This guy looks a little too happy with his lifts - he needs to work harder!
Quick tip here for you that works with just about lifting program you are using. (Of course, you only use my lifting programs, right????? [smile]). The only routines I would NOT use this technique with is when you are doing sets to failure. I’ll explain why.
Science has shown that the eccentric portion of the lift (the lowering, or “negative”) actually stimulates more muscle growth than the concentric (the lifting or pushing portion). The theories as to why this is true are varied and inconclusive; yet the fact remains that negatives are great for progression.
Does that mean you should do sets of 10 negatives? Not really. (more…)
Continue reading about The Super Negative Way To Add Muscle Mass
- Taylor Lautner’s Muscle Gain Story (pic from buzznet.com)
How many stories have you heard about how Taylor Lautner, the 17-yr old kid in the popular Twilight movie “New Moon“, went from scrawny to brawny?
Some of you might saying “who?” but if you’ve got teenage daughters, you are (more…)
Continue reading about Taylor Lautner’s Workout For Muscle Gain – Yet Another Story
Imagine what the world would be like if you were to wake up one morning, and all of the exercise machines were eliminated from the face of the earth and all of the isolation exercises were outlawed. What would the world look like?
If all of the machines and isolation (more…)
Continue reading about When Should a Beginner Use Isolation Exercises?
I hurt my wrist recently (long story) and so Yates rows have been causing pain. So I moved to dumbbell rows but added a couple variations. (The barbell requires pronated grip, which causes the pain, but the dumbbells allow for a semi-neutral grip and no pain.)
Here’s a video:
Benefits: (more…)
Continue reading about Power Dumbbell Rows – A Great Row Variation
Editor’s note – There is so much monthly science news when it comes to muscle fitness, that it’s probably hard for you to keep up. In these ~monthly posts, I’ll summarize various items of recent research. I’ll cite the official reports so that the hard-core of you can read the (more…)
Continue reading about Science News For Building Lean Muscle – November 2009
Ever wonder what other readers of worldfitnessnetwork are doing for their workouts? What’s working for them? What isn’t?
I’ve started asking some of our readers – normal people like you – to talk to me about their routines. I think you’ll learn from these interviews and get inspired!
For LeanLifters (more…)
It’s great to see mainstream news catching up with the science behind exercise. Usually, I complain about how popular media get it wrong. But here’s a story from The Washington Post that confirms what you’ve heard here on worldfitnessnetwork.com for a while. (And of course, I have only been writing about this because I’ve read about the original studies in the scientific journals, so I can’t really claim credit!). You can read past articles here, here, and here. And related to recovery, check here.
I’ve reprinted the original article, which appeared online on October 30, 2009. It’s pretty long but well-written. The bolding of certain statements is mine.
—————————-
BY LENNY BERNSTEIN
Washington Post Service
It’s been a long, hard day at the office, and you need a good workout to blow off all that stress. But before you hit the free weights, the stationary bike or the elliptical machine, you spend 10 minutes carefully stretching all those stiff muscles, just as every coach, trainer and physical therapist has advised for as long as you can remember.
You won’t stave off muscle soreness.
You won’t perform better, except possibly if you’re going to do gymnastics or ice-skate. There’s some reason to believe you’ll do worse than if you hadn’t stretched. (more…)
- How much protein is too much protein?
You eat lots of protein, right?
I mean, you hear from everybody that to gain muscle, you need to eat a lot of lean protein.
Even if you aren’t trying to gain muscle, you still hear how important protein is.
And we’ve written about it a ton here, here, and here.
The basic rule I use: if you are fat, eat at least 1 gram of protein a day per lean body mass (your total weight minus your fat weight). If you are not fat, then eat about 1 gram per total bodyweight. And this assumes you are lifting at least 2x a week.
So for the average man, this is at least 180 grams a day. (more…)
Continue reading about How Much Protein Is Too Much Protein?
