The P90X ‘After’ Solution

For those of you who are not aware of what P90X is, it is an exercise program that will shock your body and promise meaningful results, all within the space of 90 days… as long as you stick to it. From what I have learnt thus far, those I know who have stuck it out for the 90 days have praised the program and recommended it without question. This is a good thing, because the program preaches to the unconverted the importance of shocking the body into change, something which I do weekly in some way or another, more evidently so in shock body exercises.

But here is a question that I repeat back to myself on a regular basis.

‘Ok, I shock my body; get great results, and then what? Keep doing the whole thing over and over and over again?’

I say… Naaaaah!

You see, personally, P90X is nothing new to individuals like myself. Although there are some great methods and routines in there (We don’t know it all), It preaches what I have known from the start of my muscle building endeavors.

The only way to train is to train INSANE!

And if your goal is to look good for the long haul (That’s most of us) then training insane really can get boring. This is especially the case if you have a low metabolism, because weight loss is just the first part of the goal. Keeping the weight off is a whole new ball game.

The P90X After Solution

So we can agree that P90X does a good job of what it claims it can do, although some may or may not warm to Tony Horton’s training antics. But P90X fails where I think this post can begin to succeed.

TO MAKE WORKING OUT FUN FOR THE LONG TERM

As you may have read in my bio, I have built muscle on and off over the years and every time I get back into the swing of things, I don’t find it too much of a challenge to start packing on the pounds of muscle. If I’ve been completely out of circulation then I know it will take me just a few months to start seeing ‘HUGE’ improvements (Another case of ‘I succeeded in ‘X’ amount of time). But then I would get to that special point and ask myself,

‘Can I really keep up with this level of intensity? Even more so… do I want to?

I mean, I like working out and all, and the passion I have for this game probably will never die, even when I begin to reach the 50+ decline years. But too much of any one thing is bad for you, and I personally don’t like to be entirely consumed by any one thing for too long. I like to ‘LIVE’

So the real P90X solution is how do we make this game fun while enduring this grueling pain?

Well, before I start to unveil some of these methods and get the party started, we have to all agree that hard work is a must. There really is no escaping that. So whatever weightlifting routines or exercises you have been following on or off of Stay-Fit Bug, make sure you stick to them.

Map and Goal

But what we will begin to do is ease the fun into our daily activities… Killing two birds with one stone at times, and getting away from the very thing that is killing our motivation levels…

Your Average Gym

Which consists of….

• Eye-watering body odors
• Sweaty people frowning in concentration and rarely talking to each other
• Mundane workout routines, blisters, callisters and clunky heavy machinery
• Bad music assaulting your ear drums.

That does not sound like a fun place to me. (However, my local gym is nothing like that . But I bet yours is.)

We all have different interests and will take up varying activities between us all. But below is a list of things you can do to start breaking up those workout days and make your time in working out ‘FUN’!

On Your Workout Days

Change Your Gym… Join A Jungle Gym

A jungle gym is basically a gym designed for kids (Usually within the actual gym). There you will see kids jumping around, throwing balls, chasing each other and swinging, all without realizing they are actually working out. This will be a reminder to you that working out is all about being ‘active’ and seeing the kids exercise every time you go to the gym will be highly enlightened and remind you what really is important. TO HAVE FUN!

In fact, if you look at the way the world is designed in regards to pushing people how to grow up, it’s actually working backwards and brainwashing the masses. Is it a society that teaches us to be more complicated? Maybe. Either way, enter the jungle gym and follow suit like these kids, and have so much fun that you forget you are even there to exercise. Hail to hidden health.

Embrace The Great Outdoors

This is an golden oldie, but it’s worthy of a mention in today’s fitness world. This is because most people have become consumed by the digital age we now live in and these activities are being taken up less and less. But there really is nothing like the airy ambience that the outdoors give when taking up any of the following activities

• Hiking
• Swimming
• Rollerblading
• Mountain Biking
• Canoeing
• Biking
• Skiing
• Waterskiing
• Rafting
• Walking
• Climbing
• Jogging
• Backpacking
• Walking the dog

The feeling you get at the end of these sessions is priceless. You will feel worked out yes. But there is always this magical element of fun when you are out and on your feet. Kind of like an adventure.

Bodyweight Exercises On Vacation

Talking of adventures, travel in itself is one big adventure every time you venture out. When I first used to travel out, my thought’s used to be,

‘Oh no, how will I maintain, what if there isn’t a gym near by’

That has now changed. I now view travel as an opportunity to explore and discover new ways to workout out. This element of exploration and discovery is what makes working out fun. You can push the intensity without having that feeling of repetitive boredom. Besides, you’ll have that special travel bug on your brain, so boredom would be far from an issue.

P.S That ebook right there will guide you in the right direction >>>

Protein Supplement Cocktail Contests

Taking supplements can sometime seem like a chore within itself, and may sometimes feel like you are on some kind of medication. But if you want real results or live a very busy lifestyle, then taking some kind of supplement is probably going to be mandatory. Whey Protein is one of the most popular, and rightfully so. But what you can do is spice things up and have some contents with your buddies.

‘Who Can Make The Best Cocktail’

It might not provide any real value to your body, but it sure will make things fun and will no doubt create some interesting memories or even classic youtube.com moments.

To kick start your ideas: 10 Great Protein Shake Recipes For Your Weightlifting Workouts

On Your Days Off

Embrace The Great Outdoors

‘Heeey, you’ve mentioned this already’

I sure did, but when you embrace the great outdoors, with any of the activities listed above you will be killing two birds with one stone either way you look at it. If you take up the activities for fun, you’ll get a good moderate to high intensity cardio workout. If you plan any of the above activities for your cardio workouts, you can have fun with it. Win, win situation.

Play Rockband and Guitar Hero

This is still, hands down one of the most fun ways to have fun and stay fit at the same time. Some say that the music game genre is dying out and has been milked to death. But I don’t agree. I think it’s just maturing into the next phase, what ever that will be. Besides, these games will be timeless as they contain classic music from some of the best music released in the past 50 years.

Anyhow, whether you have or have not jumped onto the music game bandwagon, you will be happy to know that ‘Rocking out’ using fake instruments is not only fun, but also succeeds at being a great workout without having to go to the gym. Playing the guitar will keep you active on your feet, while playing the drums will provide a great upper body workout. Playing both instruments will act as a great compound (and functional) exercise.

Nintendo Wii – Wii Fit

We all know how popular the Wii is. The Wii Fit is a game that will actually keep you fit. But it is still a game, and we all play games to have fun. It seems as if the world is agreeing with me, understanding that we need to make fitness a lot more fun.

How will this all help?

Adding these activities to your daily schedules will help you stay motivated and engaged in fitness, making it feel less like a chore all without even realizing it. Again…

Hail to hidden health.

This is just a start and I’ll probably throw new ideas in the comments section below over time. Nevertheless, working out incorporating these methods into your routines will make things a lot more interesting and FUN.

See you in the comments.

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Don’t Be A Spoon Fed Bodybuilder

I’m sure you’ve all heard of the saying

‘ To be fed with a silver spoon in your mouth’

Which basically means to be raised as a child without having struggled like the majority of kids do in this world.

So we can split the world into two types of individuals. That is ‘The spoon fed’ and ‘The hungry’

It’s pretty easy to tell the difference between the spoon fed and the hungry. From the way one speaks, acts and thinks in certain situations.

Example:

Weight Loss

Scenario

A person becomes extremely overweight after becoming filthy rich. They begin to have wild parties and start living a crazy lifestyle. And they simply go over board with all the lovely food the world has to offer. And now they look like this

Marshmallow man

They then decide it’s time to fix the situation for themselves and their families sake.

The Spoon Fed

A spoon fed person will probably start off by doing the ‘right’ thing

1. Get a gym membership
2. Set up a goal and workout routine
3. Lose weight over time

However, there will be a crital stage where things will become tough. At this stage a spoon fed person would give up and probably go the easy route and have liposuction.

The Hungry

Place a hungry person in the exact same scenario,

(Got rich, went a bit crazy, time to fix up)

And I would place a nice bet that they will stick it out for the long haul and lose that weight gradually. Besides, once that milestone achievement has been made they can show off, gloat and even find success from selling their story and teaching others how to do the same thing.

The hungry person would have probably adopted that hunger mentality from a young age too . And over time it just became a fixed asset of their persona through the journey to adulthood.

It’s Better To Give Than Receive

Receiving Too Much Makes You Weak! It takes away your hunger.

The hunger that is vital to have in order to plough through the ups and downs on your quest to build a better body.

Ok, I understand the concept, but what do you mean by ‘spoon fed bodybuilder’?

Well If you take that concept and put it it in the context of a bodybuilder, a spoon fed bodybuilder is one that would naturally lack that killer drive required to take their body to the next level. The drive that most hungry bodybuilders would have.

It is that vital stage in the cycle of bodybuilding where you either stop and quit. Or plough through, when you are

- In the gym late at night, by yourself, struggling. While your friends are out having fun.

Or

- When you need to hit the gym for workout no.3 of the week. Yet you are exhausted after a longs day at work

This is where most spoon fed bodybuilders will stop.

Why?

Because unlike the hungry bodybuilder, they probably never have tasted that natural raw hunger before, and like I mentioned earlier, the hungry types would have had it installed in their being from their youth.

Ok, I’m like… Soooo spoilt. I don’t even know the meaning of the word hunger. Can I become like those hungry folks?

It is possible, but like I mentioned earlier, it is usually stapled into the mind set from an early age. However, circumstance can change that. That alone can drive you towards the hunger mind set that the hungry folks have developed over the years. Because you either eat or die, it’s as simple as that.

So to answer your question. No, you probably won’t be able to turn off the way your spoon fed brain works… Unless you are thrown into a situation by circumstance.

To Conclude

It’s really simple. If you are a spoon fed bodybuilder, you probably won’t follow through with much of the hard work required to build real strength and mass… the stayfitbug.com way. But if you are, success will be knocking on your door very soon if it hasn’t done already.

Which one are you?

See you in the comments

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Back to Basics Tricep Routine

I’m going back to basics today. I hope you are all working out and preparing those muscle for summer. Increase the intensity now! It will be too late to start looking your best once the summer months kick in. Any how, here is a triceps routine that I have on my draft planner. My planner won’t mean much to you as you’ll have your own goals. But this an advanced workout that you can throw into your routine when it’s time to hit the triceps or when you want to switch things up.

Seated Bent Over One Arm Dumbbell Triceps Extensions

• Sets: 3
• Reps: 8-12 (Increase the weight after each set)
• Rest: 3 minute rest between each set

Standing Dumbbell Triceps Extensions

• Sets: 3
• Reps: 8-12 (Increase the weight after each set)
• Rest: 3 minute rest between each set

Cable One Arm Tricep Extensions

• Sets: 3
• Reps: 8-12 (Increase the weight after each set)
• Rest: 3 minute rest between each set

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Why You Need To Workout Like A Gymnast

If I ever want to aspire to be like any Olympian, then it would have to be a gymnast. Both male and female (Both are a delight to watch). Not only do these gals and guys look great, they also wield superior strength.

But guess what?

What Shaun?

These guys and gals only use bodyweight exercises to build strength… and mass!

Nah… I don’t believe you, why don’t I look like they do then?

Well, let me explain

They Add Resistance

Adding resistance is the only way that you can increase your strength when you workout. Your muscles will naturally contract against resistance, but with time they will get used to it and become stronger. At this point, you will need to increase the level of resistance. That is one reason why most people who train for muscle mass give bodyweight exercises the cold shoulder, because we are not robots, or super human and there is no way to increase resistance with our own body weight.

However, gymnasts use creativity to increase resistance when performing bodyweight exercises and being creative with bodyweight exercises is something that I have been doing for years.

One example of a creative resistance would be when they perform the leg lift exercise.

Instead of performing the exercise with your legs tucked in, perform the exercise with your legs ‘dead straight’. This will double the difficulty of performing a leg lift with just your bodyweight. All you had to do was use some leverage.

However, an optimum workout routine will utilize weightlifting exercises and creative bodyweight exercises. (Sometimes with assisted weights)

One key point about performing advanced bodyweight exercises is that performing these harder exercises will give you better results. This is because you will be aiming for maximum contraction rather than exercising until failure, and for most of the advanced exercises, it will be all the muscles of your whole body that will contract. As long as you keep maxing out the contractions, you will build superior strength, and size too.

You still haven’t told me why I don’t look like a gymnast?

Well… have you looked at a gymnast recently? Of course you have. They look great and possess raw strength. They have learned how to perfect ways to keep on increasing their strength using advanced exercises. And on Friday, you’ll get a full taster of some these in the ebook. These unique exercises are designed to challenge you beyond the conventional pull up or dip exercise, which will allow you to push your strength to the max.

Some Advanced Exercises To Look Forward To

1. Mixed Grip Chin Up
2. Straddle Planche

It’s not very likely that you will build a body like a gymnast just using creative bodyweight exercises with assisted weights (although possible). As gymnasts dedicate their whole time to their career, using many other techniques then just bodyweight exercises to build their bodies and are required to tick all of these boxes as a requirement.

• Passive flexibility
• Active flexibility
• Joint preparation
• Static strength
• Dynamic strength

And others.

This is why you will probably never look like a gymnast!

But the aim of this post is to show you that by incorporated the mindset and strength training progression of a gymnast, you too can take your strength training to the next level and show all of the overly bulky muscle heads in the gym what true strength is all about.

Remember, this is all about higher-level strength progression and building defined muscle mass.

In addition to all of this you will also improve your level of balance, coordination and agility and you may even turn into a mini version of these guys.

Tony Jaa

Jackie chan (Maybe older now, but I bet he still out performs those who are the same age as he was when he was in his prime)

If you really want to show off and look good while performing some of these exercises then take up some dance classes (read this post for some ideas).

Getting good at these dances will provide you with grace and flair, which will make you, stand out from the crowd when you move.

Grow Like A Plant

In order to even get to a level where you can perform the above exercises effectively, you will need to grow like a plant.

You will need to allow your body to go through the phase of steady growth, and once matured, go for the advanced bodyweight exercises. Once you do finally adopt superior strength and athletic ability, start to practice your one rep max on certain exercises. You will find that the level in which you have now increased your strength may have far surpassed the level of strength gains you was achieving in your weightlifting workouts. If that is the case, then lifting weights will now become a novelty for you. But both are just as important as the other, because you still probably won’t achieve the strength gains and mass of a gymnast, because you aren’t a gymnast. Incorporate both weightlifting and body-weight exercises into your routine, adopt the patience of a tortoise, the speed of a hare and like the plant in the video…. GROW!

For more detail on how to build up to the level to which you can perform these exercises, make sure you grab the e-book on Friday 12th March 2010

Here >>>

Or simply sign up now to automatically receive it via email.

See you in the comments.

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The Bodybuilding ‘Pencil-neck’ Eraser Exercise

If you are anything like me ‘A natural hard gainer’ or 6ft plus in height, It might just be that you suffer from having a long giraffe pencil-neck. If so then, and if you have decided to take up bodybuilding to help bulk it up a bit, then I know you have done or still are struggling to develop the ‘Bull-neck’ look.

Why Do You Want A Strong Neck?

Your neck is always on display

Like I stated in the tailor-made wardrobe post, your neck is one of the first things people will see when they meet you, and they will judge you by it. Your neck will alsobe visible in almost anything you wear, so it’s always going to be on show. Since that is the case, you will want to have a strong and powerful neck to show to the world, as a strong neck signals strength, power and determination to those you meet. (First impressions are everything!)

Withstand a blow

Having a strong neck will enable you to withstand a fatal blow, whether that be from a fight or when taking up a particular sport. It really is that serious. Having a strong neck will be the difference of whether you spend a few days resting or recovering, or whether you end up in hospital for treatment of a spinal injury when faced with a fatal blow to the head. From my own personal experience, building a stronger neck was the difference between me falling flat on my face or withstanding the weight and walking away when I helped lift a friend into my attic. It was actually quite frightnening. This guy was 14 stone of pure muscle, he accidently slipped while balancing on my shoulders and I lost my balance a little. But because I had been training at the gym (2 years at this point in my life), my neck had the advantage of bulking up from it’s previous pencil-neck form, and I was able to push back and withstand the force of his weight.

Protects your spine

If you want to avoid back problems in the future then start focusing on building up the muscles in your neck. I’ve seen grown men reduce to tears because of back problems they’ve faced, and I can tell you, it really isn’t a pretty sight. So do yourself a favour and take action.

Another issue which I know affects every single one of you is bad posture when sitting at the computer. This will put strain on your neck muscles and spine. But build a strong neck and you can beat the odds of back pain in the future.

The ‘Pencil-neck’ Eraser Exercise

Now, I’ve already shown you a few ways that you can build up your neck muscles here, even when you are at work. But here is one effective technique that you probably haven’t tried which you can do in the comfort of your own home.

Nash rubber like a canine

1. Go to your nearest bike store and buy a new bike tyre inner-tube
2. As you get ready for your workout, stand on the floor on all fours (Like a dog)
3. Place and hold one end of the inner-tube in one hand (or both)
4. Place the other end in your mouth and grip it with your teeth
5. Make sure you have a firm grip on both ends and make sure you have a good range of motion for the movement
6. All you do now push your head back in a upwards/ backwards motion. Back down again and repeat.

You can workout the number of sets you wish to do by gauging your own strength levels. But perform this exercise once or twice a week for a few months and you will feel the difference in the look and feel of your neck.

Note: If you suffer from a history of neck injuries, I would highly advise that you visit a physician before performing any kind of neck exercise or training. The above information will without a doubt help you build a powerful neck, but if you don’t have the right foundation for doing so you could well be setting yourself up for injury, failure and set backs (Which I do not want. I can’t have my stayfitbuggers out of action now… can I? )

See you in the comments

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Advanced Bodybuilding Butt Workout

Although I usually feed you hardcore and often intense methods to take your muscles to the next level, I thought I’d just share with you a butt routine that I have been currently focusing on. After all, It’s still ok to do the basic exercises throughout your weightlifting routines, as they will be a crucial link in the chain when you need to mix things up in your workouts. However, you will still have to up the ante while performing this routine, as it involves increasing the weight throughout each exercise.

Glute Extensions

• Sets: 3
• Reps: 8-12 (Increase the weight after each set)
• Rest: 3 minutes between each set

Cable Hip Extensions

• Sets: 3
• Reps: 8-12 (Increase the weight after each set)
• Rest: 3 minutes between each set

Smith Machine Squats

• Sets: 3
• Reps: 8-12 (Increase the weight after each set)
• Rest: 3 minutes between each set

See you in the comments.

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The Most Innovative And Dangerous Bodybuilding Exercise… Ever

When I wrote ‘this post‘, I stated that running up hills is one of the best high intensity training techniques that you can do for your cardio workouts, which is true. But I’ve found something better. This technique really will separate the men from the boys in more ways than one. It is something that I used to do back my college days, and I can vouch for it’s effectiveness. I call it…

RUNNING UP ‘DOWN’ ESCALATORS!

Now, I know you have all used an escalator before, and I know you have all tried to run up the ‘down’ escalator at least once in your life, so you know how much of a challenge that can be. But this is a whole different ball game. You will use these escalators to perform high intensity training at least once a week.

Now let me be your introductory guide for this unique exercise

#1 Finding An Escalator

The first thing you will need to do is find an escalator in an isolated location. You will want to avoid injuring members of the public. That could lead to all kinds of complications. The best place that I know of is underground railway stations. They always open very early and close very late, so there will be plenty of time to choose your run time. Another idea would be to choose the station at the end of the line. Those will always be empty.

#2 Reps And Sets

Before you begin to understand how many reps and sets you will do, you will first have to nail the process for progression.

- Start small by running down the escalator by 5-6 steps
- Turn around and run back to the top

Then all you do is increase the number of steps you run down as you begin to progress. After that it’s entirely up to you how you wish to break up your sets.

#3 You Could Get Into Trouble

This will happen, more likely then not. That’s where we will find out if you are a man, or just a boy. Will you take that risk? Will you reap the rewards of this exercise? That’s down to you. But if you really are a man, then no one will get in your way. Developing and using some charm, charisma and schickt will get you a long way.

#4 It Will Be Fun And Liberating

If your workouts (or life in general) are lacking some excitement in them, then you can guarantee that this will put the fun back into it. Performing this exercise in these locations will make you feel like a big bad kid again and liberated is how you will feel. If you are lucky you may even find yourself on youtube.com. However, if you become an internet superstar from the whole escalator ordeal, just make sure you link back to stayfitbug.com and give me credit for it.

Nevertheless, if you do grow some balls and attempt this exercise, you can be sure that it will test you to the max. And again, in more ways then one.

See you in the comments.

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Why Playing Video Games Will Make You A Better Bodybuilder

If you are alive right now and reading this, it is very likely that you play video games in some way or another on one of these formats:

• PS3
• Xbox360
• Wii
• Nintendo DS
• PSP
• iphone
• Online web games
• MMORPGs

All of which cover a huge demographic in today’s world.

Games in general do get a lot of flack for apparently wasting our time. I don’t agree with that. I actually think you are living an experience when playing games, and any good experience you go through in life certainly won’t have a price on it (Priceless). But that’s another argument. One good thing that I see games doing is that they may start developing better mindsets for the masses. The mindset to succeed more often in other real world activities, and how this could help you be a better bodybuilder?

How?

Because games teach you how to fail a lot before you finally succeed.

Now, you may have not looked at things this way before and you have probably separated your gaming life from your real life. And what ever has happened in the gaming world has stayed in the gaming world. But open your mind a little. The next time you play that challenging game, try and stick it out to the end to earn that trophy or beat that boss or score that goal against that super good online nerd. I’m guessing that you probably give up and turn the console off when you begin to lose and decide to go back to it another time. It’s OK to do this if you are restricted by time, but if you simply give up because you cannot stand the heat of getting beaten, then you are probably the cowardly type. If this is you then I can bet money on it that you act the same way in other challenges that you face in life. Such as bodybuilding. In fact, if you want to see if you are cut out to build a great ‘stand out from the crowd’  body, then start playing games more. This will be a true test of your character.

Play Hard Games

You will fail a lot. You will get fed up from endless failure. And it is at this time which will determine wether you succeed or not. And as usual, it is a very thin line between the two. But do yourself a favour and leave the console on. See the battle through until you succeed. Learn how to beat that boss properly, and when you finally do, the enjoyment and fulfillment you get afterwards is second to none. There aren’t too many great feelings like that in life. Quite like scoring a goal in soccer/football.

Some Games

Guitar Hero and Rock Band

(Nailing that 5 star difficulty track on Expert mode)

Viewtiful Joe

(Beating Fire Leo – See the video and comments to understand how hard a task this was… and still is)

Comments such as – ‘I traded in this game because of this guy i could never defeat him i think i should go and get it again’ thorgrim103

Devil May Cry 3

(Still probably one of the hardest games around)

Midnight Club 3/ Los Angeles

(The original was released back on the PS2. The cars you would race against were simply unforgiving. You crash, you lose… it was as simple as that)

Demon Souls

(A PS3 game that I’ve yet to play, but going by the reviews, It’s bitch hard)

Sorry folks, I’m a hardcore gamer. I don’t know many challenging casual games. Perhaps some of you could recommend such games that would fit the above criteria.

I personally love it when games are ultra hard and unforgiving. It keeps my mindset in ‘challenged’ mode. In fact, I often complain when things become too easy, because I know that I cannot progress with anything in life unless I face defeat every now and again. And whenever I hit the gym and face a challenge, I now will have more experiences under my belt of times when I overcame a challenge, regardless of the scenario.

The point is…

The point is… the more you begin to develop this mind set, the more likely it will be that you will succeed in your quest to build that body you deserve. You will begin to learn how and why failure is important at break neck speed, with your only cost being time, electricity and maybe an extra games controller or two. And guess what. The more you learn to adopt this mind set the faster you will begin to succeed too. I call this the ‘Reverting back to childhood mindset’, because as a child, you will fail more times than ever then as you do as an adult.. it’s just part of the process of growing up.

• Walking
• Talking
• Reading
• Writing
• Bike riding

To name a few.

But when the failure happens at this age, it is never questioned by anyone.

(Ahh, look at little Shauny trying to ride his bike. He’ll get there soon enough)

But as you migrate into adulthood, failure starts to feel like you are breaking the law, which is wrong. This is something that is wrong with the worlds mentality at present, and I’m not quite sure how it can be fixed. But all YOU need to know is that you will adopt the video games mindset, and fail in your workouts as much as you need to until you succeed. Because that is the proper way to build a near perfect body.

Fix the mind and you can fix the body

See you in the comments.

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Elite Exercise Execution (Part 2)

The Calf Raise

This is one exercise that I had no choice but to get good at. Being 6ft 2″ and 2/3′s of my body being all legs (probably not 2/3′s, but it certainly feels that way) it is a no brainer that I would struggle to build muscle mass on my lower legs. Nevertheless, I have been progressing and the changes in growth have been noticable. But this has only begun to happen from using the following techniques.

Performing The Exercise Properly

• Find a standing calf raise machine
• Get into position by holding the bar and placing the pads on your shoulders
• When positioning your feet, make sure there is a good separation between your feet and your toes
• Make sure your toes are pointing forward
• Start with your heels low and as far down as you can get them
• Keep your knees straight but not locked
• Lift

The Mistake That You Will Not Make

Now, you want to avoid lowering your heels all the way down. By doing this you are stretching your calf muscles before they get a chance to contract, which will affect your ability to effectively build muscles on your calves. You will want to imagine that there is only flat ground below the area of your heel and lower your heel to flat ground level only.

You will want to keep your knees straight also, as mentioned above. If you start bending your knees then you will introduce your quads and butt muscles into the movement. This too will reduce the tension that you are building up in your calves.

Another thing to avoid is turning your toes in or out. This will only put unnecessary stress on your knees.

Tips, Tricks and Tweaks

And now for my favorite part. Taking exercise to the next level.

Contract Your Butt

This will allow you to get a 1-2 inch raise above what you normally do, thus giving you a better and more effective calf workout.

Isolation

I’ve mentioned this technique in a few exercises, such a the leg press. The idea here is isolate one leg and press it behind the remaining leg. Then carry on performing the calf raise. This will make the exercise that much harder to perform and in the long run will give you better results. This is especially good for hard-gainers, those with chicken leg syndrome or for those who are over 6ft in height, as all of those body types will have a hard time building muscles in their calves.

Work The Inside Of Your Calves

Set your feet wider apart and start rising up from the balls of your feet.

Workout The Outside Of Your Calves

Bring your feet in closer and rise up on the outer balls of your feet.

This has been working well for me so far, but if I do find any other tweaks that produce results, you will be the first to know.

See you in the comments.

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Bodybuilding Ammunition For ‘UBER’ Productive Workouts (Part 1)

Over the past few weeks you would have learned quite a few ways in which you can prepare your muscles for a real shock to increase strength, and eventually muscle mass. But what would be the use of doing all of that if you don’t know how to get the most out of your efforts. That is why I am introducing bodybuilding ammunition for ‘UBER’ productive workouts. Now I know you all want to see more ways in which you can build your muscles and tweak your exercises. Don’t worry, more goodies are coming (Sorry, quality cannot be produced overnight I am afraid!). But it’s also important that I get the message out about the importance of having some structure in your workouts and talk about some of non- muscle building activities.

If I go back in time to an older post… in fact, two older posts (here and here). I started off by stating the importance of having a goal. I know that your goal will be to build muscle and increase strength. While doing this you will want to have some things in place to ensure that you can continue to reach that goal in the most effective ways possible. These are some ways to help you ensure that you keep up the level of intensity and motivation that you started with in the beginning.

Listen To The Right Music

Now, my love of Rock music has be re-instated with the introduction of music games such as Guitar hero and Rockband. In fact, playing those games is a unique workout within itself (check this post if you missed it). But out of all of the music genres I can think of, Rock is the only genre of music that can get me amped up and keep me amped up during my workouts. Everyone has there favorites, from AC/ DC to Aerosmith. But ever since I played Rockband, it is this band that has been keeping me amped up in recent times.

Anarchy Club – Get Clean

And it is their Rockband 2 intro song which I have placed in my list of ‘One of the greatest rock songs ever’. If that solo doesn’t amp you up and inspire you from a musical point of view, I don’t know what will. I don’t know what it is about this music that enables me to push that last rep without the help of a spotter, but whatever it is, it’s working. If it works for me, then I know it can work for you. The bottom line is this. Pack your ipod with you for EVERY workout and load it up with your personal selection. Your workout is personal, your music is probably personal too, and there will be songs that would have gotten you through a rough patch at some point in your life. Load your ipod with those tracks. Besides, this will keep you focused on your workout and your workout only. No one elses… and you will want to keep it that way.

Find What Inspires You

Now, if I was your everyday joe, I would tell you to go and buy a muscle magazine and get some inspiration from the guys that are ‘doing it’. But like I have said before, don’t follower the leader. Especially from those in muscle magazines. Now I know there are some good ones out there with some good info, that I can agree to. What I’m talking about here is the common everyday muscle head stuff. Don’t follow that. You will need your own ‘map’ (which I will show you how to build in the next few posts). But if you aren’t following anyone else for inspiration (Alright… it’s OK to follow me ) guess who you will turn to for inspiration?

‘YOU’

Here’s what you do

1. Find a digital camera that records (or just use a camcorder if you have one)
2. Take pictures and record videos of when you are performing at your BEST
3. Dedicate a USB stick just for that bodybuilding footage

Now when you have those empty days, this will be the footage that you turn to, to remind yourself of the times when you were suceeding. This is a key way to ensure that you are always suceeding. Because lets face it, success is never final! Especially long term success, and that is the very thing I have been trying to conquer here on this site. That is… Ways to maintain a great body through the inevitable ups and downs that we face in this thing that we call LIFE!

Bottom line: YOU WILL INSPIRE YOU!

Be A ‘Visualizing’ Bodybuilder

What I mean here, is that you shouldn’t just turn up to the gym for a random workout. Know what you are going to do before you get to the gym. Have a plan, and of course, it’s ok to change it on the fly.

1. Again, understand what your goal is for that day
2. Play it out in your mind
3. Act on doing it for real

This really does have a great impact on giving you a sense of achievement and the more you feel like that everyday the better. Getting the body that you desire requires baby steps. Baby steps can take forever. Patience will often get the better of you. But by doing the above, playing the patience game will become a breeze.

I didn’t want to slip this here, but I’m going to do it anyway.

This is Kratos of the hugely popular PS3 game ‘God of war’ with the 3rd install launching next month. If you want to visualize intensity before a workout, there is no better example this! Yea, it maybe fictional, but with the way the gaming industry is beating Hollywoods butt, that fictional perception is becoming ever so ‘real’ for 2010 and beyond.

I’m going to end part one here for now.

P.S Let me know which you prefer.

1. Long informative posts

Or

2. Post with part series (You luurve anticipation)

See you in the comments.

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