Workout Rules

Okay, this goes for just about anything you really care about (i.e., RESULTS).

1. Set a goal (or goals) and measure progress (log your workouts!).
2. Do your workouts in your head before you step foot in a gym (visualize).
3. Enter the gym with a clear head and don’t think about the outside world. If you need to, bring your iPod and some tunes that don’t let you think about anything but the weights and how your body feels pushing or pulling those weights.
4. Do full, complete reps. You can cheat, but do full-range reps.
5. Feel the weight. You don’t have to train with super-heavy weights. If you are deliberate with your reps (i.e., feel them, note how your muscles feel), you can reduce your weights by at least 20 percent and get a better workout! (Better on the joints, too.)
6. Pre-workout protein! (Add some creatine.)
7. Post-workout protein! (Add some creatine here, too.)
8. Strive EVERY workout to a) increase your weights lifted, b) increase reps performed, OR c) reduce rest intervals (raise your intensity).
9. Variety is the spice of life. There are only a few basic exercises you ever need to do (think “compound”), but you can (and should!) change up their order or do variations of them.
10. Remember that rules are made to be broken. Next up: Why breaking the rules will make you bigger, stronger, and faster!
    

• Glucosamine Review After doing some triceps elbow extensions and numerous other elbow extension exercises, I began to feel effects of what is known as elbow tendonitis. The symptoms generally included a pain with any movement of my elbows. So much so, that even resting my arms on a chair began to have......
• The 5 Days a Week Weight Workout Program In my quest to wring out as much from my workouts as possible, I have begun a 5 day a week program that consists of the following: Legs. Squats or leg presses, curls, extensions. Some form of calf work. Chest. Incline bench presses first and foremost. Some Flats and Declines.......
• An Often Overlooked Exercise for the Quadriceps: Leg Extensions [/caption] Lots of "experts" and "gurus" in the bodybuilding and weight training scenes will tell you that  to build massive thighs, you need to do Squats. I wholeheartedly agree. But many of these same "experts" will tell you that the simple Leg Extension is worthless as a thigh-building exercise. I......
• How I Am Training Now Here's an update on my training. As you may know, I've been a proponent of low-volume, low-frequency split training. It is simply the best muscle-building system I have come across. Typically, I split my body into two parts, and train each half every other day (Monday-Wednesday-Friday, for example). However, I......
• Build a Bigger Chest in 3-4 Workouts...or LESS!!! By Tom Venuto, NSCA-CPT, CSCS Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle If your pecs are a weak body part, or, if you’ve simply hit a progress plateau in your chest development, then this high intensity chest training program will pack slabs of muscle mass on your chest after just 3-4......

• Motivation and Anxiety Tired of the gym, tired of days where it seems like more work to get up and go do the workout than the workout takes? Well, sounds like you've lost your motivation. Take a 2 minute break, walk to the bathroom, and look at yourself in the mirror. Don't like......
• How to Lose Weight in a Healthy Way If you’re looking to lose a few pounds, hands up if your first move is to go on the mother of all diets in preparation? Don’t do it! Significantly reducing your calorie intake through a crash diet may well help you to lose weight initially but it’s not a......
• A Flat Belly, Weight Reduction Diet Regimes, And Ab Equipment - Just What Infomercials Don't Let You Know Six-pack abs, abdominal training exercises, ab machines...all mantras for years of fitness products and weight reduction advertisements in america. How many variations of the Ab-Name-Goes-Here ab machine, stomach tightener, or whatever you would like to refer to it as, have been marketed and sold helped by the banner designs of......
• How to Get Fit and Keep Fit by Cycling For Fitness People never used to look to an activity such as cycling for fitness as a robust fitness regimen, but times have changed. Those who used to think that cycling was just a leisurely activity have a lot to learn as this can be one of the most intense and......
• Insanity Program Detailed Results - Day 1 This morning, I wrote my product review of the Insanity workout by Beachbody. It reminded me of how awesome I felt when I was doing the program, before I came down with the flu and ended up giving up and never finishing. So I decided to start Insanity again, starting......