a gym. You’re ready to take the plunge and get some equipment so you can train without having to wait for equipment, listen to music you can’t stand or wipe other people’s sweat off machines.

But where do you start? What equipment should you get in order to maximize what you can do in the space you have available? Should you get a multi-station machine? Maybe a Bowflex? What’s all this talk about being able to do more than 50 “club quality exercises?”

Right now, put that all out of your head. The equipment you need in order to maximize your space is simple and VERY basic and it will allow you to do literally HUNDREDS of exercises!

And the best part is, you can get it CHEAP if you know the right sources…

Essential Home Gym Equipment #1 - Adjustable Dumbells

If I could only have one single type of equipment in my home gym, it would be a good set of adjustable-weight dumbells. You can do a HUGE variety of exercises for every single bodypart with just a simple pair of dumbells.

Getting adjustable dumbells means you can very easily change the weight you’re working with while still not using up a whole lot of space in your home gym. If you have pre-made dumbells, you have to set aside space (or get a good dumbell rack) for rows of individual dumbells.

If you’ve GOT the space (and the money!), pre-made dumbells are certainly more convenient to use. But if you’re tight on room, lining up your dumbells may not be an option. And, of course, the pre-made dumbells are going to be a lot more expensive to get a decent range of weight for.

When it comes to adjustable dumbells, you’ve got several options. By far, the most convenient are the Powerblock style of dumbells (Bowflex and Nautilus also have products like this).

With this style, all you have to do is basically flip a switch to set your weight on the dumbell. The whole thing is interlocking - they fit into the space of just two dumbells and give you a good range of weights to work with.

The other main options are the “make it yourself” free weight dumbells. With these, you’ve basically got weight plates and posts. With a good selection of weight plates, you can make a great range of weights.

This style of dumbell will be a good deal cheaper than the Powerblock style but, on the downside, it does take more time to put the dumbells together and the weight posts sticking out can be a bit awkward. But overall, for the money, this style is still a very good investment, especially if you’re looking to make some heavy dumbells. Heavy Powerblock dumbells can be quite expensive (they have expansion sets that go up to 130 lbs) but even then, are still a substantial savings over the equivalent amount of pre-made dumbells.

Essential Home Gym Equipment #2 - Adjustable Incline/Flat/Decline Bench

Once you’ve got the dumbells, the next thing to get for your home gym is a solid bench. Ideally, you want a bench that is easily adjustable to incline, flat and decline settings. The more versatile it is, the more use you’ll get out of it and the more exercises you’ll be able to do with it.

And when I say solid, I mean SOLID. Don’t skimp on this piece of equipment. You don’t want a bench folding up under you when you’re in the middle of a hard set (or EVER for that matter!).

The adjustable bench will open up a wide range of exercises for you to do with your dumbells.

On a side note, you might wonder why I place a bench in front of a barbell set in order of “must-have.” To be honest, it’s a toss-up. Ideally, it would be best to get all four of these pieces of equipment that I’m going to talk about in this article at the same time! You would do just fine getting the barbell set before the bench as well.

Essential Home Gym Equipment #3 - 300 lb Olympic Barbell Set

So you’ve got your dumbells and a bench. Now it’s time to get your barbell set. The nice thing with barbell sets is that at most sporting goods stores you can get a decent set for a good price brand new.

When you’re getting a barbell set, I HIGHLY recommend going for the Olympic bar set (the 7 foot long bar). The thinner bar (known as a Standard bar) has a much smaller capacity and will start to bend if you load it with more than 200 pounds or so. The thicker bar will be easier to grip as well.

Once you’ve got the basic barbell set, you can very easily get more weight plates as you need them.
*** One VERY IMPORTANT thing to note about free weight…if you can, ALWAYS get it at a local place. If you buy it online, shipping charges will just about DOUBLE the price of your order (they charge for shipping by the pound).

Essential Home Gym Equipment #4 - The Power Rack

You’ve got resistance (the dumbells and barbell)…you’ve got apparatus (the adjustable bench)…now you need a “framework” to REALLY maximize the number of exercises you can do.

When you have a rack, it opens up not only a much wider range of exercises, it also dramatically increases the safety and potential productiveness of your training.

Because here’s the bottom line with training at home by yourself…if you don’t have a power rack/safety cage, it is NOT in your best interests to do barbell bench press or heavy barbell squatting. If you get stuck under a bench press bar with no help around, you’re in big trouble!

If you have to bail out on a heavy squat with no power rack to catch the bar, you have to release the bar, let it roll down your back and try and get out of the way as it crashes to the floor. And as fun as THAT sounds, it’s no picnic (especially if your home gym isn’t on a concrete floor)!

To be honest, I even recommend people who train at commercial gyms to do their barbell bench pressing in the power rack. It’s an exercise that has the potential to injure you pretty seriously if you get stuck under it with no help around! Training it in the rack is much safer AND allows you to really push yourself without fear of getting stuck under the bar, which is INVALUABLE when you really want maximum results.

Even a VERY small home gym has space for a rack. My first home gym was in a 10 x 10 room and it worked like a charm! The barbell can be stored on the rack itself, the bench fits right inside the rack when not in use. Many racks also come with weight posts to hold your plates right on the sides of the rack itself, which saves even more space.

Here’s another great feature about some racks…the possibility of adding a weight-stack pulley to it. I got this with my rack and it was a GREAT investment. It opens up not only all the potential exercises you can do with pulleys but also exercises you can do that combine pulleys with the rack!

Honorable Mention of Essential Home Gym Equipment - The Swiss Ball

While the Swiss Ball (also known as an “exercise ball”) isn’t listed as an essential here, I also highly recommend grabbing one of these. They’re inexpensive and they allow for a great variety of exercises to be performed, especially in combination with dumbells.

Be sure to look for a ball that is good quality - burst resistant is a feature you definitely want. If a ball gets punctured (especially while you’re on it!), you don’t want it exploding underneath you and you falling to the ground. This is not good when it’s just you on the ball…MUCH more so if you’re using weight while you’re on the ball! If the ball gets punctured, it should just slowly let out the air, giving you time to get off the ball.

WHERE TO GET THIS TRAINING EQUIPMENT:

When it comes to free weight, such as barbells and dumbells, your best is to stay local. As I mentioned above, shipping prices will KILL you if you order free weight online or by mail order. You can scout out garage sales for people getting rid of their stuff, or head directly to the sporting goods store.

Sports Authority (if you’re in the U.S.) generally has good prices on barbells, weight plates and dumbells.

If you’re interested in getting a set of PowerBlock dumbells, you can read more about them here:

http://www.fitstep.com/goto/powerblock.htm

When it comes to the bench and power racks, there are a lot of different options in terms of brands. Personally, my bench and rack are Body Solid, which I’m quite happy with. They’re good quality and were very reasonably priced. Other good brands include Yukon, Nautilus, BodyCraft, and Ivanko.

As far as where to get racks and benches, online is generally your best bet, whether it be retail or getting them used through fitness classified ads. EBay is another excellent option.

Some online retailers that I’ve had good success with in terms of overall price and shipping are:

Fitness Blowout
http://www.fitnessblowout.com

MuscleMag NE Pennsylvania
http://www.musclemagnepa.com

Bottom line…search around and compare prices. Feel free to find a good price and shop it around to other places to see if they’ll beat it!

CONCLUSION:

If you have the space for it, setting up a home gym is TOTALLY worth doing IF you’re the type of person who can self-motivate. Some people don’t have the space or simply need the atmosphere of a gym to really make progress - nothing wrong with that!

Your home gym doesn’t need to be (and shouldn’t be!) complicated. Just a few basic pieces of equipment are all you need to do a tremendous variety of exercises and get great results.

The best bodies aren’t built with fancy machines or with “club quality exercises.” The best bodies are built with hard work and gold-standard exercises like squats, bench press, deadlifts, barbell rows, etc., all of which can be done with the four pieces of “must-have” equipment that I’ve mentioned here: dumbells, barbells, benches and racks!

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Nick Nilsson is Vice-President of the online personal training company BetterU, Inc. He has a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been inventing new training techniques for more than 16 years. Nick is the author of a number of bodybuilding eBooks including “Metabolic Surge - Rapid Fat Loss,” “The Best Exercises You’ve Never Heard Of,” “Gluteus to the Maximus - Build a Bigger Butt NOW!” and “The Best Abdominal Exercises You’ve Never Heard Of” all available at http://www.fitness-ebooks.com. He can be contacted at betteru@fitstep.com.

To most people, the goal is the opposite…slim the hips. But if you’ve searched in vain for information on how to really INCREASE hip size, you’ve come to the right place! I’ll tell you exactly what kind of training you need to do to achieve this.

Wider hips…it may not be the most common goal of women who train but, I can promise you, there are a LOT of women out there who would LOVE to build wider hips without putting on a lot of fat!

I’ll tell you right now, it’s not going to be easy but it definitely CAN be done!

But first…want to know the reason why it’s so tough to increase hip width without gaining a lot of fat in the area? It all comes down to your bones.

You see, hip width (not counting fat deposits in the area) is primarily determined by your pelvis size. If you’ve got genetically narrow hip bones (you can thank your parents for that!), it’s going to be much tougher to achieve the wider hips you’re looking for.

It’s the very same situation with the shoulders - if you want wider shoulders, you’re limited by bone structure. You then have to focus on building the lateral delts (the side heads of the shoulder muscles) to give the appearance of wider shoulders.

But the only hitch with the hips is that there really isn’t a whole lot of muscle mass available to build onto the outside of your pelvis! In that respect, it’s actually EASIER to build wider shoulders with weight training than it is to build wider hips.

The main muscles that operate in the hip area (for our purposes) are the three glute muscles…the gluteus maximus (the main butt muscle), gluteus medius and gluteus minimus.

The primary function of the gluteus maximus is to bring the leg backwards (a.k.a. hip extension). It’s a big, powerful muscle because this function is our primary method of moving forward! Every time you push backwards to take a step, that’s the gluteus maximus at work.

But the smaller gluteus medius and minimus muscles are what we’ll need to focus on to try and increase hip width. These two muscles are what’s known as abductors.

Abduction is the biomechanical term for moving a limb AWAY from the midline of the body. In this case, it’s moving the thigh away from the center of the body. If you’re familiar with adduction (where you bring the legs in towards each other and squeeze the thighs together), it’s the opposite movement.

So to widen the hips through training, we need to focus some intense work on the gluteus medius and minimus muscles. And when I say intense work, I’m NOT talking about those light pumping movements where you try and “go for the burn!”

For our purposes, those are not only a waste of time but completely counterproductive. Light weight exercises won’t build hips and will interfere with the muscle-building stimulus we’re going for that WILL actually build the hips. So toss “The Firm” videos back into the pile if you want to build wider hips. Those won’t cut it.

If you want results, it’s time to break out the dumbells and barbells and dig into some REAL weight training!

NOTE: the exercises I’m about explain are probably not familiar
to you. Be VERY sure to click on the link at the bottom and
watch the videos on how to perform these exercises properly.
They will help you a LOT!

The absolute BEST exercise for increasing hip width is NOT an isolation abduction exercise. You may have seen abduction machines in the gym where you sit on a chair and force your legs outwards against resistance. I’m sure you’ve seen them…they always seem to place those machines directly across from the cardio equipment or opposite the gym entrance!

The best exercise is called the Side Lunge and it can be done with a barbell OR dumbells. But I’m not going to have you do the NORMAL side lunge…that exercise forces you to use lighter weights so you don’t strain your knees. This version allows for more resistance and, therefore, more potential muscle growth and hip width!

So how do you do the Side Lunge? Well, the “normal” technique has you starting in a standing position. Then you step one foot directly out to the side (sometimes at angle forwards rather than directly to the side) and lower your body down into a lunge. You come down, bending your knee, then you push all the way back up to the standing position.

The problem with this technique is the lateral stress that gets placed on the knee when you step down to the side. The knees aren’t designed to take a lot of sideways pressure - they’re all about going forward and back (like a hinge). There’s some room to manuever but sideways movement against momentum can be tough on the knees - just ask any running back in football!

So instead of stepping out to the side on each rep then pushing all the way back up, we’re going to do it differently. You’ll take that first step out to the side and plant your foot about 2 feet out. And you’re going to keep it there!

If you stepped out to the right, bend your right knee and come down into a lunge position. Your left leg will be completely straight and act as a pivot. Come down until your thigh is parallel to the ground then, using hip power, push yourself back up, straightening your right leg but WITHOUT popping all the way back to a standing position where your feet are together.

Remember, we’re keeping our feet in the SAME position for the whole exercise.

When you come to the top, you’re now going to lunge down to the OTHER side. Come down until your leg knee is bent 90 degrees then push back back up. Again, you’re NOT popping up to a total standing position - just straightening your legs. This not only spares your knees, it allows you to keep tension on the muscles better AND use heavier resistance!

You can do this exercise with a barbell or 2 dumbells. When using a barbell, just hold it across your shoulders and be careful with your balance. If you do this exercise with a barbell, it’s best to use a rack so you don’t have to press the weight overhead and set it down on your shoulders. Just note, you’ll be doing this exercise OUTSIDE the rack (there isn’t

The dumbell version will be the easiest setup. All you need to do is pick up the dumbells! When you perform the exercise, hand position is important. If you’re lunging down to the right, the right-hand dumbell should be on the outside of your right hip. The left-hand dumbell should be held in front of your body down between your legs. This is the best position for balance and resistance.

Then you just reverse it when you go down to the other side - left dumbell on the outside of your left hip and right dumbell down in between your legs.

The first time you do this exercise, use a light to moderate weight so you get an idea of how the exercise is performed. Once you feel comfortable with it, THEN starting boosting the weight.

• Ideally, you want to use a weight where you can ONLY get 8 to 10 reps on each side. You have to challenge the muscles to see results! Sets of 15 to 20 reps won’t build the hips.
• Do 3 sets of this exercise with 60 to 90 seconds rest in between sets. THEN you go onto the abduction-isolation style of exercise.
• For this one, we’re NOT going to be using any machines. This is a dumbell exercise all the way. It’s easy to set up, though!
• All you need is a single dumbell - again, start with a light to moderate-weight dumbell to get an idea of how to do the exercise before you move up in weight.
• In standing position, hold the dumbell in your left hand and hold onto something solid with your right. The left dumbell should be resting on the side of your upper thigh.
• Now just explode up with your left leg directly out to the side as high as possible and hold it there for a second or two! You should feel a strong squeeze in your outer hip area.
• With this exercise, use a POWERFUL movement and don’t be afraid to start building up to heavier weights. This isn’t a “squeezy-toney” type of exercise. We’re going for an explosive push up and out to the side.

When you’ve done 6 to 8 reps on the left left, switch over to the right leg and do the same thing. Rest 60 seconds after you’ve done both legs then repeat for 2 more sets (3 sets total). Remember, once you’re familiar with the exercise, start piling on the weight so that you can ONLY get those 6 to 8 reps. If you can get more reps, increase the weight next time.

Now we’re going to add in the final segment of the wider-hip workout…sideways treadmill walking.

This is a unique way to use the treadmill that gives you two main effects. The first is increasing blood supply to the outer hips (which is important to help support muscle growth). The second is putting a stretch on the outer hip muscles with each step you take.

• Be sure to watch the video on this one so you know how to do it before you step on the treadmill sideways!
• First, set the treadmill on a bit of incline - this will give you greater resistance, better stretch and faster results. About 3 to 5% grade is good.
• Set the treadmill to a slow speeed - 2 to 3 mph is a good starting point. Stand on the side panel of the treadmill (right beside the tread), facing left. Grip the side rail in front of you and the front rail to your right. This will stabilize you in 2 planes and allow you to get yourself off the treads if you stumble.
• With this exercise, you are basically going to be walking sideways with leg cross-overs while on the treadmill.
• When facing left, step on FIRST with your right foot, then immediately cross over it with your left foot to get started. Watch your feet and stay on the middle of the tread.
• Our goal is to use this technique to get a great stretch. To do this, exagerrate the length of your step and keep a VERY slow speed on the treadmill (e.g. 2 mph). With this long step, you’ll get a STRONG outer thigh and glute stretch with every rep (on the higher leg) and a good muscle-pumping workout on the lower leg.
• Go for about a minute facing that way then step off, take a short rest, e.g. 30 seconds, then do a minute facing the other direction. Repeat this for 5 to 10 minutes.

The Overall Program

Here is what the total hip-widening program is going to look like:

• 3 sets Side Lunges - 8 to 10 reps on each leg going back and forth between legs
• 3 sets Side Dumbell Abductions - 6 to 8 explosive reps on each leg
• 5 to 10 minutes of Sideways Treadmill Walking - 1 minute intervals in each direction

This program can be done 3 times a week to really focus strongly on building up the outer hips.

To view the pictures and video of these exercises and techniques in action, click on the following link now!

View Techniques in Action at Fit Steps

And if you’re interested in even MORE information on building the hips and glutes, be sure to check out my book “Gluteus to the Maximus - Build a Bigger Butt NOW!”

This book is PACKED with effective information on building the glutes and hips - and it’s not “toning”…it’s BUILDING!

ADDENDUM:

Physically widening the hips is really only part of the equation. The other part? Making the waist smaller. This gives you the illusion of wider hips right off the bat!

Achieving the smaller waist will primarily be a matter of fat loss and abdominal exercises targeted towards tightening the waist.

Here are links to some information on fat loss that you might find useful:

Fat Loss Section of Fitstep.com

How To Lose Fat NOW - A Basic Fat-Loss Program That You Can Put To Work Today!

10 Things You Can Do To Lose Fat Without Even Trying

——————

Nick Nilsson is Vice-President of the online personal training company BetterU, Inc. He has a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been inventing new training techniques for more than 16 years. Nick is the author of a number of bodybuilding eBooks including “Metabolic Surge - Rapid Fat Loss,” “The Best Exercises You’ve Never Heard Of,” “Gluteus to the Maximus - Build a Bigger Butt NOW!” and “The Best Abdominal Exercises You’ve Never Heard Of” all available at http://www.fitness-ebooks.com. He can be contacted at betteru@fitstep.com.

Improving the bench press is ALWAYS at the top of almost every lifter’s list of goals.
Put these 10 tips into practice and power up your bench press fast!

The flat barbell bench press…the lift that everyone wants to know how much you can do when they find out you train. So you want to get your numbers moving in the right direction again? These 10 quick tips will make a difference in your strength and boost your bench FAST.

Keep in mind, these tips are coming from someone who has almost NO genetic gifts as far as bench press is concerned (bad shoulders, long arms). It’s among my weakest lifts and I have to struggle for every single pound I add onto it. Yet with those limitations, using the tips I’ll share with you below, I’ve managed to work up to a maximum single at 350 lbs. So it CAN be done!

At the end of the article, I’ll include a link where you can see pictures and video of some of these tips in action.

1. Work your Rotator Cuff muscles

Yes, this is completely unglamorous but it has the potential to add 20 to 30 pounds to your bench press in a matter of weeks. The reason? The Rotator Cuff muscles are the four small muscles that stabilize the humerus (your upper arm bone) in the shoulder socket.

Most people rarely, if EVER, work the Rotator Cuff but a couple of sets at the end of each workout can really make a HUGE difference in your bench press by helping to stabilize the shoulder joint.

The exercise that I use is one I call the “3 In 1 Rotator Cuff Raise.” It’s an exercise I invented to work all 3 major planes of movement that the Rotator Cuff muscles operate in in one basic movement. It’s very effective and very time-efficient. Two sets of 8 reps of this at the end of each workout is all you need. I have a video and pics of this exercise at the link at the bottom of the article.

2. Get your grip-width right

Where you grip the bar can make or break your bench press before you even do a single rep. If you grip the bar in too close, you’re putting more stress on the triceps, which limits your pushing power and increases the distance you have to press the bar. If you grip the bar too wide, you do decrease the distance the bar travels but you put excessive stress on the shoulder joints.

So what is the best place to grip the bar? This is best determined with no weight on the bar at all and with somebody watching your form. Lie down and take the bar off the rack and lower the bar to your chest. Have your spotter eyeball your forearms. At the bottom of the press, your forearms should be perfectly vertical. THAT will give you the greatest pressing power as you won’t lose any power inside or outside.

It’s the same concept as throwing a punch - if the bones of the arm aren’t lined up properly when it connects, you lose a lot of power at impact.

3. Learn how to breathe

When you’re doing a heavy press, trunk stabilization is much more important than when you’re doing lighter, higher-rep training. You need a strong, solid base to push off of to really move the most weight.

When doing a heavy lift for only a few reps, breathe in deeply on the way down, inflating your chest as much as possible (this has the dual effect of increasing the stability of your trunk AND decreasing the distance the bar must travel, which is a bonus!). But as you press the bar off your chest don’t immediately blow out all your air in one big blow. That will destabilize the chest and weaken the base you’re pushing from.

Think of it this way…it would be like trying to do a dumbell press on the Swiss Ball as somebody is letting the air out of it FAST!

So as you start to press the weight, blow your air out through pursed lips. Basically, pretend you’re blowing up a really thick balloon. You want to keep your breathing muscles in your rib cage absolutely solid as they very slowly force the air out. This keeps your trunk solid and stabilized as you press, which is critical. The moment you lose that stability, you lose the lift.

4. Don’t neglect back training

Back training is important to your bench press in 3 major ways.

Remember what I said about stability in the previous point? Your back makes up a BIG portion of that base that stabilizes your body. The wider the base, the bigger the structure it can support (i.e. more weight). A comparatively weak back will reduce the amount of weight you can bench.

The second point is thickness. The thicker your back, the shorter the distance the bar has to travel and the more weight you’ll be able to lift. Look at how thick the torsos of the best bench pressers in the world are - they have huge barrel chests, thick backs and relatively short arms - their range of motion is probably about HALF of what a “normal” person’s range of motion is with the bench press. The thicker your back, the shorter the range of motion and the more weight you’ll be able to press.

The third point is muscular balance. If you’re constantly doing pushing movements, your body will overdevelop those pushing muscles, which will lead to unnatural shortening and potential weakness. You MUST work the back muscles to pull everything into proper alignment. Walking around with your shoulders hunched forward and your arms bouncing around in front of you doesn’t look cool - I can promise you that.

5. Don’t forget to press with your legs, too

Leg drive is VERY important to maximizing your bench press strength on maximum lifts. When you set your feet for benching, don’t just place them anywhere and let nature take its course. Set your feet solidly on the ground and bend your knees a little past 90 degrees.

Here’s why…when you’re at the bottom of the bench press, driving with the legs can help you get that weight moving. You can demonstrate this to yourself by lying on the flat bench and setting your feet on the ground. Now think of how you’d need to set your feet if you wanted to use your feet/legs to slide yourself up the bench. THAT is what you do when you drive with your legs - you basically try and use your legs to slide yourself up the bench. But because the weight is holding you down, that force goes to helping push the weight up.

This leg drive is used at the bottom of the press to get the weight moving and makes a HUGE difference with getting big weights moving.

6. Get those shoulder blades squeezed together

This goes back to trunk stability. If you’re not consciously and religiously squeezing your shoulder blades together when you set yourself up on the bench press, you’re instantly putting yourself at a disadvantage.

To do this, lie down on the bench and grab the bar. Lift your body up off the bench then try and touch your shoulder blades together behind your back. Get them tucked in as tight as possible. When you set yourself back down, you’ll find you’re not only more stable on the bench but your shoulders are in a stronger pressing position AND your torso is actually a little thicker (which means shorter range of motion)!

7. Do partial-range training to strengthen your connective tissue

One big thing that’s often missing in the training routine of a person looking to maximize strength is a focus on connective tissue training. You can build huge, strong muscles but the movement is only as strong as the weakest link. If that weakest link is connective tissue, best case is it will limit the amount of weight you can lift. Worst case, you’ll snap your tendons when your muscles move weights that your connective tissue can’t handle!

So how do we strengthen connective tissue? That requires VERY heavy weight, the kind that can only be used with partial-range training like lockouts in the rack.

For building up your connective tissue specifically for bench press, DEFINITELY work on rack lockouts and static holds with monster weight.

I’ve got more information specifically on lockout partial bench press here:

http://www.fitness-ebooks.com

Personally, I really enjoy lockout training because you can use a LOT of weight (up to two times or more of your one rep max!).

8. Use training bands

Bands are one of the most useful training tools you can use with the bench press. There are two main ways to go…working AGAINST the bands to increase explosive power and working WITH band assistance to move more weight and more closely mimic the strength curve of the bench press (harder at the bottom, easier at the top).

When using the bands to work on explosive training, you attach them to something solid on the floor and then to the bar. You use a lighter weight on the barbell for these. Then, when you lift, you explode up as fast and as powerfully as you can against the bands. The bands stretch as you come up, slowing the bar so your muscles don’t have to. This teaches your muscles to fire at a much faster rate.

The other method is to use the bands for assistance (called Reverse Band Bench Press). With this technique, you attach the bands to the top of the rack and to the bar below. As you lower the weight, the bands stretch, making the bottom of the press easier by removing some of the resistance. As you press up, the bands lose tension, making you press more of the weight yourself, which exactly mimics the mechanics of the bench press.

Both of these techniques are great additions to your bench press training routine. You can grab bands here:

http://www.fitstep.com/goto/bands.htm

9. Don’t forget about decline bench press

One of the best things about the decline bench press is that you can use a bit more weight on it than you can on the regular flat bench due to the change in biomechanics and somewhat decreased range of motion. Working with heavier weight is good in two ways - mentally and physically. Mentally, it helps prepare your mind for working with heavier weight. Physically, it helps prepare your body for handling heavier weight on the flat bench.

10. Do your bench pressing in the power rack

Even if you have access to a regular bench press station at your gym, I HIGHLY recommend doing your bench pressing in the rack. Why? Two reasons.

The first is safety. You can easily set the rails to just slightly below the bottom-most position of your bench press. If you can’t finish a rep, you just set the bar on the rails, roll the bar forward and slide yourself out from under it. No harm done, no spotter necessary. You can’t do that on a regular bench press station!

The second is the freedom to REALLY PUSH YOURSELF without fear of dropping the weight and not being able to get out from under the bar. When you’re in a regular free bench press station, there is always that nagging fear that if you don’t make a lift, you’re going to have the bar come down on you.

When you do your pressing in the rack with safety rails set, that will NEVER happen and you can really free yourself to push things to the limits without having to worry about crushing yourself under the bar!

I have ALWAYS found it ironic that the station where people do one of the most dangerous exercises in the gym (and quite often lift more weight than they can safely handle on it!) is the one station that has almost NO safety measures built into it!

Think about it this way…when was the last time you saw somebody get crushed under a barbell curl, yet how many times do you see people doing curls in the rack while doing bench presses on a free station!

So basically, set yourself free and do your pressing in the rack. You can push yourself harder and fight through those sticking points without worrying about getting stuck under the bar if you don’t get it.

Conclusion:

If you want to maximize your bench press, put these tips to work. You’ll starting noticing a very big difference in how much weight you can lift almost immediately AND in the long-term!

For pictures and video of many of these tips in action, click on the following link:

http://www.fitness-ebooks.com

——————

Nick Nilsson is Vice-President of the online personal training company BetterU, Inc. He has a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been inventing new training techniques for more than 16 years. Nick is the author of a number of bodybuilding eBooks including “Metabolic Surge - Rapid Fat Loss,” “The Best Exercises You’ve Never Heard Of,” “Gluteus to the Maximus - Build a Bigger Butt NOW!” and “The Best Abdominal Exercises You’ve Never Heard Of” all available at http://www.fitness-ebooks.com. He can be contacted at betteru@fitstep.com.

All serious trainers have had a workout that instantly pops into their head when somebody mentions a tough workout. I know I’ve had MANY that have left me lying on the floor. This ones stands out as the king!

The 40 Rep Squat - A Single Set That Was Worse Than a WHOLE Workout

When I look back on this single set of squats, I still can’t believe I managed to get as many reps as I did. Let me set it up for you…

I got to the gym in the early evening - it was leg day so it was time to do some squats. I had been experimenting with some high rep squatting for the past few weeks and had done sets of 15 to 20 reps with some decent weight.

But nothing would compare to what I was about to put myself through.

I started with 225 lbs on the bar and pretty much just BLEW through a set of 50 reps with it, not even getting to failure. It felt like a feather on my back…like nothing more than a warm-up. It was crazy, especially since I weighed about 195 at the time.

I can still remember thinking to myself…”hmm, I wonder how many reps I could get with 315 lbs on the bar?”

So I put another plate on either side and took a LONG rest (about 7 or 8 minutes). I wanted to be sure I was completely ready to push myself to the limit - everything felt in the groove.

But before I even came close to starting my set, I walked over to the weight room monitor (it was a university gym) and said to them “I’m about to do a set of VERY high rep squats with heavy weight. If you hear a lot of screaming, don’t spot me. If you see me rack the weight and fall on the floor and not move for awhile, don’t call an ambulance until you come talk to me.”

Of course, at the time, I think they thought I was kidding…

Then my rest period was over. I walked over to the bar. It was one of those squat stands that had solid rails and angled bars with pegs to rack the weight on rather than a regular power rack setup.

I got myself set under the bar then stood up with it. It felt like nothing. I took a couple of steps back, set my feet, then began to squat.

The first 10 reps felt like I hardly had any weight on the bar and I didn’t even have to pause between reps. It was great! The next 5 reps started getting a little more challenging. After 15 reps, I started taking brief pauses at the top of the reps. I was feeling pretty good!

At 20 reps, I thought “man, I think I can get 25 reps with this”. It was starting to get tough but I kept going. I wanted that 25. I was starting to breathe really heavy now.

Then I made it to 25. And I thought to myself “I need to get 30.” So I kept going, each rep tougher than the last. At this point, I was REALLY suffering. My legs were shaking. My arms were numb. The bar felt like it weighed a TON.

30.

Then something SNAPPED in my head (and luckily not my back!). Everything else faded into the background and, with laser beam focus, one thing was in my head…40. I’m getting 40 reps. No matter how painful it was or what it took, I was going to get 40 REPS.

So I kept going, grinding out one grueling, brutal rep at a time.

To this day, all I remember of those last 5 reps are the numbers. 36, 37, 38, 39, 40. Then I remember getting the last rep and slamming the bar into the racks then falling to the ground.

The weight room monitor came running over and asked if I was okay. It was all I could do to nod my head and say “uh huh.” It took me almost 5 minutes to even be able to get to a sitting position.

After 10 minutes, I was able to stand up and walk around.

Then I got back under the bar and did it again.

JUST KIDDING!

I actually packed up and dragged myself out of the gym. And through some twist of cruel irony, the gym was in the basement of the buildng. I had to haul myself up two flights of stairs just to get out.

And that one single set was actually the most brutal workout I’ve ever done!

——————

Nick Nilsson is Vice-President of the online personal training company BetterU, Inc. He has a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been inventing new training techniques for more than 16 years. Nick is the author of a number of bodybuilding eBooks including “Metabolic Surge - Rapid Fat Loss,” “The Best Exercises You’ve Never Heard Of,” “Gluteus to the Maximus - Build a Bigger Butt NOW!” and “The Best Abdominal Exercises You’ve Never Heard Of” all available at http://www.fitness-ebooks.com. He can be contacted at betteru@fitstep.com.

With this extraordinary training technique, you will, in one single workout, achieve strength gains in a single exercise that would normally take weeks or even MONTHS with normal” training. NO EXAGGERATION.

Right now, I’m going to unveil to you one of THE single most powerful training techniques that I’ve EVER discovered for making rapid gains in strength in a single exercise. It’s elegant in its simplicity, brutal in its execution but quite literally ASTONISHING in its effectiveness.

I’ll tell you right now, this will blow the doors off any preconceived notions you might have about training volume and how the body can respond and adapt to it.

Now, the very first time I came up with this technique, I used it to do dumbell shoulder presses. It was a Friday afternoon workout, and I did a set of presses with a pair of 60 lb dumbells. I was able to do 8 reps with them.

But on Monday, only a few days later, I pressed 80 LB DUMBELLS for 11 REPS - same exercise, and using strict form. That was a 25% increase in strength in only a matter of 4 days!

So what happened in that one single workout that gave me such a HUGE increase in strength in only a matter of days?

I’m going to tell you…

I call it “Compound Exercise Overload.” And let me tell you, if you’ve hit a plateau in ANY exercise, this technique will shatter it like a brick through a window!

Basically, you’re going to take a single compound exercise (a.k.a. multi-joint exercise like bench press, squats, deadlifts, barbell rows, shoulder presses, close grip presses, etc.) and do ONLY that single exercise for 45 MINUTES straight.

And that’s not even the brutal part…

The brutal part is…you are only allowed 20 seconds of rest between sets!

And, here’s the other brutal part…you’re going to end up doing between 80 to 100 sets with NEAR-MAXIMAL WEIGHTS (relatively speaking - I’ll explain below) of that single exercise for the ENTIRE WORKOUT.

This is one of the toughest workouts you can do (when you do it right) but you WILL be rewarded with results.

Compound Exercise Overload works to increase strength in several ways:

1. It focuses your nervous system on a single specific exercise, i.e. “greasing the groove” at a specific rep range. No competing training stimulii here, just very specific focus - it’s one of the reasons Olympic lifters only use a few lifts in their training. It’s also one of the reasons they can lift such extraordinary amounts of weight!

2. It allows you to have a LOT of practice lifting heavy weight - this helps you to perfect your form and become more efficient with your lifting technique.

3. The high volume of training (those 80 to 100 sets you’re going to do) creates an emergency situation in your body which forces rapid adaptation by your body (both in muscle and connective tissue).

4. The high volume also forces a tremendous amount of blood into the target muscle group, which helps drive nutrients into those target muscles, which helps them recover and grow!

Combine these four factors and you’ve got one POWERFUL workout.

HOW TO DO IT:

This technique is best done at a time when your gym is not very crowded. You’re basically going to be hogging a single exercise area for the entire 45-minute workout.

First, select a compound exercise to work with. We’ll use the bench press as an example here. In actuality, you can use this technique with almost any exercise, whether it be compound or isolation (single joint). I refer to this as Compound Exercise Overload because it’s most effective when done using a compound exercise like presses, rows, deadlifts, squats, etc. Isolation exercises can be used, but the effects won’t be quite the same.

So get your exercise set up. If you’re doing bench press, I HIGHLY recommend doing it in the power rack with the rails set up. That will allow you to use maximum weights without having to worry about being crushed or having to use a spotter the whole time. If you don’t have a rack to use, the other option is to do dumbell presses. With dumbell presses, if you can’t complete a rep, you can always just set the dumbells down.

Do a warm-up before getting started - whatever you prefer to do for a warm-up is fine. I like to do some general movements (like push-ups or a few pull-ups or a couple of minutes of walking on the treadmill) then a few light sets of the specific exercise I’m going to be working - nothing that will tax the body for what’s to come.

With this technique, I encourage you to use a stopwatch, regular watch or other form of timer. If your gym has a clock with an easily readable “second” hand, that will be fine, too. Otherwise, you’re going to have to count your 20 seconds of rest in your head, which is not as accurate (plus that 20 seconds will tend to turn into a LOT longer as you go through the workout and it’s critical to keep it constant).

You’re going to start with a weight you could normally do for about 6 reps or so. Start your timer or note the time on the clock because you’re going to be doing this exercise for 45 minutes straight!

Lay down and perform ONLY 3 REPS with that weight, even though you CAN do six. DO NOT go anywhere near failure on this first set.

Now re-rack the weight and rest 20 seconds. Lay back down and do 3 more reps. Rest 20 seconds. You are going to repeat these 3 rep sets with those 20 seconds of rest until you are unable to get 3 reps with that weight anymore. This could take anywhere from 2 to 10 minutes, depending on the exercise and the amount of weight you’re using.

The set where you only get 2 reps, Stop and remove 5 lbs each side of the bar (If you started with 225, you now have 215). Start again doing 3 reps sets and continue with 20 seconds rest period. Drop the weight by 10 lbs whenever you can’t complete 3 reps during a set.

Be sure to stick with 3 reps on each set - no more, no less. Your body hits a rep-range groove and will acclimate to it very quickly. It keeps your nervous system efficient.

On the final set (after 44 minutes are up) rest for a FULL MINUTE (aren’t I generous then lay back down crank out as many reps as you can with the same weight you just ended with. You’ll find that can probably get 6 to 8 reps on that set, just because of the increased rest period. [Note that the total of 45 minutes of the exercise includes the 44 minute of 3 rep sets AND the final set.]

This training uses neuromuscular specificity to allow you to teach your body the absolute most efficient way to perform a single exercise. Your body will learn to fire the exact sequence of muscle fibers it needs to do the exercise most efficiently, making fast strength gains possible.

And, don’t use different variations of the same exercise (e.g. don’t start with incline bench then go to flat bench). It’s important to use the EXACT SAME exercise the whole 45 minutes for maximum adaptive response.

Do your best with the 20 second rest, too. This rest period will naturally increase during the times when you’re making weight changes but even then, try to keep it as close as possible. Just do your best to stick with the 20 seconds.

When doing this technique with a barbell exercise, I like to load the bar with small plates as I load it for my starting weight. For example, if you’re starting with 225 lbs on the bench press, don’t just throw two 45 lb plates on either side. You’ll be pulling a pair of those 45’s off pretty quick! Instead, put one 45 lb plate on either side, then a 25 lb plate, then a 10 lb plate then two 5 lb plates. It’s the same weight but when you can no longer hit 225 lbs for 3 reps, all you need to do is pull a small 5 lb plate off either side. This is much easier than pulling 45’s off either side then loading 35’s and a 5 back on.

Be sure to keep track of your starting weight and ending weight so you know what your numbers are and can improve on them the next time you do this technique. And be ABSOLUTELY SURE you take a full 2 days off training after you get done with this one. To maximize the adaptive response, those 2 days off are CRITICAL!

If you’re going to try this technique with a training partner, it helps if they’re the same strength level as you are (especially if you’re doing barbell work). If you’re doing dumbells, it’s not as critical as you can just grab different sets of dumbells.

With a partner, you’re basically going to be going back and forth with no real break. Twenty seconds is not a lot of time. If you’re working with a barbell exercise and you need to switch weights, the moment you finish your set, you need to both start switching weights before your partner starts. When he/she finishes, you need to jump back and switch again.

It can be done (I’ve done it a few times training with another person) but it does make it harder to execute, depending on the exercise.

Conclusion:

If you’re looking for a FAST way to get past a plateau and build your strength, I don’t think there’s anything better. It won’t be easy but the results are well worth it!

For more information on other targeted training programs like this one, check out Specialization Training:

http://www.fitness-ebooks.com

——————

Nick Nilsson is Vice-President of the online personal training company BetterU, Inc. He has a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been inventing new training techniques for more than 16 years. Nick is the author of a number of bodybuilding eBooks including “Metabolic Surge - Rapid Fat Loss,” “The Best Exercises You’ve Never Heard Of,” “Gluteus to the Maximus - Build a Bigger Butt NOW!” and “The Best Abdominal Exercises You’ve Never Heard Of” all available at http://www.fitness-ebooks.com. He can be contacted at betteru@fitstep.com.

Muscle soreness is something that every trainer has experienced. The typical advice is to wait until you’re not sore to train that muscle again. But what if you can actually get BETTER results by training when sore!

It’s safe to say that muscle soreness is something EVERY trainer has experienced at some point in their career. Severity of muscle soreness (known as Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness or DOMS for short) can range from mild discomfort when you move to the point of being almost crippling.

One of the most frequent questions I am asked is “should you train when your muscles are still sore?” The answer is not quite as simple as some people make it out to be, though. Many trainers will tell you “if the muscle is still sore, don’t train it.” And, in truth, for many people that’s the safest answer.

But, in fact, by NOT training when you’re sore, you could actually be missing out on results AND slowing down your recovery!

So what is muscle soreness? Muscle soreness is basically damage to the muscle fibers as a result of training. Without going into great detail on how it happens and how the recovery process occurs (which is beyond the scope of this article), muscle soreness is your body telling you that it’s in need of repair.

Now how can it possibly be GOOD for you to train a muscle again while it’s still sore? Here’s where we get into a contentious area. After reading this, you may choose to agree with me or disagree with me (if you’ve read my articles before, you know I’m anything BUT conventional) but all I ask is that you consider my arguments…

Now, if you’ve never trained a muscle hard two days in a row or trained it while it was still quite sore, you’re going to be in for a shock at how unique a stimulus it can actually be. Sure there are arguments against doing that, e.g. the muscle hasn’t fully recovered and you’ll be tearing it down even more.

But consider this…from an adapatation standpoint, of the following two scenarios, what would give your body the greater stimulus for growth?

If you train the muscle hard once, you’ll get a good growth stimulus. Your body immediately starts sending nutrients to the damaged area and starts rebuilding. When the muscle is fully recovered and is no longer sore, you train the muscle again and restart the process. This is the standard way of training and it usually means directly training a muscle twice a week with at least 2 or 3 days in between sessions for that specific muscle.

In the next scenario, you train the muscle hard then the next day, train it hard again. Recovery is nowhere near complete and the muscle is sore when you train it on the second day.

Here’s the key…if you think about it, would the body see this second scenario as a greater threat to its survival? Would the body then ramp up its recovery processes to try and prepare for the next challenge, which it (from its recent experience of being hit with the same hard stimulus two days in a row) thinks is coming again very soon?

In my experience, this absolutely happens. The body’s response to training is a very simple “stimulus-response” system, but your body is also fully capable of sending more resources where more resources are perceived as being needed.

When you eat, your body sends more blood to the digestive system. Your brain doesn’t tell it to do that, it just happens. When you get hot, your body produces perspiration. The same thing happens with training. For example, when you train your biceps, your body sends blood and nutrients to the biceps for recovery. It doesn’t send it to the calves if the calves haven’t been worked.

If you train your biceps hard two days in a row, your body sees this as a big threat to the biceps and will ramp up recovery processes to specifically protect the biceps. If the biceps are still sore… VERY big threat! THEN you allow the biceps to recover. The two days of training has built much greater recovery momentum, getting more results out of your training.

Here’s yet another advantage to training a muscle when it’s still sore…even if you don’t train it hard, you will still be sending blood (and therefore nutrients) to that muscle, helping it to recover faster than if you didn’t train it at all. So even if you’re not up for a hard workout for a sore muscle, even giving it some light to moderate work will still help with recovery.

So I’ve talked about training a muscle two days in a row…what about when you’re scheduled to train it a couple of days later and it’s still sore at that point? The same concepts apply - your body will STILL perceive that as a greater threat and increase recovery.

The only times I would NOT recommend training when sore is if the soreness causes you to use poor form in your exercises or if the soreness is so bad that it makes the exercises too painful to do.

For instance, if you just did deadlifts for the first time in your life and the next day, you have a VERY hard time sitting down without falling down into the seat, you may want to wait a bit before doing deadlifts again. Your form will change because of the pain and it could lead to injury.

But if your muscles are a bit stiff or sore, go ahead and train them. Your body will ramp up your recovery processes in response.

How do I know training the body with this frequency can be effective? I’ll give the best example I know (WARNING - if you’re a proponent of high-intensity, very infrequent training, this will make you shiver in your boots!). This is NOT a program I would recommend lightly to anyone because at this time, being on vacation from work, I was basically only eating, sleeping and training…no stress, no extraneous activity.

This was one of the most extraordinary programs I ever put myself on, not only in terms of workload but results as well. It involved doing total body workouts twice a day, six days a week. This meant 12 total-body workouts per week, increasing the workload every week.

I used partial training, negative training, low reps and high reps. For the entire first week, I was EXTREMELY sore but I stuck with it and trained everything twice a day, no matter how sore I was.

After 3 weeks of this training, I backed off, still doing 12 training sessions per week but splitting the body in half - I was still working my whole body every single day and doing partials and negatives.

During the back-off phase, my recovery processes were practically unstoppable! NOTHING I did could make me sore (and believe me, I tried!) and my strength and muscle mass shot way up.

Conventional wisdom would believe I would be completely totaled at the end of a program like this, overtrained, small and weak. My results? In 6 weeks, I went from 208 lbs in bodyweight to 228 lbs. And as an example in strength gain, I went from a 295 bench press for 1 rep to 350 lbs for 1 rep.

This is a VERY extreme example of training through muscle soreness and using maximum workout frequency. But the take-home lesson from it is this: you CAN get great results by training even when you’re sore! Your body will react to the stress and ramp up recovery in response.

One quick tip: if you want to decrease post-workout soreness, try taking 500 mg of Vitamin C about an hour before your workout. This helps protect against muscle soreness.

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Nick Nilsson is Vice-President of the online personal training company BetterU, Inc. He has a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been inventing new training techniques for more than 16 years. Nick is the author of a number of bodybuilding eBooks including “Metabolic Surge - Rapid Fat Loss,” “The Best Exercises You’ve Never Heard Of,” “Gluteus to the Maximus - Build a Bigger Butt NOW!” and “The Best Abdominal Exercises You’ve Never Heard Of” all available at http://www.fitness-ebooks.com. He can be contacted at betteru@fitstep.com.

Get a step-by-step catalog of THE most important things that I learned about fat loss and muscle and strength-building from my first year of weight training. It will open your eyes!

As a long-time trainer, I’ve learned a LOT of lessons about building muscle and losing fat. But nothing beats the learning curve of my first year of training. I didn’t always make good progress. In my first year of training, I made a lot of mistakes and learned a lot of things the hard way. I also did some things quite right completely by accident! Have a read through some of the most critical lessons I learned in the very first year of my training career.

IN THE BEGINNING…

I wanted nothing more than to get big and strong. I had been an endurance athlete all through high school (cross-country running, speed skating, skiing) but wanted to make a change. I was 17 years old and skinny and jumped into weight training with both feet. I saved up some money, bought the Cybergenics supplement program (mistake #1! - basically that was just an expensive multivitamin) and started training. It was June of 1991, just heading into summer.

I had a good program and I started getting stronger right away but wasn’t really gaining much muscle. I was, however, getting absolutely ripped to the bone!

By the end of the summer, I still weighed about 150 lbs soaking wet (right where I started 4 months earlier) but I swear I was about 4 or 5% bodyfat. When you can see the division line between your upper pecs and lower pecs without flexing the chest, you know you’re at low bodyfat!

LESSON #1

I wasn’t eating NEARLY enough or frequently enough and wasn’t getting enough protein. I would rollerblade or bike to the gym first thing in the morning and do my workout, eating NOTHING immediately after training. I would rollerblade home then eat a bowl of cereal. Then I would go to work as a lifeguard the rest of the day, eating maybe once or twice more that day with my largest meal being dinner.

THEN IT WAS OFF TO UNIVERSITY...

Having just graduated from high school, I enrolled in university that fall. I had learned my lesson about not eating enough and I was determined to make up for it.

And make up for it I did…with cafeteria food! Some people drink too much their first year of college - I ate too much.

Not to knock the food service there, but I’m just sure they deep-fried the salad. To show you my knowledge of nutrition at the time, I would (in the interest of trying to keep fat levels in my diet down) order fried eggs and cut out the yolks, eating only the whites (which were shiny with overused cooking oil). All this never realizing that I would have been better off cutting off the whites and eating the yolks (that’s where the fat-emulsifying lecithin and the majority of the good nutrients in the egg are!).

Eight months later, at the end of my first year of school, I was 70 pounds heavier, probably about half of which was actually muscle mass. At one point, I sat down and calculated my caloric intake on some of my “big eating” days and found it to be almost 9,000 calories per day!

LESSON #2

When I learned my lesson about eating more to gain muscle, I didn’t learn the lesson that you can eat WAY too much and you can easily eat the wrong types of foods. Sure, I got big and strong, but I probably went from 5% bodyfat to 15 to 20% bodyfat at the same time. NOT the results I was looking for! What I needed to do was eat more, certainly, but also eat a better quality of food.

That, plus I’m sure all the “Weight Gain 3000″ type of supplements I was taking didn’t help matters! Looking back on the ingredients, it was mostly cheap milk protein and maltodextrin (a high glycemic, cheap carb source).

TRAINING AT UNIVERSITY…

As I was eating more at University, I also ramped up my training. I would try and do more and more sets and use more and more weight. Because I was eating so much more, I was still making great progress! Plus, being then 18 years old, I could beat the tar out of myself in the gym and still recover from it pretty much without a problem.

I was seeing increases in strength and bodyweight on almost a daily basis. But then something happened…something that opened up my eyes…one workout I was in the gym for almost 2 and a half hours!

LESSON #3

I was training WAY too long and with too many sets. I was still making progress but only because I was eating so much. Little did I know, I could actually make BETTER progress by cutting my training time WAY down. From that day on, I always stopped my workouts at the 1 hour mark, no matter where I was at in the program. And it did wonders for my results. I think the week after I started cutting back, my strength shot up and my bodyweight went up 10 pounds. THAT opened my eyes.

In the Spring Semester, I tried a program that, if you’ve been training awhile, may be familiar with: Serious Growth by Leo Costa. At that point, I started training twice a day, six days a week, but only 45 minutes per session, at the most. Still eating a ton of food every day, I made excellent progress with this system and learned about the benefits of keeping your eyes on (and cycling) training volume.

BUT I TOTALLY NEGLECTED CARDIO TRAINING…

At the start of the eight months when I was furiously trying to increase my bodyweight, I had read that when trying to gain muscle, you should reduce cardio training. The aerobic work could burn up calories that could be used by the body for building muscle and might interfere physiologically with the muscle-building process.

Well, I took that a little too far and cut cardio training completely out. My thought was, I was doing cardio in the summer (blading to the gym and back) and didn’t gain any muscle. When I was endurance training, I didn’t gain any muscle. So maybe cutting it out was necessary. So I didn’t even hardly walk up flights of stairs unless I had to.

LESSON #4

Too much cardio training (especially long-duration cardio training) CAN interfere with muscle growth, sure, but as I’ve learned since that time, SOME cardio training should always be a part of any mass-building program. The key is to do the RIGHT kind of cardio training (i.e. interval training, which can actually help the muscle-building process).

Let me put it this way, it’s nice to be big and strong but when you’re big and fat and strong and lose your breath going up a flight of stairs, you’re not exactly at the pinnacle of health. Plus, think of it is this way…you NEED good cardiovascular functioning when training for muscle mass. What pumps blood and nutrients to the muscles? What helps you recover faster in between sets?

Cardio and muscle-building are not mutually exclusive concepts. I include it in ALL my muscle-building programs now.

WHAT HAPPENED AT THE END OF THE SCHOOL YEAR?

Well, at that point, being big and strong but big and fat, I decided I needed to burn off of the excess (the old bulk-and-cut concept). But then I made a HUGE mistake. I went back to similar habits that got me lean the previous summer. I didn’t eat nearly enough to support the muscle mass that I had built and I didn’t eat enough protein.

I also started running again, which at this point having not done any cardio training for 8 months, was a HARD lesson to learn. Imagine going from being a 150 lb cross-country runner who could do 5 km in about 15 minutes to being a 220 lb weightlifter who couldn’t even jog slowly for more than 3 minutes straight!

Now, even though I was TRYING to do long-duration cardio, it actually resembled interval training more than anything because I had to stop and walk every few minutes. As I got in better cardio shape, I started running longer distances straight through (I would have been better off sticking with the intervals - little did I know!).

And I did lose weight and did lose some fat but I lost a LOT of muscle along with it. Nothing is more depressing than losing what you’ve worked so hard to build. I didn’t lose all of my muscle and strength but it was enough to set me back.

LESSON #5

What you should eat and how you should train are actually fairly similar when you’re trying to build muscle or burn fat. The main differences lie in how much you’re eating and training variables such as rest periods and cardio frequency. You still need to eat a lot of protein regardless of your goals and you still need to lift heavy, even when on a fat loss program (it’s how you tell your body that it needs to hold onto muscle).

Increasing cardio frequency, eating fewer calories and decreasing rest periods in between sets will get the fat burning process moving in the right direction. Don’t starve yourself or go nuts by dramatically increasing your training workload.

SO WHAT HAPPENED IN MY SECOND YEAR OF TRAINING?

That’s a story for another day…it involves going so far in the opposite direction of my first year of training that I actually made my roommate throw out a pot of water he was boiling for spaghetti because he added a pinch of salt (never mind that the sauce we were using had about 20 times that much salt in it already)!

Look for Year Two in the future, but in the meantime, check out more information on fat loss and muscle and strength-building here:

Fat Loss

Muscle and Strength

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Nick Nilsson is Vice-President of the online personal training company BetterU, Inc. He has a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been inventing new training techniques for more than 16 years. Nick is the author of a number of bodybuilding eBooks including “Metabolic Surge - Rapid Fat Loss,” “The Best Exercises You’ve Never Heard Of,” “Gluteus to the Maximus - Build a Bigger Butt NOW!” and “The Best Abdominal Exercises You’ve Never Heard Of” all available at http://www.fitness-ebooks.com. He can be contacted at betteru@fitstep.com.