Author: Michael Jones

Let’s face it, there is no greater body part in which to obtain complete muscular development than the chest. Sure, girls will ask you to “make a muscle” as you flex your biceps. And yes, there is no denying that a well-built and defined “six pack” displaying total abdominal development will curry you some favor with the fairer gender. But when it comes to identifying a body part which stands out from all others – in the beach, the bedroom, and the bodybuilding stage – none is more important than a thick, sculpted, completely developed set of pectorals – a…

Building muscle is easy, you just have to know how it’s done and apply that knowledge. There are so many things that you can do wrong when trying to build muscle that it is very important that you attempt it with the correct knowledge, otherwise you’ll end up wasting your time and energy with little or no results for all your efforts and expense. It’s quite easy to get fit, but to pack on pounds of muscle needs the correct knowledge – then it becomes easy. Here are my 10 steps to Massive Muscles: Note: Always get the go-ahead from…

Many bodybuilders; when I use the term bodybuilder I use it in the truest sense of the word, “someone that is building his or her body”, know of the importance of tuna fish in their diet. Recently, the news came out regarding the muscle building benefits of omega-3 fatty acids i.e. enhanced fat loss, muscle growth and joint recovery. Suddenly salmon, the fish with the richest source of omega-3 fatty acids was nudging out Charlie the tuna for leadership. If you were to choose one fish which would it be? Aside from personal taste preference. Here’s the facts: Per 3…

Aerobic exercise is one of the most effective ways to get rid of surplus subcutaneous fat, when an athlete needs to lose weight. Aerobic loads in bodybuilding are used when it is necessary to designate the relief of muscles, while cardio in bodybuilding has a completely different purpose than in other sports. The thing is that aerobic trainings not only burn excess fat, but also contribute to the reduction of muscle mass. Therefore, training in bodybuilding should be organized so that the reduction in muscle mass was minimal. Cardio on cutting in bodybuilding can have different manifestations. It all depends…

Successful bodybuilders must maximize protein synthesis and minimize protein breakdown. A review of literature from the University of Kentucky College of Medicine described the processes involved in muscle hypertrophy. Muscles increase in size in response to growth factors (testosterone, growth hormone, IGF-1), cytokines (signaling chemicals), nutrients (amino acids, carbohydrates, calories) and resistive exercise. Amino acids, the building blocks of proteins, activate signaling chemicals in muscles that turn on protein synthesis and increase muscle fiber size. Chemicals called ribosomal protein S6 kinase and the target of rapamycin (mTOR) are important cell-signaling chemicals that regulate protein synthesis. They are sensitive to small…

Man made trans fats are considered very toxic and damaging for out body health.  However, natural trans fats are created in the stomachs of ruminant animals like cattle, sheep, goats, etc. and make their way into the fat stores of the animals. Therefore, the milk fat and the fat within the meat of these animals can provide natural healthy trans fats. Natural trans fats in your diet have been thought to have some potential benefit to aid in both muscle building and fat loss efforts. However, keep in mind that the quantity of healthy trans fats in the meat and…

You may not realize how useful your neck is until you can’t move it, like when the guy standing next to you asks a question, and answering him requires a three-quarter turn of your body. Just about anything can cause neck pain — you may sleep on your neck in a funny way or spend too much time cradling the phone on your shoulder. But neck pain is often caused by fitness activities. We’re talking about poor weight-lifting technique, such as turning your head to the side while doing a shoulder press, and poor upper-body exercise posture, such as letting…

Inadequate Sleep Increases Blood Pressure Sleeping less than 7-8 hours per night can ruin your health and increase the risk of heart attack, stroke, and dia­betes. Poor sleep patterns impair meta­bolic health, which promotes abdominal obesity, increased insulin levels, poor blood sugar metabolism, and abnormal blood fats. The combination of these health problems is called the Metabolic Syndrome. The Cardia Sleep Study, conducted by sci­entists from the University of Chicago and Northwestern University, found that inadequate sleep increased the risk of hypertension (high blood pressure; greater than 140/90) by 37 percent. Warning signs included snoring and daytime sleepiness. Americans are…

An effective training method to use is the addition of chain links to a bar. The chains hang from the bar, and as the bar is lowered, the chains gradually pile up on the ground effectively unloading the bar of the additional weight. For example, if you use 50lbs of chains per side on the bench press and that half the chains are on the floor in the bottom position and none of it are on the floor at the top you have an overload of 50lbs at the top of the range of motion. This allows you to increase…

Amino acids such as glutamine, arginine and perhaps tyrosine seem to get most of the attention in sports nutrition circles. One amino acid that may be being overlooked is taurine. Taurine is a ubiquitous non-essential amino acid found throughout the human body, similar to glutamine. It’s considered non-essential because the body can make taurine from the amino acids methionine and cysteine with the help of vitamin B6. Taurine may be non-essential and ubiquitous in the human body, but that does mean taurine does not have some potentially interesting effects that athletes may benefit from. Although taurine is listed as being…