Blogging About The Truth To Gain Weight & Build Muscle Mass!

Finally, the masses are starting to realize that typical “walking or running on a treadmill like a gerbil” to raise your metabolism, burn calories, burn fat, and lose weight is not the most efficient and effective method to get there.  High intensity exercises with resistance is the way to go, just like real life athletes with incredible physiques.

Jim Stoppani recently wrote “…we reported that kettlebell swings raised heart rate up to more than 85% of max, making it a good cardio workout.  A new study from Truman State University (Kirksville, Missouri) has put the kettlebell swing head-to-head with running on a treadmill.  They reported that heart rate was increased to the same magnitude in both exercises, suggesting that kettlebell swings make a good cardio alternative….since kettlebell swings involve weight, they likely would keep calorie burning higher for longer afterward than running.  This is especially true if you do kettlebell swings in high-intensity interval training style – kettlebell swings for one minute and rest for 30 seconds, alternating swings and rest for 5-20 minutes.”

Many hardcore bodybuilding enthusiasts completely shy away from anything but the conventional form of exercises, such as bench pressing, squats, etc.  Well, not only is that not the only way to attain an incredible looking physique, but also there may be better moves…..such as incorporating plyometric moves.

Here’s what Adela Garcia, five-time Fitness Olympia winner, says about plyos, “As a fitness athlete, plyometrics are as important a part of my training as weights are.  I do plyo in every workout; things like box jumps, plyo pushups and lots of TRX (trainer exercises).  These condition me for my fitness routines, but also help with the muscle tone and conditioning.”

Rob Orlando, owner and trainer of Hybrid Athletics in Stamford, CT, recently wrote and posted a sample workout that he calls the “Benchmark”, which tests your overall level of physical fitness and strength.  As stated in his column, “Master it in less than 10 minutes and consider yourself a perfect “hybrid”.  Do three rounds of these lifts, performing three reps of each exercise in the first round, two in the second, and one in the third.  When you’ve hit all three rounds, run a mile as fast as you can.”

Here it is:
405-pound squat (3, 2, 1)
300-pound power clean (3, 2, 1)
205-pound military press (3, 2, 1)
1-mile run

According to the same magazine column, an elite time is considered 10 minutes – 3:30 for the lifts and 6:30 for the run.

Most of the time, whenever you see someone performing an exercise to help build and develop the upper chest, you’ll see them incline the bench at very high angles, at least 45 degrees or higher.  However, that’s way off.

Muscle & Fitness magazine recently posted “If you upper pecs are lagging and you’re benching away on the standard 45 degree incline bench, try dropping it to 15-30 degrees.  Research suggests that moves performed at 45 degrees place too much stress on the shoulders to adequately overload the upper pecs.”