Workout Routines | Building Muscle | Burning Fat | Weight Lifting Exercises

The truth of the matter is, its virtually impossible to build muscle & lose fat at the exact same moment in time…unless you’re a beginner or you’re on anabolic steroids.

It is very rare that a trainee can maximize both things simultaneously. Basically, if you want to build muscle and lose fat at the same time, you can do it over a span of a few weeks, but you’ll have to make some compromises.

The compromise is that you’ll be building a little bit of muscle and losing a little bit of fat. The end result will be that you achieved both goals, but it’ll be impossible to maximize fat loss or maximize muscle gains.

You see, in order to burn fat, you have to create a calorie deficit…and in order to build muscle, you have to create a calorie surplus. The trick to achieving both goals is to stay in the middle of your “deficit” and “surplus” range, and let your body decide which days to synthesize muscle and which days to metabolize fat.

Obviously, with this approach, you’re not gaining a whole lot of muscle or losing a whole lot of fat…

Bottomline? Do an all-out mass building cycle for 3-4 weeks and follow it up with a fat cutting cycle for 1-2 weeks. This approach is by far the most effective in building rock-solid muscle and melting loads of fat.

Can you build muscle and lose fat at the same time? The answer is a hesitant “Yes”…but is that the optimal approach? Definitely not! Focus on one thing in one cycle, and you’ll be much happier with the results.

Muscle building is basically a function of 3 things: the workout, the nutrition, and rest. If one of these things is missing or done incorrectly, then your muscle gains will suffer…plain and simple.

This article is designed to give you a very quick overview of the muscle building process, without getting into much detail. Then, at the end of the article, we’ll point out additional articles that will help you get the details you need to pack on serious muscle mass!

There’s a debate as to which is more important, workout or nutrition. Some says nutrition is 60-70% important and the workout is 30-40% important. The truth of the matter is, they are so inter-linked that its really hard to give a percentage to each. If you don’t workout, but eat right, you won’t grow an ounce of muscle. And…if you workout perfectly, but don’t eat right, then your gains will suffer.

Think of workout, nutrition, and rest as a triangle, and you need all 3 components to complete the triangle.

The 1st component, the workout, is simply applying enough load to the muscles that they have a need to grow. In traditional weight lifting, this is achieved through sets and reps of various exercises. The general rule of thumb to remember is that…

Read the rest of this article on muscle building here…

A Physical Profile of a Woman’s Profile
By John H Markus

Many a woman starts working out with weights and aerobics, to change her body’s shape. Some will succeed. Some will not. Expectations are tougher to fulfill on a woman’s body than on a man’s when weight training.

Let us talk realistically about changing the shape of a woman’s body. One of the first things she should do, after deciding to physically train, is to take a good look at her body. She should check herself in a full-length mirror. A frontal view and a side profile view would be necessary. We are going to discuss the side profile view in this article.

Ladies, take a good long look at your profile. Study it. See where you are. Decide where you want to be. See what needs changing. Maybe you want a smaller waistline. Perhaps, you want a fuller bustline. You might want firmer, rounder buttocks. And, you may want to have more definition in your arms, thighs, and calves.

Once you have come this far, you already realize two things you will have to do. You must exercise, and you must have a good diet. While you may not be heavy for your size, you still need a diet. This will not be a restricted calorie diet. Your diet will need more protein in it and less fats and carbohydrates. If you are targeting weight loss, you will need a restricted calorie diet. You will also need more protein.

Diet and exercise are going to be a part of your lifestyle, now. If you diet and do not exercise, you can appear flabby and not toned. If you work out and do not eat a healthy diet, it will take you a long time to shape the body that you want.

About your side view profile, there are two parts that will not be changes significantly. These are the breasts and the buttocks ( If you are on the heavy side these will get smaller with diet). The size and shape of these bodyparts are largely genetic. You can strengthen the muscle groups in the chest area. This may make them a little perkier. And improved posture from working out could make them stand out a bit more. But the actual size won’t change, unless you get implants. If you were born with a flat butt, you will keep that flat butt until you check out of this world. An exception would be, someone with a flat butt, that was a serious gymnast in their formative years.

Exercise will help your backside look rounder and more prominent. You need to trim and tighten your stomach with abdominal work and a healthy diet. Firm your legs and tighten tour buttocks with full leg workouts. Exercise your lower back, with yoga exercises, hyperextensions, and weighted back exercise. This will add to the curvature in your lower back region.

A smaller waistline, more curvature in the lower back, and toned thighs, will have your bottom appear more like you wanted it to. Exercise, eat well, and be happy with yourself.

Written by John Markus at www.feelmorelife.com John had been a pharmacist for 33 years. His wife has type I diabetes. Also, his eight year old granddaughter has diabetes. He and his family have been dealing with these type of problems for a long time. Tough at times, but successfully in end. John has also studied exercise and nutrition for 30 plus years. He knows life about women and about men is much different.

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What is the single most important principle for building muscle? Is it workout volume, frequency, duration?

The truth is, when you ignore this single most important principle, it forces you to look at all these “other” factors in your workout routine…you bust your butt trying to figure out why you’re just not gaining muscle like you used to…and you end up trying to change everything in your routine except for this one thing.

The single most important principle of building muscle is progressive overload, or simply, increasing the intensity of your workouts every week.

But, how is intensity defined? Intensity is defined by the amount of total weight you lift divided by the amount of time it took you to lift it. So, if you bench press 150 lbs for 10 repetitions, your total weight lifted is 1500 lbs. And, if you did 3 sets with 120 second rest in betwee, then your total time is 240 seconds.

This is how you measure intensity… and as long as your intensity increases every week, then you’re practicing progressive overload…

But beware, there are MANY ways to increase your intensity. Some ways are less effective than others, and some ways are just downright dangerous. If you want to experience some serious muscle gains, they you must raise the intensity of your workouts in a specific way that allows for healthy progressive overload, and stimulates a muscle building response.

You could increase the weight you’re lifiting, or increase the reps, or even decrease the rest between sets…but which one do you choose, in what order, and in what combination? Yes, this is the million dollar question.

You can find the answers by visiting these links:

Building Muscle - Weight Lifting Routines

Ultimate Workout Routines

Whether you want to build muscle or burn fat, or you need to know which supplements are good and which ones are scams, we suggest you take a look at these reports, below:

“Insider Weight Lifting Tips for Fast, Maximum Results”: Learn exactly how to lift weights to get the results you want.

“The 10 Hidden Keys to Rapidly Burning Stubborn Fat”: Quickly & easily bring out those sexy abs, arms, & thighs.

“Body Building Supplements Exposed”: Separate the proven muscle-building supplements from the hyped-up losers.

“Fat Loss Supplements Exposed”: Discover which supplements help burn fat & which ones are a waste of money.

The above reports all contain excellent material on achieving your fitness goals, and the best part is, you don’t have to spend a single dime to get these right now.

They’re in downloadable pdf format, which 99% of computers support. You can just save and view these right on your computer, and print as many copies as you like.

We really like the “Fat Loss Supplements” report, because it really clears up the confusion about which products actually work.

You can download your reports below:

Free fitness reports on building muscle & burning fat

If you have many things to do at the office, many reports to finish, and many accounts and deals to close, you can find it more and more difficult to keep healthy and live right. You may have time to control your diet, and you can have time to relax and sleep during the weekends, but can you spare a few hours for a workout?

Going to the gym is understandably a hassle: you need to pay high gym joining fees, engage in workouts that strain your muscles more than tone them, and spend hours on boring machines that make exercise more a trial than an enjoyment.

A fitness ball workout, on the other hand, can put more verve in your workout. You need not even go to the gym to engage in a fitness ball workout: all you need to buy is a stability ball, a fitness ball workout manual, and a few hours off your day, and you can do your fitness ball workout right at your office or in your living room.

A fitness ball workout, moreover, allows you to do away with the hard wooden or concrete floor of the gym, which can wear out the soles of your gym shoes and strain your back with the impact of the floor on it.

If you are interested in engaging in a fitness ball workout, you may need to consult with your chiropractor or orthopedist first. A fitness ball workout lessens floor impact by allowing you to concentrate on flexing and moving your muscles more; this same fitness ball workout can stretch your muscles and make you over exert them without the proper training and supervision.

An orthopedist can recommend exercises to add to your fitness ball workout that will not strain your back or exacerbate any existing diseases or medical conditions that you might have.

To reshape your body with a fitness ball workout, visit http://www.exerciseballworkout101.com for more information

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Albert_Lee

Looking to put on some raw size? Want your arms to rip out of that shirt? Do you need some real muscle building tips, once and for all, and are you sick of all the hype?

Well, look no further…on this page, we’ll give you some muscle building tips to help you get started and point you to the right places to find the information you need.

Basically, muscle building is muscular hypertrophy, or the process of new muscle fiber growth. Your muscles are made up of tiny little fibers that you destroy in the gym, and then grow back when you eat, rest, and sleep. Another term frequently used to refer to muscle building is “anabolic” or “anabolism”.

Okay, so lets get started with some tips:

1) Be well rested for your workout - Thats right, if you haven’t had enough rest, you won’t achieve the type of intensity you need to build some serious muscle.

2) Have enough nutrition in your body before your workout - Studies have shown that consuming a protein shake before your workout has increased strength and muscle mass.

3) Have a journal - You need to be able to record everything you’re doing, so you can tell whether you’re improving in your lifts or not.

Read the rest of the muscle building tips here…

Muscle contraction refers to the “firing” of the muscle fiber through neural signals from the brain. The signal travels down your spine, and in essence, the muscle is innervated or activated to generate force.

Now, there are essentially three types of muscle contractions that are used for various purposes. These 3 types are:

1) Eccentric Contraction
2) Isometric Contraction
3) Concentric Contraction

Eccentric Contraction: Refers to the lengthening of the muscle when loaded with stress. This is basically the “lowering” portion of the lift. For example, in a bench press, the eccentric contraction occurs when you’re lowering the bar to your chest.

Isometric Contraction: The muscle is actively held at a fixed length. This occurs when force is applied but nothing is moving, such as pushing your hands against an immovable wall.

Concentric Contraction: The muscle shortens to actively lift a load. This is the popular type of contraction, and it occurs during the “lifting” phase, when you are raising the bar up during a bench press.

Majority of the bodybuilding community has placed a lot of emphasis on concentric contraction, even though the eccentric and isometric counterparts are very important.

If you’re serious about building muscle, its wise to focus on all three, because each one specializes in activating different muscle fibers and each one can raise the intensity of your workouts.

Remember, intensity + volume = muscle growth, as long as the nutrition and rest is right.

Keep lifting and training hard, and think about the different contraction types during your next workout.

By Tammy Foster

The benefits of Pilates are well known and wide spread. Have you tried the Pilates craze yet? Have you personally seen the benefits of Pilates?

Pilates is designed so that you perform a sequence of exercises that focus on the movement itself and not on the amount of repetitions that you perform. Pilates is comprised of over 500 different types of exercises, many based on the principles of yoga and dance.

So what is so beneficial about the trendy exercise? Well, to start with, consistent practice of Pilates will help you to improve flexibility, lengthen your muscles, enhances your ease of movement, improve the general tone of your muscles, help you to develop a better posture and body alignment, and establish an improved overall sense of well being.

Pilates helps you to develop a more aware sense of the movements of your body and your breathing. With the focus on concentration on your breathing and the precise movements in the exercise taught in the method of Pilates, you will also begin to develop a better sense of relaxation and improved sense of physical and mental well being.

Pilates has been used for years in many rehab and preventative medicine venues. Dancers, athletes, and even those recovering from a variety of injury find Pilates to be a gentle form of exercise that can typically be managed by the majority of folks. It can help those injured to get back in the saddle again and on the road to recovery. Pilates is even used by expectant moms and even those new moms recovering from delivery.

Again, because of the slow, gentle and methodical movements of Pilates, moms find it useful as they begin to regain control of their body. It also helps to keep the joints flexible and the muscles strong.

Another benefit of Pilates is the fact that it can help you develop a great balance in between flexibility and strength. Without a good balance between the two then your body simply is not in the most harmonious relationship.

A favorite Pilates’ benefit is that it is a known stress reducer. If you passionately follow the breathing methods and the slow structured exercises of Pilates, then you can’t help but to begin to slow your breathing and subsequently your mind as you engage in the practice of Pilates. Watch the stress melt away as you give your mind over to the concentration of the Pilates’ method.

There are many who already recognize the benefits of Pilates. Men, women, teens and even senior citizens can find the benefits of Pilates to be helpful in improving their general health. So perhaps if you give it the old college try, then you too can jump on the band wagon and enjoy the benefits of Pilates.

For more information on Pilates be sure to visit the-pilates-zone.com. You’ll find tips and advice on Pilates techniques, Pilates basics, Pilates and pregnancy, and much more information.

Article Source: EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tammy_Foster

Everyone pays attention to the “latest” and “greatest” workout techniques, but hardly anyone talks much about nutrition…

Are you falling into this trap? If so, this could be the missing key in your quest for building muscle…fast.

In fact, we don’t think there’s a faster, more effective way to bulk up than to increase the amount of quality nutrition you eat. As long as your workout is stimulating some muscle growth, you can benefit a lot by eating right, eating often, and eating enough.

But, its not as simple as it sounds, there’s a lot that goes behind the muscle building diet…and the last thing you want is to eat a whole lot and gain a lot of bodyfat.

In order to minimize bodyfat while maximizing muscle gains, you basically have to do these three things:

1) Eat the correct ratios of protein-fats-carbohydrates

2) Watch the quality of food sources

3) Eat at the right times

Lets take a look at each of these three things…

1) Eat the correct ratios of protein-fats-carbohydrates

If your muscle building diet is going to be successful, you have to get enough lean protein in your diet, plain and simple. This is because your muscles require amino acids to grow (the building blocks of protein), and food protein sources contain plenty of amino acids.

Now, there are essential and non-essential amino acids…

Muscle Building Diet - Read the rest of this article here…