Bodybuilding Resources

Bodybuilding Resources

Ready to begin your journey for REAL bodybuilding success?

We all know how much it costs to hire a personal trainer! A personal trainer would be great for everyone to have, but unfortunately, not everyone has deep pockets like the rich and famous. Fortunately for you, you’ll be glad to know that you CAN build a body like those who can afford a personal trainer,

• Without having to break the bank
• And within the comfort of your own home

Below you will find product comparisons that I highly recommend to help you take your muscles to the next level. These are the products, which I have found to work best to take your muscles to the next level, all through trial and error. I have listed comparisons of each type of product that is needed to assist you on your bodybuilding journey. You can then gauge which one can fulfill your needs in regards to price, features and/or your current level in this bodybuilding game.

Protein Supplements

Which Protein Supplement to Buy?

Protein and carbs are the two nutrients that you will have to refill as you workout and pump your muscles. It’s common knowledge that lifting weights actually makes you lose weight. In order to make them grow you’ll have to shock them AND feed them… with food. Sounds simple, just eat decent meals 5-7 times a day. But we are talking about life in the 21^st century here, where time is often not in our favor to eat 5-7 times a day. If you don’t eat, you won’t grow. Simple!

So if you are serious about building muscle in today’s world you better start taking supplements to help refill those nutrients that you lose during your weightlifting workouts. And we begin with protein supplements.

Below are supplements, which I’ve personally tried at some point during the past 10 – 12 years.

I have also been provided  discount coupon codes for all Stay-Fit Bug readers on selected items.  All you have to do is enter the coupon code on the purchase page before you buy to save you even more money!

RED = Stay-Fit Bug Favorite!

Note:

Please be aware that there are vendors out there that sell ‘fake’ supplements. Because of this, I have made sure that I have affiliated with well known and trusted retailers of the products listed on this page (Bodybuilding.com and Amazon.com), and in which I have managed to obtain discounts in some cases. So if you do find any cheaper prices else where, make sure you question the vendors authenticity and reputation. Paying extra for reassurance, trust and more importantly your health… can go a long way!

	Minimum Price	Maximum Price	Discount Coupon Code
Optimum Nutrition Whey Protein	$11.99	$79.99	5off100 10off200
Optimum Hydro Whey Gaspari Nutrition Myofusion Muscleology Nitro Pro	$19.99 $18.98	$54.99 $38.89 $38.99	5off100 10off200 5off100 10off200 5off100 10off200
Prolab N Large II	$23.99	$49.99	5off100 10off200
BSN Syntha 6	$14.98	$39.99	5off100 10off200
Optimum 100% Casein Protein	$25.99	$44.89	5off100 10off200
CytoSport Muscle Milk	$24.98	$49.95	5off100 10off200

Creatine Supplement

Which Creatine Supplement to Buy?

Creatine Monohydrate is the stuff that you can take to reduce muscle fatigue in your workouts. However, many supplements today don’t just contain creatine, they also contain other compounds which in turn, make for great pre-workout supplements as a whole.

	Minimum Price	Maximum Price	Discount Coupon Code
USPlabs Jack3d	$27.89	$78.99	5off100 10off200
BSN Cellmass	$28.99	$34.89	5off100 10off200

Multi-Vitamins

Which Multi-Vitamins to Buy?

Going back to what I mentioned earlier, our bodies need to be fed correctly if we wish to build REAL muscle. This can be done by eating GOOD food 5 – 7 times a day. But to take your muscles to the next level you really do have to supplement them to the next level. Real food is good, but it won’t be enough. Your body will need super doses of amino acids, carbs, vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids (EFAs) in order to grow the way that I know you want them to grow, and the multi-vitamins listed below will help you do that, without question!

A note about Vitamin C

We need to take vitamin C because unlike other mammals, we don’t make it naturally. So we need to consume it in the form of our diet. 60mgs was the old school recommended amount to take, but this is 2010 where a demanding lifestyle has hit us all. For most people, the new recommended daily amount is 2 grams per day. So 3 grams per day is about right for us fitness freaks. If you do take too much, your body will let you know (Via the toilet seat!). Either way, vitamin C is a must!

	Minimum Price	Maximum Price	Discount Coupon Code
Universal Animal Pak	$12.89	$26.79	5off100 10off200
Optimum Fish Oil	$6.99	$11.99	5off100 10off200
Scivation Xtend NOW C-1000 (Vitamin C in supplement form) Opti-men Opti-women	$19.79 $13.34 $11.99 $8.99	$49.99 $13.34 $19.49 £15.99	5off100 10off200 5off100 10off200 5off100 10off200 5off100 10off200

Amino Acids

Why Amino Acids?

Because they are the building blocks of building muscle mass

	Minimum Price	Maximum Price	Discount Coupon Code
HMP 1000 Caps	N/A	$29.99	5off100 10off200
Optimum BCAA	$12.99	$21.99	5off100 10off200

Bodyweight Exercise Equipment

Which Bodyweight Exercise Equipment to Workout With?

Bodyweight exercises are great for quite a few reasons,

• Build great functional strength
• Work out from home
• Work out and maintain muscle mass while on vacation
• Target muscle groups that you may miss with free weights and machine weights

It’s also what I started out with 10-12 years ago back as a broke student.  But when you add any of the products below to your bodyweight workouts, you really can maximize the above points to ensure that bodyweight exercises help you build that body you know you deserve. I’ve used or still use all of these products. Take your pick! They are all great in their own way. If you get lost on how to use these products in your bodyweight workouts, be sure to grab the Stay-Fit Bug Unique Bodyweight Exercises Ebook HERE There are plenty of tips there to assist you on your bodyweight workout journey. Version 2.0 is on its way soon, so make sure you grab it while it’s still at the promotional rate.

	Minimum Price	Maximum Price	Discount Coupon Code
Progryp 100% Leather Dipping Belt	N/A	$28.99	5off100 10off200
Altus Deluxe Chin Up Bar	N/A	$20.98	5off100 10off200
Ontel Iron Gym Xtreme	N/A	$39.99	5off100 10off200
Newgrip Weight Lifting Gloves	$24.99	$24.99
Harbinger 1250 Training Grip WristWrap Glove	$26.99	$38.45
Xercise Ball Pack from SPRI	$7.18	$24.98	5off100 10off200
TRX Door Anchor		$24.99
TRX Home Training Bundle	$199.95	$269.95

Dumbbells and Weights

How to Choose the Right Dumbbells? If you are just starting out, it can be quite confusing on which weights you should buy for your home gym. If so, checkout this post, Vinyl Weights or Cast Iron Weights? Now, although the default weights are,

• Vinyl
• Cast Iron
• Chrome

You may want to upgrade your dumbbells and invest in a pair of Powerblocks or Bowflex dumbbells. Both are good, although I do favor the Powerblocks. Why these dumbbells?

• Save space
• Easy to transport
• Easier to change weight during exercises

There are other bonuses, but those are the stand out ones. You’ll find what you need below, whichever your current needs are.

	Minimum Price	Medium Price	Maximum Price
US Traditional Weights (Vinyl)	(55lb) $40.46		(100lb) $50.67
Amber Sports Weights (Cast Iron)			(110lb) $209.00
Powerblock Dumbbells	(5 – 45lb Set) $338.00	(2.5 – 50lb Set) $378.00	(5 – 90lb Set) $687.00
Bowflex SelectTech 552 Dumbbells			(5 to 52.5 lbs) $397.00

The Books

There are so many books to choose from out there , I need some direction! It has been said that I write good articles (Thank you for those who have praised). But I am no best selling author… yet . But there are some great books out there that I have read that will help you on your bodybuilding journey. I’ve read all of these, so take your pick

Gourmet Nutrition Cookbook

Before I picked this book up, I did do a lot of searching around as there are a lot of ‘bad’ books out there and this wasn’t a usual recommendation from a friend. The first thing I noticed is that the books format is like a ‘cookbook’ and a ‘manual’ and if you are a single guy/girl or not a good cook like myself… I’d say, get this book! The authors are the main reason I like this book. They go out of their way to give step-by-step guidance on how to actually process the meals outlined properly.

Scrawny to Brawny- The Complete Guide to Building Muscle the Natural Way

Since starting this site I have talked quite a bit about going from ectomorph to a daddy mammoth. If my advice to you so far hasn’t been enough, then this is a gem you can stash away and retrieve whenever you don’t have an encouraging voice to turn to.

And of course, our very own…

Stayfitbug.com Unique Bodyweight Exercises Ebook

Click the image for the full low down.

(In Content) Advertising On Stayfitbug.com

Stayfitbug.com

- Innovative Ways To Build Muscle
- Overcome weightlifting Plateaus
- Take Muscles To The Next Level

Stayfitbug.com is now accepting purchasing of advertisements via in-content advertising (Advertising within the text content of articles on the site)
Our advertising is structured in the format of developing an advertising partnership with advertisers.

Example

”A fixed annual upfront fee for such advertisements”

- 6 months
- 12 months

The advert can be a text link or a 125 x125 ad space. I can test both to fit your needs. However, I do encourage advertisers to pursue with in-content advertising, as this is much more effective and provides great SEO benefits.

Prices can be arranged upon contact that suit your current budget.

Current Site Stats

(35,000 monthly visitors/ 123,000 monthly page views ) (As of 12th August)

As I mentioned earlier, I am interested in treating all advertising deals as partnerships. Because of this, I place a high priority on conversions.

That’s the basics of how I would like all advertising partnership to operate.

If you have any questions or queries what so ever regarding all of the above, please do ask.

Contact: mailus@stayfitbug.com

Shaun Sinclair

Author/ Founder

Stay-Fit Bug
http://www.stayfitbug.com

Intense Forearm Workout

It’s been a while since I’ve posted about any unique forearm exercises. Quite ironic really, seeing as that is one of the weaker parts of my body, in terms of size and mass. However, I did stop focusing on growing them with specific exercises, as I have come to realize that I find better results by focusing on compound exercises.

• Bench press
• Pull ups
• Chin ups
• Dips

Nevertheless, here is a routine that will make your forearms feel the burn.

Seat Barbell Wrist Curls (Palms facing upwards)
Sets: 3
Reps: 8-12

(Increase the weight after each set)

Wrist Curls Over A Bench (Palms facing down… Classic )
Sets: 3
Reps: 8-12

(Increase the weight after each set)

Reverse Cable Curls
Sets: 3
Reps: 8-12

(Increase the weight after each set)

FEEL THE BURN!!!

See you in the comments.

5 Things To Request From Your Gym For Inspiration

Today I am continuing with the bodybuilding environment theme, in which we find ways to keep your workouts inspiring and engaging. All in aid of making your bodybuilding life a lot more ‘Fun’. Especially for those days where you feel like sh*t!

If you want to have a fun and memorable time working out, then you might as well fix the place where you will be spending most of your time…

At the gym that you attend!

You probably won’t stand a chance in requesting big changes if you attend a top class and flashy gym (Unless you have a large following behind you). But if you attend a smaller and more local type of gym, you can get the word out to the owner to make changes around the gym. Changes that will be beneficial to all that attend.

If you do manage to persuade the head honcho, then these are some of the things that you should request.

Why?

Because the local gym that I have been attending for the past 4 years has implemented these things. And they work like a charm!

#1 Posters

Not just any old posters. Posters of successful bodybuilders! (Men AND Women!)

And here’s a preview…

There really is something special about working out and having these posters to look at. They really do work on the inspiration side of things. I tend to just stare at them in-between sets and let my mind just wonder off.

The next time you go to the gym, show these posters to the gyms head honcho. He won’t turn you away!

I’ll probably send out an email to all subscribers soon, with a stack load of posters which you can use as desktop wallpapers or print off as A3 sized sheets as a poster. So be sure to sign up if you haven’t done so already, by clicking on that orange and white ebook… THERE >>>

#2 Bodybuilding Mantras

These aren’t really bodybuilding mantras per se. But some of the classic mantras from past successors work well for a bodybuilder. These are very similar to the effects that posters give in the gym. However, reading some of these mantras while you workout really does give you that ‘eye of the tiger’ drive, especially when you begin to fatigue. Fatigue can sometimes be laziness in disguise. Reading the same ‘good’ mantras over and over again will reveal which one you are suffering from… fatigue… or laziness.

Check out the bodybuilding mantras post HERE for those that missed it.

#3 Music

Yesterday I talked about surveys. Today I’m going to share some survey results.

What music do you prefer to listen to when you workout answered question?

Response Percentage

• Rock 56.3%
• Hip hop 31.3%
• Pop 25.0%
• Dance 50.0%
• House 12.5%
• Electronic 0.0%
• Techno 0.0%

These are the results of the stayfitbuggers that took the survey upon visiting this site. These results show that you are all very similar to myself, in terms of what I like my eardrums to feel when I workout. Rock or Hip Hop. Either Will do!

Most gyms will usually stick the radio on. Nothing wrong with that. But the radio does play some trash music at times, and you’ll probably hear the same songs over and over, especially if you attend the gym 3-4 times a week.

Get at the head honcho again. You probably won’t need a DJ on this occasion, but a decent custom made playlist can do wonders for a bodybuilding gym community.

That could actually be a good though Shaun… DJ’s in a gym? Hmmmm…..

#4 Before and After Photos of Successful Gym Goers

This is what I call ‘making those earlier bodybuilding posters personal!’

Why?

Well… most of the guys and girls in those posters are usually bodybuilding pros. They’ve probably made a career out of bodybuilding and worked 24/7 to get their bodies to look the way they do.

GREAT!

But not great for your average joe.

Starring at those posters are great, and present a fine display of what can be achieved with the human body. But you’ll be mostly rubbing those folks ego, because you’ll never build a body like theirs.

Problem!

Solution…

Put up posters of those who came before you, in that same gym, who worked their asses off and built supreme bodies. That will be solid proof of what can really be achieved by the everyday working man or woman. You can develop a true solid connection as many of those folks will still visit on occasion. At that point you can get talking to them and find out some of the things that worked for them. They could probably work for you too, but just remember that you’ll need to find your own bodybuilding map.

#5 Find Hot Female Gym Members (Or males – For you lady readers )

Meeting highly attractive members of the opposite sex at the gym can be a ‘yay’ or ‘nay’, depending on who you are. I personally like to just stay focused on my workout. Having an attractive lady around will just knock my focus. But that’s just me.

For the rest of you, working out in the presence of a ‘hotty’ might be the ONLY thing that keeps you coming back week after week. Nothing wrong with that! After all, it’s about making this bodybuilding game as fun as we can. ‘Fun’ is the only thing that will keep us engaged for the long term.

Since that is the case, get that head honcho to start advertising his gym services to the sexy elite beings of this human race. Tell him to get more females first.

Why?

Because the guys will go where the girls are at. Simple.

You can tell him that it will be good for business. Because it will be.

There probably are other things that may aspire you in your prime bodybuilding location, but these are the things that have worked well in the gyms that I have attended. Some of the gyms you attend might already be doing some f the above, if so, good! But if not, you better get knocking on the head honchos door, because inspiration is a must in this game.

See you in the comments.

Stay Motivated By Looking ‘Ugly’ In The Gym

• Focus
• Motivation
• Inspiration
• Sticking to the program

These are all the things that you would love to have huge stacks of when you workout. But as we all know, it never is that easy to tick all of those boxes every time you workout. There will always be that one day where you lose motivation, simply feel uninspired and will eventually be drained from that ‘training insane’ focus that you need to keep your muscles pumping. I’ve covered many techniques on how you can tick all of the above boxes, but one area I haven’t quite touched upon is how to build a great bodybuilding environment.

Building muscles by pushing weights is just the starting point to getting (and staying) ripped!

There are many other ‘life’ factors that set in which will determine if you stick to it, or quit it.

• Relationships
• Stress
• Workouts feel like a chore

And others

Again, going back to the purpose of why this site got started in the first place.

But in terms of your environment, what can you do to help you stay focused?

Stop Looking Cute And Get Ugly!

This kind of reminds me of how some great companies were built. Let’s take Google for example. We all know how big Google are these days, but most people only see the flashy ‘aftermath of success’ side of Google. The IPOs, The acquisitions and the rest. But what many seem to forget is that the real Google wasn’t built by men in suits. It was built by individuals, whose situations at the time were quite un-sexy. Think of geeky hackers, doing work into the late hours with left over pizza boxes everywhere.

Now, I don’t know what it is about that non sexy environment. But that just seems to be when the best work gets created. In fact, I’m lying. I do know!

When you are up against the wall and you have no other option but to perform. You will perform. It’s eat or die!

It never really does get that drastic, regardless of the situation. But when you have that mindset forced upon you,

Pressure will bust pipes or create diamonds!

Now, If you apply the above mentality to your workout, you can easily see how such a mindset can help push you to perform to your MAX in your workouts. It’s a case of telling yourself that you are not happy with your body (Even though you might be to some degree). It’s a case of developing an ‘ Always want to improve’ mindset.

Now, if you already have great looking muscles, you probably do want to have them on display. Not just for vanity reasons, but to see them working as you workout. However, I think that this mindset can make you lose focus.

Why?

The classic scenario

‘ Wow, my muscles look great! I’m happy with what I’ve achieved’

All is good, but then you secretly tell yourself,

‘Right, my hard work is done… time to take it easy’

FAIL!!!

I actually think this is the mindset that destroys any one that finds some success. They forget about the hard graft that it took to get them to where they are and they lose that focused mindset that got them to where they are in the first place.

It’s the

‘Hollywood Syndrome’!

A syndrome which destroys things that are truly great, leaving the true essence of it’s being in the dust.

And this is one of the reasons why you need to stop looking ‘cute’ in your workouts and start looking ‘ugly’

Wear Clothes That Hide Your Physique

This is definitely something you should do, especially if you are a hard gainer. The fact that you can’t see your muscles will drive you to push even harder when you workout. It’s all psychological, but completely beneficial and will help you keep that raw focused mentality.

Find A Gym With Like Minded Bodybuilders

If everyone that you workout with thinks and acts like you do, then it’s only going to rub off on you, which is exactly what you want in this scenario. Not only will they help you when you workout, they will also help to keep you grounded. Not just in the gym, but in your non-bodybuilding activities too (Less alcohol please!)

BTW -- I know that most of you drink alcohol ( I do too ). Surveys are a great tool.

To conclude

My intentions are to always make working out fun and engaging, so taking you away from the glitz and the glamour is NOT something that I intend to do. But when it comes to building for those results that you desperately want, hard work is just the default, and you can only keep that up by staying focused. Getting ugly and installing a gritty attitude towards your workout is just one effective way to do that.

On that note, I’ll leave you with Bubba once again.

See you in the comments.

5 Reasons Why You Need to Build a Strong Bodybuilding Network

What’s a bodybuilding network?

Well, a short while back, I wrote a popular article called ’15 things Bodybuilders and Entrepreneurs Have in Common’… It turned out to be quite controversial (Wasn’t intended… maybe I’m one big controversy), but one thing I didn’t talk about was the importance of having a strong network. A network of people that you choose to associate with, who just happen to be just as good or even better than you are at what ever game you are trying to succeed in.

Why do you want to build a strong network?

Simple…

# 1 Because you are only as good as the company that you keep!

So if you decide to associate with fat lazy bastards in your spare time, then their habits will likely rub off on you and you too will become a fat lazy bastard. If your current friends ARE fat lazy bastards, then ditch them and find some real muscle heads to ‘knock heads’ with. Doing so will have a serious positive impact on your bodybuilding lifestyle and achievements.

Troubles finding serious people?

Then feel free to join my network over on Bodyspace.

http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/Shaunus

At least one person there will inspire you, other than myself of course

# 2 We Naturally Compare With Others Close To Us

I’m not quite sure why this is, but us humans tend to have a habit of comparing ourselves with others, when in fact, we should only be comparing with ourselves. We are all individually unique in our own way.

Nevertheless, comparing is what we do. If you are going to compare yourself with anyone, then it might as well be against other great people. At least that way you can improve and develop the traits and mind set to be great throughout your body building life. Comparing yourself to crap will make you… well… crapper!

# 3 Find A Motivational Partner With Ease

Once you have a great network at your disposal, finding motivation and inspiration from others will be a breeze. No more searching around for someone to go to the gym with, or to seek sound advice from. Just jump on Google talk, Skype or what ever it is you use to communicate and shout! Its your trusted network. People will listen.

# 4 Rapid Learning

Mistakes will be made in almost anything that you pursue in this life. That includes bodybuilding too. Lack of knowledge is a key reason why you haven’t got the body that you wish you had. But the fact is, you can only learn so much by yourself. Your best bet is to learn from others. Learn how they,

• Avoided injury
• Overcame hurdles (Mental and Physical)
• Busted through plateaus
• Made the bodybuilding lifestyle work for them.

I mentioned earlier that we are all unique in our own special way, so the information you take away from your network should be used and incorporated into your own bodybuilding lifestyle plans. Only you can make something well work for you. No one else.

# 5 Be Introduced To Even More Powerful Peers

This is that whole 6 degrees of separation thing. It just takes ONE great connection in your network to be able to be introduced to the people that you would like to meet. And once you become connected with these folks, you too will be perceived as great by their peers. It’s a case of being guilty by association.

However, perception of greatness isn’t what’s important here. It’s all about the doors this can open up for you, inside and outside of bodybuilding. We are all human beings and we mostly do and want the same things.

• Good Health
• Good fun
• Build families
• Find happiness

Amongst that sea of needs and wants is a network (6 degrees of separation). A network where each and every person has the power to give someone one of the above, and the ability to receive one of the above too. There WILL be something that you can give to someone in that network. No doubt about that! But it’s all about what you can give. You have to give to receive. The more you give, the more you get back. That’s just the way the world works.

Once you do begin to receive, your lifestyle inside of bodybuilding will change for the better. But even more important than that is how your lifestyle will change outside of bodybuilding. None of us are bodybuilding robots. We don’t turn off our personal on-goings the moment we enter the bodybuilding zone. Life and bodybuilding merges as one, just like everything else, such as the relationships with colleagues you work with in your profession.

Once your bodybuilding life does merge with your personal life, you’ll find that good health, good fun, good family and happiness just happens. When it does, just remember who told you to go out there’ and build a strong network.

See you in the comments.

Build Equal Size Biceps And Triceps… PLEASE!!!

Today I’m going to have an official ‘RANT’ ( A big complaint about something)

Today I am blasting all of one dimensional armed freaks out there who have decided to go to the gym to get ripped (good) but have failed to build equal sized, well rounded arms (bad). Meaning,

A) Has biceps/ No triceps

B) Has triceps/ No biceps

How does this happen?

1. Obsessive use of the tricep extension machine

2. Obsessive amount of bicep curls

In a nutshell…

Too much focus on isolation exercises!

Unless you have arms that are bigger than 15 inches, your entire focus should be on compound exercises ( exercises that work more than one muscle group at a time). That is when you will get the best results. When you hit a plateau, you just switch things up a little (Something which I constantly throw in your face). After a little time your arms will grow… equal in size!

NOW…

When you focus on isolation exercises, you may think that doing endless bicep curls and tricep extensions will make them grow.

WRONG!

What’s actually happening is that you are damaging and shrinking them. So if you do end up with,

A) Big biceps/ No triceps

B) Big triceps/ No biceps

It’s because you are doing something right with your compound exercises, but something wrong with your forced efforts with isolation exercises. Which in turn hampers your growth. The only time you should be focusing on isolation exercises is when you are a seasoned bodybuilder and you know exactly what your muscles need at that current point in time (You find this out after you have your bodybuilding map and route in gear – Grab the 6 pac ebook to see how you can do this ).

Now that we have that cleared up, FIX IT!

Being a fitness freak, it’s hard not to notice these imbalances when you are out and about, as people start to strip off in the sun. But not having equal sized arms just isn’t sexy. In some ways it makes you look like a freak.

Just do yourself a favour and build some proper looking arms dammit. You’re hurting my eyes out here.

You have the correction and instructions now, so like Nike,

JUST DO IT!

See you in the comments.

Relax Your Muscles With Radox Herbal Bath Muscle Soak After A Workout

I’m actually quite shocked at myself that I haven’t written a post about this sooner. After all, repairing muscles is a vital key in the muscle building process in this bodybuilding game.

NOW…

I’m not quite sure what each and every one of your lifestyles are like in regards to going to and from the gym, but it’s probably one of the following two scenarios

Scenario no.1

• Eat
• 2 hours digestion time
• Workout
• Shower
• Home and Relax

Or…

Scenario 2

• Eat
• 2 hours digestion time
• Workout
• Skip the shower then go home and do whatever

I prefer to do the later (unless I’m at a top notch gym). It’s not that I like to be stinky and nasty after I workout. It’s the fact that some gyms washing facilities are just that… stinky and nasty, even though it may not be visible to the human eye (who remembers gym etiquette?)

Any how, If you are like me, and your work sessions reflect that of the 2nd scenario, you now need to make it compulsary that you do what the title of this post says.

Relax your muscles with Radox herbal bath muscle soak after a workout!

Radox products have been around for years, and it was actually back in 1999 when I got introduced to this (From that same personal trainer/Athlete I spoke of in the Unique Bodyweight exercise Ebook!). Since then, I have been taking hot steamy bubble baths right after a workout, with this very product.

It’s always good to take a hot bath to relax your sore muscles after a workout, and a hot bath by it self will do just that. But like everything else you read on this site, it’s all about taking things one step further, and we do that by adding this liquid to the mix.

NOW…

I’m not a specialist in this area, I just know that what these scientist guys have produced works! When you lay in the bath, it does wonders for your skin (For your face go for King of Shaves products – trust me! It cleared up all the tiny spots I had on my forehead) without leaving your skin feeling too soapy when it’s time to get out. It smells damn good and it contains sea minerals (Which you will definitely sense once you inhale). The thing that is ment to be doing all the magic is clary sage and sea minerals, both of which are known for their soothing properties.

Again, I’m not an expert in this area, but these folks have done well for the consumer. That is

You buy THIS, you get THIS… with no crap talk in between.

I don’t know what EXACTLY is doing all the magic, from

• The smells
• The minerals
• The Clary Sage

Or

• The soapy effect on the skin

I just know that if you workout and want to stop feeling like crap, hours after the workout is done, jump in a bath mixed with this stuff, because it works. Give it a try, you won’t be disappointed.

Stay tuned for tomorrows post where guide you through the perfect after workout bathing session.

See you in the comments.

Succeed In Bodybuilding With ‘Overdrive’

Back in this post, I talked about HIT. Running up hills to be specific, which is great for fat loss. But I’m here to talk about building muscle (Especially for all you hard gainers out there). And today I’m going to share with you the one dominating factor that will allow you to succeed in your weightlifting and muscle mass building efforts.

If you’ve ever read any books by Roger Hamilton, you will know that he speaks strongly about ‘critical moments’. These are moments where you make a deal make or a deal breaker decision which in turn will have a serious impact on your life from that moment on.

The overdrive concept is similar in nature to that. Overdrive is when you reach that critical moment in which you either break down and quit, or where you,

Stop thinking about ‘just giving enough’ to succeed and start thinking about giving it your ALL!

The outcome in both scenarios is controlled by your mindset. As the classic saying goes…

‘Your body is a temple’

However, your body is still a puppet to the puppet master, which is your mindset and how you think. It is a similar mindset that allows those in martial arts to break bricks with their bare hands. Once you enable the overdrive mindset, you will start to succeed at those tough fitness challenges you are facing and begin to succeed at many other things in your life, such as work or raising kids.

I’ve had many personal encounters with the overdrive mindset and 99% of the time that I’ve succeeded with it, I’ve realized that ALL of us humans are actually quite lazy. We tend to want to do ‘just enough’ to obtain what we wish to achieve.

This is the same reason why P90x isn’t for every one, because almost everyone will not have the overdrive mindset, hence the reason why they won’t achieve.

Controlling The Overdrive Mindset

Aka Grow With Baby Steps

Like I mentioned above, I’ve faced quite a few examples of when I used overdrive.

The First

1. Age 13 -- Cross country races.
2. Always came 3rd or 2nd place.
3. I stepped out of my lazy comfort zone used overdrive and gave it my all in the last few 100 meters.

The result = First place.

That example will stick with me for life, because I just remember always coming 2nd to those guys. Then one day I just said ‘f**k it… I’m going all out’. And in an instant I beat those guys at the last hurdle. And the reaction from the crowd, the trainer, and the two guys that would usually kick my ass was…

‘WTF’??’

I think I actually shocked myself at the time too.

That’s overdrive!

However, as the years went on and as I began to get a little more life experience under my belt I found that overdrive certainly has its pros. But it certainly has its cons too.

The Second

1. Age 17
2. 100m Sprint Training
3. 6 weeks of training (from nothing) -- Increased my time from 12. 8secs to 11.1secs

Wow. Now time to up the ante

I begin to do press up position sprint starts (Great for increasing your explosive block speed), then a few sessions later I became too fast for my own good. My left shoulder pops out (partial dislocation) and then it slips back in (I had never felt anything like that before). A few moments later, I raise my hands over my head.

BAM!!!

Full dislocation = worst day ever!

My left shoulder was dislocated and out of it’s socket for at least 15 minutes before finding a way to get in back in (read this post to learn how).

That right there is a life lesson to all who are reading this. Introduce some overdrive into your bodybuilding life… yes! But make sure that you take baby steps. Move with the pace of a tortoise but at the speed of a hare.

Meaning…

When you find rapid success or just a technique that works really well for you, test and tweak it for a while before storming off onto the next thing. By doing so you’ll be able to avoid injury unlike I did.

However, I am a bit of a ‘flash kinda dude’ that may get excited from time to time. Hence the reason I dislocated both shoulders, the 2nd time from jet skiing (No more overdrive for me there I’m afraid).

That about wraps it up for my blabber-talk on overdrive, lazy people and mindsets, and I’ll probably touch on this again sometime soon. But for now here is a nice overdrive example.

See you in the comments.

Shock Your Muscles with Repetition

I think you’ve all had enough of my entertainment antics from the past few posts. I certainly have. And I think it’s time to get back to the business of discovering and executing innovative ways of building muscle. One question one may ask is,

Why Innovative?

The answer:

Because your muscles simply will not grow after a certain point in growth. So you need to get creative in order to start shocking your muscles again.

One way to do this is by performing an exercise twice in one workout. Once in the beginning and one at the end. Like this,

1. Lat pull downs – 3 sets of 5 reps
2. Lateral raises (dumbbells) – 3 Sets of 10, 8, 6 reps
3. Barbell shoulder press – 3 sets of 10 reps
4. Lat pull downs – 3 sets of 12 reps

Doing this will give your muscles a reason to speak up in confusion. And they’ll probably say something like this,

‘Hey buddy, what the hell’s going on here? We just did this exercise, but something is… different’

That is a statement that I could only wish our muscles would quote on the daily, but unfortunately that is not so (Damn muscle memory). Any how, the real change here is all to do with the different repetition ranges. Performing more reps (possibly with a different weight) will begin to force your muscles to acting differently. Performing both lower reps and higher rep numbers will assist in activating different muscle fibers, hence the ‘shocking’ change to the way your muscles react. This is the exact kind of thing that you need to be doing in your workouts to give mojo back to your muscles.

Change is a never ending and an often rapid thing in my world. I live in this game we call internet marketing, I live in the world we call bodybuilding, and I literaly go mentally sick when my surroundings have been the same for too long. So I’ve become accustomed to rapid changes, which in turn helps you, as I’m constantly trying out new things during workouts.

But this site isn’t about helping me, it’s about helping you. So do yourself a favour and take yourself out of your comfort zone when you workout. Easier said than done, I know. But that is the only way to take your muscles to the next level. This technique is one of them.

See you in the comments.

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