Ultimate Fitness

Dumbbell Training

2008-07-22T02:57:00.000-07:00

Dumbbells are a great way to improve your body strength and increase your muscle mass. Dumbbells are also good for toning, and can even help speed up fat loss if used properly. Not only that, but a good pair of dumbells costs significantly less than a gym membership or fancy piece of exercise equipment. And they don't take up much space at all! This makes dumbbells a good choice for those who prefer to do their workouts in the comfort of their own home.

Not only that, but dumbbell exercises can also be very effective in improving the endurance, size, and strength of your muscles. Remember, you can do much more with dumbbells than just work on your biceps! Dumbbells are often referred to in gyms as 'free weights', and that's because you can use them in a huge range of exercises to work out muscles in almost every part of your body.

Another piece of 'equipment' that you will want to incorporate with your dumbbell training, especially when you're starting out, is something that most of you probably already have - a good mirror. Watching yourself while you do dumbbell exercises in the mirror will help you to make sure that you have the right posture and are doing the exercises properly. Improper posture can eventually lead to strangely shaped muscles, or worse yet, can potentially cause future health problems. Once you've done this for a while and have a good feel for the exercises, you may no longer want to use a mirror, but even then it's always a good idea to come back to the mirror from time to time to check that you're doing the exercises properly.

However, dumbbell exercises do not actually target the fat that is covering your muscles. Dumbbells alone cannot help you go the distance. While dumbbell training is certainly a great step in the right direction, you will need to combine strength training with a good diet and some aerobicexercises in order to really maximize your gains and improve your body.

3 Homemade Workout Supplements To Boost Your Workout

2007-07-01T09:59:00.000-07:00

1. Honey

Consuming only 3 tbsps of the sweet stuff before you exercise can amount to one liter of sports drink's worth of energy. You'll be able to last much longer with this.

2. Water

Is there any wonder why the energy drinks are made in liquid form instead of in pills? Water is critical to performing at your maximum efficiency and making the most use of your workout time. Keep yourself hydrated and drink before you feel thirsty. Once you've lost 3% or more of your bodily fluids, you won't be at your peak anymore, and you might find that you can lift fewer reps or run fewer laps.

3. Peppermint

If you don't want to chew the leaves, you can just pop a stick of gum in your mouth. The smell of peppermint, strangely enough, can help you to think that you're not working as hard, so your workout seems to require less effort to finish.

Pain Free Way to Calculate Max Weight

2007-07-01T09:37:00.000-07:00

Do you want to know the maximum amount of weight you can lift?

You can do this without actually straining and potentially hurting yourself. It's quite simple.

Take the weight you can lift for 10 reps, and add 33% to the total weight.

That's your Max Weight, or the maximum amount of weight you can lift for that exercise.

For example, if you can bench 100 pounds, then your max should be 133 pounds.

3 Secret Building Muscle Tips - How to Get in Shape and Build Muscle Fast

2007-06-28T11:17:00.000-07:00

Since we live in a modern world where we don’t really get to use our bodies, a lot of people are looking in the mirror and discovering that they are severely out of shape. They then want to start an exercising and working out because they want to get in shape quickly and build more muscle to improve their health and physical appearnace.

The problem is that people who are just starting out their exercise routine, and even those who have been exercising for quite a while, may not be doing everything they can to maximize their exercise and really build muscle fast.

The following tips are aimed at helping people who are serious about getting in shape and building muscle who want to know how to get the most out of their exercise time.

1. See It In Your Mind

Allowing the body to really adapt and get ready for the muscle building before you work out can really help you get in shape much faster and more efficiently.

This can be done by performing the ‘visualization’ technique.

What this means is that before lifting any weights or running a single step, you close your and picture yourself actually doing the exercises.

Picture yourself doing the exercises perfectly, and imagine your muscles building up rapidly. You might think it’s just playing pretend, but your subconscious brain will not be able to tell the difference, and your muscles will actually be tightening during this mental exercise, even though you haven’t touched any weights at all.

This building muscle tip is deceptively simple, but can really boost your muscle gains over the long run.

2. Save The Aerobics For Later

A balanced workout routine for people who are serious about getting in shape and building muscle will require having both strength training as well as aerobics.

If you do both in the same session, it is better to be doing the weightlifting before hitting the running track. Just doing these muscle building and aerobic sessions in the correct order can help you to burn up to 40% more fat calories than if you didn’t.

If you’re going to be doing the exercises anyway, you might as well do it correctly so you can really melt that fat and build muscle fast.

3. Feel The Afterburn, You Two-Timer You

It’s actually much more beneficial for you to have two short exercise sessions instead of a single long one. Splitting up the exercises can actually help you burn more calories!

Why? Because of the ‘afterburn effect’.

We all know that working out and exercising causes the body to raise its metabolism, which means that more calories are being burnt.

The ‘afterburn effect’ is when the body keeps a higher metabolism level than usual for hours after you’ve already hit the showers, and left the gym.

This means that after you exercise, your body will actually be burning more calories than normal, even though you’re no longer doing any work. So instead of exercising for one hour, if you can exercise two different times in one day at half an hour per session, you can have twice as much of the ‘afterburn effect’.

It’s effortless calorie-burning on autopilot!

These muscle building tips can really help you to get in shape and build muscle fast. Just remember to visualize before you exercise, lift the weights before you run, and split the workout sessions when possible. This can really help you to make the most use of your exercise and muscle-building routine so that you can gain the maximum benefit from your hard work.

Bodybuilding: The 10 Most Common Training Mistakes

2007-06-27T13:48:00.000-07:00

If you are not getting the training results that you have come to expect, there is probably a good reason for it. Or several even. The following are the ten most common bodybuilding mistakes and one or more of them could be derailing your efforts in the gym.

1) Overtraining
The phrase, too much of a good thing is bad, definitely applies to bodybuilding. Spending two hours or more in the gym can lead to overtraining. Believe it or not, some of the world's top bodybuilders spend an average of an hour or less working out. Adopt their mindset, and start thinking quality over quantity.

2) Not Enough Rest Between Workouts
Following a really hard workout, your body needs time to rest. For example, if you work your chest on Tuesday and it is still sore on Friday, when you are scheduled to work chest again, then wait until Saturday, or Sunday even. Giving your muscles time to fully recover is more important than blindly sticking to some set schedule.

3) Poor Form
Proper form, including a full range of motion in your movements, is a key factor in muscle growth. You cannot properly stimulate muscle-fibers with half or three-quarter movements, and poor form can lead to injuries.

4) Too Much Weight
Directly related to poor form is the use of too much weight. Sometimes it is necessary, when entering the gym, to check your ego at the door. Heavy weight may be required to stimulate muscle growth, but sacrificing form just so you can add a couple more plates to the bar is not the answer.

5) Too Little Weight
On the other hand, not using enough weight will do nothing to stimulate new muscle growth. Muscles simply will not grow if they are not overloaded. So continue to use heavier and heavier weight, just watch your form and make sure you are performing full-range movements.

6) Poor Nutrition
In order to enjoy bodybuilding success, you have to eat the right foods, including lean meats, fruits and vegetables, and whole grains. And you need to make an effort to eat them in the right proportions. A good rule of thumb is 50 percent carbohydrate, 35 percent protein and 15 percent fat. Also, drink lots of water, at least 64 ounces a day.

7) Skipping the Warm-up
A proper warm-up before you workout makes your muscles more flexible, enabling you to lift heavier weights. Warming-up also promotes a full range of motion, reducing the likelihood of training injuries.

8) Inadequate Sleep
Getting at least seven to nine hours sleep every night gives your body the down-time it needs to grow. Lifting weights tears down the muscles and in order for them to recuperate and build back up stronger than before, you must get adequate sleep.

9) Lack of Variety
Doing the same routine, day after day, without mixing in new exercises or variations in your sets and reps, can bring new muscle growth to a halt. Changing things up a little on a regular basis keeps your muscles from adapting, forcing them to grow.

10) Lack of Intensity
You can train year after year without seeing any appreciable results if your workouts lack intensity. Said another way, you get out of something what you put into it. Increase your intensity level and better results are sure to follow.

About the Author
Go to http://MuscleTraining101.com/ to learn more!

Low-Fat 'Fried' Chicken!

2007-06-26T15:11:00.001-07:00

I know a lot of people love to eat fried chicken. The crowds packing into the KFC restaurants all over the world are evidence enough of its popularity. It just tastes so good!

Unfortunately, for dieters and people who want to stay slim, keep fit, burn fat, and build muscle, fried chicken is bad news. One slip and you could find yourself with an empty chicken bucket on your lap and two or three training sessions down the drain.

Well to help solve this problem, I’m going to share this Low-Fat Un-Fried Chicken recipe. It tastes about as good as the real thing, and I promise you it isn’t nearly half as bad for your diet as the regular fried chicken.

Without further ado, here’s the recipe:

Step 1 - Get a big bowl of cornflakes and crush it. I recommend using a spoon.

Step 2 - Add some ground black pepper, dried and crushed rosemary. You may also substitute oregano or anything else you might prefer.

Step 3 - Get another bowl and pour some skim milk into it. (No fair using good old fashioned whole milk. Remember, the point is to make it LOW FAT!)

Step 4 - Get about 3 pounds of skinless chicken. (You can remove the skin and fat yourself, but I’m lazy, so I buy mine pre-skinned)

Step 5 - Dip the chicken in the skim milk.

Step 6 - Coat the chicken by rolling it in the mixture of cornflake crumbs and spices.

Step 7 - Get a baking sheet and lightly coat it with some nonstick cooking spray.

Step 8 - Put the chicken on it, place in oven, and bake for 45 minutes at 400 degrees Farenheit.

Mmmmmm....Unfried Chicken.....