Author: Sean Lau
Our core musculature contributes to vital functions within our bodies and enables us to perform simple to complex tasks. Without good control or stabilization and a thorough understanding of what contributes to core stabilization and strength, we can fall prey to many of modern society’s ailments. Lower back pain is the number one patient complaint in America. Many problems and orthopedic injuries result from poor core stabilization and strength. Females appear to be at a higher risk of suffering such injuries. Jame Zachazewki shows evidence of this in a study he conducted in 1996. He discovered that women have a…
The huge media focus on low carb diets may have led you to believe that “the low carb lifestyle” is the proper way to get a lean, muscular physique. The truth is, carbohydrates are too important a nutrient for you to completely restrict from your diet. You will never make the gains in size and strength that you’re looking for on a low carb diet. True, low carb diets can be effective in reducing body fat. If you have ever followed a low carb diet, odds are that you probably did lose some body fat, but you’ve probably also lost…
In this article we shall make no distinction between red and white wine, except to say that red wine generally contains more tannin. Tannin possesses particular therapeutic properties; in particular, the procyanidin it contains helps prevent atherosclerosis, with the polyphenols also present in it having a protective effect on the artery walls. It is only a short step from this statement to the assertions of many scientists, including Professor Masquelier, that wines rich in tannin contribute to some extent to the prevention of cardiovascular disease. A highly reputable medical survey, carried out in Britain in 1979 and bringing together evidence…
Muscle soreness is most often associated with eccentric exercise— muscle contractions that occur as the fibers lengthen. Examples include walking or running downhill and lowering the weight to the chest during a bench press. Muscles can exert more force eccentrically (lengthening contractions) than concentrically (shortening contractions), so muscle soreness and injury is more common in exercises involving eccentric contractions. Muscles increase in strength and size largely by repairing small injuries to the muscle fibers, and adapting by adding muscle protein so that similar loads are less stressful in the future. Researchers from Wayne State University in Detroit found that creatine…
Athletes and coaches are always looking for ways to achieve athletic superiority. One of them is plyometric training, one of the most effective means of training for power but often misunderstood. Plyometrics are similar to the dynamic moves that kids do like hopping, skipping and jumping around. They are exercises designed to increase speed, power, and explosiveness. The more explosive you are, the better you will perform on your big lifts. In this article, I’m going to explain the science behind plyometrics, how you can implement it to your training to develop explosive power and why simple jumps don’t work.…
Sometimes the small things can become very frustrating. This article is for those who have trouble unracking the weight in the bench press. The muscles we want to strengthen here are the lats, delts and the long head of the triceps. Specially the lats, which are extremely important for stabilization in the bench press. But we want to train these muscles in the fashion that you unrack bench presses, and those are pullovers. This sometimes forgotten exercise can be a valuable tool for training your bench press weakness. Barbell Pullover to Front Raise You can do these with a straight…
Stats:Twana Barnett-FergusonAge: 37Height: 5’6″Weight: 155 lbs How did you get into bodybuilding? Did you start by just ‘exercising’ or did you want to become a bodybuilder from the beginning? I’ve always been pretty active and played sports. Although bodybuilding has been a recent adventure for me. About 4 years ago I started lifting weights to stay in shape. Two years ago I went to watch a friend compete and decide I wanted to try it out for myself. I picked the next show on the calendar and eight weeks later I was competing in my first show, where I placed…
This is the workout Dwayne Johnson used to get thick, solid and tight for Hercules: Chest: Incline Barbell Bench Press 4 x 12,10,8,6 Flat Dumbbell Press 4 x 12 Incline Hammer Strength Alternating Chest Press 4x 12 Flat Dumbbell Flyes 3 x 12 Cable Crossovers superset w/ Dips 3 x 15 Back: Pull Ups 4 x Failure One Arm Db Row 4 x 12,10,8,8 Hammer Strength Rows 4 x 10 Close Grip Pulldowns 3 x 12 Cable Rows 3 x 12 with double drop sets on every set Rope Pullovers superset w/ Rope High Row 3 x 15 Db Shrugs…
Guys I just killed this workout and I feel like I need to share it with the world, you know, like telling everybody you did Crossfit last night. jkI’m in the middle of a war with my lower back and I refuse to stop working out so I made a routine to keep progressing while doing my rehab work.I’ve never focused on the bench press and since I will not be deadlifting or back squating for a while I feel like this is a good time to focus on it.The main goals of this routine are 1) improving my bench…
The first thing anyone notices when they see a bodybuilder for the first time is their shoulders. It doesn’t matter if it’s a face-to-face meeting or just a glimpse from across the gym. The shoulders cap the arms and frame the chest, they are the mark of power and ability and well developed shoulders command attention and admiration. For some reason many bodybuilders don’t give their shoulders the attention they deserve. A great many bodybuilders get stuck in a pattern of focus on their chest and biceps, ending up with uneven and non-symmetrical development in their other major muscle groups.…