Reasoning Theorems of Success

This is a nice little workout for those who want to maintain or increase strength, while knocking some excess fat off the body. It combines power exercises and sprinting with minimal rest between exercises.

Diet is very important here. You can’t be trying to lean up and eat McDonald’s at the same time. Clean it up with fruits and veggies, chicken, fish, lean meat and whole grains.

Forget the whole no-carb crap. The brain needs carbohydrates for nourishment and you need them for the energy that hard workouts demand. It’s the cheap carbs like white bread, candy, soda and chips that you don’t need. Fruits and veggies will never hurt anyone, period.

The Get Lean, Stay Powerful Workout

Overhead Press 2 x 6-12
Pulldowns 2 x 6-12
Squats 1 x 15-20
Pullovers 1 x 20
Bench Press 2 x 6-12
Sit-ups 1 x 25
Interval Sprints: 10-12 minutes with one minute sprinting and one minute at an easy pace

Notes: Workout 2-3 days per week. Start out and do as many intervals as you can working up to the 10-12 minute range. If this feels like too much, drop down to one hard set to failure for each exercise. If you decide to do one hard set and don’t have a squat rack or a partner, DO NOT go to failure on the squats or bench press!

Understand that to be successful in any weight training program - hard work is a must! Half-hearted effort does nothing for you. If you’re new to weight training or grossly out of shape, consult a physician first. End of disclaimer.

To be the best bodybuilder that you can be, it is vital that you understand the different body types to determine which workout and dieting routine you want to follow. Every body is classified as one body type or a combination of two different types, each having a unique classification in of itself. You are going to learn all about endomorph, mesomorph, and ectomorph body types which will give you an idea of what type you are, and the proper plan that you should follow in obtaining the body of your dreams.

The typical body of an endomorph is soft and round. This physique presents the illusion that much of your muscle mass has been absorbed in the abdominal area. The arms and legs of the endomorph are very short in length, which is the main cause of a stalky appearance. Endomorphs usually have a high waist, and hands and feet that are small compared to the thighs and upper arms. Other features of the endomorph include a large head, broad face, fine hair, and smooth skin.

A mesomorph will find it easy to build mass, but they will have to include different exercises in their program for the muscles to develop symmetrically. The mesomorph responds well to training and their sessions need to remain short. Their training sessions should include a combination of heavy weights and a variety of toning exercises to develop a more balanced appearance. Features of the mesomorph include a long torso, hard muscle structure, strength, and a large chest. Mesomorphs are the best body types suited for bodybuilding and it shows with the physiques of many of the all-time greats.

The last body type that we are going to discuss is the ectomorph. Ectomorphs have lean bodies with little muscle development. This body type is characterized by a light build, and these type of people may even find it hard to gain weigh due to being so thin. Because ectomorphs find it hard to gain weight, they should spend more time focusing on strength than trying to lose weight. Examples of common ectomorphic body types are swimmers, marathon runners, fashion models, and basketball players. These people are considered lucky to some, but are referred to as “pencil-necks” by others.

Out of the three different body types, you should now have a general idea of what body type you are. Remember, most people are a combination of the three which can make it even more difficult when selecting a workout program. I will discuss in more detail the different nutrition and training programs for these body types in one of my future articles. Until then, you need to determine, into the closest percentage, what combination of body types you are. It will make the process so much easier. Until next time, later!

*http://exercise.about.com/od/exerciseworkouts/g/Ectomorph.htm
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ectomorph
*http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=mesomorph
*http://bodybuildingpro.com/bodytypeinformation.html
*http://www.femalemuscle.com/fitness/bodytypes.html

MY SITE: http://www.mightybody.com

Strength training has a lot of advantages for women, and particularly for women aged 35 to 40 and older. By the age of 40, women generally begin to lose bone density and muscle mass. One study at Tufts University, designed by the author of ‘Strong Women Stay Young’, Miriam Nelson PH.D, found that instead of losing bone density and muscle mass, the women were 15 to 20 years younger after one year of weight training. They gained bone density, and their strength tests matched women who were in their 30’s and 40’s.

These women didn’t diet, but they did end up looking slimmer. Some lost 1 or 2 dress sizes, and they all replaced fat with muscle. Because muscle weighs more than fat, this is the reason they looked slimmer, though the scales may not have changed much.

The women in this study were all post menopausal, and some of their ages were in the 50’s and 60’s. They made some remarkable changes in their lives as they got stronger. One woman described going rollerblading with her children. Another went canoeing with her husband. More than any pills or potions, strength training gave these women back a youthfulness some didn’t even have to that degree in the first place.

The women in this study used leg weights and free hand weights that were adjustible in their strength training program. They started at a level they were able to - even if this was the lightest weights available. They didn’t buy lots of expensive equipment or home gyms, and many of these can be bought second hand with a little research locally. As they developed their strength, they invested in heavier weights.

For the strap on ankle weights, they started with 1 to 3 kilograms in each cuff. The suggested ankle cuffs hold up to 10 kilograms each. The dumbells they used for their arms were adjustable, and they started with 1 or 2 kilograms. The only other equipment they needed was a chair, somewhere to store the weights, and a towel. Because you’re working out in your own home you don’t need to buy expensive or flashy gym clothes, or worry about feeling the odd one out.

The workout itself is in the book, Stong Women Stay Young. It covers a range of basic exercises that don’t take up too much time, which is suggested you do twice a week. Each session takes about 40 minutes including warming up and cooling down.

Tips for women working out with weights at home

* Make sure the area you’re working in doesn’t have rugs, electrical cords, toys and other items that you can trip over
* Keep your pets and young children away from this area whilst you’re working out
* If you’re using a chair when you do exercises, make sure it’s on a carpet that won’t slide around. If you don’t have carpet, put the chair against the wall so it stays stable
* If you have problems with your back, you’ll need to be careful when you’re carrying your free weights around. Take a few trips to carry things if you have to move them in or out of a storage area. And make sure you lift them properly by bending your knees and moving slowly.
* It helps to keep the weights you’re not currently using in their container. That way they can’t be knocked off by curious children.
* If you’re using leg weights, don’t walk around with them on. It could affect your balance. And if you trip on something, you are more likely to injure yourself than normal
* Keep the telephone off the hook, and the cellphone off. That way if someone rings you won’t be interrupted
* Make sure you have some drinking water nearby in case you get thirsty.
* Don’t drink any alcohol, even a little bit, less than a couple of hours before you exercise
* Try and make sure you haven’t just eaten a meal before you work out. But by the same token, make sure you’re not starving! If you’re really hungry, you could become light headed or dizzy when you work out.
* Don’t forget to warm up!
* If you’re using weights, try doing them in front of a mirror so you can check your posture. You’ll get more out of the exercise, and work the right muscles. Sometimes our posture becomes so habitual we don’t realize it’s not quite right until we see it
* If you’re using weights, a good posture means you’re chin is down slightly, so that it’s aligned with your neck. Your neck is in line with your spine, shoulders are straight and not stiff, back is straight, and your knees are not locked or bent. Your pelvis should be tucked under a little
* When using weights, do the lifts slowly. This really works the muscles instead of letting the motion do the work for you.
* Make sure you pause for a count between lifting the weight up, and lowering it
* Don’t hold your breath whilst you’re lifting wights. Given that we’re contracting muscles, sometimes we unconsciously hold our breaths at the same time. Remember to breath, but don’t go the other extreme and hyperventilate!

References: Miriam Nelson and Sarah Wernick, Strong Women Stay Young (Lothian)

Rebecca Prescott runs the website: http://www.articlehealthandfitness.com For more articles on fitness, click here. For articles on activities like running and walking, click here.

Going to the gym and pounding the weights six days a week can give you negative affects unless you feed your muscles with the food it needs to rebuild.

Protein is made of Amino acids and your body needs protein to build muscles. If you are really serious about building muscle you will need to take in 1 - 2 grams of protein for every pound of weight. For example I weigh 198 pounds (90kg) so I need to take 198 to 396 grams of protein a day to really build muscle mass quickly and efficiently.

Naturally your body can only take in about 40 grams of protein in one meal, any more will result in the excess becoming a waste product. There are many different types of protein like Whey, Egg, Soy and Casein. These types of protein take different times to be digested by the body, for example

Whey - Takes only about 30 mins to be digested by the body

Egg - Takes between 1.5 to 3 hours to be digested

Casein - Takes between 2 to 7 hours to be digested

Soy - Is a good overall protein that is perfect for vegetarians as it is derived from plants.

Casein (a milk protein) is normally taken at night before bed so you have the benefit of protein being digested in the body while you sleep.

Muscle building is not a science but eating correctly will give you better results.

Guy Marlow is the creator of fitness management tools http://greatadvert.com/fitnesslog and writer of many articles at http://www.greatadvert.com/articles

Steroids have been illegal for some time now and everyone knows the potency of the real thing but legal steroids and their alternatives are quickly catching up as a viable alternative to the black market illegal steroids.

Over the last few years the serious body builders have been using the alternative legal steroids and achieving amazing results. Legal steroids like Androstenedione ( andro), 1-AD,1-test and 4-Androstenedione are the closest thing to real steroids and these are available legally. These alternative steroids when used correctly are both a safe and effective way to enhance and boost strength, energy and muscle recovery.

The first legal steroid that body builders used and promoted was Androstenedione. This is also known as a prohormone and was first used by East German athletes to enhance their performance and was their secret weapon for some time.

Andro works in the following way. As a result of an enzyme conversion in the liver Andro exerts an anabolic effect. The enzyme in the liver acts on the molecular structure of Andro and from this reaction it converts, in a completely natural process, the andro into testosterone.

Since the introduction of Andro which was considered to be the first steroid alternative there have been many other related products over the last few years. There has and is much debate whether increasing the amount of Andro will increase the effect but as with any drug it is dangerous to start altering the dosage unless supervised by qualified people.

On January 20th, 2005 the US Federal Gorvenment’s ban on prohormones took effect. This included the Androstenedione ( andro), 1-AD. Body builders must now look to other alternatives to enhance their programs.

DHEA Pre-Cursor Hormone is one of the alternatives at the present. As a pre-cursor hormone, it leads to the production of other hormones and as a supplement has shown some awesome results. DHEA supplements act as an anti aging by maintaining the levels of DHEA that occur naturally in the body that decrease as we get older.

Anyone considering using a product containing DHEA should first check the laws of their own country as they vary from one country to another.

Beth Black is the webmaster for Keyword Articles that offers free keyword targeted articles. Keyword articles are one of the most effective ways of promoting your website and attracting targeted traffic. http://www.keyword-articles.info

It is an elegantly designed privately owned family hotel ideally located in Casertavecchia, in a quiet green area among Tifata hills where You con breathe unapolluted air.
The hotel is only two minutes walk from the famous and unruined Medieval "Borgo" in which at night there is a vary suggestive atmosphere.
The relaxing beauty of countryside, the historical and the artistic beauty of the Medieval town, a very intimate and friendly atmosphere add great pleasure to Your stay.

In the Hotel Caserta Antica there are 25 rooms (single rooms, double rooms, tweed bedded rooms, triple and quadruple rooms) - for 60 people - all well furnished:
private bath with shower, conditioned air, telephone, TV and balcony.

Hotel faclities include also a bar, a resurant that provides a good selection of local dishes, games room, a large crystal-clear swimming pool disceetly placed among the trees and the plant in the garden, suitable for adults and children, a sun terrace fully equipped with sunning decks and umbrellas, two meeting and banquet rooms.
Moreover, the hotel has a private parking area.

- The hotel lasts from Naples Airport Capodichino 30 KM
- From the gates of motorway Caserta Nord o Caserta Sud 6 KM
- From the railway station in Caserta 7 KM
- From the bus station in Caserta 7 KM
- Bus n°110 company ACMS (the bus stop in next to the hotel).

If you think that Hotel Caserta Antica is not exactly what you are looking for, click here to visit our catalogue for Hotels in Italy, and make a search for another hotel in Caserta: we are pretty sure that you can easy find the Caserta accommodation that can best fit your need for a perfect stay in Italy.

The crunch exercise is the backbone of abdominal training. It develops the muscles of the abs to help you build that much-desired six-pack. But did you know that there is a way to do crunches that can actually decrease the size of your waist?

The key to this technique is the top position of the crunch where your abdominals are contracted as hard as they are able to.

When you’re in this top position, I want you to breathe in and out slowly a few times. Try to relax every other muscle except the abs. This breathing in and out will intensify the contraction (as you will find out very rapidly).

Here’s how it works:

The muscles of the abdomen are arranged in layers around your midsection, similar in concept to the rings in a tree. While you are contracting the rectus abdominus (the top-most front layer of your abs, also known as your six-pack) continuously, the deeper abdominal muscle fibers are relaxing and contracting each time you breathe.

Each time the deep fibers relax, your rectus abdominus (because it is contracting so hard) will squeeze them in a little more, making your waist-area a little smaller and tighter.

The reason this works to decrease the size of your waist is simple. Usually, most people’s abdominal muscles just kind of sit there. They don’t stay tight, therefore your midsection tends to slouch forward and outward.

This technique teaches your abdominals to maintain a degree of tightness and tone in them even when you are relaxed. This keeps your abs in, leading to a visually smaller waist.

For more information on how to properly execute the Abdominal Crunch, go to http://www.fitstep.com/Library/Exercises/Crunches.htm?news

About The Author

Nick Nilsson is Vice President of BetterU, Inc., an online exercise, fitness, and personal training company. Check out his latest eBook “The Best Exercises You’ve Never Heard Of” at http://www.thebestexercises.com or visit http://www.fitstep.com. You can contact him at betteru@fitstep.com or subscribe to BetterU News, his fitness newsletter at betterunews@fitstep.com.

This month I’d like to start with a little story. It goes back to my days as a competitive powerlifter. I competed for 12 years in powerlifting, and recall many contests where I had to cut weight. Towards the end of my powerlifting career I was about 196 lbs. I could have competed in the 198 lb. class, but elected to drop down to the 181 lb. class to take a shot at a 500 lb. bench press. There weren’t too many guys in those days who benched 500 lbs. in the 181 lb. weight class so it sounded like a good idea.

For the first year I was going to make this attempt, I had my best training lift of 475 lbs. for 3 repetitions in the gym. That would equate to about 530 lbs. for me. It was the best training session ever, and my contest was the following week. I was super strong, and super ready to go “get the job done.” I only had to drop from 196 lbs. to 181 lbs. and had a week to do it. Worst case scenario, I KNEW I’d finally get my 500 lb. bench press at 181 lbs. of body weight.

I wanted to keep strong, so I waited until Wednesday of that week to start cutting weight, for the Saturday morning weigh-in at 9 am and the powerlifting contest at 12 noon.

I just ate 3 small meals each day, and they were basically sandwiches, and protein shakes. By Friday night I was 189 lbs. I had to lose 8 more lbs. and knew I’d just take off the water weight by the time weigh-ins rolled around. Heck, I’d get a couple of hours to get the water back in, so I could probably compete weighing a full 195-196 lbs. and finally get that 500 bench.

I didn’t drink any water, and sat in my friends’ sauna for a few hours on and off. The weight was coming off. I was tired, and didn’t feel too great, but the weight was coming off. Besides, I could still put the water back in my system and compete feeling strong.

At 9am the following morning, I weighed in at 181lbs. on the nose. After weigh-ins I guzzled Gatorade and water. I tried to eat a bit, but my appetite was mainly for water and Gatorade, not solid food. I also ate a banana to get my potassium level back up. The long and the short of it was that I only bench pressed 470 lbs. that day. It was good enough to win that particular powerlifting contest, but it was a personal disappointment. I knew something was wrong. The next week at the gym, I was comfortably weighing 197 lbs. and my bench press was even better. I hadn’t trained since the contest, but the following Saturday I was pushing weight that would equate to a 535lb. bench press.

What did I learn from this experience?

I learned that if you want to keep your strength, you’d better cut weight correctly. If you’re a wrestler or a powerlifter, your goal is to have your best performance. Wrestlers don’t lift maximum weight to win a match, but it makes sense to assume that if you are at your strongest, you will wrestle at your best!

With all things equal, the stronger wrestler wins!

With this in mind, here are some guidelines for cutting water weight, in order to wrestle at your best:

Use proper weight cutting methods to lose fat first If you don’t have much fat on your body, you either have to trick your body in order to encourage more fat loss, or accept that your body will cannibalize its own muscle for food otherwise. You’ll need to be eating 6 or 7 small protein-centered meals throughout the day.

Be no more than 3 or 4 lbs. over weight class two days before. Listen carefully. There are some basic physiological truths in this world. You cannot cut 10 lbs in one day, and have it come from fat. It has to be dehydration. Dehydrating will make you weaker if severe. I don’t care how tough you are, how good you are at wrestling, who you learned from etc. If you cut too much over night, you might win the match or tournament in spite of poor weight cutting techniques, but you won’t wrestle at YOUR personal best! It won’t matter until you’ve met your match. Be smart with your weight cutting.

Don’t dehydrate. You should begin “restricting” water about 15 hours before you weigh in. That means you will drink 6-8 ounces of water every 3 hours beginning 15 hours before weigh in. If you feel like you can’t drink any water at this point, and try to merely sweat it out the old-fashioned way, you will not keep your strength.

The Super-Saturation meal 36 hours before you weigh in (assuming that you’re at 3-4 lbs. over) you should super-saturate the muscle cells. To do this, you would have a big carbohydrate meal (pasta, rice, yams, baked potatoes, etc.) You eat as much as you can comfortably eat during this meal. You then restrict carbohydrates the rest of that day, and the next day. Don’t worry, although your body will use the stored carbohydrates (now in the muscle cells as glycogen) for energy, you will still have glycogen stored in your liver. Your body will be able to use this stored liver glycogen for energy on wrestling day. After the super-saturation meal, you will eat basically all-protein meals.

Had I known then what I know now, I might have hit my 500 lb. bench press in the 181 lb. class. Instead I came in at a comfortable weight of 193 lbs. later that year and got my 500lb. bench and just missed a 535 lb. attempt. Learn from my mistakes. Cut your weight properly, consistently, and watch your wins increase tremendously!

Steve Preston is a Sports Performance Specialist in Virginia Beach ,Virginia. He is the author of “63 Strength, Conditioning, and Nutrition Tips for Wrestlers!” Download your free copy by going to http://www.wrestlingstrengthtips.com Steve has a new strength training DVD program for wrestlers. For more information go to http://www.sports-strength.com/wrestling.html

You have been struggling in the gym day after day, week after week and you still look the same now as you did last year. You read all the muscle magazines, surfed the Net and read forums to get the absolute best training advice. Why are you not gaining muscle at the rate you desire?

Many people venture onto resistant training in hopes to build some good solid and dense muscle, but many go to the gym everyday, unsure of what they are doing and even unclear of what they really want the outcome to be.

If you want muscle, you have to build it. It’s as simple as that. Building muscle takes time and effort.

One problem many encounter when trying to gain muscle size and strength is training too often. Everyone goes through this phase. Many are told to back off while others must learn the hard way.

Another reason for a lack of muscle gains is the failure to change training. All too many people get stuck in a rut of doing 4 sets of 10 reps. Sure, that may be productive your first three weeks in the gym, but if you don’t change your sets, reps, or poundage, there is no reason for your body to change. To ignite muscle growth, you must challenge the body and you do that by keeping it off guard and pushing heavy weight.

Note:

The following training program is for advanced lifters. Before venturing onto this program, please have at least three solid months of proper training under your belt to prepare your joints and connective tissue.

What is Partial Training?

One tactic that I like very much and see great success with all the time is training with partial range of motion, commonly referred to as “partials”. It’s known for its ability to produce strength and size gains in a very short amount of time. This is my best kept secret to muscle mass, size, raw power, and she-brut strength. This tactic is the most effective training technique to build muscle mass FAST.

Partials are not just a plateau buster. Partial training is using heavy weights exclusively in a specific range of motion that forces an overload to deliver greatest intensity and strength to the muscles being trained. The strongest range of motion is from midway to the contraction point. This is the area where you can move the most weight and produce the most dramatic results in a very short amount of time. The heavier workload will also build your connective tissue strength to handle that excess poundage.

How to Perform

Partial training is somewhat different than regular full range of motion. You will need to specifically track your progress and you do this by doing the same exercises each week and logging the poundage used, as well as reps and sets. Your goal is to increase poundage each training session.

Partials are best performed on machines, the Smith Machine, or the power rack. It is not recommended to do free weight or dumbbell partials, as it can be dangerous.

With partial training you do less work but with a heavier work load. Therefore, you will decrease your exercises to only the mass builders so the entire muscle targeted gets trained.

I like to take my partial training in two phases to really give the muscles a shock and alternate high rep and low rep training.

Phase I

My first phase is lowering the weight 2 to 3 inches and contracting back, squeezing the muscle at the top of the movement. I shoot for 3 sets of 20 reps with as much poundage as I can stack on.

Chest

Exercise: Flat Bench Press

Equipment: Smith Machine, Power Rack, or Machine

Execute: Load the bar. Un-rack the weight and lower it 2 to 3 inches, contracting the muscle at the top of the movement.

Sets/Reps: 3 sets of 20 reps

Rest: 2 minutes between sets

Shoulders

Exercise: Shoulder Press

Equipment: Smith Machine, Power Rack, or Machine

Execute: Load the bar. Un-rack the weight and lower it 2 to 3 inches, contracting the muscle at the top of the movement.

Sets/Reps: 3 sets of 20 reps

Rest: 2 minutes between sets

Triceps

Exercise: Decline Skulls

Equipment: Power Rack

Execute: Load the bar. Un-rack the weight and lower it 2 to 3 inches, contracting the muscle at the top of the movement.

Sets/Reps: 3 sets of 20 reps

Rest: 2 minutes between sets

Back

Exercise: Dead Lifts

Equipment: Power Rack

Execute: Load the bar. Un-rack the weight and lower it 2 to 3 inches, contracting the muscle at the top of the movement.

Sets/Reps: 3 sets of 20 reps

Rest: 2 minutes between sets

Exercise: Lat Shrugs

Equipment: Lat Pulldown Machine

Execute: Take an underhanded grip, keep the arms straight and shrug the lats only. This is a small movement.

Sets/Reps: 3 sets of 20 reps

Rest: 2 minutes between sets

Exercise: Rows

Equipment: Smith Machine, Power Rack, or Machine

Execute: Load the bar. Un-rack the weight and lower it 2 to 3 inches, contracting the muscle at the top of the movement.

Sets/Reps: 3 sets of 20 reps

Rest: 2 minutes between sets

Legs

Exercise: Leg Press

Equipment: Leg Press Machine

Execute: Load the machine. Un-rack the weight and lower it 2 to 3 inches, contracting the muscle at the top of the movement.

Sets/Reps: 3 sets of 20 reps

Rest: 2 minutes between sets

Exercise: Stiff Legged Dead Lifts

Equipment: Smith Machine or Power Rack

Execute: Load the bar. Un-rack the weight and lower it 2 to 3 inches, contracting the muscle at the top of the movement.

Sets/Reps: 3 sets of 20 reps

Rest: 2 minutes between sets

Biceps

Exercise: Straight Bar Curl

Equipment: Power Rack

Execute: Load the bar. Un-rack the weight and lower it 2 to 3 inches, contracting the muscle at the top of the movement.

Sets/Reps: 3 sets of 20 reps

Rest: 2 minutes between sets

Phase II

My second phase is lowering the weight to a 90 degree angle and then contracting back, squeezing the muscle at the top of the movement. I shoot for 10 reps with as much poundage as I can stack on. Since my range of motion will be a little longer on
this, I lighten the poundage some to ensure I get my full 90 degree angle range of motion.

Chest

Exercise: Incline Bench

Equipment: Smith Machine, Power Rack, or Machine

Execute: Load the bar. Un-rack the weight and lower it to a 90 degree angle, contracting the muscle at the top of the movement.

Sets/Reps: 3 sets of 10 reps

Rest: 2 minutes between sets

Shoulders

Exercise: Shoulder Press

Equipment: Smith Machine, Power Rack, or Machine

Execute: Load the bar. Un-rack the weight and lower it to a 90 degree angle, contracting the muscle at the top of the movement.

Sets/Reps: 3 sets of 10 reps

Rest: 2 minutes between sets

Triceps

Exercise: Decline Skulls

Equipment: Power Rack

Execute: Load the bar. Un-rack the weight and lower it to a 90 degree angle, contracting the muscle at the top of the movement.

Sets/Reps: 3 sets of 10 reps

Rest: 2 minutes between sets

Back

Exercise: Dead Lifts
Equipment: Power Rack

Execute: Load the bar. Un-rack the weight and lower it to a 90 degree angle, contracting the muscle at the top of the movement.

Sets/Reps: 3 sets of 10 reps

Rest: 2 minutes between sets

Exercise: Lat Shrugs

Equipment: Lat Pulldown Machine

Execute: Take an underhanded grip, keep the arms straight and shrug the lats only. This is a small movement.

Sets/Reps: 3 sets of 10 reps

Rest: 2 minutes between sets

Exercise: Rows

Equipment: Smith Machine, Power Rack, or Machine

Execute: Load the bar. Un-rack the weight and lower it to a 90 degree angle, contracting the muscle at the top of the movement.

Sets/Reps: 3 sets of 10 reps

Rest: 2 minutes between sets

Legs

Exercise: Leg Press

Equipment: Leg Press Machine

Execute: Load the bar. Un-rack the weight and lower it to a 90 degree angle, contracting the muscle at the top of the movement.

Sets/Reps: 3 sets of 10 reps

Rest: 2 minutes between sets

Exercise: Stiff Legged Dead Lifts (Hamstrings)

Equipment: Smith Machine or Power Rack

Execute: Load the bar. Un-rack the weight and lower it to a 90 degree angle, contracting the muscle at the top of the movement.

Sets/Reps: 3 sets of 10 reps

Rest: 2 minutes between sets

Biceps

Exercise: Straight Bar Curl

Equipment: Power Rack

Execute: Load the bar. Un-rack the weight and lower it to a 90 degree angle, contracting the muscle at the top of the movement.

Sets/Reps: 3 sets of 10 reps

Rest: 2 minutes between sets

Choose only the mass builders. Train the muscle hard, intense, yet briefly.

After my second phase I return to full range of motion training with added strength and size, and a new zest for pumping iron.

Each of my phases lasts six weeks, but you can vary this according to your needs.

Recovery

Heavy partial training is extremely demanding on the body and recovery is a MUST! This type of training damages the muscle completely, and the muscle must take time and nutrients to rebuild itself so it can grow larger and stronger. It is best to train with partials three times a week at maximum. If you don’t rest adequately, you will lose strength and size.

My weekly training for the Partials is as followed:

Weekly Split

Monday - Legs, Biceps, Calves

Tuesday - Cardio

Wednesday - Chest, Back, Abs

Thursday - Cardio

Friday - Shoulders, Triceps, Calves

Saturday - Cardio

Sunday - OFF

Supplement

Since your connective tissue is so greatly affected in partial training, it is advised to nourish the joints with Knox Gelatin or Joint Fuel, as well as good multivitamin.

Things to keep in mind

- Warm up properly by pumping the muscle with several light to moderate sets before tackling your first partial set. I also find it productive to stretch between sets since you are not getting a full range of motion.

- Safety is the key to partials. Be sure to always use a spotter and if one is not available be sure you are set up safely in the designated machine, power rack, or Smith Machine.

- Increase your poundage used gradually each session. If you are not able to beef up the poundage the next training session, you are not making progress. To build muscle, you must challenge the body.

- Track your progress each training session. Log every lift, every poundage used, and every rep and set. If you don’t know what you are accomplishing in the gym, you can’t improve it.

- Don’t stay on partials too long. Just as anything, it can plateau. Cycle it with your regular full range of motion training.

- Give partials at least six weeks to prove itself. When you return to full range of motion, you will literally be shocked at the amount of strength you acquired.

Karen Sessions has been in the fitness industry since 1988. She embarked on weight training to overcome an eating disorder, Anorexia Nervosa in its early stages. She overcame the eating disorder, received her personal training certificate, competed in many local bodybuilding contests, and qualified for Nationals. Since then she’s went on to write six e-books (weight loss, female bodybuilding, contest preparation, leg training, figure/fitness secrets, and cellulite removal). She writes articles for several fitness websites, as well as her own, www.theelitephysique.com, and also distributes a monthly e-newsletter. She has a very active and lively forum, filled with positive and supportive people with informative content. Karen’s sole goal is to educate others and help them apply that knowledge.

My dad had a heart attack last year. He had to have surgery to correct the problem. He felt better for a while after that, but then began to get dizzy and tired a lot. At first I thought that he was just exhausted, but when he told me he thought his heart beat felt funny I decided I had better take him to the doctor. The doctor checked him over and decided he had a case of Atrial Fibrillation. He said it was most likely caused from the surgery, but could be a serious matter. I couldnt take much more problems with him. I knew I was going to have to hire a nurse to take care of him. I had never heard of Atrial Fibrillation.

My doctor told me that Atrial Fibrillation was simply a heart murmur caused probably by the surgery. He said that the first thing to do is to put him on an anticoagulant to keep him from receiving a pulmonary embolism. He also could no longer take another the counter decongestant. My doctor told me to be careful, because he could possibly develop congestive heart failure. He said my dad was in no immediate danger, but to be careful because he could develop some later. My poor dad! He didn’t need any more bad news. His heart problems stem from his family history. His genetics were to blame.