Build Muscle Tips - how to build muscle: 2008

The Ultimate Muscle Meal Plan

With this article, I just wanted to share with you one of my special muscle meal plans that I love. Surprisingly, it actually comes in the form of a salad, but it is killer!

I know the ladies will love this idea, but for all of you guys out there that think eating a salad makes you less of a man... Well, you haven't tried my ultimate salad on roids yet!

Keep in mind that this salad is not low in calories. It's not low in fat. It's not low in carbs.

And guess what...that's the whole point! It's not low in anything, but it sure as hell is HIGH in everything under the sun that's good for your body... just about every vitamin, mineral, antioxidant, and phytonutrient on the planet! And that means your body will receive all the nutrition it needs to maintain optimal hormonal balance, function at it's highest capacity, keep your appetite satisfied for hours, and prevent any unwanted cravings.

Keep in mind that last point... when you fill your body with all of the nutrients it needs on a daily basis, you pretty much totally eliminate cravings! This happens because your body is satisfied and doesn't need to crave any more food, because it has all of the nutrients it needs.

I've experienced this myself. Years ago, I used to crave sweets ALL THE TIME. But now that I eat the balanced diet that I do these days, I can't say that I've had a craving in at least 5 years! No joke.

Alright, here's the special muscle meal plan recipe:

The Ultimate Muscle Salad

approx 1-2 cups spinach leaves
approx 1-2 cups mixed leaf lettuce
shredded carrots
1/2 of a ripe avocado, diced
2 hard boiled eggs, diced (preferrably organic, cage free)
3 Tbsp chopped pecans
1/4 cup dried cranberries
top with homemade dressing made of balsamic vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, and Udo's Choice Oil Blend (3/4 of total liquid should come from the vinegar)

Mix it all together and you've got one delicious and ridiculously nutritious salad. For an extra shot of antioxidants, wash it all down with some homemade iced green/white/oolong tea lightly sweetened with the natural sweetener Stevia or a little touch of raw honey.

Alright, now let's look at the approx macronutrient breakdown:

Prot: 23 g., Carbs: 48 g., Fiber: 12 g., Fat: 45 g., Calories: 650

Now before you throw your arms up in disgust and call me crazy for recommending such a high fat, high calorie meal, keep in mind to scale back the portion sizes for your own caloric goal. The portions above are simply the portions that I use considering that my maintenance caloric intake is around 3000 calories/day. If your maintenance is 2000 calories/day, then scale back the portions accordingly.

Also, I don't care about the high fat content of this meal... because every last gram of the fat in this meal is VERY healthy... from the pecans, the olive oil, the Udo's oil, the fresh avocado... and yes, even the fat from the eggs is good for you!

How about the carbs? Well, out of a total of 48 grams, you've got 12 grams of fiber. That's a pretty good ratio. Also, the healthy fats and protein in this meal will slow down the carbohydrate digestion, giving you a healthy glycemic response and steady controlled blood sugar.

Alright, so you're probably also wondering why there isn't a larger amount of protein. After all, protein is all the rage with bodybuilders, right. Well, actually 23 grams isn't too shabby, especially considering 14 grams of that comes from the highly bioavailable protein from the hard boiled eggs. Also consider that this meal has a whole lot of healthy fats, which increases the utilization of your protein. This happens because your body does not need to use your protein for energy, and can instead use it for muscle building or maintenance, and all of the other various functions that amino acids are needed for in the body.

Overall, with this meal plan, you've got a great mix of healthy fats, good fibrous carbs, quality protein, and a huge diversity of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and other trace nutrients.

Follow this link for more ideas on killer fat loss and muscle building programs.

Michael Geary (CPT) is a recognized Fitness Expert, owner of http://BusyManFitness.com, contributing writer for Muscle & Fitness Magazine, and author of the internationally-selling book, The Truth about 6-Pack Abs ?2004-2006.

Cardio Queen Syndrome

By now you are well aware that increased activity burns calories and fat. Exercise is essential to your health and well being, but could you be taking part in too much of a good thing? The old adage, more is not always better, is a good rule to live by.

When it comes to fat loss, you need to be in tune with your body and learn how to listen to it. The idea behind fat loss is to manipulate the body often. As long as you are a step ahead of your body's actions, you will be on top of the fat loss game.

What exactly does that mean? How do you stay a step ahead of your body? Let's explore this concept a little further.

Megan is an e-client of mine. When she began her fat loss endeavor she started cardio six days a week for forty-five minutes and saw great results in a matter of weeks. Her new cardio program was exhilarating. It pumped her up mentally and physically and gave her a newfound energy she hadn't felt in years.

It wasn't long before she extended her forty-five minute ritual to an entire hour for six days a week. With the extended time, she saw even more results. She was delighted.

Eventually, the daily hour cardio chore was wearing on her. Her changes ceased, she was constantly fatigued, and began to hate cardio with an intense passion.

To combat the plateau, she added yet...more cardio on top of fatigue and hatred for exercise. Her grueling hour sessions turned into an hour and fifteen minutes to even longer, an hour and a half.

Nothing is more aggravating than putting all your time and effort into something that takes you no where.

Her fat loss results stalled dead in their tracks and even seemed to reverse. How could something once so productive now be destroying her weight loss efforts?

What may surprise you is that excess cardio can be counterproductive. Any cardio or weight training session lasting over a continuous hour does more harm than good.

Keep Cardio Productive Cardio is heart healthy and it's a great exercise, but if your goal with cardio is to burn fat, you need to take it with a stride and make it fat burning productive.

I come across many ladies who are quite active. This is all fine and dandy, but when they are active and top that with teaching spinning classes, kickboxing, high energy videos, and general cardio machines, this can be a recipe for disaster, setting your further back than when you started.

Don't go overboard with cardio. Keep it simple, yet effective.

Cardio Intensity
Cardio intensity is a factor to keep fat burning beneficial. This does not mean to do an all out killer cardio routine that leaves you crawling from the gym in a near death status, but to simply shake things up a bit to force the body to respond.

A good way to master cardio is with HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training). There are many variations of HIIT and my favorite is the 2/2 ratio.

Example of 2/2 Ratio HIIT
Minutes 1-2 - Warm up
Minutes 3-4 - Low intensity
Minutes 5-6 - High intensity
Minutes 7-8 - Low intensity
Minutes 9-10 - High Intensity
Minutes 11-12 - Low intensity
Minutes 13-14 - High intensity
Minutes 15-16 - Low intensity
Minutes 17-18 - High Intensity
Minutes 19-20 - Low intensity
Minutes 21-22 - Cool down

With HIIT, your body never falls in a rut because you are constantly changing the intensity to prevent cardio adaptation.

Progressive Cardio
Another successful cardio tactic to use is Progressive Cardio. Your body can adapt to anything in a short amount of time and Progressive Cardio can stop adaptation before it occurs. Progressive Cardio is simply increasing your cardio each week by either the numbers of day or the amount of time to invite change and prevent staleness, provided you don't overdo it.

Example of Progressive Cardio
Week 1 - 4 times a week for 20 minutes
Week 2 - 4 times a week for 25 minutes
Week 3 - 5 times a week for 25 minutes
Week 4 - 5 times a week for 30 minutes

You will notice how each week is a step advanced from the previous. This is how you make cardio work in your favor to burn fat.

Adopt Weight Training
Have you even seen someone in the gym doing endless hours of cardio and still look soft and unfit? That is because she is lacking lean muscle, which is built from weight training and excessive cardio burns muscle.

Weight training builds lean muscle mass. The more muscle you add to your frame, the less you need to rely on cardio. Muscle is metabolically active and allows you to burn more calories at rest and at play. Of course, this does not mean to kick cardio to the curve, but having a balance of both in your program will keep things interesting and will give much better body transformation results.

Summary
Once you understand how you can manipulate cardio, you will be able to master the fat burning game. Realize that you don't need three or four different cardio methods stacked on top of one another. Just use cardio wisely and you will have the advantage. Remember, cardio is a fat loss tool, not the determining factor.

Karen Sessions has been in the fitness industry since 1988. She embarked on weight training to overcome an eating disorder, Anorexia Nervosa in its early stages. She overcame the eating disorder, received her personal training certificate, competed in many local bodybuilding contests, and qualified for Nationals. Since then she?s went on to write six e-books (weight loss, female bodybuilding, contest preparation, leg training, figure/fitness secrets, and cellulite removal). She writes articles for several fitness websites, as well as her own, www.theelitephysique.com, and also distributes a monthly e-newsletter. She has a very active and lively forum, filled with positive and supportive people with informative content. Karen?s sole goal is to educate others and help them apply that knowledge.

Up Your Max With Singles

There has always been a debate on whether or not performing a single rep during your workout is a good idea. Many people think that if you want to know how much you can lift for one rep you can simply look it up in a chart and avoid any chance of injury. Others feel that there simply is no reason to max out. I've heard people say that you should worry about perfect form and measure your success based on the way you look, not how much weight you are pushing. Granted, if you are a bodybuilder you may not need to do singles but for the rest of us inserting singles in a program can be helpful for various reasons. In fact I swear by them.

Let's face it everyone that lifts weights can't help but talk about it. Just the fact that you're bigger than most people you socialize with or meet will often spark a conversation on the topic. Whether your buddy lifts or knows nothing about it you are likely to be asked the question, How much can you bench press? Are you going to reply, I can do 315 lbs for 6 repetitions? It just doesn't paint the same picture as saying I put up 365 lbs. Maybe you could care less what people think and the bragging rights don't matter to you. However if you are a powerlifter or an Olympic lifter you will be tested with a one-rep max. Most high school and college football programs test their players with a one-rep max as well. If you don't practice the one rep lift how will you be prepared?

If somebody asks you what you bench press, you could always give them a projected max based on what the chart says right? Not necessarily. One of the most important reasons for doing singles is to break past barriers. Using our previous example, if you do 315 lbs for 6 reps you should be able to get a one-rep max of 365 lbs. This is not always the case. People set up limits in their minds that are tough to overcome. I swear I have seen people do 295 lbs for three reps but they just can't get 300 lbs. This has nothing to do with strength. This has to do with mental barriers and confidence issues. I personally would not tell someone my one rep max based on reps. If I know that I have never benched that weight than I just can't take credit for it based on a chart. Performing a single lift in the bench is a great way to build confidence. Nothing feels better than actually beating your personal best. If you keep doing singles you will break past sticking points and barriers that you have set for yourself. If you have a goal of benching 300 or 400 lbs the numbers can be very difficult to prepare for when you don't practice singles. Working your way up with singles will give you the confidence you need to reach your goals.

Many bodybuilders concentrate on their form and don't care about how much their max is. Lifting singles can actually help your form. When you are performing a one-rep max you have to have perfect form or you will not complete the lift successfully. When you are using lighter weight and doing many reps there is a lot of room for cheating and bad form. You can still complete the lift with sub par form by using other muscles to help. But, when you are maxing out you have only one chance to press the weight and to do so you need absolutely perfect form. You have to be mentally prepared and your groove has to be precise. There is no room for being sloppy. Before you start working out with singles it's a good idea to practice strict form with higher reps first. Developing perfect technique is the key to a heavy single. If you are lifting 275 with careless technique for five reps you won't be able to do a single of any significance. Build a base and let your body adjust to the heavier workloads. For 2 weeks lift with reps of five. After you have finished this stage you can progress and do sets of 3 reps. Now your form should be down and you have should have adjusted to lifting heavier weights. You can now insert singles to your routine that will help you in your quest for a big bench.

Exploit your weak areas with a single. Like I mentioned before there is more room for error when doing sets with higher reps. You may not be able to determine what aspect of the bench needs work. When you max out you will tend to see where you fell short. This is great for evaluating what area needs improvement. Maybe you couldn't lock out and you know that you need to work harder on your triceps. Lifting is all trial and error and the single is an effective way to measure your progress and assess what needs to be changed to break the stalemate.

Singles will help you develop a different kind of strength compared to lifting higher reps. When you lift heavy weights you bring your attachments into the lift. Tendons and ligaments are often the key to unlocking your potential. If you are constantly lifting with higher reps you don't activate your attachments. Functional strength lies in not in the muscles but in your tendons and ligaments. You've heard the expression that you are only as strong as your weakest link. Lifting heavier weight will strengthen your weakest link, which may not be getting the attention it so desperately deserves.

To follow are some tips for a successful single. Proper warm up is essential to prevent a tear. At the same time there is a balance between warming up and tiring yourself out. I recommend the following before doing a single.

Warm up set of 10 reps with a very light weight.
Set of 5-6 reps.
Set of 2-3 with a heavier weight.
Set for 1 rep with a weight closer to your max.
Perform your single.

Some experts think that when performing a single you need a shorter rest period between sets because the progression of sets in warm up is shorter than in your normal workout. Powerlifters will assume that because they are dealing with heavier weights they need a longer rest period between sets. I recommend waiting until you have completely returned to your normal breathing pace. Once this has happened get yourself mentally prepared and than it's time for another set. Don't wait so long that you get tight. Let somebody else do a set, get a drink of water and visualize your next lift. Performing a back off set at the end of your single lift will help you preserve the workload. It will also give you the pump that you are looking for.

Follow this advice and you can incorporate singles into your program. Doing them once a month is a good starting point but as you become more experienced it is okay to do them more often. Everyone is different so try for yourself and let singles help you build confidence, strengthen your attachments, exploit your weak point, develop perfect form, and break past your personal barriers.

Mike Westerdal is the owner of http://www.criticalbench.com He is a certified personal trainer, powerlifter, and muscle writer. He is also the author of the Critical Bench Program designed to help you increase your bench press by fifty pounds in ten weeks. Stop by http://www.criticalbench.com to see one of the biggest weight lifting portals on the Internet.

2 Simple Steps To Ripped Summertime Muscles

Summer is on the horizon, and the time has come to kick back and relax under the sun. It?s time for beach days, barbecues and pool parties, and for any serious weightlifter these activities also mean one thing: it?s time for the shirts to come off and to showcase that rock-solid physique they?ve been working on all year. No one wants to be walking around with a soft, smooth and flabby body, and for the next month or two, all of those serious lifters will be shifting into ?get ripped? mode.

How do they usually go about this?

They lighten up the weights and perform higher reps.

This has always been a widely accepted method of ?cutting down? and if you ask most trainers in the gym they?ll tell you that ?heavy weights bulk up the muscle and lighter weights define the muscle?.

Do you want to know the reality behind the ?light weight and high reps? method of obtaining a ripped and defined physique?

It is completely, totally and utterly DEAD WRONG.

It couldn?t be farther from the truth. In fact, there is no logical basis for this way of training whatsoever, and whoever dreamt up this downright ridiculous way of thinking has caused the vast majority of lifters to waste their time and impede their progress in the gym.

Let me clear this up once and for all: you CANNOT spot reduce. In other words, it is physically impossible to target fat loss from a specific area on your body. Performing bench presses with light resistance and high repetitions will not magically burn fat off of your chest or cause it to appear harder and more defined.

Every single time you wrap your hands around a barbell, dumbbell or cable, your goal is to stimulate as much muscle growth as you possibly can. There are no special, secret weightlifting exercises that will ?define? your muscles or cause them to become more ?ripped?.

Training with weights builds muscle mass, end of story.

So how exactly do you ?define? a muscle?

The only way to ?define? a muscle is by lowering your body fat level in order to make your muscles more visible. Body fat reduction can be achieved in two ways:

1) Modify your diet.

You should lower your overall caloric intake to around 15x your bodyweight and focus on consuming smaller meals more frequently throughout the day. This will keep your metabolism naturally raised at all times and will keep your body in a constant fat burning state. Limit your intake of saturated fats and simple sugars, and focus instead on consuming lean sources of protein and low glycemic carbohydrates. It is also very important to keep your water intake high at a level of around 0.6 ounces per pound of bodyweight.

2) Perform proper cardio workouts.

Let go of the traditional method of moderate intensity cardio in 30-45 minute durations. If you want to maximize your body?s fat burning capacity and also minimize the muscle loss that inevitably accompanies a fat burning cycle, focus on shorter cardio workouts performed at a high level of intensity. These types of workouts will shoot your resting metabolism through the roof and will allow you to burn maximum amounts of fat even when you are at rest. I recommend 3-5 high intensity cardio sessions per week, spaced at least 8 hours away from your weight workouts.

That?s all there is to it, folks. Take the notion of ?light weight and higher reps? and throw it right out the window, down the street and around the corner. Following this misguided method will only cause you to lose muscle mass and strength, and will not assist you in burning fat or defining your physique.

All you need to do to mold those rock-solid muscles for the summer time is this:

1) Train with heavy weights and low repetitions to build maximum muscle mass.

2) Modify your diet and implement cardio workouts to eliminate body fat and create visibly harder and more defined muscles.

End of story.

I?ll see you at the beach!

About The Author

Sean Nalewanyj is a bodybuilding expert, fitness author and writer of top-selling Internet Bodybuilding E-Book: The Truth About Building Muscle. Learn the honest truth about building maximum muscle in minimum time by visiting his website: http://www.MuscleGainTruth.com

Magnetic Therapy What Is It?

Magnet therapy involves the use of a magnetised device placed on or near the body to either facilitate healing or relieve pain.
The magnetic products available today come in many types. They can be attached to the skin, worn as jewellery, placed in your shoes, or slept on. Arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome, insomnia and headaches are among the list of ailments for which many people claim can benefit from magnet therapy. Although no one is sure how magnets work, supporters claim that they can have a profound effect on the body, particularly in the area of pain relief.

The use of magnets for medical purposes is not new; the ancient Greeks believed that natural magnetic rocks had therapeutic powers. In the sixteenth century a Swiss-born alchemist and physician, Philippus von Hohenheim, purportedly used magnets to draw illness from the body. Over the past decade, magnet therapy has become increasingly popular, especially among professional athletes who use it for aches and pains. Nearly 80 touring golf pros now use some form of magnetic therapy for help in relieving, muscle soreness, back pain, arthritis, and other ailments. Even so, magnet therapy remains controversial. Scientists have only recently begun the scientific research needed to persuade most mainstream doctors to add magnets to their medicinal arsenals, although the British National Health Service (NHS) has recently (March 2006) recommended doctors to prescribe magnetic knee wraps in preference to drugs.

How Does It Work?

The theory behind magnet therapy is that the fields produced by magnets can affect the functioning of individual cells in the body and improve the working of the nervous system and various organs. Exactly how the magnetic fields do this is unknown, but there are several theories. Some say that the electrical current created by magnets interrupts the transmission of pain signals in the nerves. Others claim magnets increase blood flow to an area, boosting the flow of oxygen and other nutrients, thereby reducing pain and swelling.

What You Can Expect

It is believed that magnets must be placed precisely to have an effect (they work best when placed over a body area that has some degree of intact circulation). Therefore it is best to do magnet therapy under the guidance of a therapist or doctor who is experienced in its use. However, many people choose to use magnets on their own.

If you are trying magnets for arthritis or other types of pain, you may be advised to purchase small magnetic devices that can be secured to the body elastic bandages, or Velcro.

Depending on how much pain you are experiencing, you might be advised to keep the magnets in place for as little as five minutes or to wear them for a number of hours every day for several weeks. If you are trying magnets to help with insomnia, your doctor may advise using a magnetic pillow or mattress pad.

Health Benefits

Magnetic therapy is most often used for pain, usually of the muscles, joints and back. Magnets have also been used to relieve post-surgery pain. Some suggest that magnets can reduce stress, as well as relieve insomnia and treat migraine. Others even claim that magnetic therapy can fight infection and improve central nervous system disorders, such as seizures. While research has shown that magnet therapy can indeed relieve pain, there is little solid evidence proclaiming its use for other ailments.

One study, published in the American Journal of Pain Management in 1999, showed that magnetic foot insoles were shown to be effective in reducing foot pain in those with diabetes.

How To Choose a Practitioner

Magnet therapy may be practiced by a therapist or doctor, or it may be self-administered. It is best to work with an experienced practitioner who is knowledgeable about the therapeutic use of magnets.

Ria has been an holistic practitioner since 1990 and she has trained in many fields such as cranio-sacral therapy, shiatsu, reflexology, reiki, aromatherapy, Bach flowers, crystal healing, psychotherapy, counselling, fytotherapy, TT and nutrition. Ria focuses on the underlying causes of disease rather than treating symptoms alone. She has been a certified therapist since 1996 and has developed an extensive practice dedicated to creating total wellness and self-empowerment based on the body, mind, soul connection.

Want A Big Bench Press?

Then you're probably determined to get one. It's that same determination that will be your struggle. The more you want it, the harder you want to work and the longer you want to stay in the gym. This is going to lead to overtraining which will stunt any strength gains you've made and delay any dreams of an even bigger bench.

How do you know if you're at risk of overtraining? If you feel run down after a workout, notice that you aren't making any gains, you always do forced reps, you're not getting enough rest, your diet stinks, you have a bad attitude or you aren't motivated you're probably overtraining. Insomnia is another big sign. Put it this way, if a weight continually feels heavier than normal, chances are you haven't gotten weaker, you just haven't recovered from previous workouts.

There are three distinct stages of metabolism. The first is a state of equilibrium easily described as the fully recovered state where energy is neither being depleted and tissue is not being damaged or repaired. The second stage is catabolism. Catabolism is the stage you are in during a workout. Energy is being depleted and muscle tissue is being damaged. Your goals should be to keep catabolism in the gym, but many people that overtrain keep this stage going long after their workouts end and lose hard-earned muscle tissue to help the recovery. Finally the stage that usually doesn't get much of a chance to kick in before we're back in the gym for another session. The third stage is anabolism where energy is restored and tissue damage is being repaired. So after you lift you want to heal and reach a state of homeostasis,but instead many of us are back in the gym tearing our muscles and using energy when we haven't even let the muscle fully recover from the previous workout. Never lift a muscle group that is still sore. I know it's difficult but sometimes more isn't better.

There is always the urge to overtrain thinking that if we just work harder the gains will come. How do we resist the urge? First off lets think, quality not quantity. If you lift each muscle group only once a week and spend less than 1 hr in the gym you're on the right path. Although you don't have to spend a lot of time in the gym the time spent must be intense. Every single exercise and rep should be performed with a passion and you will accomplish more in 45 minutes than most people do in two hours. If you are truly pushing yourself you should be exhausted at the end of the workout. After tearing your body apart, do you think it's going to be ready to do it again in two to three days? I think not, try at least a week.

So all you benchers out there if you're lifting heavy, workout after workout make sure that the reason you hit a plateau is not that you are trying too often. Let your body recover, heal, and grow before you start ripping it up again. When you hit each body part several times a week you don't really try as hard because you know you'll get another shot at it in a week. When you only lift each body part once per week you develop a sense of urgency. You know you better lift hard because you won't get another chance to train it again for a week. Then as the week passes by you find yourself looking forward to your next chest day. Anyone that thinks they might be overtraining take a couple of days off and go back to the gym revived and motivated with the determination to train smarter and harder.

Mike Westerdal is the President of Critical Bench, Inc. He earned his BS from Central CT State University and holds certification as a personal trainer with the American Council on Exercise. Westerdal also has experience coaching and playing professional football. His articles are published throughout the Web and in numerous weight lifting magazines including Monster Muscle. His best RAW bench press is currently 450 lbs. He is the author of the Critical Bench Program which can be found at http://www.criticalbench.com/program.htm

Strengthen Your Back With Taijiquan

There are a few traditional exercises which you can still do to strengthen your back, namely, sit ups, cross sit ups, leg raises and back extensions. However, many who eventualy develop the 6 pack, or the front abdominal muscles, may not be able to demonstrate co-ordinated spinal control. As always, the rule of them of thumb is to do these exercises in moderation. Having a strong back will improve your spinal stability. This stabilisation is achieved by working on your deeper trunk muscles. Hence, we need to turn our attention to exercises that require the control of deep abdominal muscles and good mind-body co-ordination.

So, how do we train up our trunks for starters?

This is quite simply done. You don't even need the gym. And you can improve your posture and back alignment this very moment, wherever you are!

Just imagine a string pulling you up from the central tip of your head, like those puppets. This can be a powerful visualization if you have the discipline to enforce it throughout the day.

Then, sitting where you are, do a head roll a couple of times, and rotate your shoulders a couple of times. You will find the tension considerably reduced. Finish off by stretching your arms up over your head, gripping your hands together at the apex.

Right. Next question. For those of us who want to take back strengthening a step further, where do we go from here?

You will likely find that Taijiquan (Tai Chi or Taiji) can address this rather satisfactorily,if not, effectively, for most of us.

Most Taijiquan styles require you to develop an upright posture when practicing the forms. You can do this easily if you focus your eyes on a level. Try not to look down at your feet or the ground, you won't find any gold there. For every movement you learn, you will have to find your best postulation, without hunching, slouching and the like. In effect, you get training in centering, or finding your center of stability.

By constantly monitoring the uprightness of your posture for each move, you are essentially building up your trunk muscles. When you train up strong and stable trunk muscles, they help provide a stable frame allowing our arms and legs to move more efficiently, thereby reducing the risk of injuries. This is very much the case in Chenjiagou Taijiquan which emphasizes the trunk/waist area as a central pivot and force center. The stronger your trunk muscles, the more efficiently you are able to transfer force between your upper and lower limbs. As your efficiency increases, you can generate more power into each stroke, each movement that is executed.

In Chenjiagou Taijiquan, you will learn to maintain a stable trunk as you execute each movement, by keeping the posture as upright as possible relative to the ground. By focusing and adhering to this requirement, you will find that you need to draw upon collective muscles all throughout the lower abdominal area, whilst ensuring that you do not automatically tense your shoulders in order to keep the stance. You won't be able to do all this in a magical instance, of course. It is through regular training, by trial and error as you practice to find your most comfortable posture, you will discover your optimal body position for each movement. You will know when you have found the best angles because you will be able to hold a postulation effortlessly! That is also when all your body lines are connected in a continuous, unbroken flow.

A daily dose - alright, for those who can't make it everyday - a regular dose of Chenjiagou Taijiquan practice will help you to develop your own proper breathing technique that is co-ordinated with your movements. When you have eventually found your own breathing rhythm, you will not get breathless during your practice. Taijiquan can be a wonderful art which trains segmental control. The routines have been created so that you practice along progressive stages. Each stage focuses on a different area of the human body, such that you will benefit from total body conditioning. The routines require spinal flexibility at the trunk, segmental control of the spine (precision), a continuous flow of movement and centering (through balancing on foot centres).

With persistent, proper training and feedback from a qualified instructor, you should be able to transfer this control into your daily functional tasks such as standing, walking and other sports activity. You will find your body automatically seeks to adjust itself into an optimal position for easy balance. I think we all agree that this is an extremely valuable reflex to nurture.

Watch a short demo of Chenjiagou Taijiquan, the 5 Element set now.

Jasmine Bu
20th Generation Chenjiagou Taijiquan Disciple. I'm also a mother of 2 kids.

Do stop by my website at The World of Taijiquan if you would like to learn more about how to re-balance your internal body systems whilst getting healthy.

Free Weights Or Weightlifting Machines To Build Bigger Muscles?

Are free weights such as dumbbells and barbells are more superior to weightlifting machines for building bigger muscles? Well, both free weights and weightlifting machines have its own pros and cons.

?Advantages of weightlifting machines

a) Excellent for beginners because it is not so intimidating and the range of motion is fixed, so a bodybuilding novice need not wonder whether he is lifting correctly to target a muscle group.

b) Easy to use as machines usually have instructions on them.

c) Safer ? It won?t drop on you in a middle of a lift.

d) Isolate your muscles so that you can rest your injured body part and yet able to workout other muscle part.

?Disadvantages of Weightlifting Machines

a) Increase injury risks since the range of motion is fixed and repeated workout will place tremendous stress on the same joints, tendons and muscles because you are lifting on a fixed pathway.

b) Because of its isolation of muscles, your workout hit only the targeted muscles with little involvement of supporting or synergistic thus your muscle gains will be slower and less balanced.

c) Since weight lifting machines have fixed configuration, your workout does not factor in your body frame and structure. Whether you have a big or small built, narrow or wide shoulders, you will be using the same pathway range of motion and width of grip. This will raise your chances of being injured as well as poorer muscle development.

?Advantages of free weights

a) More stabilizing muscles synergistic muscles are involved. So you are actually exercising more muscles and therefore will develop more muscle growth and strength.

b) Improve your balance and muscle coordination since you need to balance the weights during your lift and this call on many muscles to do so. So your muscle coordination and sense of balance will naturally improve.

c) Convenient and inexpensive since you need not join a gym and free weights are much less expensive than machines.

?Disadvantages of free weights

a) Increase injury risks if lifting with wrong form and technique.

b) Time consuming because you need to bring the weights from one area to another or physically taking time to adjust, add or decrease weights.

So which is better for building bigger and well balanced muscles? Yup, free weight takes the cake over weight lifting machines for building muscles faster and bigger. However, since both weightlifting machines and free weights have its own advantages and disadvantages, you can then weigh the pros and cons to use machines or free weights for your workouts or even a combination of both to suit your personal requirements.

About The Author
Chris Chew is a fitness personal trainer of actors, fashion models and male pageant title holders. More of his articles at his sites http://www.sgfitness.com and http://www.sgfitnessonline.com

Body Building Supplements For Beginners

?Do I need supplements to gain muscles fast??, ?What supplementations are needed for body building beginners??, ?Are the nutrients from my daily meals enough for me to gain bigger muscles fast??

All body building beginners must have asked themselves these questions. You are reading this article because you would have probably asked these questions yourself.

The answer to these supplementation questions is an affirmative yes. Body building supplements are necessary if you want gain bigger muscles faster. This is because various supplements have their own benefits and they work together complementing each other to support muscle mass gain. You will probably not be getting enough of them through your normal meals and that is the primary reason why you need supplementation.

Since there are so many body building supplements in out there, choosing the correct and effective supplementation to gain muscles fast is a daunting task for a body building beginner.

Well, your anxiety will be solved in this article. As a body building beginner, you need only the basic supplementations to gain muscles effectively. You may need some other supplements when you are at the intermediate or advanced stages of body building.

So what are the basic supplementation to help a beginner to gain muscle mass?

?Protein Supplements ? Without protein, you will never gain muscles. Protein is the fundamental supplement for every bodybuilder. You need 1 gram of protein for every pound of your bodyweight per day to faster gain bigger muscles. This is a lot of protein and most people will never get enough of protein from their meals.

?Creatine Supplements - Creatine can significantly increase muscle volume along with protein. It will also improve your weightlifting performances and raise your energy levels so that your workouts are more intensive and this provides for greater muscle gain.

?Glutamine Supplements ? Glutamine is a non-essential amino acid, which makes up to 60% of the amino acids in the muscles. Glutamine helps in your muscle recovery after your workouts and also prevents muscle lost due to muscle catabolism.

?Multi Vitamins / Minerals Supplement ? Your muscles need many vitamins and minerals for every stage of its function and recovery. Some vitamins and minerals are antioxidants and will also help in protecting muscle waste, help in muscle recovery and mopping up free radicals after your muscles are stressed out and damaged during your gym workouts.

As a bodybuilding beginner, these are the only supplementation you will need to help you gain bigger muscles fast.

About The Author
Chris Chew is a fitness trainer of fashion models, actors and international male pageant titleholders. Check out his interesting websites at http://www.sgfitness.com and http://www.sgfitnessonline.com.

Pulled Muscles

A human body gets its shape and all possible flex movements due to the presence of muscles. The contraction of the muscles voluntarily helps in moving the legs or hands while walking, or to turn the neck when somebody calls from behind. The muscles are made up of elastic fibers that make these movements possible.

Yet these bands of fibers are prone to wear are tear when exerted without giving it a proper 'warm up'. Not only this, the muscles have a certain limit to flex and beyond that it gets 'overstretched'. Also, there are problems in situations where the less flexible muscles are put to use. In other words, when a person suddenly tries to put a certain body part to action without giving the related muscles the right conditioning, there are good chances that the muscles will tear.

This kind of tear or injury caused in the muscle is called a Pulled Muscle. For instance, an athlete who practices high jumps without a proper warm up session ends up with a Pulled Muscle in the thigh. In a human body, muscles are attached to bones, muscles and organs with soft tissues called tendons, ligaments and fascia. A muscle pull may be said to occur when the tendon or the ligament tears. That is, Pulled Muscles may occur if muscle attached to the bones, muscles or even organs gets injured or torn.

A Pulled Muscle makes it difficult to move the swollen and bruised affected area. The best suggested aid is to use ice in the affected area and give proper rest to that affected limb. A Pulled Muscle affects those muscles that are injured in an accident, careless overstretching or excessive use through physical activities such as sports, exercises and exerting less flexible body parts.

It is very essential to maintain the strength and flexibility of muscles, to exercise to condition them, and to supply the right nutrition for the body to be in good shape.

Muscles provides detailed information about muscles, build muscles, muscle cramps, muscle diseases and more. Muscles is the sister site of Best Treadmills.

MuscleTesting and Applied Kinesiology: Uses and Tips on How to Use it

Muscle testing is an empowering energy technique that most anyone can use to better their health. Muscle testing functions as a subconscious lie-detector test and is used by challenging any muscle of the body. Over the years I have answered numerous questions about muscle testing, how it is used, how to make it more accurate, how people misuse it, and what things to pay attention to. This is the culmination of all those questions. Before using muscle testing, meditate or pray to become a clear channel and leave your ego out of the answers. Intention is everything in the world of healing.

You obtain better answers from your muscle testing by asking better questions. For example: Do I have permission to ask this question? Is this something I should let go of or participate in? Can I share this information? Am I asking the right question? Is there anything else I should be asking? And, will this be reasonable and in alignment with my morals and values?

Always ask yes or no questions?be clear and present when asking. Ask only one question at a time.

In Healing Work I use muscle testing for: Doing body scans for disrupted energy, testing for vanishing twins, to determine which disease is most plausible from a list of rule outs, for doing chiropractic adjustments on animals or figuring out where to place spot magnets, to determine the best treatments or healers to use, for emotional clearing work, to ask which flower essences, herbs, supplement, crystal and foods to combine for relaxation, immune building, serenity, and health. Muscle testing can also be used to test amounts.

Using Muscle Testing for Allergy testing: It?s useful for asking what side effects or benefits are being caused by a particular drug and in testing which flower, bulbs, grasses, shrubs, trees, molds and mildews or pollens you are allergic to.

Some fun and different ways to use muscle testing: Use it to test who is visiting from the other side, for backtracking the core cause of death, to choose which clothes to wear for best health or to look the best in an interview, and to pick the perfect gift or card for someone you love.

For Organizing Things: If goals and accomplishing tasks are important to you, muscle testing can be most helpful in prioritizing tasks and in determining how much time to spend on each item.

For Pet Health: Muscle testing can be used to communication with your animals. Ask your pet which foods they like and which will help their health, which name they would like to be called, or if they would like a companion. In my veterinary practice I use muscle testing to determine what the best antibiotic is to send home and for determining which foods to use in creating a personalized raw food diet.

I use muscle testing for nutrition and dieting by testing which emotions trigger the cravings for certain foods, to test which ingredients a person is allergic to and for asking the amounts of raw fruits and vegetables that would be best for the body.

For Spiritual Issues, muscle testing is used to: test the number of past lives or the number of lifetimes you have spent with someone, to track past lives, to ask whether someone is in your soul-pod, in tracking down spiritual lessons to focus on with a person and for tapping into the Akashic records.

In Helping with Environmental Issues, it can be used for: finding and clearing energy vortexes in a house, dowsing to find water, minerals, and the best places to build.

For learning purposes, muscle testing can be used to test the percent truth of a book or chapter, to test the truthfulness of a newspaper article, theory, or paper. I often use muscle testing to determine which books to purchase, or which topics to study next.

In Plant Healing muscle testing can be used to communicate with your yard, your garden and individual plants. Yes, plants talk too. I use it to figure out where to plant individual plants and to ask where the plant wants to be and if it is happy where it?s at, when to water, or what a plant needs to be healthier (more sun, water, soil, micronutrients, fertilizer, drafts, etc.)

Dr. Denice Moffat is a practicing naturopath, medical intuitive, and veterinarian working on the family unit (which includes humans and animals) through her phone consultation practice established in 1995. She has a content-rich website at http://www.NaturalHealthTechniques.com and free monthly newsletter. For many other healing techniques you can do at home, see Dr. Moffat's techniques page at: http://www.naturalhealthtechniques.com/HealingTechniques/healingtechniques1.htm

Muscles Don't Turn Into Fat!

I've lost count on the number of times I've heard this statement... so is there any truth to it?

Saying that your muscles can turn into fat is like saying that diamonds can turn into glass. Muscle and fat are two different types of tissue on your body! You simply cannot turn muscle into fat, or fat into muscle.

Perhaps you're thinking to yourself.. then what about the big muscular guy in my gym who quit for a few months but became ridiculously overweight?

Well, what happens is that when people decide to go off their weight training programs or take a break from the gym, they start losing a little bit of muscle due to the sudden inactivity (which is perfectly normal).. this also tends to lower their metabolism. Not only that, but most people would also almost always neglect their diet as well when they take a break from the gym.

Bad eating habits + a lower metabolism +lower muscle mass all add up in the long run and will make it seem as if the person's muscle is being turned into fat - while in reality, what is actually happening is that precious muscle is being lost and fat is being accumulated.

So, if you're one of those who have taken a long break from weight training and you're in pretty bad shape as described above, all the while believing that it's only 'normal' for it to happen.. well... the truth is that its your carelessness that has made you look this way.

For everyone else, the next time someone cautions you never to stop weight training because your muscles will turn into fat... you know now that it's simply not true.

Josh Stone, also known as DM, is the author behind the site http://www.dailymuscle.com which offers the author's personal views on real-life fitness, bodybuilding, sports nutrition, cardio, fat loss, training information, and on all things that surrounds fitness.

5 Tips for Starting Runners

So you?ve decided to take up running? Maybe you are starting back up after putting it off for years. Here is a list of tips that I have found beneficial to the starting runner or even the seasoned pro.

1. STRETCH THOSE LEGS AND FEET ?BEFORE AND AFTER ? Stretching is the number one thing to remember in any running program. Keep your muscles flexible and relaxed, your joints mobile, and relieve tension and strain by doing a few gentle stretches before AND AFTER your run. I cannot stress enough how important it is to stretch after the run and to cool down. I have found most new runners miss this vital step in their exercise program.

You don?t want to start off doing too much too soon. Build your body up while you prepare yourself to meet the demands that you are about to ask from your body. Make sure to loosen up your hamstrings, quads, calves, iliotibial (IT) band, hips, buttocks and the plantar fascia (area at the bottom of your feet between the heel and ball of foot). Stretch until you feel tension but not pain. NEVER bounce because this can tear your muscles and cause more serious problems.

2. POSTURE! POSTURE! POSTURE! ? This isn?t finishing school, but the principal is the same. Running gets your whole body in motion and the proper posture and body mechanics will help reduce the strain on your body.

Keep your body perpendicular to the ground. Don?t lean into it. Hopefully you aren?t running into wind tunnel.

Swing your arms naturally and go with the flow.

BREATHE! How many martial art movies do you need to see to know this is important??? Never stop breathing. Oxygenate the blood. Feed your muscles. BREATHE!

Your feet should hit naturally on your heel, roll forward and push off with your metatarsals (the area we call the ball of the foot). It should just feel right. Make sure the soles of your shoes aren?t worn down in the heel or on the sides. This could cause you to hurt yourself and take away from the natural progression of your stride.

Don?t pick your feet up too far. This is running, not a marching band tryout. By keeping your feet closer to the ground an increasing your stride, you will reduce muscle fatigue.

3. ALWAYS WEAR YOUR PROTECTION ? As you start up your running routine, you are going to find out that aches and pains are a typical reality that we all must face. However, this doesn?t have to be the end of your run if you just take the proper precautions. Keep these simple rules in mind when you begin your program and you should be good to go for a long time!

Hydrate yourself: Drink lots of water before, during, and after your run. People perspire, it?s a fact, but if you let yourself dehydrate, you will be in for a world of hurt. I like to bring a water bottle with me on my runs for those mid-stride liquid replacements. It?s a good idea to drink 2-5 cups per hour during your run. Note, every person perspires at a different rate. If you happen to be someone who leaks sweat like a sieve, drink more water. Don?t forget to fill up again once you are done stretching, too.

If you are running in a colder climate, layer your clothing. We all know it gets hot under all those clothes, but you have to slow the rate of heat loss. You?ll want to wear some sort of moisture-wicking material. I like to wear fleece. But there are other brands out there like Polartec. Also, ALWAYS wear a hat!

I prefer to run on paved trails in our local park system, but if you find yourself running in areas where there is the potential for traffic, please remember to wear bright clothing and if you must run at night (which I wouldn?t suggest) wear reflective garments to increase your safety.

4. REDUCE STRAIN ? Running takes its? toll on a person?s body. It?s good to switch out different activities. Besides running, try other cardio-exercises like bicycling or swimming. Your body will thank you and it can break down on the monotony. Pain is the body's signal that something is wrong. If the pain gets worse after your run, it's time to take some time off. Don?t swallow a couple of aspirin and think you are good to go.'

Definitely take care of your feet! A good pair of running shoes is essential for preventing injury. You have to find the pair that?s best for you. Change them out often because the soles will wear down quickly.

And while you are at it, don?t forget the orthotics. The insoles that come in your shoes are usually very cheap and only meant for about 20 miles of wear. If you are like me, that?s one week! Proper orthotics provide cushioning and support and reduce a huge amount of strain from your whole body ? not just your feet. While custom orthotics are available, I wear a brand that offers a selection for arch type and are made with a silver material that reduces blisters and athlete?s foot. If you are interested, you can see them at www.footdefense.com.

5. CALL YOUR MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL ?In business, it?s always best to hire a consultant. So why, when you start doing something as important as your health wouldn?t you speak to an expert in the body? A medical professional can help with any injury and return you to your running program as well as advise you on hurting yourself again.

In closing, please remember that safety should come first. Be aware of your surroundings, the people that you run with, and most importantly, your own well-being?

James Fowler is a free-lance writer who lives in Northeast Ohio with his wife, Maggie. You can contact him at fowler.james@gmail.com

The 5 x 5 System Dino Style

The 5 x 5 system is a very old but effective training protocol that was advocated by the likes of Reg Park, John McCallum and Bradley J. Steiner.

Dinosaur Training is a term coined by Brooks Kubik in his classic book that combined weight training with odd object lifting like barrels or sandbags. This routine combines both for a hard, strength building, muscle growing workout.

This is a basic, no-nonsense program that will build size and strength all over. Start with medium weight and work your way up to heavy poundages. You must always be progressing. That's the core principle of weight training - constant increases in reps and poundages. It's the only way to gain size and true strength without taking drugs.

The 5 x 5 System - Dino Style

Day One:

Squat 5 x 5
Overhead Press 5 x 5
Rows 5 x 5
Farmer's Walk (with heavy dumbbells)
Sit-ups 2 x 8-15

Day Two:

Deadlifts 5 x 5
Bench Press 5 x 5
Sandbag Walk (with 100-150 pound sandbag)
Side Bends 2 x 8-15

Notes: Workout two days a week. You can add grip and ab work to the program if you feel like it. The first 3-4 four sets are warmups, gradually increase weight so last set is the top hard one. Only go to failure on squats if you have a rack and only on benches if you have a spotter. For the Farmer's Walk , hold heavy dumbbells in hand and walk until you can't hold them anymore. For the Sandbag Walk, bear-hug the bag until you can't walk or hold it anymore.

Understand that to be successful in any weight training program - hard work is a must! Half-hearted effort does nothing for you. If you're new to weight training or grossly out of shape, consult a physician first. End of disclaimer.

Brian Carson is a writer and workout enthusiast who writes and edits the Workout Routine blog, the site devoted to workout routines by bodybuilders, powerlifters, strength trainers and strongmen from the past to the present.Visit us at http://workout-routines.blogspot.com/

Drinking Your Pain Away

Twenty years of research has shown Dr. Batmanghelidj what nature has always known: that water is critical to life. So critical, in fact, that the lack of water--or dehydration--actually produces most of our chronic pains and ailments. He reveals the exciting news . . . it is possible to treat and prevent pain for free!

Finally . . . a natural element that can counteract those agonzing degenerative diseases! If you are concerned about the negative effects that prescription and over-the-counter drugs have on your body, please read this report in its entirety and consider obtaining more information on the subject. It can change the way you look and feel.

Seventy-five percent of Americans are dehydrated. Instead of consuming life-giving water, we reach for a cold soda or high-sugar juice (and this is after our morning coffee, which also depletes our bodies of necessary fluids). Unfortunately this has taken a serious toll on our health-care structure, for our natural drought management system dictates that when we do have a water shortage certain parts of our bodies are forced to go without water. This is why a blood test is a poor diagnosis for whether or not someone is dehydrated: for obvious reasons, the blood is the last remaining area from which water is taken.

Dehydration is evident. It can be seen in frequent headaches, muscle pains, cramping, heartburn, dizziness which increases upon standing, dry skin, inability to produce tears, poor short-term memory, poor digestion, constipation, nosebleeds, and, lastly, dry mouth. A surprising fact is that thirst is actually a very poor indicator of your need to drink water. The less water you drink, the less often you will feel thirsty; dehydration shuts off our thirst perception, so to speak.

Dr. B happened upon some information that is so little known that it isn't even publicized in medical textbooks: the role of histamine. Histamine is basically a chemical messenger messenger that is in charge of drought management in the body. Not surprisingly, it is more active when we are dehydrated and makes itself be known through aches and pains that we cover up with medicines. Also not surprising is the fact that most if not all of the medications that we take are antihistamines. What are we doing? Dehydrating ourselves more and more . . .

As far as hydrating and back pain go, water is a major component of cartilage. It follows then that if we dehydrate ourselves, the cells in our cartilage will shrivel up and eventually be worn away. Not only that, but without adequate fluids, the body can't move toxins through the body which causes them to accumulate in the joints--a condition known as osteoarthritis. Even if you don't have arthritis, chances are good that your back pain is from dehydration, for another common symptom is muscle spasms.

A brief explanation of why cartilage breaks down: water is the lubrication for the cells in the cartilage. When you don't provide enough fluid, the cells are no longer able to glide over each other and the friction becomes very abrasive (like rubbing a piece of granite against some chalk). It is easy to see why water is so important to our joints.

While it is true that most back pain is related to strain, injury, or overuse, pain can still be the result of a lack of fluids. The cells need copious amounts of water to flush out the acid particles created by the increased work or stress that caused the strain. When dehydrated, the acid builds up and sends out pain signals--cries for water . . . not motrin.

Incurable diseases have fallen prostrate before the power of water. The Mayo Clinic told an elderly gentleman who had suffered for over thirty years from arthritis in his spinal column that there was no hope for him. He lived in such excrutiating pain that it was impossible for him to stand; as a matter of fact, he resembled a comma (in his words). One year after consistently hydrating himself he was pain free--and not only that, but he had lower blood pressure too!

Here are some interesting facts about hydration:

--even mild dehydration slows down metabolism by as much as 3%
--lack of water is the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue
--drinking just 5 glasses a day reduces your risk of colon cancer by 45%, breast cancer by 79%, and bladder cancer by 50%
--a glass of water before bed stops midnight hunger pains (but you might have to get up to use the restroom!)
--cold water is absorbed faster than warm water
--drinking 6-8 glasses/day improves memory and concentration
--in 37% of Americans the thirst mechanism is so weak that it's usually mistaken for hunger

Your joints are not the only area of your body that are negatively affected by lack of water. There is one very important area, that should strike you even if nothing else does--your brain. This all-important organ is made up of 85% water! And unfortunately for us, when we deprive ourselves of water it is one of the first places that the body automatically squeezes fluid from. When water, the messenger of the brain, is reduced, we suffer from headaches, poor short-term memory, dizziness, poor balance, and general fogginess. Indeed, migraines can often be treated successfully with improved hydration.

How much water do you need? A good rule of thumb is to divide your body weight by two: for example, a 160 pound person should drink at least 80 ounces of water a day. Obviously more should be consumed if you exercise or live in a hot climate. And while water is the basis for many other drinks including coffee, soda, juice, and alcohol, there really is no subsitute for it by itself. All of those drinks contain substances that are detrimental to your overall health and wellbeing.

Dr. Howard Flaks of Beverly Hills has this to say about the subject:

As a result of not drinking enough water, many people encounter such problems as excess body fat, poor muscle tone and size, decreased digestive efficiency and organ function, increased toxicity in the body, joint and muscle soreness (particularly after exercise) and water retention.

So go ahead. Drink to your health!

Brianna Stanley has turned her passion for health and wellness into her business. To learn about the Freedom Project's simple 3-step process visit: http://www.miniofficeoutlets.com/stanley

Body Massage for Relaxation Health Improvement and Sensual Pleasure

By massaging your friend or living partner and let him or her do the same to you, you will both get emotionally closer to each other, and both get several health benefits. Massaging will benefit the mental state of the person you work on, the muscular condition, the blood circulation and the lymph drainage. However, what you want to achieve, will determine the exact technique you use.

Massaging across the muscle fibres

This type of massage is very good for relaxing tense muscles and a stressed mind.

You perform this massage by rubbing or gripping across the direction of the muscle fibres or across tendons. You take one area after the other. You begin by massaging each area lightly, superficially and slowly to warm up, and then proceed by massaging deeper, firmer and more swiftly.

According to the size and conditions of the area you treat, you can use different types of manipulation. You can use a couple of fingers at a small area, or to reach deep into a tense point You can rub with all your finger tips or with the palm of your hand at greater areas. To get a harder effect, you can use your finger knuckles.

Massage along the muscles fibres

This type of massage will give the following effects: Stiffness will be reduced or cured, and the muscles will gain in mobility. The muscles will get better blood supply and drainage. The muscles will get a better drainage of tissue fluids into the lymph system, and thereby swollen muscles will normalize. These effects will in turn make tired muscles faster regain good condition.

By this massage you stroke along the direction of the muscle fibres, and always in the direction of the blood stream towards the heart.

Also now you take one area after the other, but try to reach the whole length of a muscle or muscle group at each stroke. Also by this massage, you begin massaging at each area lightly, superficially and slowly to warm up, and then proceed by massaging deeper, firmer and somewhat faster.

Also by this longitudinal massage, you can press down and stroke with your finger tips, with all your fingers, or grip around a muscle or muscle group with your fingers.

Massage with an electric massager

Most electric massage devices are vibrating up and down. This vibration mostly gives the same effect as the massage across the muscle fibres. If you also stroke with the device head along the muscle in the direction of the blood stream towards the heart, you will simultaneously also achieve the effects of longitudinal massage.

Combining the massage with stretching

The effects of the massage can be increased by also stretching the limbs and body parts of the person you work on. Stretch in the natural movement directions of the limb or body parts until you reach some resistance. Do not stretch hard to go beyond the resistance point. However, by holding the limb some time at the resistance point will often cause the limb to relax, and then you can go some way further.

How hard should you perform the massage?

Tired and stiff muscles are often tender and aching. Working at a tender point will always cause some temporal pain. However, if you use the right degree of firmness, the effect of the massage should cause an immediate release of pain and tenderness when you have finished working at a point. You should never work so hard that the pain is felt nearly unbearable, or so hard that pain remains after the massage is finished. If you do so, you can hurt or aggravate already existing tissue damage.

To achieve the right firmness you should monitor the reactions of the person you work at and listen to his comments. You should also never perform a massage on an area with a distinct inflammation or a distinct injury.

Use of massage oils

By applying a massage oil or ointment at the area you work at, you ease the massage work and increase the effects of the massage. Your fingers glide more easily upon the skin covering the area. The blood supply of the skin and muscles will be stimulated. You get a sensual and exciting scent on the area and in the air. Ingredients in the oil will ameliorate muscular ache and pain. According to the composition of the massage oil, there will be different stimulating effects upon the muscles, for example faster regeneration of tired or hurt muscle tissue.

Massaging for mutual joy and pleasure

You can use each of the two main techniques, but you let the pleasure of the person you massage decide the technique, the area you massage and the firmness of the massage. Usually gently touching and caressing will be the right manner.

Also your own pleasure shall decide. Do not work so hard that you get tired out yourself, and the person that you give the massage should be willing to repay you by doing the same favour to you.

Knut Holt is an internet consultant and marketer focusing on health items. TO FIND anti-aging supplements, medicines against acne, eczema, rosacea scars, wrinkles, other skin problems and natural medicines against heart disease, hypothyroidism, hemorrhoids, depression and other common health problems, PLEASE VISIT ==>http://www.panteraconsulting.com/salg2.htm

This article is free to reprint with the author's name and link.

Stress and Recover: The Key to Muscle Growth

If you do the same exercises every day and do not feel sore on the next day, you will not become stronger and faster or have greater endurance.

Improvement in exercise comes from stressing and recovering. You take a hard workout that causes your muscles to burn, which damages them. You will feel sore the next day because of the damage, and should take easy workouts until the soreness disappears. Then you take another hard workout. Muscles are damaged by hard exercise and soreness is a sign of the damage. Then when the muscles heal, they are stronger than they were before the hard workout.

If you take another hard workout before the soreness disappears, you place yourself at high risk for injury. If you want to build muscle or improve in any sport, take a hard workout that causes muscle soreness and on the next days, take easy workouts or take off until the soreness goes away.

Serious weight lifters do not take off completely during their recovery days, even though resting when your muscles feel sore allows them to heal faster. If you exercises at low intensity during recovery, your muscles will become more fibrous and resistant to injury when you stress them with the next intense bout of hard exercise.

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Dr. Gabe Mirkin has been a radio talk show host for 25 years and practicing physician for more than 40 years; he is board certified in four specialties, including sports medicine. Read or listen to hundreds of his fitness and health reports -- and the FREE Good Food Book -- at http://www.DrMirkin.com

Understanding More about Pain Management

Pain management is a problem with which contemporary medicine has been grappling for some time. There is nearly always a trade-off: you may not feel the pain, but you remain dependent upon chiropractic treatments, painkillers or massage, stupefied by muscle relaxants, or toxified by non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) -- or worse: physically impaired by neuro-surgical interventions and injections of neurotoxins that take away the natural capacities of an intact nervous system. Meanwhile, the tissue inflammation and damage to joints, no longer being reported to you by pain, continues to develop. There is an effective alternative, new and radically different from conventional approaches.

Viewpoints about Pain

Whereas nearly everyone recognizes that chronic pain is a sign of something wrong, modern medical science has little to offer for certain kinds of pain -- notably musculo-skeletal pain and headaches. Medical science thinks almost entirely in terms of intervention -- either surgical or chemical (drugs); it overlooks the body's natural self-regulating mechanisms, which sometimes go awry and cause the pain to begin with -- two examples being headaches and back pain.

This potential to change how ones body functions has to do with conditioning. Perhaps fifty percent of musculo-skeletal pain comes from an excessively tight muscles -- the result of injury and prolonged stress (long term emotional tension). Muscles go into contraction during pain and stress. This state of contraction cannot effectively be controlled by drugs or countered by surgery because it has to do with a brain-level reaction. This kind of brain-level reaction is discussed in greater depth in another article.

Once this kind of reaction pattern forms, as during prolonged periods of healing, it tends to persist, sometimes for decades, unless and until the person does something deliberate to change them; these tensions do not heal because there is no damage. The neuromuscular system is functioning quite well, but in an aberrated way!

It is for that reason that chemical and physical interventions are ineffective: the person does not have a medical problem; they have a conditioning problem.

More Details

Let's be more specific: How can tight muscles create pain?

Ever lifted something heavy for more than a few seconds? Don't your muscles start to burn? Imagine what muscles must feel like when contracted 24 hours a day! And more: consider what tight muscles cause in the joints they cross: compression. Might not relentless compression cause joint pain? What about nerves trapped between tight muscles and bone: ever had a pinched nerve?

That mechanism accounts for a long list of familiar complaints: back pain, muscular pain, headaches, scoliosis, TMJ, carpal tunnel syndrome (in many cases), tennis elbow (medial epicondylitis), knee pain, foot pain, and certain other conditions.

Next question: What is the universal response to shock or injury? When you get hurt what's the first thing that happens. You tighten up, don't you?

Might that not explain the pains and stiffness of aging? -- more opportunities for shock and/or injury as time passes?

So, A Conditioning Problem, Not a Medical Problem

Because of the recognized hazards of drug dependency, physicians are sometimes reluctant to prescribe even painkilling drugs and prefer to tell the patient to get used to the pain.

In extreme cases, however, the neurosurgeon steps in and cuts nerves, or the orthopedist replaces a joint (sometimes necessary and successful at alleviating pain, sometimes, not). Cortisone may be injected to reduce inflammation or botulism toxin injected to paralyze muscles. These kinds of measures often miss the point: the person is in pain because they are too tight; joints degenerated because of too much muscle-induced pressure; and muscles are too tight because the brain has become conditioned to hold them that way.

In that case, answer is not surgery or drugs; it is to change the conditioning by which a person holds themselves too tight -- a process that falls more into the realm of learning than of medical intervention.

Deal With the Problem As It Is.

To change the tension level of muscles requires more than stretching or massaging; it requires a learning process that affects the brain, which controls the muscular system. Such a learning process is referred to in some circles as somatic education. Somatic education systematically uses special movement training techniques to improve awareness and control of the muscular system. Significant results come relatively quickly, and when they do, the benefits are second nature and require no special attention in daily life, other than a brief, morning-refreshment routine to purge out the accumulated effects of daily stresses.

A system of sensory awareness and movement education (brain training), Hanna Somatic Education?, has been developed that restores freedom from numerous forms of musculo-skeletal and stress related pain.

For a list of conditions helped and how they are helped, click here. For more articles and information on self-help programs, click one of the links shown on this page and, upon arrival at the page, look for PURCHASE in the blue navigation bar at top. Free previews of programs are available from that page.

Lawrence Gold served for two years on staff at the Wellness and Rehabilitation Center of Watsonville Community Hospital, California and for two years as part of the Novato Institute training team for new practitioners. As part of the team, he presented Hanna Somatic Education at Esalen Institute at Big Sur, California.