Thursday, January 29, 2009

When Is Best Time To Eat Protein?


When Is Best Time To Eat Protein For Building Muscles|Muscle Growth?

Author: Chris Chew

Every bodybuilder and fitness enthusiast knows that you must eat enough protein for muscle growth. Without the amino acids of protein, your muscles cannot grow no matter how hard and often you train your. Protein is the building block of muscles and there are no other nutrients to substitute protein for muscle growth.



It is recommended that if you want to grow and build muscle mass, the rule is to eat one gram of protein per pound of your body weight per day. That is a lot of protein which many people cannot get in their normal dietary meals and protein supplementation is often necessary. Without eating enough protein, all your muscle building training in the gym will be futile. Such a waste isn't it?



So when is the best time to eat protein to optimize muscle growth? How and which type of protein should you eat to get spectacular muscular growth?



•Eat protein first thing in the morning - After a good night's sleep, your body is in a catabolic state. That means your body is burning your muscle for energy since your glycogen store is low. So eat quickly digestible protein such as whey protein the first thing in the morning even before you brush your teeth to prevent your muscle wasting away or catabolism.



•Eat protein between your meals - To keep protein flowing in your bloodstream so as to feed your muscles continuously throughout the day, take casein protein in between your meals. Casein protein is slow to digest and as such will continuously release protein into your bloodstream to feed your muscles for many hours in between your meals. In this way, your muscles will be constantly receiving protein throughout the day.



•Protein before/after gym workout - It is a known fact that eating fast to digest protein such as whey protein before your workout will promote muscle growth as your muscles are being fed as you training to build muscles. Then take whey protein again after your workout along with some carbohydrates to repair your muscle cells after you have damaged them during your workout.



•Protein before bed - Since you will be going without food for many hours when you sleep and muscle building is at its optimum when you sleep, you must encourage your muscle to grow by eating casein protein before you sleep. As casein protein is slow to digest, it will continuously feed your muscles for as long as seven hours when you sleep and thus encouraging your muscles to build and grow.



So now that you know when is the best time to eat protein and to encourage building muscles, follow these tips and see your muscles growing like you have never seen before.


About the Author:

Chris Chew is a personal trainer of actors, pageant winners, models and other celebrities. See his websites for more articles. Transform Body In Weeks and Free Fitness Tips


Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/when-is-best-time-to-eat-protein-for-building-musclesmuscle-growth-16172.html

Powerful Arm Exercises


Big Strong Biceps - Build Triceps - Powerful Arm Exercises

Author: Chris Chew

In every gym that you go to, you will see people pumping their biceps. Biceps along with the pecs and abs are sometimes called vanity muscles because they are the most visible and therefore commands the most respect. Invariably, when you ask someone to show you his muscles, he will probably flex his biceps.


Before we discuss biceps development, I want to point out that the biceps make up only one third of your upper arm with triceps the other two-thirds. So to have an impressive arm, you must build your triceps too or the effort on your biceps will not show good results. Many people fail to realize this and that is why you see them doing curls after curls without much improvement. We will touch on triceps exercises in another article. For now, let's talk about biceps.


Here are some exercises that will blast your biceps. Most of you would have done some or all of these exercises. The question I am asking is, are the exercises done in the correct form and techniques because if they are not, you will most likely be wasting your time as your biceps will not grow to its full potential. Perform each exercise for 3-5 sets once or twice a week and at reps between 6-10, but make sure that at the high end of the reps, you will not be so fatigued that you can't perform another rep in good form.


Standing Barbell Curl/ EZY Bar


You can perform this exercise with either a straight bar or an ezy bar. This is a great mass building exercises for your biceps.


Stand with feet shoulder width apart and grasp the bar with an underhand grip, hands should also be about shoulder width apart. Curl the bar up slowly focusing intensely on the biceps contraction. Do not swing or use momentum to curl especially at the later stages when your biceps get weaker. Never swing or move your body, only your arms are moving. Keep your elbows locked to the side of your body and do not pivot them.


Then lower the weight, taking 3-4 seconds resisting the weight on the way down to emphasize the negative part of the exercise. Never let gravity pull the weights down.


At all times, do not curl or bend your wrist which must always be in a straight neutral position.


Incline Dumbbell Curls


This exercise will hit different fibre in your biceps and gives you the peak bicep look.


Sit back on an incline bench holding a dumbbell in each hand, keep your elbows well forward throughout the movement, curl the weight upward and toward the shoulder level. Then squeeze your biceps hard at the top position. Lower the weights again, slowly under full control. The speed and techniques are similar to what was described earlier.


Preacher Curl


Similar to barbell curl but using the preacher curl station. This is an excellent bicep peaking isolation exercise.


Hammer Curl


Hammer curl gives your biceps the full look and your forearms are also working hard.


Similar to incline dumbbell curl except you will be using the hammer grip on the dumbbell like holding a hammer knocking nails in and standing up instead of sitting down.


Build Biceps Tips


Focus on the movement of your biceps all throughout the motion. Don't lift weights that are too heavy that will compromise your form and techniques to show off.


By slightly turning and squeezing, you'll build more peak on your biceps. Like all exercises, pose and stretch the biceps between sets. This is to flush out lactic acid and help your biceps recover better for the next set.


Remember to change the order of the exercises you perform after every few weeks to shock your biceps into new growth.


About the Author:
Chris is a personal trainer of fashion models, male pageant winners, actors and other celebs. More free fitness tips in his websites.

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Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/fitness-articles/big-strong-biceps-build-triceps-powerful-arm-exercises-8368.html

How to Build Chest Muscle


Big Pecs: How to Build Chest Muscle

Author: Scott Abbett

Aside from big arms, there's no desire among aspiring underweight muscle building enthusiasts that quite outdoes the longing for a big, well-developed chest. And why not; big pectorals command respect. They're somehow primitively associated with courage and assertiveness. When you have pectoral muscles that only slightly protrude beyond your abdominal section, you're considered to be "in shape". What's more, in a world of male competitiveness where one's height seems to unfairly monopolize the aura of dominating physical stature, powerful pectorals can be a great equalizer. They tell the world that regardless of the level your genetics had you lengthened, you're packaged physical prowess by choice. You exude strength and athleticism with well developed pectorals.





So what's the best method for developing a big chest? Well, that shouldn't be our only question. For if the pectorals aren't built in a balanced manner, excessive size can contribute to a feminizing effect on the male torso. Does anyone really want to develop "man boobs"? I didn't think so. Therefore, it's imperative that we make our pecs just a little bit top-heavy (upper pecs that protrude slightly more than the middle pecs) in our bid to increase chest size. An emphasis on making sure we are successful with incline exercises will ensure good upper pectoral development.





Notice I didn't recommend doing "a lot of incline exercises". Instead, I mentioned making sure you're 'successful' with your incline movements (this goes for all bodybuilding exercises). Although this might sound like a subtle play on words, it's really a vital issue for your muscle building progress. Overtraining is probably the biggest setback most natural bodybuilding enthusiasts unwittingly engage. Thus, you might need to add more incline bench movements to build bigger upper pecs, or you might need to lay off of those movements. It really depends on what you're currently doing. Just keep in mind that many times our enthusiasm to make progress on a particular body part leads us to inadvertently overwork that area - resulting in the exact opposite of our desired effect.





As a lifetime natural bodybuilder, nothing has done more for my pectoral development than taking emphasis off 'pressing movements' and putting it on 'flye movements'. The widespread notion that you "have to bench press" and "bench press heavy" has only been outdone in holding back pectoral growth by the practice of overtraining. Combine the two with the typical plights of the natural bodybuilder and you have a scenario in which pectoral growth is almost nonexistent for too many gym-goers. If heavy bench pressing were the key to a great chest, we'd see power-lifters epitomizing pectoral development. As it turns out, some of them have big pecs and some seem to have nearly none - despite the fact they can bench press heavy.





What if you could do heavy flyes? What if you could get on an incline bench and strictly move seventy-five pound dumbells from the top of the movement - slowly down to having your arms outstretched and the weights parallel with your head (elbows only slightly bent) - and back up to the top position without any arm movement? If you can't do that for six to eight repetitions now, but you can do it a few months from now, I'd bet on your pectoral muscles being significantly larger after those few months. Making strict and heavy flye movements into the cornerstone of your chest routine can work wonders for the growth of those muscles.





Besides changing bench pressing movements to a secondary position and flyes to the primary one, I've also accelerated my pectoral gains by splitting my first flye movement into two partial rep exercises. So when I get to the gym to start my chest routine, I head straight to one of those pec/flye machines in which you hold the handles with your arms extended (only a slight bend in the elbows). These are the kind of pec dec machines that are also used for rear deltoid exercises. I adjust the seat on the machine so that a flye movement done on the apparatus will hit squarely in the middle of my pecs.





I then proceed to do two different exercises with this machine; one for my outer pecs and one for the inner. For outer pectorals, I move my arms from the fully outward position to about halfway through the range of a full flye. I do about five to eight sets like this. For inner pecs, I go from about the twenty degrees angle (where I ended my rep for the outer pec movement) to the point where the handles make contact with each other in front of me. I do those for another five to eight sets. When I'm done with these two partial rep exercises, my entire chest is worked and pumped to the max.





It's important to know that working the middle chest muscles actually brings the upper and lower pectorals into play. However, isolating the upper chest with incline movements does not bring the middle or lower chest muscles into play. The same goes for isolating the lower chest with declines; it only works the lower pectorals. Therefore, the most efficient way to begin a chest routine is with an exercise that hits the middle chest. My suggestion is that when you begin your pec workout with the above-mentioned exercise, be sure to adjust the seat so that you're hitting the very center of your chest.





Only when I've sufficiently pre-exhausted my pectorals with the strict performance of these partial-rep flyes do I go on to isolate the upper and lower pecs respectively with three more exercises. These include incline dumbell flyes, Hammer Strength presses, and a decline angled pec deck. I do two exercises for upper pecs in an attempt to slightly over-develop them for better balance; the dumbell flyes and the pressing movement with the Hammer Strength machine. Presses are incredibly more effective for pectoral growth when the pecs have been pre-exhausted with flyes.





If you've been having trouble with pectoral growth, I highly recommend you switch to making flye exercises the foundation of your routine. In addition, split that first exercise of pec deck flyes into two half-rep movements. This will create maximum stress on both the inner and outer pecs - working wonders on both the size and shape of the muscles.


About the Author:

Scott Abbett is the author of HardBody Success: 28 Principles to Create Your Ultimate Body and Shape Your Mind for Incredible Success. To see his personal transformation, visit http://www.hardbodysuccess.com>www.hardbodysuccess.com

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/fitness-articles/big-pecs-how-to-build-chest-muscle-281714.html

How To Get Nice Muscle Tone And Build An Attractive Muscular Body


How To Get Nice Muscle Tone And Build An Attractive Muscular Body

Author: Chris Chew

Most people know that they need to lift weight build muscles. However many just want to have nice muscle tone and an attractive but not too muscular body as they do not want big muscles. So they just lift light weights with high repetitions. Well, it is not going to work. To have nice muscle tone, you will have to build some muscles right? So you will have to lift heavy to force your muscles to grow. Once you are satisfied with the size of your muscles, you will then need to cut your body fats for your muscles to show up well and that means nice muscle tone.


You need to have a solid commitment and knowledge to get nice muscle tone and build an attractive muscular body. Here are some muscle building tips. Before you commence weight training, remember to warm up and as well as doing some stretching exercises.


•Train Muscle With Free Weights


Machines will have its uses, but for a start, concentrate on free weights. That means work almost exclusively with barbells and dumb bells. Free weights recruit many stabilizing muscles for balance and control. That means you will work a lot more muscle parts other than the intended ones. That will give rise to little bumps, striations and definitions all over your body instead of one huge lump of muscle on your intended muscle. Because of the extra stimulant created, your muscles grow faster too. Why else do you think all professional body builders almost exclusively use free weights?



•Train With Compound Exercises


Incorporate as many compound exercises as possible to your routines. Compound exercises are exercises that involve 2 or more joint movements. Because they utilize more joints, which means greater muscle mass are involved. Greater muscle mass means heavier weights. Heavier weights mean encouragement of greater muscle growth. More muscle growth means more tone to your muscles.


Some excellent compound exercises are the Squat, Deadlift, Chin ups, Dips, Bench press, Barbell Press, Lunges, Bent-Over Barbell Row...etc.


•Train Intensively But Do Not Over train


You must train intensively for your muscle to grow. Try to do more reps or add more weight than the previous session or else your muscles will think (actually muscles don't think, they adapt), "Ah... we've done that. Nothing new, so no need to grow bigger and stronger." That being the case, you will wreck your chances of attaining an attractive muscular body.


Because of this, it is important that every time you train hard, you give your body time to recover as it has suffered strains and actually sustained many small scarring. Contrary to popular belief, your muscles grow when you rest, especially when you sleep and not in the gym. So sleep at least 8 hours a day. Also, do not train everyday or work the same muscle group more than once or twice a week. If your training was vigorous enough, do no more than an hour per session.


Try not to do cardio work on the same day as your weight lifting work. In fact, during the muscle building phase, you should do less cardio work as aerobic exercises burn muscles. You can increase your cardio work at cutting body fat phase, so as to lose body fat in order for your muscle tone to show up nicely.


•Technique And Form


This is the most neglected fundamental of bodybuilding. Everywhere, everyday, you will see people using wrong forms and techniques. This not only compromises your growth, it will also make you susceptible to injuries... sometimes even permanently putting you out of the gym.


Wrong form occurs usually when people try to lift weights that are too heavy, whether out of vanity or ignorance. As a guide, always lift with strict focus on the muscle you intend to build for that exercise. Feel it contract and extend. Lift the weights deliberately and slowly. Never ever swing your weights up especially when doing bicep curls or the military press.


•To Build Muscles Fast You Must Perform Lower Body Exercises!


This is what most people don't realize. Your lower body makes up 60-70% of your musculature. If you don't train them, not only will you look spider-legged, your entire body will not grow as quickly and as large. Don't think that you can hide those skinny limbs in pants! Most people do not train their legs because squats, dead lifts and lunges can be very grueling exercises. But it is precisely because of such intensity that you will produce more growth hormones when you sleep and overall muscular development is stimulated. Your body shape will also be more balanced and therefore more attractive.


Do read up more to understand how your muscles work and then work on it so that in no time you will be a proud owner of a well tone attractive muscular body.


About the Author:
Chris Chew is a fitness personal trainer of fashion models, actors and male pageant winners.

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Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/fitness-articles/how-to-get-nice-muscle-tone-and-build-an-attractive-muscular-body-11692.html

How To Get Bigger Arms With Better Triceps


Bigger Arms With Better Triceps Training

Author: Nick Tumminello

If you're anything like me, you're always interested in finding new, and more importantly, better ways of doing things. Well, climb aboard, that's precisely where we're headed.

We're going to cover two things:

1. Simplify very complex physics and mathematics. Don't worry, you won't need a calculator.

2. Transfer the above technical information into practical applications that are guaranteed to instantly improve your arms and many other cable-based exercises.

So if you're currently performing triceps extensions in your program, then read carefully. Because what you're about to learn will drastically improve your arm strength, size and definition.

A Quick Rant on "Research"

There's no opinion based or "one research study showed" material in this article. The information contained has long been proven by the science of physics and mathematics.

There's a huge difference between quoting research and stating that something has been proven by science. Even though research can be scientific, it doesn't mean that the end result will be repeatable. Just think about the many similar research studies that wind up showing drastically different outcomes. Remember, in order for something to be scientifically proven, it must be repeatable.

"Research is what I'm doing when I don't know what I'm doing." — Albert Einstein


The Dorky Science Stuff

There's a principle of physics and vector mathematics called the Resolution of Forces. When understood and applied to resistance training, this concept can greatly improve your program.

Resolution of Forces is the method of resolving a vector into its components. Any vector which is directed at an angle to the customary coordinate axis can be considered to have two parts. Each part is being directed along one of the axe, either horizontally or vertically. The parts of the single vector are called components and describe the influence of that single vector in that given direction.

Think of a dog being pulled upon by a chain. If the chain is pulled upwards and to the right (Diagonal), then there's a tensional force acting upwards and rightwards upon the dog.

That single force can be resolved into two components: One being directed upwards and the other to the right. Each component describes the effect of that chain in the given direction. The vertical component describes the upward influence of the force upon the dog. The horizontal component describes the rightward influence.


Taking It to the Gym

Now lets think about how triceps extensions are performed with a rope.

Performing a triceps extension with a rope requires the exerciser to gradually spread the rope apart as the movement progresses. Whether you know it or not, this splitting of the rope drastically changes the exercise and the forces involved.

When you use a straight cable bar, the force you exert from both arms is straight down. When you use a rope, things are very different. With the rope, you're no longer pushing straight down. You're now pushing at a diagonal. As we learned by Resolution of Forces, your effort of force is now divided into two parts. One part of your effort is pulling the rope down, while the other part is pulling the rope apart.

It's important to note that the amount of force it takes to spread the rope apart is proportionate to the angle between each side. In other words, the force you have to put out gradually changes as your hands spread.


The Weight Stack Lies

It would seem to be common sense that when holding each side of a rope, you're splitting the resistance in half, equally between both arms. Which would mean that if you put fifty pounds on the weight stack, each arm would be working against twenty-five pounds, right?

Wrong!

Take a look at what happens to the load as the movement progresses, and the ends of the rope are gradually split apart.

Click here here to see a diagram of how the weight changes in relation to the angle of spread.

With 50lbs on the weight stack at 30 degrees of spread each hand exerts 26lbs of force equaling 52lbs of effort to move 50lbs.

At 45 degrees, each hand exerts 27lbs of force. That’s 54lbs of effort.

At 60 degrees of spread each hand has to exert 29lbs, totaling 58lbs of total effort.

As you can clearly see from the above, the force increases as the rope is gradually spread apart. At 30 degrees, it took an extra pound of force from each side. So now it takes 52lbs of effort to move that 50lbs. At 60 degrees of spread, it took four pounds of additional force from each side. Meaning it takes 58lbs of force to move 50lbs.

From 30 to 60 degrees of spread, the force steadily increased, but the change was minimal, and possibly tolerable. However, take a look at what happens when the rope reaches 90 degrees of spread.

At 90 degrees of spread, it takes 35lbs of force from each hand. In other words, 50lbs now feels like 70lbs. This is a much bigger jump than the previous. Now you're exerting almost as much effort outward as you are downward.

Finally, at 120 degrees of spread, it takes 50lbs of effort from each hand. This means you're now exerting a hundred pounds of total force, twice as much as what's on the weight stack.

Use the Force!

If you're reading this and thinking, "Isn't more force a good thing?" Keep in mind that the closer your muscles get to a full contraction, the less force they can exert. You're gradually getting weaker as the resistance is getting heavier. Not good!

This means that if you choose a weight that's correct at the beginning, you'll end up with a weight that's much too heavy at the end. Say hello to poor form, cheating, and increased joint stress.

The Solution

As my father likes to say, "There are no problems, only solutions." So far, I've shown you the problem with using the traditional cable rope. I'm not the type of guy to leave you hanging, so now it's time to provide the solution. If you think I'm going to say stop using a rope and start using a cable bar, you couldn't be more wrong. A rope is always a better choice because it allows for freedom of movement.

So, are you ready?

Use a longer rope!

Alternatively, you can also use two normal ropes:

Yes. It's really that simple. This is a small adjustment that makes for a big difference. It really doesn't matter which option you choose because both strategies achieve the same end result — longer rope ends.

I see you over there scratching your head, wondering how using a longer rope makes things better. Well, I'll tell ya'. Longer rope ends allow for more consistent force throughout the movement. The force is more consistent because the angle between ropes at the end range is greatly reduced. I could take the time to explain this mathematically, but halfway through, you'd already be off checking your email.

Instead, we'll just go over a simple compare and contrast.

A long rope means a small angle:

A short rope leads to a big angle:

With a long rope, the force is more consistent:

However, with a short rope, the force is almost doubled:

Click here to see how much the angle is reduced with a longer rope.

Remember, the smaller the angle, the less the resistance increases.

The beauty of this solution is that you probably already have more than one rope at your facility. If you only have one rope and don't want to buy another one, you can make your own extra long rope very easily with some high quality rope from any nautical supply shop.

And for those of you who are lazy and don't want to buy or make anything at all, you're covered, too. Just perform the exercises unilaterally! This will ensure a more consistent resistance and eliminate the diverging force angles factor completely because there's nothing to separate from.

Problem Solved

I've now shown you a very quick and easy solution to a problem you probably never knew you had. In doing so, I've exposed to you to some simplified mathematics that can, and should, be applied to improve many resistance-training exercises.

If you ignore this new information and stick to the short rope, your shoulders won't explode, and your triceps won't fall off. However, if you're going to do it, do it right

About the Author:

The director of Performance University, Nick Tumminello is a highly sought after coach and educator in the field of human performance enhancement. He is the developer of the Core Bar™ and has authored numerous best selling DVD’s which can be purchased through his website. Nick also serves as the Strength & Conditioning Coach for Team Ground Control MMA. Nick lives in Baltimore MD where he regularly trains his athletes.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/muscle-building-articles/bigger-arms-with-better-triceps-training-669687.html

4 Ways to Bulk Up Fast


How to Bulk Up- 4 Ways to Bulk Up Fast

Author: Rory Wilkinson

Despite your best efforts to bulk up, has it still not happened yet? Are you frustrated that even though you work hard at the gym, day in and day out, you still haven’t put on any pounds of muscle? Today I am going to teach you 4 simple ways to bulk up fast, safely and effectively.

If you are not completing these 4 simple steps effectively then you are not going to be able to gain any muscle and build the physique that you want. In other words, if you want to know how to bulk up and bulk up fast, then these 4 steps are crucial.

1. Commitment. It takes a good deal of commitment to follow through with a weights program. But if you want to bulk up fast then this is your only option. Make sure that you life weights 3-4 times a week. No more, no less. After your workout let the muscles heal with protein shakes and rest. A common mistake is to over train. By overtraining, you are not giving your muscles enough time to recover and because of this they cannot grow. If you want to bulk up then commitment and patience is necessary.

2. Stretch! Stretch about half of the time that you lift weights. Stretching helps rebuild the muscles and grows them bigger. If you don’t stretch then you will notice that you will perform worse and you also have a much greater chance of getting hurt. Always remember to stretch if you want to bulk up.

3. Eat well and eat often. If you are trying to bulk up then you want to have a mixed diet of carbohydrates, proteins and fats about 6 times a day. Work on the 45-35-20 rule. That is, to have 45% carbs, 35% proteins and 20% fats.

4. Use the right supplements. Some of the best products to use include powdered creatine, protein powder, multi vitamins and fish oil capsules. Another thing to remember is only use well known products that have passed the test of time. New flashy products come out often and people don’t know what these products could do to your body in future years. Using these products is one of the best ways to bulk up fast.

So now you know how to bulk up and how to bulk up fast. Remember and follow these tips and you will be looking and feeling the way you want to in next to no time.

About the Author:

Discover the Methods that have Helped over 20,000 People from 120 Different Countries Build Muscle Fast, Safely and Effectively. Champion Fitness Icon and Personal Trainer Reveals his Secrets for the First Time Ever. For more details visit http://Build-Muscle-Quick.com

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