Build Muscle Tips - how to build muscle: November 2008

How To Get A Six Pack

Are you tired of not having a six pack? Do you want to figure out EXACTLY how to get a six pack? If this sounds good to you, keep readin'! You're about to find out exactly how to get the rock solid Six Pack you've always wanted!

There are 2 basic things that need to happen for you to get a six pack.

1) Gain more abdominal muscles 2) Lose body fat

Now - you can go over plenty of exercises that will help you get a six pack, but there is a much easier (and better), not to mention FASTER method of getting one. It's to get an online book written by experts that show you how to get a six pack within 2 weeks. Get it here: http://provenreviews.com/howtogetasixpack.html

Anyway, onto the exercises you can begin doing RIGHT NOW to start making your six pack a reality!

1) Do a lot of Crunches: You're basically going to be on the floor, with both hands behind your head. (You can hold your head) Then bring your upper body up until your shoulders are off of the ground.

2) Do Some Sit Ups: Lay down on the floor with your knees up, and feet flat on the ground. Lift up your upper body all the way to your knees (or close to it), then all the way back down. It's a simple exercise, but the results can be astonishing when kept up.

3) Do Leg Lifts: Lay down on the floor, your hands at your side. Lift both of your legs straight-up in the air until they're almost perpendicular to your body (almost pointing straight up). Do this without bending your knees, and see how much it burns! This is a really good one for your lower pack.

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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.

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

5 Tips for Starting Runners

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!

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.

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

Building A Bigger And Better Chest

Walk into any gym on a Monday, and the majority of them are working on their chest. Milos Sarcev, an IFFB Professional Bodybuilder, spoke of an incident during his early years of bodybuilding where he walked into a gym in Yugoslavia to see 2 guys training in the gym - one was doing 80kg bench presses and had an enormous and well developed chest. The other was benching over 200kg and had literally no chest. He was an average guy with decent development but his chest was really underdeveloped. So, if this guy can lift so much weight, how come he doesn't have an impressive chest?

You see, in bodybuilding - we are building our body. The important thing is to stimulate the muscle we are training? so if you're doing chest, then stimulate your chest, and nothing else. Plus it might also help you focus on your workout if you stop looking at the chests of other women.

Leave your ego outside, don't just go for power and try to lift heavy weights which only causes you to use all your supporting muscle groups (delts, triceps, even lats) to do the lift. This is where it become counterproductive and you deserve to feel like a moron at the end of your workout.

The chest (pectorals/pecs) is a very important muscle group for bodybuilders and I?ve always believed that when well developed, the chest differenciates between a serious lifter and an ordinary gym rat. Women too, stand to benefit from a well developed chest.

Sadly, i see too many people in the gym clueless, not knowing how to stimulate their chest correctly. Guys, don?t let your mind wander. Im talking about muscle stimulation, so stay with me.

1. Do the bench press wiith perfect form
- You need to keep your elbows out in order to isolate and stimulate the chest ONLY. If they?re not angled out enough, then your triceps will take over. - Your goal should not be just to push the weight up from your chest, but to ?squeeze? and feel the muscle on the way up

2. Vary grip distance to target specific areas
- Go for a closer grip if you want to develop your inner chest - Go for a wider grip if your outer chest is lacking and you want to develop it

3. The angle of the bench can determine which part of your chest is involved
- a declined bench will target the lower chest
- a flat bench will target the middle part of your chest
- an inclined bench will target the upper chest
- If you are limited to a flat bench, you can still more or less target these different areas of your chest by lowering the bar closer to your stomach if you wish to develop the lower chest, and closer to your neck for the upper chest.

I?ve also always believed and made sure that the lowering of the weight must be in a controlled movement, and not just a matter of dropping it down in sloppy form. Some even bounce the weight off their chest! Hopeless!

Always control the weight down, touch, and squeeze it up for a full range of motion. Full movements give you full development. Partial, half-hearted movements will only give you partial, half-hearted development. An ideal bench press movement:

The Bench Press - A full range of motion:
1. Lift weight off the bench
2. Concentrate/Focus - establish a ?mind-muscle? connection
3. Lower the weight slowly, feeling your pectorals work
4. Touch (not rest) your chest just briefly with the bar
5. Squeeze the weight up
6. End of movement

May you feel the pump in your chest like never before.

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.

Muscle Spasms

Muscles are made up of elastic fibers that not only give general shape to the body, but also contract to move its various parts. The body gets its frame and shape from the skeleton muscles. These are voluntary muscles. The contraction of these muscles is consciously determined by the living being. In other words, living beings have total control over their body.

But sometimes, these voluntary muscles contract involuntarily. In the process, they tighten the muscles and generate pain, making it hard to move that part of the body. This kind of untimely involuntary, violent contraction or knot in the muscles is called a Muscle Spasm.

In short, muscles flex and extend in the affected part of the body at the same time. This generally results when the muscle is under 'pressure' or is overused. A Muscle Spasm attacks a whole joint, leaving that part of the voluntary muscle in a state of 'shock' for some time. It may begin as an awkward sensation that soon spreads in the affected area. The muscles in that whole area then become so tight and stiff that they hurt severely. The most recommended instant aid is to put ice on the affected area, and stretch it. Muscle Spasms mainly affect arm, neck, leg and other such joints that are flexible to reflexes and movements.

Muscle Spasms mostly occur due to excessive use of the muscles. This may be strenuous exercise, stress, muscle fatigue caused by unused muscles for sometime, and dehydration resulting from loss of body fluid. Muscle Spasm may occur from an injury, accident or even muscle diseases. It may also occur if one does not make use of the body muscles and joints regularly, affecting its function. For instance, many older people restrict the movement of their body. This makes the usually flexible, voluntary muscles and joints become rigid. As a result, any minor stimulation makes them susceptible to spasms. Hence, in order to reduce the chances of Muscle Spasms or cure an attacked body part, one needs to follow a range of stretch exercises. There is supportive medication for Muscle Spasms. But the best method is to take a balanced diet, follow an exercise regime, and check on stress and strain. There should also be the required amount of calcium, phosphate, sodium, magnesium and other essential vitamins and minerals in the diet. Even though Muscle Spasms are known to cause tight knots in the muscles, reducing flexibility to control movements voluntarily, it is found to retain the muscle strength intact.

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

PushUps: Train to Win

If you want to be able to do 100 pushups in a row, do not try to do as many pushups as possible every day. You'll probably injure yourself and end up unable to do any pushups at all. Training for competition requires an understanding of the stress- and-recover rule and the interval-sets rule.

The best way to improve any athletic skill is to stress your body on one day and then allow enough time for your body to recover before you stress it again. On one day, take a hard workout. On the next morning, your muscles feel sore. Take easy workouts until the soreness disappears and then take a hard workout again.

For your hard workouts, you can do far more work by exercising in sets, rather than continuously. If you can do six continuous pushups, you can probably do ten sets of two with twenty-second rests between each set. Do repeat sets of two until your muscles feel sore. Try to take workouts that are hard enough to make your muscles feel sore for no more than 48 hours. An ideal training program would consist of sets of three until you feel sore on the first day, take off the second day, do sets of ten on the third day until you feel soreness, and rest on the fourth day. Repeat these four-day cycles, and you'll soon be ready to compete.

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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

15 Muscle Building Rules For Skinny Guys And Gals! (Part 1)

WHY CAN'T YOU GAIN WEIGHT?

Though there may be many reasons why you may be thin, the most apparent reason is because of your genetics. If your parents are naturally thin or have a small body frame, then you will most likely have the same small body type.

To some degree, your size can also be controlled by your metabolism. If you have a difficult time gaining weight of any kind (fat or muscle) then you most likely have a fast metabolism. That simply means that your body burns calories at a faster than normal rate. You must take this into account whenever you are considering a particular diet or training program. Is it geared towards someone with your metabolism and goal?

Now as you know, there are many ways to train. Hundreds, thousands even. Some work and some do not, but for the specific goal of gaining weight, there are a few UNIVERSAL things that all skinny guys must do.

Though much of the information I cover here is not as magical as you may like, I consider these rules to be the basics with regard to weight gain. These are not all of the answers, but they are definite elements that MUST be addressed in any successful weight gain program.

You should be able to easily integrate these rules into your current program to make it more suitable for your particular body and goals.

GENERAL RULES

1.Get the proper information that pertains to your SPECIFIC condition and goals.

The first big problem I find in most people is the lack of correct information. Yes you are motivated and doing things, but your effort is wasted on incorrect dieting and training information. Basically, skinny guys are taking advice from people who have never had a weight gain problem. Want to know how to gain weight? Then find someone who has walked your shoes. Someone who has been where you are.

2.Set a specific goal and create a plan of attack.

If you were to drive cross country to another city, would you just start driving randomly, or would you plan a route that would get you quickly and efficiently?

Think of your plan as a road map and your goal as your destination. Without a plan and a specific goal you will be without focus and can easily get lost or side tracked. This happens more often than you know. I see many people in the gym just doing whatever, or just eating whatever -- no plan or specific goal. They wonder why they don't make progress. They have no focus.

Having a specific program to follow allows you to take action each day. This action is focused on specifically getting you to your destination quickly. There is no thinking, debating or guessing. You just do it. A specific plan provides necessary daily structure that not only keeps you on the road moving forward, it also helps to develop good eating and training habits that will benefit you long after you have reached your destination.

3.Have confidence in yourself and belief in what you are doing.

Let?s face it; we live in a cruel world. Hate and jealously is everywhere. For most people who begin a fitness program to improve themselves, getting started will be half the battle. The other half will be staying motivated throughout the constant onslaught of negativity from others. A few negative words can do serious damage if you allow it.

The most insulting things you hear may be from friends, co-workers and acquaintances at the gym. People hate change. It makes them insecure, because they suddenly discover there?s more to you than they were probably willing to admit. They fear that you may actually achieve your goal. It makes them look less ?superior?.

Once you have begun your plan, you must have faith and believe in what you are doing. Stay focused and avoid overly critical or negative people. If you have to, keep your business to yourself. When I first began my program, I stopped talking about what I was doing because I got tired of hearing things like ?you can?t do that?, ?that?s impossible?, ?you?re wasting your time and money?. Funny thing is, now those people are constantly bugging me for advice.

It?s your life. It?s your body. It?s your dream. Don?t allow your success or failure to rest in the hands of others.

In Part 2 of this article, I will cover your workout rules and guidelines to MAKE SURE you gain muscle.

About The Author
Former skinny guy Anthony Ellis is the creator of the most widely used weight gain program in the world. This unique program designed to help people gain weight and build muscle, is currently being used in over 90 countries. For more information on how to gain weight and build muscle, check out his website at http://www.fastmusclegain.com.

Running on Empty

A sexy pair of legs moseys its way down a soft, vacuumed carpet, around a bend, and through a long, narrow aisle.

Suddenly, these shapely stems, which are encased in bright spandex, dissolve into a jungle of many others, instantly blending into the vibrant surroundings like chameleons. The long row of gams seems endless. They?re shaking, they?re baking, they?re working like jackhammers - together in harmony ? as if they were all drilling for oil.

The machines drown out the booming disco racket from the overhead speakers. All you hear, aside from the constant hum of machinery, is metal on metal, minus the smear of grease.

Squeak. Squeak. Squeak.

The stunning blonde attached to these legs peers down at a dark screen. At first, it looks like she?s about to indulge in a game of Pac-Man or Donkey Kong, but in actuality, her ensuing fun is of a much different variety. This woman is about to work out.

After punching in a few keys as if it were tax time, her hips slowly begin to grind, and just like that, the fun has begun.

Needless to say, the year is 1999 and what once was accomplished with such basic simplicity has now entered the world of hi-tech devices and advanced microchips.

To a new patron, who just wandered through the door, it all seems a bit pretentious as he peers over the motoring array of Stairmasters, steppers, treadmills, and stationary bikes.

The observer smirks and chuckles, knowing well that, not so long ago, for the goal at hand, two legs and an old pair of Nikes were all that was required.

However, the art of running seems a forgotten trade, not just for the random observer, but for the fitness public in general. For the mainstream crowd looking to foil the flab (and perhaps partake in the social aspects), a nice, honest jog through the park loses out to a sweat-session on the stairs any corporate day of the week.

Yet, one fact remains, the same fact that has survived both the tests of time and the endless evolution of technology. Nothing will whip you into shape faster and more effectively than a good, primitive run.

Aside from the fresh air that expands your lung capacity, something you can?t get at an indoor gym, running continues to stand as the leader in conditioning, fat burning, and keeping your heart rate up. Just compare the three miles down Main Street with the same distance on the rubbery conveyor belt of a treadmill. The difference in the way you feel is astounding.

But one such concept factoring in the demise of running is the belief that it is a muscle man?s worst enemy. Reports that running will chisel away on that hard-earned beef have been relentless. Thus, the running fad has come to heel a bit, almost seemingly limited to the hard-core crowd.

The experts say that the ideal method, however, to avoiding such a tragedy is to jog lightly for the first twenty minutes and then upgrade to a more vigorous pace thereafter. After the twenty-minute segment, the body generally kicks into the fat-burning business as opposed to the muscle-consuming business. Remaining at a steady, moderate pace (say 70 percent), and ditching any hopes of becoming the next Jesse Owens would seem the most logical approach, especially for new runners.

Besides, doesn?t a nice stroll along a quiet country road amid the birds and the tress sound somewhat appealing? Doesn?t it beat gaping at the sweat-drenched back of the guy on the Stairmaster in front of you?

If this is you, then perhaps it?s finally time to leave those noisy treadmills and squeaky stationary bikes behind ? far enough behind to choke on your dust.

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5 Tips for Starting Runners

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!

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.

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

Legal Drugs NonBanned Drugs: Do Any Help? Two New Studies

Will the nonsteroidal pain medicines help you recover from a workout? Lots of athletes and weight lifters take ibuprofen, an over-the-counter medication, and other nonsteroidals to ease pain in their joints and muscles. A study from the University of Florida (Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, May 2006) shows that nonsteroidal drugs inhibit exercise-induced muscle growth and strength. Athletes train by taking a hard workout and damaging their muscles. They feel sore on the next day and exercise at reduced intensity until their muscles are healed. When they feel no soreness, they take a hard workout again. When muscles heal from the stress of a hard workout, they are larger and stronger. Damaged muscles release a healing prostaglandin called Cox-2, that causes muscle growth and increased strength. Ibuprofen blocks Cox-2 and therefore will delay or inhibit muscle growth. Pain medicines may make you feel better, but at the cost of interfering with the strength gains you are working to achieve.

Are there any drugs to make you stronger that are not banned by sports authorities such as the Olympic committee? Yes, but the risks are unknown and may be great. Some athletes take estrogen blockers and human chorionic gonadotropin (Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, Volume 91, 2006). Estrogen blockers such as Tamoxifen, Arimedex, Aromasin, and Femara are used to treat women with, or at high risk, for breast cancer. Evidently lowering the female hormone, estrogen, may act the same way as raising the male hormone, testosterone, to help athletes recover faster from hard workouts. Human chorionic gonadotropins are hormones that are produced in very large amounts by a woman's body when she is pregnant. These hormones appear to promote cells growth, which includes muscle tissue. Both male and female athletes can experience strength gains from these hormones or anti-hormones. Since nobody really knows all the side effects that occur when healthy athletes take them, the athletes may be risking their lives.

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5 Tips for Starting Runners

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!

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.

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

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.

How to Stave Off Plastic Surgery Naturally and Attain a Younger Face

The world has seen great strides in medical miracles, technology and anti-aging. We see cutting edge conveniences everywhere as we live keep-up-to-date lives that have altered who we are.

We have cell phones that provide us with on-the-go communication as we download movies, music and news. Never in the history of our world have we been so closely connected as we further rely on the internet to bring us information, news, sports scores and more in real time ? it?s all readily available at our fingertips.

Preventing maladies and protecting our health has become everyday news. Anyone who reads, listens to radio and watches television knows that exercise and diet are vitally important to our good health; we choose our foods wisely and know that exercise improves not only our waistlines but also our blood pressure, blood serums and it keeps dis-ease at bay.

People seem to easily live healthfully into their 70?s, 80?s and 90?s. Options for living longer means one can easily replace knees, hips, even elbows if they wear out; hearts and lungs and other organs are transplanted plus there are many, many drug and vitamin supplements that work to keep us vitally alive

We live in a youth obsessed world. We don?t want to feel old or look old; we want to look like the airbrushed models we see in magazines, billboards and television. Aging can be a painful experience as we look in the mirror and see an older face staring back at us. How and when did this happen?

Little by little facial muscles begin to lose their vitality. This loss of vitality produces noticeable sagging over time as the muscles elongate; this action drags the skin downward making one look tired, out of shape and old. One might see down turned mouth corners, a flabby neck or a lined forehead develop practically overnight. Aging in the face can alter our lives as we lose confidence in our appearance.

One option to turn back the clock is plastic surgery; it has certainly become mainstream and affordable but surgery has inherent risks such as anesthesia complications, loss of sensation, risk of infection and less than stellar results sometimes occur. Taking unnecessary financial risks and risking one?s health to attain youthfulness is a very steep investment that one should carefully consider.

Another aspect of having a surgical face procedure is that muscles continue to atrophy, pulling the skin downward. Unfortunately, surgery does not stave off the aging process; procedures just mask the symptoms and the muscles continue to weaken due to inactivity. Surgical face lifts may be repeated and little ?nips and tucks? performed periodically to ?freshen? the lift; again, more risk for the patient.

Injections of ?filler materials? have become so popular, one shouldn?t be surprised to find them popping up in every airport kiosk. Botox? and Restylane? and Collagen are the ?darlings? of the many available injections but they, too, only mask aging in the face. The results from these injections are temporary and must be repeated several times per year to counteract further muscle elongation.

What if one wants to proceed naturally? Is there a way to look revitalized when you don?t want to spend money or risk your health to look younger and fresher?

There are those ?weeds? and ?seeds? - people who prefer everything organic and natural to achieve better health and they would never consider plastic surgery, rather you will find them seeking the latest information from their trusted naturopath and exploring other techniques that are proven and safe.

One easy way to a non-surgical, non-invasive face lift is to practice isometric facial exercise. This is a natural way to revitalize the facial muscles and yet look at least ten to fifteen years younger in just a few weeks. Isometric movements along with resistance techniques make a huge difference when you exercise your body; the same type of exercise will lift, tone and tighten the facial muscles. You will look healthier and younger as you laugh all the way to the bank.

Cynthia Rowland, Anti-aging Expert
I Save Faces
www.Facialmagic.com

Cynthia Rowland is widely recognized as an expert in all natural facial fitness with over thirty years experience in health & beauty related fields. She has appeared on The View, Fit TV, HGTV and other popular shows. This author, speaker and television personality is leading the crusade to keep men and women looking vibrantly younger through natural techniques without spending their children?s inheritance.

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.

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.

Weight Training 101

Weight training is the foundation of your fitness program. A well planed and properly executed program will add lean muscle to your body, thus giving you a more prominent shape as well as increasing your metabolism. In other words you will look better and burn more calories at rest. Adding lean muscle mass is not the only benefit, you will also be strengthening your joints and increasing your bone density. This may prevent the onset of such conditions as osteoporosis and arthritis.

A well planed program starts by determining your training split. This is the number of days per week that you will be working out (at least 3 ) and the combination of body parts that will be trained on each day. Keep in mind, each muscle of the body should be worked once per week. There are exceptions to this rule, including the abdominals and the calf muscles. These are comprised of a different muscle fiber type and may be trained more than one time a week. A beginner program may consist of three days of weight training dividing the body as follows;

DAY 1 CHEST, SHOULDERS, TRICEPS
DAY 2 BACK, BICEPS, FOREARMS
DAY 3 LEGS ( QUADS, HAMSTRING, CALVES )

*CARDIO AND ABDOMINAL TRAINING TO BE PERFORMED AFTER EACH DAY. THIS IS JUST AN EXAMPLE, PLEASE NOTE THAT MUSCLES MUST BE TRAINED IN ORDER OF SIZE ( LARGE TO SMALL )

The next step is to establish the sets and repetitions for each exercise. Each exercise should be done three times (sets) allowing for one warm up set per body part. While training for mass or thickness , 6-10 repetitions should be used for each working set, 10 being the most you are able to do with proper form. If the primary focus of your training is size reduction,12-20 repetitions should be used. As a general rule the abdominal and calf muscles will respond better to lighter weights and the higher repetition range. keeping a training log will enable you to track your progress and effectively change and increase the intensity of your program.

Two important aspects of weight training are form (technique ) and proper breathing. Unlike cardio training, weight training movements should be done slow and deliberately focusing on the muscles being targeted by the exercise. The standard for breathing is to breathe in on the ecentric (negative) portion of the movement and to breathe out on the concentric (positive) portion. Failure to breathe properly can increase your blood pressure causing light headedness and headaches.

Rest is another consideration in your program. The body does the majority of its recovery while you sleep. An effort to sleep 7-8 hours a night should be made to allow you to recuperate and recharge. We also recommend taking at least one day off per week from all forms of exercise. Over-training is a serious condition and once realized can set you back weeks in progress.

In order for muscle growth to take place your body must be in an anabolic state. When there is a positive nitrogen balance in the blood your muscles are primed for growth. A positive nitrogen balance is achieved by consuming amino acids every 2 to 3 hours throughout the day. A complete chain of aminos is available in any protein derived from an animal source or from protein supplements. While consuming non-animal protein sources you can take an amino acid supplement.

John Mott is a certified personal trainer and fitness enthusiast. He is also a regular contributor to http://bulletprooffitness.com a free information site which encompasses all aspects of fitness.