Fat Loss HIIT Workout 7/19/14

Download interval timer:

Body weight squat:
45sec work, 15sec rest (10 rounds)

Alternating lunge:
45sec work, 15sec rest (10 rounds)

Push up:
15sec work, 15sec rest (10 rounds)

Mountain climber:
30sec work, 30sec rest (10 rounds)

Chest Workout 7/3/14

                                         

Incline Dumbell Press - 5 sets of 10 reps

Incline Barbell Press - 5 sets of 10 reps

Cable Cross Overs - 5 sets of 10 reps

Body Weight Dips - 5 sets till Failure

-10 min Cardio: Elliptical

Please contact us directly if you are interested in started a training program 860-796-8959

Principles Of Getting Shredded: 20 Nutritional Tips For A Leaner You

As you proceed along the fitness lifestyle path, it is inevitable that at some point you will desire to display your physique in the best way possible. Whether your goal is to compete, look better at the beach or at a special occasion, be more attractive to the opposite sex or take pride in your hard work and accomplishments, nutritional manipulation through dieting as well as dedication to a rational plan remains the best route to revealing the fruits of your labor.

Over the years, we have found that these are the most significant facets for eliminating bodyfat, which can obscure muscle definition. Consider them when putting together a dieting program that lets you exhibit your physique at its best.

1 Calories Are The Tipping Point

There are numerous tricks you can implement to help burn bodyfat. The key principle above all others is to create a calorie, or energy, deficit to stimulate the body to burn bodyfat as fuel. That means eating less, whether it be fewer calories from dietary fat, carbs or a combo of the two.

2 Calorie Deficits: Weekly Approach

Conventional wisdom states that you have to eat fewer calories daily to shed fat. Not true. On average, you have to eat fewer calories over a seven-day period to drop bodyfat. You can fudge a bit by eating fewer calories than normal for a couple of days, followed by a couple of very strict days and then a few days where you eat roughly what you did before starting the diet.

3 Protein Needs Rise During Dieting

When excess calories from dietary fat and carbs are removed from a diet, the body burns small amounts of amino acids from protein or, worse, muscle mass when calories decline. The extra protein protects muscle loss, because it can be burned in lieu of muscle tissue.

4 Aggressive Dieting Leads Nowhere

If you cut calories too drastically, the body tries to hoard energy by slowing down its metabolism, the calorie-burning mechanism in the body.
Moderate cuts in calories, such as decreasing daily caloric intake by 200-400 per day (or 1,400-2,800 per week), allows the body to tap into fat reserves without throwing the metabolism into a tailspin.

5 The Role Of Protein

Of the three sources of energy (carbohydrates, protein and dietary fat), protein has the least impact on fat storage. Overeating calories from carbs and dietary fat will lead to their accumulation as bodyfat. That’s not to say you can, or should, gorge on protein. It means you should add more protein from chicken, turkey or fish instead of snacking on additional carbs or fat to satiate hunger.

6 “Step-Up” Dieting Preserves Muscle & Promotes Fat Loss

Although reducing dietary fat and carbs results in fat loss, keeping carbs down for a prolonged period (more than seven days) can deplete glycogen (stored carbs) reserves in muscle. Low glycogen can trigger the burning of metabolically active muscle tissue. Increasing carb intake by 100-200 grams once each week should replenish glycogen reserves sufficiently to avoid muscle loss and may even increase the metabolism.

7 Thermogenics Offset Metabolic Downturns

Synephrine, evodiamine and capsaicin are common thermogenic agents. They stimulate the nervous system to increase the production of norepinephrine, which, in turn, causes fat cells to release and burn bodyfat. Thermogenics are predominantly helpful in preventing the metabolic slowdown that comes with long-term dieting.

8 Overdieting Has Its Place

Sometimes you have to go to the extreme. A very-low-carb day once every 10 to 12 days, during which you limit your carbs to just 50-80 g, can trick the body into greater fat loss by lowering glycogen reserves. That amplifies fat burning.

9 Disrupt The Regimen

Over time, all diets ultimately cause slowing of the metabolism. When you hit a true “nothing works” roadblock, get off your diet! Eat anything you want for a couple of days within reason. Load up on “good” carbs and fat before returning to the diet. This splurge will kick up thyroid hormones, which tend to spiral downward with long-term dieting. Once you’re back on your diet, your body will resume burning bodyfat.

10 Fiber Is A Wild Card

Let’s compare two diets with equal amounts of calories and carbohydrates, with the sole difference being the source of carbs. One diet comprises fast-digesting near-fiber-free carbs, such as rice cakes, white rice, white bread and cold cereals. The other comprises slower-digesting fiber-dense carbs, such as oatmeal, whole-grain bread, beans, brown rice and sweet potatoes. The fiber-dense approach will likely result in greater long-term fat loss. Why? Higher amounts of insulin are generally associated with greater fat storage and lower fat burning.
Fiber slows the digestion of carbs, which moderates insulin secretion.

11 Glutamine Boosts Recovery & Conserves BCAA’s

Glutamine spares the burning of branched-chain amino acids, which are used in greater amounts when calories decline. Glutamine has also been found to increase metabolic rate and fat burning. Try 5 g of BCAAs before training and another 5 g after training, as well as with breakfast and before bed.

12 Low Blood Sugar Amps Fat loss

When you train with restricted amounts of glucose from carbs in the bloodstream, the natural, training-induced release of the fat-burning hormone norepinephrine exerts a greater impact on fat cells. That’s why the pretraining meal should be a combo of easy-to-digest protein, such as whey protein, with relatively limited amounts of carbs (less than 20 g). Particularly, the carbs should be slow-digesting types, such as fruit, oatmeal, Cream of Rye cereal or whole-grain bread.

13 Fish: A Dieters Best Friend

Many types of fish are virtually fat free and when you deprive the body of the fatty acids found in dietary fat, it encourages the breakdown of bodyfat to make up for the fatty-acid shortfall. The result when you add fish to your eating plan: you will burn more fat.

14 Fatty Fish Also Assist

Even “high fat” fish, such as salmon, bluefish, mackerel and tuna steaks, are “leaner” than protein foods that have comparable amounts of dietary fat, such as red meat, cheese or eggs. These fish sources provide omega-3 fatty acids, which encourage the body to take glucose from carbs and repartition it, sending it down glycogen-storing pathways rather than fat-storing ones.
A four-month study demonstrated that 63 overweight subjects who ate higher-fat fish daily lost more weight than those eating fish only once per week.

15 Ratios Are Important

Calories count, and so does the source of the calories. Check out this study. Two groups of women followed a 1,600-calorie daily diet that included 50 g of fat. The difference was that one group went with higher protein and fewer carbs, while the other followed a higher-carb, lower-protein menu. After 10 weeks, both segments lost a similar amount of weight, but a closer look reveals that the higher-protein group had higher thyroid levels and metabolic rates, lost 18% more fat and retained 27% more muscle. The takeaway message: the type of calories affects fat loss. When in doubt, the way to go is more protein and fewer carbs.

16 No Carbs Before Bed

A secondary goal while dieting is to maximize GH output. GH spares the burning of muscle, thereby propping up the metabolism and encouraging the breakdown of bodyfat. GH levels rise in the first 90 minutes of sleep, but the total amount of glucose (from digested carbs) in the blood affects GH release. In short, a low blood-glucose level allows for maximal GH release. Abstain from carbs in the final meal (or two) before bed.

17 Frequent Meals

If you are eating fewer weekly calories than your body is accustomed to, nothing beats eating at least five times a day. Small meals impact fat loss by preventing the metabolism from slowing. They also keep energy levels more stable and ward off feelings of hunger, which is helpful to a dieter trying to get by on less food.

18 Fat Fighters: GLA & CLA

Gamma linolenic acid is an essential fatty acid common to borage oil and black currant seed oil. Conjugated linoleic acid is a fatty acid contained in dairy foods and beef (both are available in supplement form). GLA appears to induce the fat surrounding the spinal cord and organs, sometimes called metabolically inactive fat, to burn calories similar to muscle tissue. CLA likely affects hormone-sensitive lipase levels. HSL acts as a gatekeeper on fat cells to determine when to “open up,” so fat can be burned. CLA can upgrade HSL activity, making you leaner.

19 Never Emphasize Cutting Calories Over Muscle Retention

The minute you cut calories too far, you start compromising muscle mass. Burning muscle, in turn, significantly impairs your long-term objective by slowing down the metabolic rate. As metabolism slows, continued fat loss becomes nothing more than an exercise in futility.

20 Take A Total Break

The body simply does not respond well to continually pushing past the boundaries of lower-calorie intake, especially when implementing all kinds of diet and training strategies. When the body no longer responds, the ideal remedy is to take two or three days off from training while consuming a reasonable menu before beginning again. It’s a contrarian approach, yet it can be remarkably effective.

14 Laws of Fat Burning

1) Eat Less, Stupid

Step one in burning fat revolves around simple math. You have to eat fewer calories than the body is accustomed to in order to drop body fat. When a calorie short fall is created, the body responds by digging into body fat reserves to make up the difference. Presto; you become leaner. All other laws aside, this one heads the list every time, no matter what dietary approach you take. The easiest way to control calories is to eliminate excess dietary fat. That means no butter, oils, salad dressings (fat free is ok) – skin on chicken, substitute egg whites for whole eggs, get off whole milk dairy products and ditch the marbled red meats. 

2) Curtail Carbohydrates

Though calorie control is a must, hormonal control is nearly as important. Hormones, coupled with calories, govern fat burning. Control fat storing hormones and expect to ramp up fat burning and experience better results. The ideal way to suppress fat storing hormones is to control your carb intake because carbs kick up insulin, a hormone that inhibits fat breakdown. Eat less carbs and insulin levels tend to moderate leaving you free to burn more body fat. The common sense approach includes “halfing” your carb portions. If you tend to eat a large bagel for breakfast, eat a smaller one. If you eat a couple cups of pasta for dinner, just eat one. In time, you’ll see the effects of insulin control.

3) Stress Protein

Is a calorie truly a calorie? I guess so, but how different types affect your body and your results throws a monkey-wrench into that concept. Here’s why. Dietary fat is more “fattening” than protein or carbs because it is less likely to be used for something in the bodybuilding world. Carbs? Though they potentially make you fat, they directly fuel your training. Protein? That’s a no-brainer. It builds muscle. Fat? Hmm. It does neither. Not to say it is not needed at all. In small amounts it supports vitamin absorption and helps manufacture hormones. However, if you are trying to get ripped, skip it. Protein, on the other hand, not only adds to your muscle – which is key in boosting the metabolism - but it actually causes a small increase in metabolism. That’s one reason diets that include a lot of protein result in greater fat loss than diets with less protein, albeit the same amount of calories. The higher protein content creates a metabolic uptick which, over time, leads to greater fat loss.

4) Avoid Simple Carbs

If a calorie is not a calorie, heck a carb is not a carb. Different carbs create different hormonal states that affect fat loss. In short, fast acting carbs also known as refined carbs or those that head a glycemic rating list tend to create a larger insulin burst. Elevated insulin can seal off fat cells making fat loss difficult, especially in those who struggle to drop fat and inches. Simple carbs include white bread, cold cereal, rice cakes, jams, fat free muffins, and juice. Other poor choices include white rice, bagels, mashed potatoes and even white potatoes.

5) Slow Digestion

This insulin thing is really a big deal. The total amount of insulin the body releases is related to “how many” carbs you eat at a sitting. Refer to Law #2. If you were eating 2 cups of rice and switched to 1 cup, sure there’s a calorie reduction, but there’s an insulin drop too. Implement Law 4, and expect to produce less insulin by eating 1 cup of oatmeal yielding 50 grams of carbs then a cup of cold breakfast cereal. Why? Speed. Refined carbs, the cold cereal, digest quickly raising insulin levels. When you can get food to digest slower, less insulin is released. The result; a greater chance to burn fat. One way to slow digestion includes eating carbs with protein- never eat carbs alone. The other requires you eat a lot of veggies with meals such as; broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, and salads. They actually slow the breakdown or digestion rate of all carbs moderating insulin release. 

6) Never Eat Carbs At Bed

Once again, it’s about hormones. The body naturally produces a fat liberating hormone called growth hormone (GH) within the initial 90 minutes of sleep. GH not only increases fat burning but is required to build mass and strengthen the immune system. Turns out, carbs put a damper on GH release so it’s ideal to go to bed under two scenarios. One, on an empty stomach or two having consumed only protein, such as a whey drink or chicken or lean meat and a small amount of vegetables. No carbs. This allows blood sugar, the hi-tech name for digested carbs circulating in the blood, to remain low which facilitates the rise in nocturnal GH production.

7) Use a GH Releasing Product at Night.

GH is a hormone that increases levels of a fat freeing enzyme called hormone sensative lipase (HSL). Generally, within the first 90 minutes of sleep GH levels rise which, in turn increases HSL levels to promote fat burning .GH also interferes with muscle breakdown that can occur while dieting especially when calories are very low. By blocking musle breakdown, the body retains its muscle mass and greater muscle retention is correlated with an elevated metabolism. I formulated GH Accelerator to be used at night to enhance GH release which, over time, will help the body hold mass, maintain its metabolism and drop body fat

8) Meal Plans

Sure. It’s calories and hormones. But it’s also the way your body handles the food you eat and whether it deposits food into muscle or body fat. Meal frequency, how many times you eat each day, affects the overall metabolism. Every time you eat, the body’s calorie burning engine, also known as metabolism, slightly increases. So, if you eat 6 times a day, you’ll experience a greater metabolic uptick then 4 or 5 meals and 7 times would be even better then 6. That’s one way to lean down, without having to drastically reduce calories. Frequent feedings tends to increase the chance that what you eat makes its way towards and into muscle tissue rather then be packed away as body fat.

9) Prioritize the Post Training Meal.

After you train, it’s difficult to gain body fat. Why? Depleted, broken down muscles “soak up” both protein and carbs for growth and recovery. If you eat too little here, you may actually set your self backwards by impeding recovery. Supporting recovery and growth actually increases the metabolism while impeding it slows the metabolism. Try 40-50 grams of easier to digest protein like whey powder, fish or ground turkey breast along with a hefty serving of carbs; a large potato, 2 cups of rice or pasta. Point here: don’t be afraid to eat a generous portion of carbs, even simple carbs, along with lean protein. It jumpstarts growth and supports the metabolism.

10) Leverage Epinephrine Levels.

When you hit the gym, the body releases a fat liberating messenger called epinephrine. It attaches itself to fat cells allowing fat to be burned as fuel. Caffeine coupled with extracts of oolong tea, vinpocetine, and evodiamine augment the natural epinephrine blast creating a greater rise in this potent fat burning chemical. The idea; to maximize fat burning by elevating or prolonging epinephrine levels. (Chris’note: Nordrenalean is designed to increase Epinepherine levels) Carbs come into play here as well. Refined carbs before training suppress the exercise and supplement induced epinephrine rise compared to eating the same amount of carbs derived from slower digesting carbs. So make sure the meal before training contains protein, say 20-40 grams, and just enough carbs to help you train hard all the way thru your workout (30-50 grams). Stick with slow digesting carbs like oat bran, oatmeal, rye toast, brown rice and yams.

11) Empty Your Glycogen Stores Once Every 2 weeks

Glycogen is a term for the unused and stored form of carbs located in muscles. When glycogen stores begin to peak, from eating plenty of carbs, the body upgrades its fat storing ability. As glycogen stores fall, fat burning increases. One way to ensure you are burning through body fat is to take two consecutive days out of every 2 weeks and drag your total carbs down to less then 60 grams a day. This ensures you burn thru glycogen stores which, in turn, signals the body to burn more fat. After two days, you can return to a more normal, though not excessive, carb intake.

12) Do Cardio At the Right Time

Cardio exerts two benefits. It burns calories and it changes hormones in the body. Specifically, cardio helps raise norepinephrine levels. However, when you do cardio makes a big difference in the way your body handles the hormone change. Cardio on an empty stomach in a “hungry” state allows norepinephrine to readily target fat cells triggering maximal fat burn. On the flip side, if you eat, then do your cardio, the “hungry” state is disrupted, another fat blocking hormone, insulin, rises making norepinephrine less effective at liberating and burning fat. In a game of inches - no pun intended - every fat burning advantage is a must.

13) Train Until You’re Beat, Not Dead

The age old question: how many sets do you need and how long, time wise, should you spend in the gym each day. The answer will vary from person to person, but use this guide in burning fat. Always train until you are pretty beat up. After all , you have to train hard enough to stimulate muscle growth. However, don’t go overboard and train until you are flattened, dead, exhausted beyond hope. That type of kamikaze training may satisfy your ego, but truth-be-told, it kicks your anabolic hormones, those that build muscle, in the derriere. How’s it tie in to fat burning? Serious fat loss requires you to retain muscle mass because muscle is the body’s primary metabolic driver. If you train way past the point of feeling decent, hormones that support muscle repair free fall and the metabolic rate, the calorie burning engine which is intimately tied to muscle mass, follows suit.

14) Pump Up the Volume

Do more. Ok, sounds like it could violate law #13 and wipe you out, so you have to use this one judiciously. When you do more sets and reps, or do the same workout you typically do yet fit it into a shorter time frame, you ultimately end up forcing glycogen stores to drop. Once that occurs, muscles run low in carbs, fat burning increases and hormones that favor fat burning ratchet up a bit. The plus here is that you can get leaner by doing more volume, the potential downside is you may end up flattened and dead which could crush anabolic hormones. The solution is to simply implement the higher volume training on every 3rd or 4th week to ensure you benefit without taking a good thing too far.

by Chris Aceto

Guide To Achieving a Ripped Physique

Over the years, we have found that these are the most significant facets for eliminating bodyfat, which can obscure muscle definition. Consider them when putting together a dieting program that lets you exhibit your physique at its best.

1 Calories Are The Tipping Point

There are numerous tricks you can implement to help burn bodyfat. The key principle above all others is to create a calorie, or energy, deficit to stimulate the body to burn bodyfat as fuel. That means eating less, whether it be fewer calories from dietary fat, carbs or a combo of the two.

2 Calorie Deficits: Weekly Approach
Conventional wisdom states that you have to eat fewer calories daily to shed fat. Not true. On average, you have to eat fewer calories over a seven-day period to drop bodyfat. You can fudge a bit by eating fewer calories than normal for a couple of days, followed by a couple of very strict days and then a few days where you eat roughly what you did before starting the diet.

3 Protein Needs Rise During Dieting
When excess calories from dietary fat and carbs are removed from a diet, the body burns small amounts of amino acids from protein or, worse, muscle mass when calories decline. The extra protein protects muscle loss, because it can be burned in lieu of muscle tissue.

4 Aggressive Dieting Leads Nowhere
If you cut calories too drastically, the body tries to hoard energy by slowing down its metabolism, the calorie-burning mechanism in the body.
Moderate cuts in calories, such as decreasing daily caloric intake by 200-400 per day (or 1,400-2,800 per week), allows the body to tap into fat reserves without throwing the metabolism into a tailspin.

5 The Role Of Protein
Of the three sources of energy (carbohydrates, protein and dietary fat), protein has the least impact on fat storage. Overeating calories from carbs and dietary fat will lead to their accumulation as bodyfat. That’s not to say you can, or should, gorge on protein. It means you should add more protein from chicken, turkey or fish instead of snacking on additional carbs or fat to satiate hunger.

6 “Step-Up” Dieting Preserves Muscle & Promotes Fat Loss
Although reducing dietary fat and carbs results in fat loss, keeping carbs down for a prolonged period (more than seven days) can deplete glycogen (stored carbs) reserves in muscle. Low glycogen can trigger the burning of metabolically active muscle tissue. Increasing carb intake by 100-200 grams once each week should replenish glycogen reserves sufficiently to avoid muscle loss and may even increase the metabolism.

7 Thermogenics Offset Metabolic Downturns
Synephrine, evodiamine and capsaicin are common thermogenic agents. They stimulate the nervous system to increase the production of norepinephrine, which, in turn, causes fat cells to release and burn bodyfat. Thermogenics are predominantly helpful in preventing the metabolic slowdown that comes with long-term dieting.

8 Overdieting Has Its Place
Sometimes you have to go to the extreme. A very-low-carb day once every 10 to 12 days, during which you limit your carbs to just 50-80 g, can trick the body into greater fat loss by lowering glycogen reserves. That amplifies fat burning.

9 Disrupt The Regimen
Over time, all diets ultimately cause slowing of the metabolism. When you hit a true “nothing works” roadblock, get off your diet! Eat anything you want for a couple of days within reason. Load up on “good” carbs and fat before returning to the diet. This splurge will kick up thyroid hormones, which tend to spiral downward with long-term dieting. Once you’re back on your diet, your body will resume burning bodyfat.

10 Fiber Is A  Wild Card
Let’s compare two diets with equal amounts of calories and carbohydrates, with the sole difference being the source of carbs. One diet comprises fast-digesting near-fiber-free carbs, such as rice cakes, white rice, white bread and cold cereals. The other comprises slower-digesting fiber-dense carbs, such as oatmeal, whole-grain bread, beans, brown rice and sweet potatoes. The fiber-dense approach will likely result in greater long-term fat loss. Why? Higher amounts of insulin are generally associated with greater fat storage and lower fat burning.
Fiber slows the digestion of carbs, which moderates insulin secretion.

11 Glutamine Boosts Recovery & Conserves BCAA’s
Glutamine spares the burning of branched-chain amino acids, which are used in greater amounts when calories decline. Glutamine has also been found to increase metabolic rate and fat burning. Try 5 g of BCAAs before training and another 5 g after training, as well as with breakfast and before bed.

12 Low Blood Sugar Amps Fat loss
When you train with restricted amounts of glucose from carbs in the bloodstream, the natural, training-induced release of the fat-burning hormone norepinephrine exerts a greater impact on fat cells. That’s why the pretraining meal should be a combo of easy-to-digest protein, such as whey protein, with relatively limited amounts of carbs (less than 20 g). Particularly, the carbs should be slow-digesting types, such as fruit, oatmeal, Cream of Rye cereal or whole-grain bread.

13 Fish: A Dieters Best Friend
Many types of fish are virtually fat free and when you deprive the body of the fatty acids found in dietary fat, it encourages the breakdown of bodyfat to make up for the fatty-acid shortfall. The result when you add fish to your eating plan: you will burn more fat.
14 Fatty Fish Also Assist
Even “high fat” fish, such as salmon, bluefish, mackerel and tuna steaks, are “leaner” than protein foods that have comparable amounts of dietary fat, such as red meat, cheese or eggs. These fish sources provide omega-3 fatty acids, which encourage the body to take glucose from carbs and repartition it, sending it down glycogen-storing pathways rather than fat-storing ones.
A four-month study demonstrated that 63 overweight subjects who ate higher-fat fish daily lost more weight than those eating fish only once per week.

15 Ratios Are Important
Calories count, and so does the source of the calories. Check out this study. Two groups of women followed a 1,600-calorie daily diet that included 50 g of fat. The difference was that one group went with higher protein and fewer carbs, while the other followed a higher-carb, lower-protein menu. After 10 weeks, both segments lost a similar amount of weight, but a closer look reveals that the higher-protein group had higher thyroid levels and metabolic rates, lost 18% more fat and retained 27% more muscle. The takeaway message: the type of calories affects fat loss. When in doubt, the way to go is more protein and fewer carbs.

16 No Carbs Before Bed
A secondary goal while dieting is to maximize GH output. GH spares the burning of muscle, thereby propping up the metabolism and encouraging the breakdown of bodyfat. GH levels rise in the first 90 minutes of sleep, but the total amount of glucose (from digested carbs) in the blood affects GH release. In short, a low blood-glucose level allows for maximal GH release. Abstain from carbs in the final meal (or two) before bed.

17 Frequent Meals
If you are eating fewer weekly calories than your body is accustomed to, nothing beats eating at least five times a day. Small meals impact fat loss by preventing the metabolism from slowing. They also keep energy levels more stable and ward off feelings of hunger, which is helpful to a dieter trying to get by on less food.

18 Fat Fighters: GLA & CLA
Gamma linolenic acid is an essential fatty acid common to borage oil and black currant seed oil. Conjugated linoleic acid is a fatty acid contained in dairy foods and beef (both are available in supplement form). GLA appears to induce the fat surrounding the spinal cord and organs, sometimes called metabolically inactive fat, to burn calories similar to muscle tissue. CLA likely affects hormone-sensitive lipase levels. HSL acts as a gatekeeper on fat cells to determine when to “open up,” so fat can be burned. CLA can upgrade HSL activity, making you leaner.

19 Never Emphasize Cutting Calories Over Muscle Retention
The minute you cut calories too far, you start compromising muscle mass. Burning muscle, in turn, significantly impairs your long-term objective by slowing down the metabolic rate. As metabolism slows, continued fat loss becomes nothing more than an exercise in futility.

20 Take A Total Break
The body simply does not respond well to continually pushing past the boundaries of lower-calorie intake, especially when implementing all kinds of diet and training strategies. When the body no longer responds, the ideal remedy is to take two or three days off from training while consuming a reasonable menu before beginning again.
It’s a contrarian approach, yet it can be remarkably effective.

by: Chris Aceto

Building Bigger Stronger Biceps with 21s

First you will need to pick a weight on a barbell, ez-curl, Dumbbells, or Resistances Bands that will be moderately challenging for you. Maybe about 70% of the weight you use for regular sets of 10. For example, being able to curl 110 pounds 10 times may require you to drop down to about 80 pounds for this particular exercise.

• The exercise is best described as doing 3 exercises back to back, isolating different parts of you biceps.
  
  
• The first movement you will be making is basically half of a curl. Have the bar at your waist and lift until your forearms are parallel to the floor, stop, lower the weight and repeat 7 times.
  
  
• Without rest, after your 7th rep, start in the position that you ended with in the last movement (forearms parallel to the floor) and then bring the bar to your neck, back down to the starting position and back up to your neck for 7 reps. This movement is basically the top half of the typical curl whereas the previous step was the bottom half.
  
  
• Now you have totaled 14 reps and your biceps should be on fire but its not over yet. To complete this exercise, finish it off with 7 more full motion curls to make the total 21 reps (Hence the name). Good Luck!

How To Get Ripped And Stunt On Them This Summer

If your working on getting more cut up and ripped for the summer so you can stunt on these fools. The 2 keys to getting ripped are Burning fat and adding definition to your muscle.

A great way to add definition is to do Isolation Exercises. I mentioned in an other post thatCompound Exercises are the best for adding size (and they are the best over all) but when it come to targeting a specific muscle and sculpting your body Isolation Exercises work well. Let me explain each.

What Are Isolation Exercises?

An isolation exercise is any exercise in which only one major muscle group is trained by itself. Typically, the movement is done in such a way where usage of all other muscle groups is avoided, which leaves one muscle group isolated and able to do all of the work.

Here’s a list of the most common isolation exercises along with the muscle it isolates/trains:

• Flat, Incline or Decline Flyes (dumbbell, cable or machine)

• Muscle Group Trained: Chest

• Lateral Raises or Front Raises (dumbbell, cable or machine)

• Muscle Group Trained: Shoulders

• Biceps Curls (barbell, dumbbell, cable or machine)

• Muscle Group Trained: Biceps

• Triceps Extensions (barbell, dumbbell, cable or machine)

• Muscle Group Trained: Triceps

• Leg Extensions

• Muscle Group Trained: Quads

• Leg Curls

• Muscle Group Trained: Hamstrings

• Calf Raises

• Muscle Group Trained: Calves

A compound exercise is any exercise that involves the use of more than one major muscle group at a time. Typically, there is one larger muscle group that ends up doing the majority of the work, and then one or more smaller muscle groups that are recruited secondarily.

Here’s a list of the most common compound exercises along with the primary and secondary muscle groups each one targets:

• Flat, Incline or Decline Bench Press (barbell, dumbbell or machine)

• Primary Muscle Group: Chest

• Secondary Muscle Groups: Shoulders, Triceps

• Overhead Shoulder Press (barbell, dumbbell or machine)

• Primary Muscle Group: Shoulders

• Secondary Muscle Group: Triceps

• Dips (on parallel bars with slight forward lean)

• Primary Muscle Group: Chest

• Secondary Muscle Groups: Triceps, Shoulders

• Rows (barbell, dumbbell, or machine)

• Primary Muscle Group: Back

• Secondary Muscle Group: Biceps

• Pull-Ups, Chin-Ups, Lat Pull-Downs (any type of grip)

• Primary Muscle Group: Back

• Secondary Muscle Group: Biceps

• Deadlifts (many variations)

• Primary Muscle Group: Posterior Chain (Hamstrings, Glutes, Back, etc.)

• Secondary Muscle Groups: Much Of Lower Body, Much Of Upper Body

• Squats (many variations)

• Primary Muscle Group: Quads

• Secondary Muscle Groups: Most Of Lower Body (Glutes/Hamstrings), Lower Back

HOW TO USE THEM

I want to present an analogy to describe what I believe to be a good approach to using both compound and isolation exercises.

I want to present an analogy to describe what I believe to be a good approach to using both compound and isolation exercises.

The artists receives their block of clay or stone and decides to make a piece that depicts the human body. The first thing the artist does is decides on the overall shape and dimensions of the body. The artist then carves off large pieces to get  the general shape of the body created. Once the general dimensions are figured out they begin to shape the body parts focusing progressively on the finer details.

So the message in this story is that the artists creates the sculpture by working out the largest aspects first and moving down to the details or finishing touches last.

So how does this apply to getting fit and building the physique you want?

Compound exercises relate to the overall shape of the body, whereas isolation exercises relate more to the finishing touches.

Compound Exercises are like the sledgehammer and Isolation Exercises are the chisel

I personally believe that the majority of your weight room exercises should be compound movements.

Compound exercises should be a major part of your programs -in fact I would say somewhere in the ballpark of 80% compound to 20% isolation is a good ratio.

by: Brandon Carter