R.I.P.P.E.D Weight Training Blog

One of the main things you need to strive for whenyou are at the gym is proportionality. Many times I will see guys walking around with a chest and arms that are huge, but they wear sweat pants because they don’t want you to see how they ignore their leg workouts. Give me a break with that stuff; you need to work out so your body is a matching set.

There are questions about the best way to accomplish this goal. Nearly everyone you see has some part that is out of proportion. Even some of the top dogs in the business have aspects that are slightly out of proportion. The trick to getting your body into top shape is staying with a strategic steady schedule. It’s not really a trick, but more like common sense, but you wouldn’t think so if you look around the gym.

There are a few different ways to accomplish this goal, but I think that I have found the best way. Dividing your time between your different parts is a must. When I am talking about ‘different parts’ I am meaning one day you concentrate on chest, one day legs, etc. Rotation of exercise is also key factor to keeping your body guessing at what is coming up next. For example, if you are doing bicep exercises you don’t want to do hammer curls day after day and think that your biceps are going to have the best shape ever!

You have to mix it up in various fashions. To start with, staying with the same example, hammer curls are a compound exercise, involving many more muscles than just the bicep. So, you want to do some isolation exercises to shock the muscle; jump on the preacher curls, or crank up the weight or turn your sets upside down. There are lots of ways to get that shock to your system that is going to promote maximum growth and sculpt the muscle the way you want it to be. Of course, I go into this in much more detail in my RIPPED Weight Training book.

That sort of shock to your muscles promotes better development of the muscles, but an even bigger part of the proportionality is making sure your body parts match. Do you have one bicep bigger than the other? Do you have the toothpick legs? Be honest with yourself. If you think other people are so struck with your arms that they don’t notice your legs (or your long sweat pants in the middle of summer) you are wrong. The greatest structures on earth have the best foundations. Your legs are your foundation; you need to make them strong and solid, like the base of a pyramid.

Give yourself an honest assessment and have a friend critique you. Tell them to be brutally honest and then don’t get all defensive. At least don’t let them know you are unhappy about what they say. They are doing you a favor, so be a man about it and thank them.

The thing I am really trying to emphasize here is that you are making the best you; if you are doing the right things at the gym. If you are not doing the right things, hey, if you are satisfied with looking out of balance, maybe you should find another discipline than bodybuilding. This sport is about building the perfect body. Don’t get me wrong, all bodies aren’t going to look the same. Your perfect body won’t look exactly like anyone else’s, but it will be the right one for you, if you pay attention to your proportions and make them right.

Proportionality is one of the pillars of the ripped system because I think it is a foundation of bodybuilding. Next time you are in the gym take a look around and I am sure you will agree; the best physiques are proportional.

(c) Copyright 2007 by Steve Gwillim

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Regardless of your reasons for working out, you should add weight-training to your regimen as soon as you can. Too many people avoid weight training because they seem to believe that it’s only for bodybuilders, but nothing could be further from the truth.

The misperception that gaining muscular bulk is an automatic result of weight training makes most true bodybuilders laugh. In reality, bulking up takes a very specific method of weight training combined with a specific diet. Oh…and it takes an incredible amount of work.

If you don’t intentionally bust your butt with the intention of getting bulky, you’re not going to get bulky. That being said, why should weight training be added to your regimen? It doesn’t matter if you’re trying to slim down, tone up, or just get increase overall health, weight training will help you. Here’s how:

1. It Increases Your Metabolism
Increased metabolism gives you more energy on a daily basis, helps prevent you from getting fat, and helps boost your immune system. Weight training increases your metabolism by toning and building your muscles. Muscle is an extremely active bodily tissue and it burns through calories even when you sleep. A pound of muscle burns an average of 35 calories simply sustaining its own existence.

2. It Will Help Prevent Injuries
The majority of the most common injuries people sustain, outside of car accidents and other serious trauma, are caused by weak muscles. Weight training builds the strength of your muscles, which will help you keep from suffering injuries due to everyday activities. Back injuries, the most common serious non-trauma related injury in adults, are almost exclusively caused by weak back muscles.

3. It Helps Stave Of Aging Effects
A well-rounded weight training program helps maintain your flexibility, stamina and balance as well as lowering blood pressure and cholesterol. Studies are increasingly demonstrating that many of the things we have considered “part of the aging process” are, in fact, due to the decreased activity we tend to experience as we age. Weight training is extremely effective in helping to combat these effects.

4. It Makes You Sexier
While I’d like to imagine that everyone who works out is doing it to be healthier for themselves, the reality is that most people work out to maintain their attractiveness. Like it or not, we live in a society where having a toned body is sexier than either a fat body or a skinny body. Without weight-training, your exercise regimen will eliminate the fat, but you’ll also burn muscle and end up being skinny. If you’re looking to increase your appearance, weight training is really a must.

5. It Will Give You The Body You Want
I’m operating under the assumption that you’re not interested in having a fat and squishy body or you wouldn’t be reading this article. Regardless of the physique you’re striving for, weight training will help you get there. If you want to get big, using very heavy weights and doing short sets will build big and bulky muscles. If you want a toned body, lifting medium-to-heavy weights in longer sets will build longer and leaner muscles. Ladies, weight training will also help you get near-perfect symmetry and emphasize your natural curves.

Hopefully, I’ve helped eradicate whichever myths of weight training have been preventing you from taking up the practice. There really is no reason to exercise without a weight training regimen and, in many cases, you’re making it harder for you to reach whatever goal you have by avoiding it.

Gray Rollins
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/weight-training-for-everyone-138457.html

Weight Training

Is weight training exercise important when dieting? Many experts will quickly tell you “yes” if you ask them this question. Why? It’s because weight training builds muscle and helps increase the body’s metabolic rate. This means, that even while resting, a person who weight trains and who has built more muscle in their body will burn more calories than a person who doesn’t do any weight training.
Plus, weight training workouts typically burn more calories per minute of exercise than cardio workouts do.

But, for women especially, the thought of doing weight training exercises with the intent of building muscle scares them because they think it will make them look less feminine and too masculine. A woman shouldn’t worry though. Unless she does a tremendous amount of muscle building exercises (hours a day) she will not develop a more masculine physique.

Many experts are now recommending that women pick up heavier weights to help them build more muscle and a lean, toned body that is healthy.

Curves for women is one national chain that promotes a circuit type workout for women that builds muscle without building bulk. They recommend doing their 30 minute workout three times a week. That doesn’t mean a person should only exercise three times a week. Cardio exercise can be done every day of the week. Curves isn’t the only choice for women who wish to do weight training exercises. The YMCA is a good place for both men and women who want to get in shape.

Muscle building exercises shouldn’t be done every day though because they fatigues the muscles too much (except for body builders who spend hours a day in a gym following highly specialized workouts under the advice of highly trained trainers). Muscles need a day to rest and recover from their workout before being worked out again. That’s why the recommendation for most people is three weight training sessions a week, doing cardio workouts the other days of the week, with one day a week off to rest.

Another benefit of weight training workouts while dieting that many people don’t think of is that they prevent the loss of lean body mass that typically occurs when people diet. What typically happens when a person goes on a diet is they lose some of their muscle mass along with that unwanted fat. Weight training exercise also strengthens bones and connective tissue.

So, to help your weight loss efforts be successful, do three 30 minute weight training exercise sessions a week. Not only will they help you lose weight, they will help you get stronger, more toned, and healthier.

Dorrie Ruplinger
http://www.articlesbase.com/fitness-articles/weight-training-exercise-and-dieting-73461.html

Weight Training Workout

Everybody wants to get bigger and leaner at the same time. This can be a challenging task as usually one must sacrifice either definition or gains in muscle.

To gain muscle a person has to consume more protein, carbs, fats, nutrients, and vitamins than they need to get bigger. Less overall calories if they wish to get leaner.

This of course is the main reason bodybuilders tend to “Bulk Up” in the off season. This means the individual will eat loads of calories in the hopes of gaining more muscle mass. The extra muscle gain is achievable but the individual also will experience a significant gain in of fat in the process, often times more than the muscle gains.

After the “Bulking Up” period the individual will usually want to “rip up” for summer or for a contest. Then they usually have to subject themselves to a rigorous training and restrictive diet for 3-6 months to get there body fat levels where their muscles are clearly defined.

The continual up and down Yo-Yo in weight gain plays havoc with the physical body not too mention the psyche of the individual. This generally accepted practice in bodybuilding has also led to the widespread use of drugs used by many athletes to bulk up or to get ripped.

This abuse of drugs has led to the overall malfunction of the bodybuilding community both mentally, physically and psychologically. Certainly not the ideals for which bodybuilding has been founded upon which are good healthy food, rigorous training of the mind and body, and an overall expression of health and vitality.

Fortunately, there is a better way to gain muscle and to lose body fat at the same time. It’s called the “Cycle Diet” and it is fast becoming the most popular way to stay lean year round while continually gaining muscle. Let’s examine first how the cycle diet works and then how you can incorporate it into your training routine.

Every bodybuilder who maintains there body fat levels below 7 percent knows as soon as they start eating the first few days of high calories their body explodes with new growth before any body fat gains occur.

The reason for this is the body is in a super-compensation state and initially stores the extra calories as glycogen in organs such as the liver as well as intramuscularly. Fats are also stored intramuscularly as well as protein is utilized for the growth and repair of muscles.

This super compensatory state only lasts for maybe 24 hours before the body starts to shuttle the extra calories into fat cells. But before that occurs there is a window of explosive growth available waiting to be tapped into and here is how you can do it.
The entire process was initially developed and coined the Cycle Diet by legendary trainer Scott Abel.

This protocol allows you to build muscle while losing body fat as well as keeping your body free of toxic buildup. Here is how it works.

First, you need to get your body fat levels below 7 percent for the maximum benefit of the protocol. The cool thing is once you get down to this level you can maintain this body fat level year round.

Second you need to get training a minimum of 5 days per week. In other words you need to be an intermediate or advanced trainee capable of handling significant volume and intensity in your training.

Third you need to keep your calorie intake about 500-1000 calories below expenditure daily.

Now for the first 3 days of your training you will keep your caloric intake in the calculated range on all training days. On your first rest day which usually will occur on the 4th day you will perform one of the juice fasts for the whole day.

Consume as much juice as you like on the fast day and be sure to take some fiber to help remove accumulated mucoid plaque in the digestive tract. There are many herbs that can aid in the process as well.

Keep in mind that only natural juices, preferably organic are used on the juice fast day free of sugars, additives, preservatives, sweeteners or anything else.

On the 5th and 6th days of the week you will resume your training and diet schedule, with the concurrent calorie deficit. On the 7th day which should be an off day from training as well, “EAT WHATEVER YOU WANT”.

That’s right all the things that you would like load up on them. It’s a good idea to schedule social occasions or interactions on that day, so you can eat Grandma’s apple pie, or have some pizza and ice cream with the guys during the big game. However you want to schedule the day be sure to consume as many calories as you can.

Keep in mind that you start in the morning of your rest day and you stop in the evening. So you keep the time frame down to about 18 hours to ensure no fat will be gained.

It is a good idea to start with fats in the morning first so that you don’t experience to much digestive discomfort. It’s also a good idea to double or triple your enzyme intake for the high calorie day as well as on the juice fast day for maximum absorption of nutrients.

Because of the short time frame of high calorie consumption as well as the caloric deficient state, combined with the rigorous training schedule it’s pretty much impossible for your body to add body fat. The cascade of anabolic hormones during the brief high calorie intake will be used to fill up energy stores and build more muscle. This is the ideal condition for growth of muscle tissues to occur.

You will need to fine tune the process over time but it’s pretty simple once you get the routine down. Best of all you don’t have to restrict calories for long periods of time. Once every week you get a break and the juice fast day helps clear out any plaque built up form the high calorie day.

Most athletes find the cycle diet much easier and more a more fun way to stay in shape all year. Not only that you can building mass while staying lean year round.

Mike Selcsum
http://www.articlesbase.com/muscle-building-articles/discover-the-pros-diet-plan-to-gain-muscle-and-lose-body-fat-61997.html

Gain Muscle

Now before anyone gets any misconceptions about this article, light weight training here refers to natural resistance training or adding impact training to various cardio vascular and aerobic exercises. There is no true definition for the term ‘light weight’ in the realm of fitness, and the weights for you to use should be directly proportional to your body weight, and also dependant on what you wish to achieve. Light weight training is not for people who wish to bulk up and build muscle mass like a bodybuilder. It is for the man or woman who’s looking to stay toned, burn fat, build lean muscle and to basically stay in shape. Light weight training is also great for people who wish to work on improving their blood circulation and enhancing their cardiovascular capabilities.

Now, the most important thing anyone needs to know is how to effectively use light weight training in the time that they have, and people would be surprised to know that the internet has many depositories of information that can help anyone get better gains and maximise their workout gains.

Online videos are free and there is a factor of replay-ability in the mix. With more than a thousand fitness topics catered to online, light weight training and low impact aerobics workout and how to do them at home. While on one side of the fence are those who advocate heavy reps for muscle building, we have to cater to women and men who want to define another look for themselves. The home can be a gym as well and an online video can be the perfect instructor. Look out for videos that have tagged on them low impact cardio workouts using resistance, because this is what you are looking for.

The equipment that you need is pretty minimal. If you are not a gym user and prefer to workout in the comfort of your home, then all you need is some resistance bands, some light weight dumbbells and some proper loose attire. More than likely you will be shown videos of the new age type of workouts, combining martial arts, dance, aerobics and resistance training to give an entire package of lean muscle building, calorie-destroying, body-chiseling workout. I highly recommend these videos, especially those which are credible and can be trusted because there is so much innovation all over the world and they are on the cutting edge of physical training.

They will point out common mistakes and ease you into a customised journey depending on your level of experience. Find out why your progress has halted and find out how to jump start a lagging body part or why the fat around your stomach hasn’t budged since Christmas last year. Find out the right time of when you should be having your workouts and how to effectively use light weight training techniques as a complement to an aerobic approach. Online training videos are the salvation to the busy and those who cannot afford expensive gym memberships. Light weight training can build a chiseled physique - you just have to know how.

Liam Murphy
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/improve-your-light-weight-training-techniques-with-free-online-videos-596419.html

Weight Training Workout

Try this weight training routine and get as sculpted as possible and as soon as possible. To push your body to the next level, you have to change your weight training program and avoid getting stuck in the rut. Many people actually are in a plateau phase which they did not know of and in the end of the day, they would not get the sculpted body that they wanted because their muscles are just not responding to their weight training plan anymore.

For muscles to respond and get optimum results, they need to be exercised extra hard and kept on guessing. There for, for change, it is recommended that high intensity technique is applied once a while to give the muscle a shock.

One of the best ways to shock the muscle is by using this weight training routine, which uses a technique, called superset. Superset is a method where by 2 exercises for 2 opposing body part is done back to back without rest. Two exercises for one body part done back to back can also be used as a superset.

The purpose of using this technique is to actually keep the intensity high and to keep the heart rate high as well. For example, if we use a chest and back superset exercise, the back muscle is at rest while the chest muscle is worked. When its time to work the back muscle, the chest muscle is at rest and have time to recover and by the time the chest muscle is worked again, it would already recovered.

For superset with the same muscle group, the purpose is to really exhaust the muscle group and kick the stubborn muscle so that it will grow! A good example is to do a bench press followed by a chest dumbbell flyes. Chest dumbbell flyes is an isolation exercise and it will really compliment the bench press, which is a compound exercise. Again, this will keep your heart rate high in the fat burning mode and shock the muscle.

Check Out This Free Weight Training Routine To Get A Sculpted Body For Chest And Back

1. Chin ups superset with Bench Press
2. Bent over barbell rows superset with push ups till failure
3. Seated cable rows superset with chest cable flyes
4. Close grip pull downs superset with dips till failure

Check Out This Free Weight Training Routine To Get A Sculpted Body For Biceps And Triceps

1. Standing bicep curls with close grip push ups
2. Seated 45 degree dumbbell biceps curls with standing triceps push down
3. Standing cable bicep curls with standing triceps rope extensions
4. Standing bicep hammer curls with bent over triceps kickback

Check Out This Free Weight Training Routine To Get A Sculpted Body For Quads And Hamstrings

1. Seated leg extensions with seated hamstrings curls
2. Leg press with straight leg dead lifts.

Check Out This Free Weight Training Routine To Get A Sculpted Body For Shoulders

1. Dumbbell shoulder press with standing lateral raises.
2. Bent over rear delt reverse raises with barbell upright rows
3. Standing dumbbell front raises and shrugs

The repetition range you should be doing is around ten to twelve. If you go above that chances are you may puke because its so intense! Choose moderate heavy weights and include this workout at least once to twice a month.

Chung Leong Yu
http://www.articlesbase.com/fitness-articles/free-weight-training-routine-to-get-a-sculpted-body-106168.html

Weight Training Workout

For a long time, weight training was seen as an activity performed by macho men in sweaty gyms. The times have changed, as many men and women are learning the benefits of weight training for everyone, not just the men with big biceps and sculpted torsos.

Strength training can prevent injuries, promote stamina and increase self confidence. It is easy to learn, and does not take as much time as you might think. Thirty minutes of workout time three times a week can bring you the sculpted and toned body that you have dreamed about.

As free weights and strength training machines have made their way out of the gyms and into recreation centers, fitness centers and even basements, weight training for women has gained momentum.

Starlets like Marilyn Monroe and Madonna have stuck with a regular strength training regimen to maximize their assets. Other women are finding the benefits of weight training as well. Bulking up is not always the goal, but weight training can simply mean toning muscles and ridding the body of unwanted fat. Swimsuit season seems to be just around the corner! Are you ready for a woman weight training program?

The Warm-up

Before beginning a program, it is important to find a personal trainer or fitness expert that can show you the right methods for strength training. Using the wrong form on machines or with the free weights can result in pain and injury, so start out on the right foot by enlisting the help of a professional who can properly teach you.

It is also very important to warm up your muscles before beginning a weight training session. This can be accomplished with a few laps around the track of your fitness center, or a few minutes of work on the treadmill or the bike. Keep in mind that a warm-up does not mean a quick sprint, a ten minutes of easy walking or pedaling will do the trick.

How Many Repetitions, and How Much Weight?

While a personal trainer can get you started on the right path in your womans weight training regimen, the answers to these questions will depend a lot on you and what you can lift. The key is to find the weight amount that will tire you at the end of twelve repetitions. The final lift or curl should be as challenging as you can handle, but the rest of the reps should be quite doable. If you are working out with the proper weight amount, one set of twelve repetitions should be enough. However many women weight trainers prefer to finish two or three sets with a slightly lower weight amount, to ensure that toning is occurring without adding too much muscle bulk.

A weight training program for female should include two or three sessions every week that last about 30 minutes each. It is very important to spend a day after a session resting the muscles that were used. You can either do a full workout every other day, or do shorter daily sessions where you work your legs one day and your arms and upper body the next. The great thing about weight training for women is that you can tailor your program to your individual needs and schedule limitations.

Weight training for women offers many benefits, including increased strength and stamina, increased flexibility and better weight management. As people age, muscle mass decreases and will be replaced with fat if something is not done. Weight training can control that process, assisting with weight management as you age.

It is also a good way to ward off osteoporosis, since regular strength training will increase bone density. Osteoporosis is a big health concern with women of menopausal age, so weight training for women becomes even more important as a woman reaches mid-life.

Chung Leong Yu
http://www.articlesbase.com/non-fiction-articles/effective-weight-training-for-women-leads-to-leaner-healthier-bodies-119797.html

Weight Training