Top 50 Bodybuilding Tips

Below is a list of the Top 50 Bodybuilding Tips, covering training, lifestyle, diet and supplementation for bodybuilders. Applying these tips to your bodybuilding programme will improve your results significantly.

Training Tips For Bodybuilding

1. Do not spend more than 60 minutes in the gym, or your body will start releasing a stress related hormone called cortisol, which is associated with muscle loss. The 60 minute rule applies to any high intensity exercise.
2. Remember that bodybuilding is an art and requires serious concentration to achieve a proper mind muscle link. The mind-muscle link is important for recruiting muscle fibers when lifting heavy weights. Over time, with practice, you should be able to recruit more muscle fibers from each muscle, allowing you to lift more weight on each exercise. There are lots of ways of improving the mind muscle link, but the most memorable is the quote by Arnold Schwarzenegger in Pumping Iron.
3. To continually build more muscle, you need to keep increasing the intensity of your training. It is therefore essential to your progress as a bodybuilder that you achieve maximum intensity in each and every work set at the gym. I personally recommend the views of Dr Darden (Massive Muscles in 10 Weeks, HIT, etc.), Stuart McRobert (Braun series of books) and Dorian Yates (Blood N Guts book).


Lift Free Weights, including Presses, Rows, Squats and Deadlifts

4. Use an ever increasing training intensity, suited to yourself. For someone who hasn’t been to the gym in the last few months, just going is ‘high intensity’. After a month or two, supersets are worthwhile. After supersetting for a couple of months, include drop sets, pre-exhaustions, timed sets, post-exhaustions, super slow sets and everything you can imagine on every work set. Training to a higher intensity than your body is used to signals your body to grow more muscle. Training to too high an intensity too quickly can leave you overtrained, which makes you feel like you have flu and is awful.
5. Every 3-4 weeks, perform a testosterone boosting workout, followed by 3 days rest for maximum results. By this, I mean go to the gym and do 10 sets of super slow full squats, starting with a weight that allows 12 slow, controlled reps for your first set and adding weight each set until you can only manage 2-3 reps on your 6th or 7th set. Then, reduce weight and increase reps again up until your 10th and final set. Take a 90 second rest between sets and complete the workout within 20-30 minutes.
6. Finish each workout with a fast set of 100 light, fast, controlled reps on a body part worked in your previous workout, i.e. if you trained your back Monday, then on Wednesday you train your legs, then end your leg workout with a set of 100 light pulldowns, aiming for a maximum muscular burn. Not only does this send blood to your recovering muscles, but it gives your body a GH (Growth Hormone) boost, which helps muscle growth and fat loss.
7. Go heavy. Heavy weights lifted with correct form are key to overloading the muscles, leading to hypertrophy.
8. Use a smooth, slow rep cadence. This helps avoid injury and makes your target muscles do the work, rather than momentum and avoids sticking points on exercises leading to plateaus in progress.
9. Emphasize the negative part of your reps for maximum muscle gains. 1 rep super slow sets, such as a 1 minute-rep on the pullups, i.e. 20 seconds in positive phase and 40 seconds in negative phase, really work the muscles and give big results.
10. Build your training routines around the big multiple joint movements, such as squats, deadlifts, weighted pullups, weighted dips, rows and presses. Increase your reps and weights on these exercises and you are guaranteed to see muscle gains. Don’t worry about isolation exercises until you are 6 months away from competition. I’m not saying don’t do isolation exercises, I am saying that if you do isolation exercises, do them at the end of your workouts, keeping them under 60 minutes and don’t do more than 2-3 sets.
11. A true high intensity workout should involve no more than 12-18 actual work sets. If you can do more than this, then you aren’t trying hard enough. Each work set should leave you out of breath, sweating, maybe a little light headed due to blood flow to muscles, etc. and 12-18 sets will leave you feeling very tired.


Full range squats and deadlifts with good form are the biggest overall muscle building exercises. Get stronger on these exercises and overall strength and muscle mass will increase significantly.

12. For some reason, many people avoid training their legs, despite them being the biggest muscle in your body and having a big effect on overall progress. If your legs are lagging behind and you struggle to achieve high intensity on the legs, then start your next three workouts with this superset:
    1. leg press (10-12 reps to complete failure); immediately followed by
    2. leg extensions (9-10 reps to absolute failure will hurt badly); immediately followed by
    3. full squats (8-10 reps to absolute failure)

    Gains of 1 inch on the quads in one week are possible.

13. Warm up for each work set by performing 1-3 sets with 20%, 40% and 60% of your work set weight. Do not reduce your work set ability, but feel the movement and prepare yourself mentally for the work set.
14. Use a full range of movement for each and every exercise, without stressing your joints. Follow this principle 95% of the time, other than for forced reps at the end of a set.
15. Use partial reps occasionally, to allow your body to feel a heavier weight for maximum overload, or to achieve more reps on the same weight, for bigger muscle pumps
16. Perform light cardio sessions first thing on a morning before breakfast for maximum fat burning. Your hormone levels on a morning place your body in the perfect environment for fat loss and seeing as your glycogen levels will be depleted from not eating since the night before, the only energy source that can be used is (mainly) body fat. This will make you feel sluggish, but it really works. Keep the cardio low intensity, to avoid stressing your body, which would result in catabolism.
17. As a 2nd best alternative to early morning runs for fat loss, follow up your weights sessions (40 minutes) with a 20 minute cardio session. Again, glycogen levels will be depleted from your weights session and body fat will provide the main energy source for light cardiovascular exercise at this point.
18. Never miss a training session, no matter what the reason. As soon as you miss one session, the rot can set in and before you know it, you no longer go to the gym. In advance, check with your gym for closing times over bank holidays, Xmas and Easter, as you may need to find another gym for those periods.
19. Try and find a training partner, or better still, two training partners. It is not a social gathering though, you know that of course, but what about your training partners? Make sure they are as dedicated as you are. Incline dumbbell press drop sets are much better with two spotters. Also, seated dumbbell lateral raises, with your training partner pushing your elbows down on the negative phase are not possible on your own. This is a very good exercise!
20. Finish your routines with 3 sets of perfect form standing barbell curls, alternating between you and your training partner repping to failure. Start with a weight that allows 12-15 reps. Reps will reduce quickly and therefore rest reduces and you get a real burn and a massive pump in the biceps. Just make sure you don’t overtrain the biceps.
21. Don’t use weight gloves, use chalk. Weight gloves do protect your palms from blistering, but they make your grip less effective on heavy pulls, such as deadlifts. With chalk, your grip on the deadlifts should improve enough for you to increase the weight by at least 25%, without straps, as long as your back is strong enough.
22. The only exercise where partial reps are okay all the time is deadlifts. The bottom 10% of normal deadlifts for some individuals can be impossible without rounding the lower back. Use a power rack, or similar and put the bar on the lowest setting, so that you are pulling from your lower shins, rather than from the floor.
23. Keep your toes in line with your knees on the squats and leg press, or risk injuries.
24. Think of any big compound exercises you hate doing and are relatively weak at and start your next 10 workouts with 1 work set of that exercise, until it becomes one of your favoured exercises. Wide grip pullups, deadlifts and most back exercises are common for people to avoid. This is probably because a lot of gym goers are extremely vain and prefer to train their front, rather than their back, as they can see it in the mirror. Not you though, of course!

Lifestyle Tips for Bodybuilding

25. Keep motivated and track progress monthly with realistic goals and photos.


Sleep well, be happy, avoid stress and alcohol and your bodybuilding progress will be optimised

26. Avoid stressful situations, as stress related hormones are associated with a loss in muscle mass.
27. Ensure you get sufficient rest, by doing as little as possible during the day when you are out of the gym
28. Sleep 8 hours every night at the same times. People often say its what you do when you are out of the gym that makes you ‘big’. Eating a good high protein diet, drinking lots of water and getting plenty of sleep is what they mean. It is hard to follow a good diet, but it becomes routine after a few weeks and gets easier.
29. Obvious one here… don’t drink alcohol. If you must, then drink lots of water before during and after your night out, to avoid dehydration. Guinness is high in iron, so would be a better choice than vodka and red bull, etc. Gin & Tonic aint a bad choice either. If you are going to have a takeaway, then a chicken kebab with chilli sauce is better than a burger, etc. Don’t make habit of it though, or you will add a bit of flab to your muscles, making you just look big and round.

Diet Tips for Bodybuilding

30. Spread your daily calories out evenly over at least 6 meals per day, so that you ‘stay hungry’. This will help regulate your insulin levels and optimise and maximise nutrient absorption.


Tuna is a great source of protein, but limit yourself to 2-3 tins per week, or the high levels of mercury in tuna can be poisonous!

31. Ensure that each of your 6+ meals per day contain the same amount of protein, to reach your daily protein requirements. Too little protein per meal and your body may become catabolic, too much and it may de-sensitise your body to protein, as well as either being excreted as waste, or used as energy through a process called gluconeogenesis. Using protein shakes, protein powder or other protein supplements makes this task much easier.
32. Drink 3-4 cups of green tea per day for it’s anti-oxidant qualities as well as naturally burning an extra 100 calories per day.
33. Try this breakfast shake:
    1. 500ml water
    2. 1 banana
    3. sprinkle of sunflower seeds and pine seeds
    4. 1 cup of fine milled plain oats
    5. 1 scoop of whey protein

    Blend and drink quickly, before the oats settle. You may have to stir between sips, but it is the quickest way of consuming 100g of oats by far.

34. Consume enough protein per day to keep your body in an anabolic muscle building state. You can use a macronutrient calculator to work out your daily protein requirements.
35. Don’t eat more than 3-4 tins of tuna per week. Tuna is very high in mercury, which is toxic in sustained high doses and can seriously and permanently affect your health.
36. Fruit is good for you and your bodybuilding diet. However, due to the sugars in fruit, it is best to consume small servings of fruit, spread out throughout the day. Also, it is better to consume fruit before your meals, as it digests much quicker than regular food and would give you gas if eaten after a large meal.
37. Low fat cheddar cheese is low calorie and 30g of protein per 100g. Not bad on wholemeal toast!

Supplements Tips for Bodybuilding

38. Don’t buy your bodybuilding supplements from the supermarkets, they sting you with much higher prices, than online supplements stores.
39. For convenience, if you don’t have a post workout shake available, drink a pint of skimmed milk, as it is high sugar, high protein and low fat, making it ideal for this purpose.


Protein shakes, such as Cytosport Muscle Milk really taste great and can be enjoyed in many flavours

40. Use a hand held blender (available from most supermarkets for under £10) to mix your protein shakes in a measuring jug. All you do is dip the hand held blender in the top of the jug, blend for 15-20 seconds and your shake is ready. Swill the blender under the tap and it is ready for your next protein shake. Much less faffing about and washing up than using a proper blender!
41. Drink 8-10 glasses of water per day, to keep your body well hydrated. Dehydration can drastically affect physical performance, which means that your training sessions will be less intense.
42. Help your body avoid overtraining by eating a good diet, high in fruit and vegetables, wholegrains, rice, lean meats, fish and poultry.
43. Avoid sugary foods at all times except for before, during and after training, when glycogen levels are depleted, to avoid the accumulation of body fat. Your liver can only hold about 150g-200g of glycogen and any more will be excreted and/or stored as body fat. Also, sugary foods play havoc with your insulin levels, which in turn results in hunger pangs and a downward spiral with your diet.
44. Do not listen to all the sales hype on the internet about ‘supplements awards’, etc. 9 times out of 10, the company or magazine promoting a particular product or brand of supplements, usually owns the brand as well and the awards are more about self promotion.
45. Always consume a sugary high protein post-workout shake immediately after training, to restore glycogen levels and restore a positive nitrogen balance in the body to allow muscle gain, rather than muscle loss.
46. Use protein supplements, to achieve a high protein diet that is low in fat.
47. Use protein bars and high protein flapjacks for convenience, rather than missing meals when on the go
48. Use creatine supplements to increase reps and strength, resulting in higher intensity training, leading to hypertrophy of the muscles. You will gain weight whilst using creatine, mainly due to the increased hydration of the muscles. It is up to you to make sure you build muscle whilst using creatine, so that when you stop using it and normal hydration levels return, the net result is a quicker increase in muscle mass than could have been achieved without creatine.
49. Use multivitamin and mineral supplements to boost micronutrient intake throughout the day. Benefits include better protein absorption, transport and synthesis, as well as many other benefits.
50. Use nitric oxide supplements, such as Gaspari Superpump to increase strength during your training sessions and to achieve a bigger pump, allowing better nutrient transport in the muscles. Be warned that using nitric oxide supplements can lead to diarrhoea if you already consume excessive amounts of arginine from your protein shakes – the tolerable amount varies widely person to person.

Remember, it is a lot harder to build a world class physique than it is to lose it. That is good news though because that’s what sets you apart from the crowd. Only an elite group of individuals can become professional bodybuilders due to the level of determination required, as well as your genetic disposition.

This list is a ‘Work In Progress’, so any additional items, or improvements would be greatly appreciated. Please leave your comments and feedback below.

Regards,

Martin Procter
Promart Supplements

Creatine or Protein Shakes?

This may seem like a silly question to the more advanced athlete, but to a novice, who has never used supplements, it is a genuine question. The short answer is that both creatine supplements and whey protein shakes will enable you to advance your physical ability and appearance quicker and to a higher level, but really you should know why and I will explain below.

What Do Protein Shakes Do?

Protein shakes are the cheapest and easiest way of getting enough protein in your diet for your body to gain muscle. Protein shakes work out cheaper than chicken, tuna, or any normal food source and provide a better, more digestible form or protein. They are made from milk, via complicated processes that retains the protein quality, whilst removing the sugars and fats. The fact that protein shakes are very low in carbs and fats, means they are low calorie and you can therefore drink 3 or 4 them per day.

Your body can only digest up to 40g of protein every 2-3 hours and small regular meals avoid you gaining fat, hence the 6 meals per day recommendation. This sounds like a lot of eating, but all you need to do is eat breakfast, lunch and dinner and have a protein shake 2-3 hours after each meal. If your regular meals are low calorie, use a protein powder to boost protein content of your regular meals. When you consume protein every 2-3 hours, it keeps your body in an anabolic muscle building state, as opposed to a catabolic muscle losing state which occurs when your body hasn’t been supplied with protein in the last few hours. This is why a high protein breakfast as soon as you wake up is vital, similar applies for a protein shake before bed.

Every second of the day, your body is either gaining or losing muscle, well both actually, but the overall gain or loss is of most importance. Your diet controls this more than any other factor. Other factors include being well hydrated, performing regular high intensity exercise, not being stressed, not overtraining, getting enough sleep, eating plenty of fruit and veg, etc.

What Do Creatine Supplements Do?

Creatine is used by the muscles for high intensity exercise, lasting less than a minute. Creatine is found in beef and other natural foods and supplementing with additional creatine provides more energy for high intensity exercise, meaning you can lift slightly heavier for slightly longer, i.e. more reps and more weight. This means that you will be training to a higher intensity and you will therefore be able to stimulate more muscle growth, if and only if, your diet is sufficient for muscle growth, see above. You can literally gain 7 pounds in 7 days, but it will be mostly water, associated with the super hydration effect that creatine has on your muscles. When you stop using creatine you lose this water, but the net result is that you have trained heavier over the last 8 weeks or so than you would have normally and you should have therefore gained a lot more muscle than you would have done without using creatine.

So Creatine or Protein Shakes?

Protein shakes are the only realistic way of eating 6 high protein, low calorie meals per day, which is essential for muscle growth, so the answer is protein shakes! If you want better results, use a creatine supplement as well, but not instead!

CNP Pro Solo

Pro Solo Overview

CNP Pro Solo is an “all-in-one” bodybuilding supplement, which contains all of the main ingredients required by the body to gain lean muscle size and strength. All-in-one supplements are the most convenient and cost effective way of meeting the nutritional requirements of busy people involved in high intensity sports and bodybuilding. This enables people who do not have the time or the desire to use several different supplements throughout the day to get all the nutrients they need from a quick shake in the morning and another in the evening.

Why Pro-Solo?

Pro Solo is manufactured by CNP Professional, who are a well established bodybuilding & sports supplements company, with a very large following. They have built their reputation based upon the quality of their products and their research into protein absorption and protein synthesis. Pro Solo is one of CNP’s most recent products, which was only first released in 2009, as a rival product to Maximuscle Cyclone and Reflex One Stop, which have both been around for quite a few years now. The difference with Pro Solo is that it has been designed to be a better product and give better results than the competition. When comparing all-in-one ingredients, most have 25-30g of protein and 5g creatine, with variations on the remaining ingredients. This is where Pro Solo stands out, as it contains 8 additional muscle building ingredients, each of which are described below.

Pro Solo Ingredients & Benefits

CNP Pro Solo Serving Size, Flavours & Cost

Pro Solo comes in Strawberry and Choclate Orange flavours in a 1.2Kg tub, providing 20 servings, lasting 10 days when used twice daily – you can expect significant muscle gains within 10 days with this product. Pro Solo is available with free next day delivery from our website, when ordered before 2pm. Also, we will price beat any genuine UK delivered price on this product! To see the product page, click here – CNP Pro Solo

What are Sports Supplements?

Sports Supplements are products that are suitable for use by athletes and sports men and women, to enhance physical performance. Sports supplements are a subset of bodybuilding supplements, as sports supplements only make up about half of supplements available to bodybuilders. For example, whey protein supplements, creatine, energy drinks and fat burners are all types of sports supplements, but they are also bodybuilding supplements. Whereas, testosterone boosters, nitric oxide boosters and amino acids are types of bodybuilding supplements, but are not of much use as sports supplements.

Which Supplements are Suitable for which sports?

Below is table showing which sports supplements are suitable for which sports:

Why should you use Sports Supplements?

There is no reason for you to use sports supplements, other than to increase your performance. If you do not want to use them, don’t! But, be aware that your team mates, rival clubs and many other sports people are already using a combination of supplements that may be allowing them to overtake you in your chosen sport. If you want to catch up, or reach a higher level in your particular sport, then take a look at the table above and decide which sports supplements would be most useful for your particular circumstances. Make sure you leave your comments below, to show people how much sports supplements have helped you!

Creatine Supplements Introduction

This article provides a summary of the benefits of creatine supplements for athletes, sports men and women and bodybuilders, along with an overview of how creatine is made and the different types available.

What Is Creatine and what does it do?

Creatine is a naturally occurring acid which helps supply energy to your muscles. In simple terms, a higher amount of creatine in your muscles will provide more energy to your muscles, allowing you to lift slightly more weight for more reps, meaning that you can train to a higher than normal intensity. When combined with a good high protein diet, with a calorific surplus, you will gain significant additional muscle mass and strength in a couple of weeks, due to the increased training intensity. Whilst using Creatine, your muscles become super hydrated, meaning that 8-10 glasses of water per day are required to get optimum results and avoid dehydration. The increased water uptake in the muscles is partly responsible for the weight gain that will be noticed when using creatine supplements.

Where does Creatine come from?

Creatine can be produced by the body from certain amino acids (which make up protein), meaning that a whey protein shake could boost natural creatine production in the body. However, around 50% of the creatine in your body comes directly from food sources, mainly red meat. So, eating more red meat and supplementing with whey protein will boost creatine levels naturally, without using a creatine supplement. However, only small amounts of creatine will be acquired, compared with the optimum amount provided in a creatine supplement and supplementation provides much better results, without the need to eat excessive amounts of red meat. If you are a vegetarian, then your natural creatine levels will be lower than normal, so you will benefit most from creatine supplements.

Which Creatine Supplement is best?

Creatine Monohydrate has been around for years, has been used by millions of people, is tried and tested and works very well. Creatine Monohydrate is purer than ever now and the main side effects are muscle gain, stomach cramps and dehydration. However, If you drink plenty of water, then stomach cramps are less likely and you are left with the muscle gain! Dosage is usually 20g per day for 5 days (loading phase), followed by 5g per day (maintenance phase).

Creatine Ethyl Ester is an advanced type of creatine supplement, that doesn’t give stomach cramps and requires no loading phase, with dosage typically 2-4g per day.

Other creatine supplements include micronised creatine monohydrate (less stomach cramps), creatine and carnosine (enhances creatine effects) and Creatine and Nitric Oxide (enhances creatine effects and improves muscle pump and recovery)

Creatine Tips

Whichever creatine supplement you decide to buy, you will see muscular size and strength gains almost immediately, as long as you:

1. drink 8-10 glasses of water per day
2. consume a calorific surplus, i.e. 15 to 20 times your bodyweight in pounds, in calories per day, with 20 times for someone with a fast metabolism
3. consume at least 1g of protein per pound of bodyweight, split between 6 or more equal meals, spread out evenly throughout the day
4. sleep at least 8 hours per night
5. perform high intensity anaerobic exercise 3-4 times per week, with sets lasting 30-40 seconds, i.e. 6-10 slow controlled reps per set

The net result of creatine supplementation is that when you stop using it, you will have already gained the muscular size and strength. Your muscles will not hold on to the additional water, so you may lose a little bit of weight, but this is normal and you will retain the extra muscle which was the original plan. A few weeks later, creatine can be used again for further muscle gain.

Note: As always, it is advised that you contact your GP for advice, before you start any new diet, training or supplementation programme.

If you are looking for all-in-one bodybuilding supplements which supply your body with the extra nutrients required to grow bigger muscles, then which supplement you choose? The two heavyweights in this category are Maximuscle Cyclone and Reflex One Stop. But, are these supplements so popular because they are excellent products, or because they are advertised excellently? In short, the answer is both. They are both great products and at Promart Supplements, several of our staff have used both products and below is our opinion of these all-in-one bodybuilding supplements:

Maximuscle Cyclone Comparison With Reflex One Stop Comparison Maximuscle Cyclone Reflex One Stop Mixability 9.5 9.5 Taste 4.5 6.5 Quality 9 9.5 Digestion 9 9 Value 7 9.5 Overall 78% 88%

Maximuscle Cyclone Vs. Reflex One Stop

Both bodybuilding supplements are excellent quality and their “overall” rating has only been lowered by their “taste” ratings. There are better tasting all-in-one bodybuilding supplements, but that is usually because they are high in sugars and lower in quality ingredients, which is not good. Both Maximuscle Cyclone and Reflex One Stop mix easily and digest well, but One Stop is better in terms of price, as you get more servings for your money.

In terms of quality, here is the nutritional information:

It appears that One Stop and Cyclone are both very similar supplements. However, One Stop is slightly cheaper, gives an extra 8 servings per tub and also provides an extra 7g of protein per serving. So, which all-in-one bodybuilding supplement would I buy? Well, I like both supplements, but Reflex One Stop seems to be slightly in front of Maximuscle Cyclone at the moment. However, there are other better products such as AST Muscle XGF and Cytosport Muscle Milk, which receive better feedback and more repeat orders at our store, as well as better ratings on bodybuilding.com.

Does Supplementing with Cyclone or One Stop give Side Effects?

These products are both safe to use by men and women, but you should always consult your GP before starting any new exercise or diet programme. Both products contain creatine, which can give minor side effects, as dicussed in the creatine supplements blog article.

It should be remebered that both of these products are made from real food sources, but are in higher doses than you would find in normal sized portions. For example, creatine is found in beef, fish, etc., whey protein comes directly from milk, HMB comes from the amino acid Leucine, found in milk, eggs and any other complete protein source, carbohydrates come from corn, oats or barley. So, all these products are doing are putting together the best types and combinations of nutrients found in normal food into powder form, ready to be consumed by anyone who wants to gain muscular size and strength. Other than that – just think how many people have been using these products over the years – if there were side effects, do you still think these products would be available from supermarkets and high street shops all over the UK?

Do you have any further questions? If so, leave your comments. If not, look at the product pages and decide which one you would like to buy!

Regards,

Martin Procter
Promart Supplements

If you are new to training and you want to gain weight quickly, then this article will tell you all you need to know in just one page! This article will probably be most suited to the under 25s, who are very skinny and never put weight on. From experience, these people generally have a very poor diet, are very active and have a fast metabolism.

Eat enough to gain mass
You need to consume enough food to gain weight. The easiest way to do this is to consume 20 times your bodyweight in pounds, in calories every day. Put simply, if you weigh 10 stone (140 pounds), you eat 140 x 20 = 2800 calories per day. If you weigh 12 stone (168 pounds) , you eat 168 x 20 = 3360 calories per day, etc. If you are wondering what calories are, then just look on the food labels, kcal is calories! For example a slice of bread is around 90 calories, a pint of semi skimmed milk is 270 calories, a banana is 100 calories, etc.

If you eat the above number of calories every day, then you will definitely gain weight. Now, do you want the extra weight to be fat or muscle? Obviously, you want it to be more muscle. So, make sure that the food you eat to get your daily calories is spread out evenly throughout the day, doesn’t contain much sugar or fat and is high in protein. Also drink at least 8 glasses of water per day.

Training Programme
There are way too many exercises available for me to list here and if you are new to the gym, you will more than likely perform them incorrectly anyway. So, the best bet is to choose a small selection of exercises that you can learn and improve upon over the next 6 weeks. Do exactly what I say and you should really start adding mass quickly…

Monday – Quads, Hams and Calves
Leg Extension – 3 sets
Leg Curl – 3 sets
Leg Press – 3 sets
Full Squat – 3 sets
Calf Raise – 3 sets

Wednesday – Chest, Biceps, Triceps
Dips – 3 sets
Bench Press – 3 sets
Dumbbell Press – 3 sets
Standing Barbell Curls – 3 sets
Lying EZ Extensions – 3 sets

Friday – Back, Shoulders, Traps
Pullups – 3 sets
Seated Rows – 3 sets
Deadlifts – 3 sets
Shrugs – 3 sets
Lateral Raise – 3 sets
Shoulder Press – 3 sets

Select a weight that just allows 10 reps per set, taking about 3-4 seconds per rep with a smooth rep cadence. Rest exactly 60 seconds between sets. Train to an extremely high intensity, but smoothly, i.e. when you can’t do another rep, do a half rep and hold it as long as you can. Do not change this routine, do not add to it, do not miss anything. Stick to this routine and diet for 6 weeks.

Try and add weight every week. The more you lift, the bigger you get. Following this programme for 6 weeks should, for the new gym goer, allow you to add at least 1 stone of mainly muscle… making you overall physique and strength vastly improved.

To further improve results, you could try using a weight gainer supplement, such as Pro-Mass from CNP, which give 400 calories per serving and can be used 3 times per day. You could also try a Creatine Supplement.

Regards,

Martin.

Maximuscle Cyclone is a ‘complete’ bodybuilding supplement, that contains 30g of protein, 5.1g of creatine, 5.1g of glutamine, 1.5g of HMB and 4.7g of fats (including EFAs and MCTs).

Maximuscle Cyclone

Maximuscle Cyclone is probably the most popular bodybuilding supplement in the UK and can be found in large supermarket stores, catalog shops, high street shops, gyms and on internet websites. Cyclone is so popular for a reason, being that thousands of people buy it over and over again, because of the impressive results that the product produces when combined with a good diet and appropriate exercise.

Good Points

1. Helps build muscle strength and size quickly
2. Mixes easily
3. Virtually lactose free, resulting in less gas and stomach pains, especially for people who are lactose intolerant

Bad Points

1. When taken twice per day, lasts just 10 days, making it fairly expensive
2. It doesn’t taste too good

Maximuscle Cyclone is one of the best selling bodybuilding supplements in the UK and has had a lot of positive reviews, by people who have gained a lot of size and strength, whilst using the product. However, it is hard to say whether these people are new to bodybuilding and are guaranteed to get results, or if they are already involved in bodybuilding and have seen improvements since chaning their supplements.

Maximuscle Cyclone is an excellent product for someone just getting into bodybuilding, as long as you can handle the taste. It is also an ideal supplement for people involved in sports requiring strength, speed and power, such as football, rugby, basketball, tennis, etc. However, there are better products available which also taste better, such as AST Muscle XGF and Cytosport Monster Milk, which receive better feedback and more repeat orders at our store, as well as better ratings on bodybuilding.com.

If you have used Maximuscle Cyclone yourself and can add to this review, please leave your comments, good or bad!

Promart Supplements Rating of Maximuscle Cyclone: 7.5/10 (would be 8/10 if tasted better!)

Regards,

Gareth.

I’ll start this article off by telling you out right, IT IS NOT possible to be a bodybuilder whilst being a high level footballer. Sure, it is possible to play a bit of 5-a-side as well as being a casual bodybuilder, in fact these two forms of exercise could complement each other and help you improve your physique. But, if you want to get to a high level in bodybuilding, you have to give up football, or you will be permanently overtrained and you will pick up lots of injuries.

However, if you are a high level footballer, lifting heavy weights in a bodybuilding style could improve your overall game!

Depending upon the position you play, you may require different strengths, but as long as you can maintain or improve your existing aerobic function, then combining some natural bodybuilding principles into your training regime could lead to improved footballing performance for the following reasons:

1. Increased strength on the ball
2. Increased strength in the air
3. Increased shot power
4. Increased sprint speed
5. Improved balance

All of the above are good qualities for a footballer, but if you overdo it, you may reduce your flexibility and endurance. The idea is to find a balance between aerobic and anaerobic activities and combine them with a very good diet, incorporating plenty of fruits, nuts, seeds, lean meats, wholegrains, wholemeal pastas, brown rice, eggs and milk. To help increase your daily protein intake, you could also supplement your meals with a whey protein powder. To further increase speed and power, you could also supplement with creatine. Our article about football supplements also provides some good advice.

If you decide that you are going to start lifting weights for the above reasons, then start with one or two weight training session per week. Consuming a good high protein diet, drinking plenty of water and getting plenty of sleep will help you avoid overtraining. A typical routine is below:

Leg Extensions
Leg Curl
Barbell Squat
Cable Crossovers
Barbell Bench Press
Dumbbell Lateral Raise
Barbell Shoulder Press
Pullups
Dumbbell Pullovers
Bent Over Barbell Rows
Barbell Shrugs
Triceps Extension
Biceps Curl
Deadlift

Warm up for each exercise with two sets, working with 50%, then 80% of your main work set weight, doing about 8 reps. Once warmed up for an exercise, perform just one actual work set of each exercise, selecting a weight that allows 12 reps per set. Ensure that you train to a high intensity, but under control, by taking 3-4 seconds per rep and moving the weight in a slow, controlled, non jerky, smooth cadence. Research each exercise, to ensure that you use perfect form, therefore avoiding potential injuries. Do not do more than one work set per exercise, or you will overtrain the muscle group involved. Remember, higher intensity leads to better results. Rest 30-60 seconds between sets, reducing rest time and increasing weight as you improve. Do not spend more than 60 minutes lifting weights, or your body will start releasing a stress hormone called Cortisol, which is associated with a reduction in muscle.
Consuming a recovery drink immediately after training (football or weights) can help your body retain existing muscle and build new muscle. A recovery drink is usually made up of simple sugars, fast releasing protein and minimal fats, so an ideal choice would be a pint of skimmed milk, or better still a dedicated recovery drink.

p.s. If there are any high level bodybuilders, who can still play a good game of football, I would really like to hear from you and I may even publish your stories on this blog.

Regards,

Martin.

Do you feel like you have trained your back muscles to absolute failure 1-2 times per week consistently? If you have then well done it takes some effort, but if you haven’t, like the vast majority of amateur gym-goers, then you have to read this article.

In descending order, the biggest muscle groups in the human body are the leg muscles, the back muscles and then the chest and shoulder muscles. So why does everyone dedicate most, if not all of their workouts, to training their chest and biceps? To show off maybe? Because they are at the front of your body and you can see them flexing in the mirrors at the gym? To impress the women in the gym? I don’t know!

Well, if you want to get good overall results and reach a new level in your training, you need to improve your back muscles!

Most people fall into one of two categories – they either train their back muscles badly OR they don’t train their back muscles at all. By training badly, I mean you use incorrect form, poor exercise choice, low intensity or you train oin a way that your arms give way before your back – making it an arm workout. The problem of your arms giving way before your back can be a big stumbling block for many people and you can overcome it by following the advice given below in the top 12 tips for big back muscles:

1. Perform deadlifts once per week, for 3-4 sets, after other back exercises, when your back muscles are warmed up thoroughly. Try and increase the weight by 5% per week, staying in the 6-10 rep range. Use straps if you need help with your grip, but make sure you still use perfect form, to avoid injury
2. Perform pull-ups twice per week, i.e. wide grip once per week and underhand grip once per week. Add weight as necessary to stay in the 6-8 rep range
3. Follow a smooth rep cadence, taking about 2 seconds in the positive phase of the movement and 3-4 seconds in the negative phase
4. Add intensity to your pull-ups by placing a bench next to the pull-up bar, so when you reach failure, you can jump back up and carry on doing some negative only pull-ups
5. Never train your arms or forearms before your back
6. Have a day off before the day of your back workout. (this would be a Braun style workout, focusing more on the back)
7. Use creatine supplements
8. Perform bent over barbell rows. Ensure perfect form, smooth rep cadence and high intensity
9. Perform dumbbell pullovers, as an alternative to Nautilus pullovers (one of the few back exercises that doesn’t require significant involvement by the biceps)
10. Perform serratus pulldowns after the dumbbell pullovers
11. Perform barbell shrugs (in the power rack for additional safety and allow higher intensity)
12. Focus on your back muscles when pulling and imagine your arms as ropes and your hands as hooks, to help you to use your back muscles more than your arms to lift the weights… note: your back is much stronger than your arms will ever be, so make sure you do this! Another way of targeting the back better is to imagine that you are trapping a pencil between your shoulder blades at full contraction

The above advice will give you all the ammo you need to fire up your back muscles in weeks, leaving you with that V-shape you have always wanted… not to mention that it will also help you increase your bench and other exercises as a side effect! If you need further advice relating to this article, add your comments below and I will respond within 48 hours.

Use this advice in conjunction with the advice given in the other blog articles for increased results. Now back to work!

Regards,

Martin