Thursday, July 15, 2010

Healthy Shoulders





Don't get scared. I'm not going to get all "Physical Therapist-ish" on you here and start talking about anatomy, physiology, biology, and every other "ogy" out there to make my point. What I am going to do however is show you how of all the muscle groups in your body, the single most important to keep healthy if you want longevity in the gym is....the shoulders!

That said, the shoulder joint is probably one of the most injured joints in the body (even higher if you consider that group of guys I work with...major league pitchers!). The cause actually has to do with what actually is the joint's greatest asset...it's mobility. As a tradeoff for being one of the most mobile joints in the body, the shoulder isn't the most stabile. I'm sure you've either heard about, known someone, or even suffered yourself through a dislocation, broken collarbone, had impingement, or had a rotator cuff and/or labrum tear. Unfortunately none of these are that uncommon.

That said, how do you continue to get in your workouts and make your regular trips to the gym if your shoulder is aching something fierce? The answer is...you probably don't. At least, you don't with the idea of making any progress. Maintenance becomes the goal at that point.

You might say, well...I can still train legs, but I challenge you to try and put 45 pound Olympic plates on the ends of the bars when your shoulders aren't strong enough to hold the plate let alone lift it to almost head height. Even holding dumbbells at your sides could be a bit of a challenge if you have a labrum tear. When you tear the labrum you lose a bit of the suctioning ability of the shoulder joint to hold the ball and socket tightly in place. Lose this and then try to hold a 45 pound dumbbell and you're libel to feel like either Plastic Man getting his arms stretched out or worse...like your arm is no longer IN the socket!

As I pointed out last time there are a few exercises you can avoid if you want to try and protect your shoulders, particularly if you've had problems in the past or are a current athlete who relies on your arms for your living! The first was the upright row. While I have at times used this exercise in combo with other movements like a clean, I still maintain a love-hate relationship with it. It does produce effective shoulder development, but in people with unhealthy shoulders already...at a cost. If you're going to lift the weights up to this height (either on a side lateral raise or an upright row) one simple tweak can make all the difference. Simply don't allow your pinkies to raise higher than your thumbs. You've probably heard before to assume a position at the top of either exercise like you're pouring a pitcher of water? Well....um.....scratch that. That's bad advice. You're internally rotating your shoulder and making it all the more likely to have an impingement flair up from that position. Instead, keep the thumb higher then the pinky and you'll reduce the stress on the rotator cuff and shoulder by a significant amount.

Finally, when doing your dumbbell shoulder presses, try as often as possible to do them standing. This will keep your shoulder blades operating smoothly with normal mechanics. If you sit on a bench with your back plastered to the pad, you'll actually lock down the shoulder blades and prevent them from rotating up as smoothly as they should be. This will throw off the whole mechanics of the arm traveling overhead, which will ultimately lead to compensations and breakdowns. For as simple a change as just standing instead of sitting, believe me...the long term benefits are invaluable.

So you see, the goal when going to the gym or even starting a new workout program shouldn't just be finding a program that produces results...but also one that produces results that you can repeat for days, weeks, months and even years without it leading to an injury that prevents you from working out at all. As I said, the most vulnerable point in your kinetic chain is that shoulder joint. A poorly put together strength training program can destroy a shoulder quicker than a bad personal trainer can tell you what the role of the shoulder even is! Don't put yourself in the position where you have to rely on this type of advice. Do what you can do to "arm" yourself with only the most logical but also fun and challenging exercises and workout routines that are not only going to get you strong, but keep you going strong for years and years to come!

P90x Free on Netflix

Here is how you p90x free on netflix

Wednesday, July 14, 2010




Without a doubt one of the most critical aspects of body-building is nutrition. This has been proven again and again.Today you will learn about the 5 best muscle building foods that will assist you to maximise your muscle building success and have you developing new muscles everyday. This is a list of the very best muscle building foods:

Protein

Although this really is not a whole natural food, it is really an incredible tool. Whey protein concentrate powder can be bought at most health stores and is quickly digestible and has the highest biological value of all the protein sources.

Eggs

Eggs provide a lot of protein at roughly seven grams per egg and also contains cholesterol which the body utilizes to create testosterone. Testosterone is a muscle building hormone and the more of it you have got the more muscle tissue it is
possible build.

Fruit and veggies

An assortment of veggies and fruits will provide zinc, potassium, vitamin C, D, Iron along with other vitamins and minerals that are vital in assisting your body to build muscle.

Seeds and Nuts

Nut products and seed products contain unsaturated fats like omega 3 fatty acids which are utilised by your body to break down particular vitamins and minerals and it is additionally used in testosterone levels in the body. Seeds and Nuts additionally pack a quality dosage of protein as well.

Milk

Whole milk is packed full of vitamins and minerals and also comes filled with over seven grams of protein per cup. The actual protein obtained in milk is slow digesting and can be used to provide your body with surplus protein during an intense work out.

Choosing to add these muscle building foods into your diet will greatly allow you to build more muscle faster, and will help you to attain the results that you're working so hard for.

Beginning to Get Ripped!




This article has been made to present you the key ideas of getting big as a newbie, it's surely not good having the machines and products if you do not know the key points. If you desire to reach your maximum potential you are required to follow these basic rules.

Diet

The key to a solid nutrition plan is not under eating, a lot of guys that start off in getting ripped do not appear to know just how necessary a diet really is. For a beginner it's really pretty easy, the primary goal of your nutrition plan is to eat 2800 calories of food a day. That's the aim, It does not mean consuming in quantity with no quality at all, but it does mean reaching your intended calories with as little saturated fat as you can.

If shaking off fat is a key point of your goal body shape, consuming at a healthy 2800 calories to begin with, with enough protein that should lead you towards your target. Here are a few examples of meals you can eat: whole wheat pasta.
As a beginner a 300 calorie cream cake will not make a huge difference as opposed to a bit of pasta. At the end of the day your primary target is to reach the specified calorie amount. My current goal right now is to reach your specified calories with 150g (or as much as possible) protein per day.

Weight Lifting

I would not advise you to make your own workout program, it's a mistake a lot of people seem to make when they are just starting. It's the best option to use a premade beginner program, I recommend you search MSN for Rippetoe's beginner program and read up about that, it's the best beginner program around and it's been the standard for 30 years.

The squat is probably the most fundamental exercises you can integrate into your regime; the aim of this exercise is to provide all round power. The bench press will be the exercise that mainly focuses your upper body, particularly your chest, this is an excellent workout which will give you great results.

The deadlift is a workout which mainly targets your upper and lower back muscles. The key is not to perform this exercise every workout session otherwise your going to end up with an injury(which is extremely frustrating). If you are doing bench press then I highly recommend you jot down the bent over barbell row into your workout as this exercise is crucial for developing your chest, the primary focus of the exercise is to work on your lower chest and if this exercise isn't used then there will be a muscle imbalance with your chest.

Using these exercises with a structured approach will give you that ripped look you have always been looking for, it's a guarantee. Make sure you do the squats 3 times a week performing 3 sets of 5 reps. With bench press make sure the first week you do it twice a week then the week after do it once again each time is 3 sets of 5 reps. This is the same for barbell row but make sure your not doing the barbell row the same day you do bench press. Now finally the deadlift you do this workout twice in one week then once in the second week. For each workout you only do 1 set of 5 reps and try and load as much as possible.

Additional Info

With a help from the get ripped fast products and information available, along with a disciplined diet and exercise I guarantee you that you will reach your personal goal. Trust me the progress your going to make will be enough motivation for you to get ripped, not only is it a benefit to your health but it provides an all round benefit from self-esteem and more energy.