Pre Workout Supplements To Boost Muscle Gains

Pre Workout Supplements To Boost Muscle Gains

The pre workout supplements are becoming really popular these days.This is probably because many of them really work and give the trainee instant benefits.

Good pre workout supplements contain ingredients that give the trainee more energy, better pumps, more power, and promote muscle growth.

What does a good pre workout supplement usually contain:

- Caffeine - It can be found in many foods or beverages, but the pre workout drinks contain higher quantities of it.Caffeine will give you immediate energy boost, help you get more intense workouts, and also it will increase your metabolism.

- NO boosters - A nitric oxide booster like  agmatine sulfate, arginine AKG, and citrulline malate can increase the blood flow and increase the pump you experience during an intense workout.Increased blood flow means your muscles are being fed an increased amount of oxygen and other needed nutrients so a nitric oxide booster also boosts muscle growth.

- Creatine - a good pre workout supplement will usually contain 2 or more grams of creatine per serving.Creatine helps in supplying energy to muscle cells by increasing the formation of ATP. (Adenosine Triphosphate)

- Beta alanine - It reduces the effect of burning in the muscles while training.Beta alanine helps buffer the acidity produced by hydrogen ion accumulation during the workout, which means delayed muscular fatique.Your pre-workout should contain a minimum of 1g beta-alanine per serving.

A pre workout supplement may contain additional ingredients than the listed above, but the above ingredients are the most common.Also when you buy a pre workout supplement make sure it contains the adequate doses of the ingredients that are listed on its label because you don't want to waste your money on a supplement that contains just high doses of caffeine or sugars. 

Strategies To Get Six Pack ABS

Four Strategies To Get A Six Pack

There are many articles on how to get six pack abs out there.The truth is there is no magic pill or a routine that will instantly give you six pack abs.Only hard work and dedication will take you there.Here are the basic strategies to follow on your way to a perfect six pack.

1.Diet is the key

Lots of trainees still believe that doing sit-ups or crunches will get them a six pack - WRONG. A well balanced diet is the key for ripped abs.Eat too much and you gain weight quickly, eat too little and you'll lose muscle mass.The key is to slowly reduce calories and experiment.Try to eat 300-500 calories less than you burn in a day.For an example if your maintenance calories are 2500 and you burn another 500 during your workout, that makes a caloric expenditure of 3000 calories a day.Eating around 2500-2700 calories a day is a good start in your fat loss journey. 

2.Cardio

You can do two types of cardio sessions.The first one is HIIT cardio and the second one is low intensity cardio.

Low intensity cardio is most effective when it's done in the morning on an empty stomach or right after a weightlifting workout when the levels of glycogen in the body are low.This forces the body to burn stored fat as fuel for your cardio session.

HIIT cardio is an intense form of cardio and should be treated the same as a weightlifting session.It usually lasts around 20 minutes and during that time you do a warm-up, a few intense sets of cardio , and a cool-down.Production of HGH is stimulated during this form of cardio. 
3.Training with weights
High reps and "pump" sets do not tone your body, they build endurance.Pumping and doing 15+ sets for a bodypart will not make you ripped or build muscle.Using compound exercises like bench press,military press,squat and deadlift combined with heavy weights is a key to losing body fat and gaining muscle.
4.Ab training with weights
Your abs are muscles just like every other muscle group.They grow when worked with weights and also need time to recover.Don't work them more than 2-3 times a week if you want results.

Everybody has a different body.Somebody will build muscle and lose fat easier than others.Someone will incorporate just one of the strategies with good results and someone will have to use all of the strategies to get a six pack.

ESSENTIAL EXERCISES :-

1. Crunches - To Failure X 3      Twice/week

2. Leg Raises - To failure X 3     Twice/week

3. Ab Machine - 25 X 3              Twice/week

4. Standing Dumbell Obliques  25 X 3 X Twice/week

How To Get Massive Shoulders

Broad Shoulders - How To Get Them

When it comes to upper body workouts, most of the trainees are mainly concerned with chest and how much they can bench press.But if you are after a better physical appearance, broad shoulders should be your priority. Broad shoulders make you look more fit and powerful, and are a characteristic that many men want, but few have.

Besides when you put a shirt on, no one can how big your chest is but they certainly spot massive shoulders.Also as I said, broad shoulder will make you more athletic an thinner.The higher your "shoulders to waist" ratio the fitter you will look.Sadly, only a small percent of people really know how the shoulders are built, how they function and how to train them properly.

The shoulders have three heads:

Lateral shoulder head - this is the part that is responsible for moving the arms sideways and the one that contributes the most to shoulder width.Two-time Mr. Olympia Larry Scott is a prefect example of how you can build broad shoulders with proper training and determination.

Anterior shoulder head - although the lateral head is the one that makes your shoulders look wider, it almost always stays underworked.That honor has the anterior head.It is the most worked (and probably even overworked) shoulder head.This happens from all the bench pressing, shoulder pressing and dips.

But probably the most underworked head is the posterior shoulder head.This head is extremely important in developing that "broad shoulders" look and depth in the shoulder region, because without it the shoulder will appear flat from the side.

So if you want to build wider shoulders you should mainly concentrate on the lateral an posterior head.There are three exercises that will develop these two shoulder heads and help you build broad shoulders.

1. Hang clean and press 3 x 6-8 reps
2. Side laterals 3 x 10 reps
3. Rear delt raise 3 x 10 reps

Remember, no one can see your chest and biceps with your clothes on, but everyone can see how athletic you are if you own a set of wide shoulders.

Tips To Improve Your Bench Press

6 Tips To Improve Your Bench Press

The bench press is often used to measure a guy’s power.How many times did you hear the question: "How much can you bench press?".Anyone that is more experienced in weightlifting knows that the bench press is no measurement for someones power, but it can be an great exercise to measure someones upper body strength.

Here are six tips that will help you to increase your bench press:

1.Correct grip width 

Your grip may help you or destroy your bench press.Closer grip will work more your triceps and shoulders than your chest.Wider grip will do quite the opposite - your pectoral muscles will do most of the work.Just the right grip will recruit your shoulders,chest muscles and triceps and will give you the greatest pressing power.Lower the bar until it touches your chest.In this position the forearms should be perfectly vertical if you want to generate more pressing power.

2.Correct breathing 

Inhale deeply while lowering the bar, inflating your chest as much as possible.This will shorten the distance the bar has to pass and increase your torso stability.As you press the bar off your chest don’t immediately blow out all your air. That will destabilize the chest and weaken the base you’re pushing from.Instead blow your air out through pursed lips.This will keep your torso stable while lifting the bar.

3.Work on your back

The lats are greatly responsible for keeping the bar in its path, and keeping the upper body tight to promote a solid base for muscular contraction.Wider back equals wider and more stable base that can support more weight.The second thing you need to work on is the back thickness.Thicker back means shorter distance the bar will travel.

4.Squeeze the shoulder blades together
When you squeeze the shoulder blades you'll find out that you’re not only more stable on the bench but your shoulders are in a stronger pressing position your torso is a little thicker.This will also shorten the distance the bar travels.

5.Leg drive

Pressing with your legs can help you tremendously when you are in the bottom bench press position.You actually use your legs to slide yourself up the bench. But because the weight is holding you down, that force helps push the weight up.

6.Using chains in your training
The purpose of chains in the bench press is to build speed in the bottom position of the bench press. As we lower the bar to our chest the chains should role into a pile on the floor. As you press the bar up, the chains come off the floor with the bar making the weight heavier. 

Remember, you have to watch out NOT to ovretrain,eat right, and get plenty of rest if you want to increase your bench press or improve any other exercise.

Steve Cook MUSCLE BUILDING PROGRAM *must read*

Steve Cook Muscle Building Program

Learn all of Steve Cook's strategies and tips for packing on serious size. Workouts, meal plans, motivation-you'll find it all here!

Steve Cook's Fitness Program
Watch The Video - 10:45

Muscle Building Regimen

Nutrition

Meal 1:

• 8 Egg Whites
• 2 Whole Eggs
• 1 serving Veggies (Peppers, Spinach)
• 60-80g Oats

Meal 2:

• 7 oz lean Protein (White Fish, Chicken, Turkey, Lean Steak)
• 70g Carbs (Brown Rice, Sweet Potato or Ezekiel Bread)

Meal 3: Post-Workout Shake

• 40g Protein
• 50-100g Carbs in the form of Waxy Maize Starch and Maltodextrin

Meal 4:

About an hour after my Post-Workout Shake I have a solid meal of:

• 7 oz of Lean Meat
• 70-90g of Complex Carbs (Whole Wheat Pasta, Brown Rice,Sweet Potato)
• 1 serving Veggies

Meal 5:

• 7oz Lean Meat
• 1 serving Veggies
• 10-20g of Healthy Fats (Almond/Almond Butter, or Avocado, orOlive Oil)

Meal 6:

• Wholly Oats Protein Bar (if I'm at work) or the same as Meal 5

Meal 7:

• 1.5 scoops of Casein Protein
• 10-20g of Healthy Fats (Almond/Almond Butter, or Avocado, orOlive Oil)

Training

I don't think just one workout works the best. I am constantly changing rep rage, rep tempo and volume to make sure the muscle is always being shocked into new growth.

In the off season I try to focus on the basics and doing heavy compound movements to build that dense hard muscle.

I feel like this gives me the best bang for my buck. I like Dorian Yates routine, I really like FST7, and even some Arnold type workouts with a lot of sets and reps.

Day 1: Quads/Hams/Calves

EXERCISE 1

 Leg Extensions
2 warm up sets of 15 reps, 1 working set of 10-12 reps to failure 
Increasing weight (1 min rest between sets)

EXERCISE 2

 Leg Press
2 warm up sets of 10-12 reps, 1 working set of 10-12 reps to failure 
Desired weight (1 min rest between sets)

EXERCISE 3

 Hack Squat
2 warm up sets of 10-12 reps, 1 working set of 10-12 reps to failure 
Desired weight (1 min rest between sets)

EXERCISE 4

 Seated Hamstring Curl
1 warm up set of 10-12 reps, 1 working set of 10-12 reps to failure 
Desired weight (1 min rest between sets)

EXERCISE 5

 Stiff-Legged Deadlift
1 warm up set of 10-12 reps, 1 working set of 10-12 reps to failure 
Desired weight (1 min rest between sets)

EXERCISE 6

 Calf Press on Leg Press
1 warm up set of 10-12 reps, 3 rest-pause sets to failure 
Desired weight (10-15 sec rest between sets)

EXERCISE 7

 Seated Calf Raise
1 warm up set of 10-12 reps, 1 working set of 6-8 reps to failure 
Desired weight (1 min rest between sets)

Get A Printable Log Of Day 1.

Printable Page PDF Document

Day 2: Chest/Biceps/Abs

EXERCISE 1

 Decline Bench Press
2 warm up sets of 10-12 reps, 1 working set of 6-8 reps to failure 
Desired weight (1 min rest between sets)

EXERCISE 2

 Incline Dumbbell Press
1 warm up set of 10-12 reps, 1 working set of 6-8 reps to failure 
Desired weight (1 min rest between sets)

EXERCISE 3

 Flat Bench Dumbbell Flyes
1 warm up set of 10-12 reps, 1 working set of 6-8 reps to failure 
Desired weight (1 min rest between sets)

EXERCISE 4

 Dumbbell Concentration Curl
1 warm up set of 10-12 reps, 1 working set of 6-8 reps to failure 
Desired weight (1 min rest between sets)

EXERCISE 5

 Hammer Curl
2 working sets of 6-8 reps to failure 1 min rest between sets

EXERCISE 6

 Standing Barbell Curls
2 working sets of 8-10 reps to failure 
Desired weight (1 min rest between sets)

SUPERSET 1

 Knee Ups
3 working sets to failure 

 Crunches
3 working sets to failure 

SUPERSET 2

 Cable Crunch
3 sets to failure 

 Decline Reverse Crunch
3 sets to failure 

Get A Printable Log Of Day 2.

Printable Page PDF Document

Day 3: Cardio

CARDIO

 Cardio Only

Day 4: Back/Triceps/Calves

EXERCISE 1

 Dumbbell Pullover
2 warm up sets of 10-12 reps, 1 working set of 8-10 reps to failure 
Desired weight (increase weight between sets)

EXERCISE 2

 Close-Grip Pulldown
1 warm up set of 10-12 reps, 1 working set of 8-10 reps to failure 
Desired weight (1 min rest between sets)

EXERCISE 3

 One-Arm Dumbbell Row
1 warm up set of 10-12 reps, 1 working set of 8-10 reps to failure 
Desired weight (1 min rest between sets)

EXERCISE 4

 Wide Grip Cable Row
1 warm up set of 10-12 reps, 1 working set of 8-10 reps to failure Desired weight (1 min rest between sets)

EXERCISE 5

 Barbell Deadlifts
1 warm up set of 10-12 reps, 1 working set of 8-10 reps to failure 
Desired weight (1 min rest between sets)

EXERCISE 6

 Triceps Pushdown
1 warm up set of 10-12 reps, 1 working set of 8-10 reps to failure 
Desired weight (1 min rest between sets)

EXERCISE 7

 Lying Triceps Extensions
1 warm up set of 10-12 reps, 1 working set of 8-10 reps to failure 
Desired weight (1 min rest between sets)

EXERCISE 8

 Seated Triceps Press
1 warm up set of 10-12 reps, 1 working set of 8-10 reps to failure 
Desired weight (1 min rest between sets)

EXERCISE 9

 Calf Press on Leg Press
1 warm up set of 10-12 reps, 3 rest-pause sets to failure 
Desired weight (10-15 sec rest between sets)

EXERCISE 10

 Seated Calf Raise
1 warm up set of 10-12 reps, 1 working set of 6-8 reps to failure 
Desired weight (1 min rest between sets)

Get A Printable Log Of Day 4.

Printable Page PDF Document

Day 5: Delts/Traps/Abs

EXERCISE 1

 Dumbbell Shoulder Press
1 warm up set of 10-12 reps, 1 warm up set of 8-10 reps, 1 working set of 6-8 reps to failure 
Desired weight (1 min rest between sets)

EXERCISE 2

 Side Lateral Raise
1 warm up set of 10-12 reps, 1 working set of 8-10 reps to failure 
Desired weight (1 min rest between sets)

EXERCISE 3

 Low Pulley Delt Raise
1 set of 6-8 reps to failure 
Each arm

EXERCISE 4

 Reverse Dumbbell Flyes
1 warm up set of 10-12 reps, 1 working set of 8-10 reps to failure 
Desired weight

EXERCISE 5

 Barbell Shrugs
1 warm up set of 12-15 reps, 2 working sets of 8-10 reps to failure Desired weight

EXERCISE 6

 Upright Row
1 warm up set of 12 reps, 2 working sets of 8-10 reps to failure 
Desired weight

SUPERSET 1

 Knee Ups
3 working sets to failure 

 Crunches
3 working sets to failure 

SUPERSET 2

 Cable Crunch
3 sets to failure 

 Decline Reverse Crunch
3 sets to failure 

Get A Printable Log Of Day 5.

Printable Page PDF Document

Day 6: Cardio

CARDIO

 Cardio Only

Day 7: Repeat

Supplementation

What I Use:

• Opti-men (Multivitamin)
• ON BCAAS
• ON Glutamine
• ON HMB
• ON Creatine
• ON Fish Oil
• ON Protein Powder (100% Gold Standard, Hydrowhey &Casein)
• Beta Alanine
• ON AmiN.O. Energy
• Green Tea
• ON ZMA
• ON Nitric Boost
• ON Gylcomaize

How I Use Them:

I always follow the instructions on the product. Most stuff is either morning, pre/post workout, and/or at night.

Steve Cook's Personal Philosophy

Nutrition

Nutrition is the most important aspect when it comes to being healthy and in shape. By eating lean protein, complex carbs, veggies and healthy fats you will provide your body and mind with the proper nutrients it needs.

By staying away from fast foods, sugary sweets, and anything with hydrogenated oils, you look and feel better.

Training

Motivation is key! My Motivation comes from a deep love for weights and to see how far I can push myself everyday in the weight room. I want to be the best I can genetically be. As healthy and as strong and lean as possible.

I sometimes have to remind myself not to overdo it. As I've gotten older I realized how important recovery is. Ultimately I want to be the next Steve Reeves...

I want a body that is appealing to the masses. My goal is to have the perfect balance of size, shape and symmetry.

Supplementation

While good quality supplements can make a difference (especially when dieting) they aren't an excuse to have poor nutrition and sleep habits.

By taking the right supplements for your goals and in the right amount, one can achieve results faster than without supplementing. It's important to know exactly what you are putting into your body.

Follow the instructions...just because some is good doesn't mean more is better!